Convergence is not limited to telephone or communications. PEC Technologies, a “sister” company of Group Signal, now offers a product called SITESEER (Site-see-ur) which brings total building management under a web-based control platform. From Access control to Surveillance to Utility monitoring and much more, SITESEER allows management of a facility from anywhere an Internet connection is available. Imagine a company with 200 (yes, 200!) locations around the globe, with all of their buildings controlled by one server that are accessible from anywhere in the world.

Bluetooth presents interesting possibilities in the creation of the long envisioned “smart home”. The idea is that many appliances and systems in a home will report to one central “PC” which in turn will deliver a full report to the home owner.

Hmmm… I’m a bit skeptical about the feasibility of this one at the moment, but a neighbor who works for Whirlpool claims he has seen a new refrigerator incorporating Bluetooth. Thus, I might receive a message, sent by the refrigerator to the our home’s central PC that is then forwarded to my wireless PDA, reminding me to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home… We’ll see.

The more I watch Bluetooth, the more I’m reminded of Lone Wolf, the failed mid-90s effort to converge communications between all devices in an audio system.

At the same time, Peak Audio has made some pretty impressive strides in converging audio technologies, particularly with regard to larger, more complex systems. The challenge at this point is to bring this capability down to a more mainstream level, where cost vs. benefit vs. complexity really makes sense.

So, what am I saying? Simply, we’ll be regularly looking at convergence technologies and discussing how they might impact the systems contractor. And we’ll be talking to the leaders in both the development and implementation of converging technologies to present their take and future vision.

At the same time, I invite you to share with me your convergence views and information, whether via the new web call feature mentioned above or “good old fashioned” e-mail. My how time flies, don’t you think?

(Gary Zandstra heads up sales and marketing for Group Signal Inc. of Holland, MI, and can be reached at garyz@groupsignal.com.)