My Vision

Innovations and Patents

I am thrilled to share with you some of the exciting innovations and milestones that we have achieved in recent months.

Our team of brilliant engineers and developers is constantly working to push the boundaries of what is possible. In the past quarter, we have received several additional patents for our innovative technologies.

I am particularly proud of our patent for the video arm and disarm feature. This is a groundbreaking innovation that allows users to arm and disarm video, just like they can with alarm panels. It is changing the industry and the possibilities are endless! We will explore more about the video arm and disarm feature in the next issue.

Another patent was for the Gatekeeper, a digital video alarm monitoring solution that prevents multiple and unnecessary video alarms from being received by the central station, allowing operators to focus on true alarms. Learn more about the Gatekeeper in the article below.

These patents are a testament to our commitment to innovation and our leadership in the industry.

Our innovations are not just about staying ahead of the competition. They are also about making a real difference in the world of safety and security. We have a vision for the future of where we see the industry headed. We call it DICE 2030. Beyond video, analytics, and artificial intelligence, it revolutionizes the complete monitoring ecosystem we have today. The world is changing, and DICE knows that we need to keep up. The industry must keep up. Many innovations are already here, and many are coming soon.

We believe that innovation is essential to providing better security and safety and making sure our industry does not get left behind. New technologies such as Interactive Video Services, Artificial Intelligence, and the Cloud are opening new opportunities and new services that provide growth.

We are committed to investing in research and development, and to creating a culture of innovation at the New DICE. We are also committed to working with our partners and customers to bring our innovations to market and make them a reality.

I am confident that The New DICE is well-positioned to lead the way in innovation for many years to come. I am grateful to our talented team for their hard work and dedication, and to our customers and partners for their trust and support. Discover the possibilities of the future of the alarm industry for your company!

-Avi Lupo, Co-president

Our New Patent

The Gatekeeper Prevents Unnecessary Video Alarms to Be Received by the Central Station

We've been awarded U.S. Patent # 11688273B2 for the Gatekeeper, a digital video alarm monitoring solution that prevents multiple and unnecessary video alarms from being received by the central station. This allows operators to focus on true alarms.

The Gatekeeper is a patented technology that reduces cellular data usage and operator time for alarm monitoring systems. By filtering out rampant video alarms and events not required by the central station, the Gatekeeper helps businesses save money. This is especially beneficial for cameras connected to cellular modems.

For instance, the Gatekeeper monitors digital video alarm status and identifies events that are not required to be transmitted to the central station. These events can include alarms from cameras on test or alarms that are not scheduled to be transmitted at a certain time. The Gatekeeper discards these events, preventing the camera from using its data plan. This can save businesses a significant amount of money, especially if they have a large number of cameras or if they are using a cellular modem with a limited data plan.

Cellular modems can be expensive to operate, especially for businesses with a large number of cameras. The Gatekeeper reduces cellular data usage and operator time by filtering out rampant video alarms and events that are not required by the central station.

For example, the Gatekeeper can block alarms from cameras that are on test or alarms that are not scheduled to be transmitted at a certain time. The Gatekeeper can also block irrelevant alarms from lower-end cameras that are prone to sending multiple events during wind or rainstorms.

By filtering out these unwanted alarms, the Gatekeeper helps businesses save money and ensures that operators have the bandwidth they need to view the cameras that are most important.

DICE also has an artificial intelligence product for filtering alarms, but the Gatekeeper patent is different because it works before the alarm is even received at the central station. This makes it the "first line of defense" against unwanted alarms. If a camera sends an alarm, the Gatekeeper will prevent it from sending another alarm half a second later. This can be helpful for reducing bandwidth usage and preventing operators from being overwhelmed by a flood of alarms.

The Gatekeeper is configurable, making it a valuable tool for central stations, integrators, and end users alike.

The Gatekeeper is a fitting name for this technology because it guards the gate of signals entering the central station. This patent strengthens our intellectual property portfolio in the field of automation monitoring systems and software and is a valuable asset that will protect and enhance our ability to continue investing in innovative technology

The New DICE is currently licensing the technology to other companies to integrate into their automation monitoring software. 

Canadian Central Stations:

Be Prepared for 2025. DICE Has the ONLY ULC Compliant Data Center!

Great news for Canadian central stations...DICE's UL data center in Bay City, Michigan, is now ULC compliant for Canada! 

Any central station that has dealers in Canada and the United States can now be hosted in the DICE center and operate in both countries simultaneously. Even central stations that are not using Matrix Interactive, or any other DICE product, can take advantage of the ULC compliance.

That's because by 2025, ULC has stated that central stations must have redundancy - two facilities, at least 500 miles apart. It's a massive investment for most central stations. The option here is to build your own or run it in DICE data centers and take advantage of all of our additional infrastructure benefits as well.

To develop the Canadian standard, ULC looked at every detail of the DICE data center including how the building is built, how the fire suppression systems work, redundancy, backups, failovers, power and infrastructure networks, telecom, receiver management, software management, and the disaster plans and procedures that are in place.

