SMG Security Systems is a full service alarm company that has provided protection for thousands of customers in the Chicago area since 1987. In 2001, Rich Sitarski, one of the company's co-founders, found the AES booth at the ISC West tadeshow. "I remember the exact day we installed our first AES-IntelliNet system because it was on 9/11/2001, a day no one will ever forget," said Sitarski. Since that day, SMG has been a staunch advocate for AES-IntelliNet and when it came time to pick a security system for these municipalities, SMG knew that AES was the system they would choose. "I can't say enough about AES and their product. First of all, our relationship with AES has been the best vendor relationship we've ever had. The product, the staff and the technical support are all second to none. The AES-IntelliNet system has proven to be the most reliable and the easiest to install and manage, but most of all, we don't ever have to rely on a third party for anything. It's a complete, stand alone system," said Sitarski.

A stand alone system means there are no phone companies, utility services, cellular or internet, nor satellites needed in order to install or run their UL Listed remote station and NFPA compliant AES-IntelliNet networks, so installation is very cost effective. Then there are no third party recurring monthly fees once the system is installed. According to Sitarski, "Each installation, for each municipality saved our company USD 40-50 thousand dollars in installation costs and we also save USD 50-90 per month, per subscriber unit because there are no third party monthly fees."

Another benefit SMG experiences with the AES-IntelliNet system is it allows them to streamline their service calls, not having to depend on schedules of other companies. "By choosing AES, we have drastically reduced the number of service calls, the time, effort, and man hours spent trying to interface with third parties. This has freed up our service department and streamlined our installation schedules. There's no more paying our guys to sit and wait for a third party to show up," Sitarski said.

The AES-IntelliNet's system is a self healing, long range wireless mesh radio communication network and works in conjunction with the Internet to provide companies the ability to monitor alarms in multiple locations and regions from one location, without recurring monthly communications costs or infrastructure fees typically associated with remote monitoring. This allows customers the ability to provide a more reliable, faster means of communicating alarm signals to central monitoring stations without relying on telephone lines or cellular services that are vulnerable to line cuts, weather conditions, radio jamming, and recurring monthly costs.

According to Tom Kenty, general manager for AES-IntelliNet, "This is further evidence of the confidence our customers have in the reliability of the AES-IntelliNet long range mesh alarm communications system. This, together with the ease of installation, the savings associated with installation, the potential for increased ROI and taking third party services out of the equation are just a few of the reasons companies choose AES-IntelliNet. SMG has been one of the leaders in sales as well as support of the AES-IntelliNet technology and systems for years. SMG has been innovative in developing new business opportunities throughout their service areas and as a result they have established a massive user base of AES-IntelliNet sites."