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POWER PROTECTION PHOTO: ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM Liability issues come into play during power outages or when equipment is damaged because of a surge or spike. When a security system goes down, liability and safety issues are magnifed, opening the door for litigation against a business or campus not properly protected. surge protector that meets UL-1449 testing requirements if it is a surge strip, or UL 1363 if it is a wall-tap that plugs directly into the outlet. Data line surge protectors are also recommended for any cameras or other peripheral devices that are connected to the network. One important consideration is that these devices should be installed at both ends of the connecting cable. When lightning or some other extraneous voltage gets on the Ethernet or coax cable, the electrical energy is dissipated across the entire length of the cable and can damage equipment at both ends. If you are protecting cameras, install a data line surge protector at the camera end, while also installing protection at the DVR. A data line surge protector is an inexpensive solution that can easily pay for itself, especially in areas where lightning strikes are common. One other thought to ponder is that the energy from a severe lightning strike can damage equipment located more than a mile away from where the strike actually occurs. It does not need to be a direct hit from lightning to cause equipment damage. A UPS provides complete protection from all power problems, including battery backup, keeping security systems functioning during a power outage. A standby UPS is the most cost-efective solution and these systems are typically utilized in small capacity applications such as a four or eightchannel DVR. A line-interactive UPS incorporates automatic voltage regulation (AVR) along with battery backup capability. Te AVR kicks into action when voltage drops or increases beyond a usable range without switching over to battery backup mode. Line-interactive UPSs are utilized for more mission-critical systems that require larger capacities than a standby UPS. An on-line UPS is essentially an "electrical frewall" that takes the incoming AC signal and then converts it to DC, which eliminates any type of power anomaly. At the output, the DC signal is converted back to AC, which then supplies the attached equipment with pure, clean power. Online UPSs are generally used in highly mission-critical applications 136 / SECURITYSALES.COM / SEPTEMBER 2013 with large load capacities. One further consideration regarding UPSs is how long the customer wants their security system to be up and running during a power outage. Most power outages are fairly short, but there are times when outages extend from minutes into hours. Many of the higher-end UPS products have the ability to connect battery packs that can extend battery backup times well beyond the typical 10 to 15 minutes. Battery packs can be daisy-chained together, allowing for backup times to extend to two, four or even eight hours and beyond. Obviously, the more mission-critical the application, the longer the requirement for keeping things fully functional, even during an extended power outage. It is vitally important that the right size UPS be selected and installed. Undersizing a UPS or putting too much load on the device will cause it to be overloaded and the UPS will not THE POWER OF REMOTE POWER MANAGEMENT A security manager named John is out to dinner with his wife celebrating their anniversary. A text message from his boss informs him one of their critical DVRs has locked up at a remote location two hours away. Someone has to go out and physically reboot the DVR, and since his boss is out of town, there's no one left but John. He informs his wife their dinner has to be cut short so he can drive to the remote location and reboot the DVR. Today's security systems are far more complex and far more widely distributed than in the past. Because of this, the challenge of managing these systems has become a more arduous task, demanding that security managers be constantly informed about the status of all devices in their systems. We all know that electrical equipment periodically locks up and must be rebooted. Remote power managers (RPMs), like those offered by Minuteman Power Technologies, provide the capability to remotely restart locked-up devices. Security managers can receive an E-mail or text notifcation from the RPM if a device locks up, and they can quickly restart it with the click of a mouse or a touch on their smartphone. This eliminates troublesome and costly service trips to remote locations simply to cycle power. RPMs are available in two-, eight- and 16-port confgurations and have a browser-based interface. John, the security manager mentioned earlier, would have been able to continue his important dinner without interruption had they installed RPM devices. In less than 30 seconds, the problem could have been solved. At that point, the RPM would have become John's best friend.