We are the first and only data center to be ULC Compliant! If you do not want to make the investment of building your own data center, give us a call to see how we can cut your costs and help you to be ULC Listed.

...and if you will be attending Security Canada Central, it would be a great time to meet with Avi. He can share additional information about our data centers, receiver farm, and IPTelX telecom services. To arrange a meeting, email Avi at avi.lupo@dicecorp.com or call to his cell phone at 857-257-9000.

Do You Have a

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan?

Business continuity and disaster recovery are two important concepts for monitoring stations, but they are not the same thing.

Business continuity is the process of getting your entire business back to full functionality after a disruption. This includes things like restoring your systems and data, and getting your employees back to work.

Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity that focuses on how you will respond to a specific disaster, such as a fire, flood, or cyberattack. A disaster recovery plan should include things like how you will evacuate your building, communicate with your team, and maintain essential services.

Regional and Partner Solutions

For monitoring stations, it is important to have a disaster recovery plan that is tailored to the specific risks they face. For example, a monitoring station in a hurricane-prone area will need to have a different plan than a monitoring station in an area that is not at risk of hurricanes.

One important consideration is how you will handle a regional outage. If the entire region is down, you will not be able to rely on a local backup site. In this situation, you may need to rely on a partner central station in another region. However, it is important to note that if the outage is widespread, it is possible that all partner central stations will be affected.

Your Disaster Recovery Plan

One of the most important things you can do to prepare for a disaster is to have a written disaster recovery plan. This plan should outline your steps for responding to a variety of disasters, including how you will evacuate your building, communicate with your team, and maintain essential services.

When developing your disaster recovery plan, it is important to think outside the box and consider all of the possible scenarios that could occur. You should also regularly review and update your plan to ensure that it is still relevant.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when preparing your disaster recovery plan:

• How are you backing up your data today?
• How many local machines are there?
• Have you considered cloud-based monitoring?
• Do you have a plan for communicating with your team during a disaster?
• How will you evacuate your building if necessary?
• How will you maintain essential services during a disaster?

Because each company is different, every monitoring station is going to have a customized disaster recovery plan. By taking the time to develop a comprehensive disaster recovery plan, you can help to ensure that your business can recover from any disruption.

When we help companies, we start with a template and questionnaire that provides us with the information to develop the plan and manual for each company.

There is no “one size fits all” plan. Each company is unique with different equipment and circumstances including generators, power, fuel sources, receivers, and communication lines. Each one of those should be reviewed and done periodically.

The bottom line is that having a disaster recovery plan is vital for monitoring stations. Those that do not have a plan and are unable to resume operations quickly are unlikely to survive.

Our UL and ULC data centers can help you with your disaster recovery and business continuity plans. Give us a call and let's talk!

Just a Reminder

Our "Wiki" Documentation Center

Is Open and Available

We have opened our DICE "Wiki" Documentation Center to the public. Previously, it was only available to DICE customers and only by logging in with a username and password.

Don't have Matrix? No problem. Check out the documentation and see all the great features you are missing. For both DICE customers and potential ones, you can easily search and navigate documents to find the information you're looking for.

The Documentation Center is just part of our complete 24/7 support. Access the DICE Documentation Center here.

What's New in Matrix

Are You Taking Advantage of Remote Guarding?

One of the great services that is available with Matrix Video Interactive is Virtual Video Guard services, also known as Remote Video Guarding. This is an excellent and cost-effective monitoring solution that you can offer clients.

Remote video guarding uses a combination of video surveillance, video analytics, and remote live video monitoring to provide enhanced security coverage of a property, without the need for on-site security guards.

Virtual security guards use advanced camera and sensor technology, combined with AI- and machine learning-powered software, to monitor anything from anywhere.

Adding voice down and remote activation of devices to the mix, you can now offer clients a cutting-edge solution that eliminates the need for 24/7 on-site security guards.

This is just touching the surface. Give us a call or email to learn us more about Remote Video Guarding and other interactive video services available with Matrix.

Great Technologies and Meetings at GSX

Interesting new technologies for interfacing with the innovative New Dice platform. As always- great to see so many old industry friends!

Where's Avi?

Upcoming Events and

Ready to Meet You On Zoom

Let's meet! Here is a list of upcoming events that I will be attending.

We have a lot of exciting things already in place and planned for the future at the New DICE that I would like to personally share. Email me at  avi.lupo@dicecorp.com or call 857-257-9000 to schedule a day and time at any of these upcoming events.

OPSTech - October 8-12, Lafayette, Louisiana

Securing New Ground - October 17-18, New York City

Security Canada Central - October 25-26, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

TMA Annual Meeting - November 4-8, Maui, Hawaii

ISC East - November 14 -16, New York

CAA Winter Convention - December 6-9, San Francisco, California

If you won't be attending any of the events, Zoom is a great way to meet me without having to travel. You can see a demo of Matrix Interactive Video, learn more about all that the New DICE can offer, and much more.

To schedule a virtual demo of Matrix Interactive, email me at  avi.lupo@dicecorp.com or call 857-257-9000.

Hope to see you soon either in person or on a Zoom call! 

-Avi