Commercial Security Systems for Massachusetts & New Hampshire Buildings
R&D Life Safety Systems designs, installs, and services commercial security systems — access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, and entry intercoms — for buildings across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Most buildings we walk into have security in pieces: one company installed the cameras, another holds the burglar alarm account, and the access control software sits on a server nobody has logged into since the last vendor left. We work for facility managers, property managers, owners, and municipalities who want those pieces to work as one system, with one company accountable for all of it — and every credential, password, and drawing documented and handed over to the building.
When to call
Sound familiar?
- An employee or tenant left and nobody can deactivate their badge — or worse, nobody knows the admin login to the access control software.
- You pulled up the video recorder after an incident and found half the cameras offline or the storage overwritten weeks ago.
- Your security vendor stopped returning calls, and door schedules, credentials, and camera problems are piling up.
- The burglar alarm keeps tripping falsely and the municipality is starting to charge for police responses.
- You acquired or inherited a building and got keys — but no passwords, no drawings, and no idea which company holds the alarm account.
- You are planning a new building or fit-out and want access control, video, intrusion, and entry intercoms designed together instead of bid as four separate scopes.
- You already trust one company with your fire alarm and want the same accountability on the security side.
Scope
What we do
Included
- Access control installation and service — card, fob, and mobile credentials, door controllers, and door schedule management
- Video surveillance — camera layout, recorders and cloud video, storage sizing, and camera repair or replacement
- Intrusion detection — burglar alarm panels, sensors, keypads, and central-station monitoring arrangements
- Entry intercoms, video door stations, and automated gate operator integration
- Takeovers of existing security systems, including recovering or resetting administrative access and auditing active credentials
- Integration between systems — door-forced and door-held alarms, video tied to events, and coordinated interfaces with the fire alarm system
Not included (and who we coordinate with instead)
- Mechanical door hardware and locksmith work — we coordinate closely with your locksmith or door hardware supplier on locks, closers, and frames
- Security guards and staffing — we build and maintain the systems, not the patrol
How it works
What happens when you call
- 1
Talk to a person
Call 617-207-2777 or send a request. Security problems are rarely shaped like a ticket — a badge that fails Monday at 7 a.m., a camera that matters only after something happens. You reach someone who can talk it through, and if we miss the call, we call back.
- 2
Walk the building
Before quoting anything beyond simple service, we look at the doors, the camera views, the head-end equipment, and the network it all rides on. We also ask the awkward questions early: who holds the admin passwords, who owns the cloud account, and where the drawings are.
- 3
Design around what’s worth keeping
Plenty of existing equipment is worth reusing — readers, cabling, cameras, sometimes the whole panel. We tell you what can stay, what should go, and why, in writing, so you are choosing between real options instead of a single replace-everything number.
- 4
Install and prove it works
We install and commission around your occupants and schedule, then test the parts that get skipped in a hurry: every door position and request-to-exit, every camera view at night as well as noon, every alarm signal through to the central station.
- 5
Hand over the keys — all of them
You get the documentation and the administrative access: credential lists, door schedules, network details, recorder logins, and as-built information. The system belongs to the building, not to the installing vendor, and our paperwork reflects that.
- 6
Stay reachable
Adds, moves, and changes are the daily reality of a security system — new tenants, new hires, a reader that drops offline. You keep the same point of contact, with people who already know your doors and your setup.
Where this applies
Facility types we work in
- Office and commercial buildings
- Apartment and condominium buildings
- Municipal and public-housing buildings
- Schools, colleges, and universities
- Industrial and warehouse facilities
- Retail and mixed-use properties
- Multi-building campuses and portfolios
Systems & platforms
Our team works with security and access platforms including DSC, Vista, Mercury, Brivo, ExacqVision, Eagle Eye, and Avigilon.
Compliance context
Codes, standards, and your AHJ
Commercial security work intersects with building and life-safety requirements most visibly at the doors: access control hardware on an egress door still has to let people out, and locking arrangements such as magnetic locks or delayed egress carry specific requirements that vary with occupancy and the applicable codes in your state. Where security systems interface with the fire alarm system, that interconnection has requirements of its own. What applies to your building depends on its occupancy, its systems, and your authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) — we confirm requirements for the specific building rather than generalizing. Nothing on this page is a compliance determination for your property.
Why R&D
What working with us is like
Security and fire alarm under one roof
Where access control meets the fire alarm — doors that must unlock on alarm, interfaces the inspector will ask about — a single accountable contractor beats two vendors pointing at each other. We do both sides of that interface and document how they connect.
Your system, your credentials
Orphaned systems are the most common mess we untangle: cloud accounts tied to a departed dealer, admin passwords that left with a former employee. We hand over administrative access and keep records so the building is never locked out of its own security system.
Takeovers assessed honestly
Before you commit, we tell you which parts of an existing system we can support, which are proprietary or tied to another dealer’s account, and what a transfer actually involves — so the takeover is a plan, not a surprise.
A person, not a portal
When a reader is down or a former employee’s badge needs to die today, submitting a ticket and waiting is not an answer. When you call R&D you reach a person, and if we miss you, we call back.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Can you take over a security system another company installed?
Usually, yes — with eyes open. Panels and hardware from the major platforms can typically be serviced regardless of installer. The complications are administrative: cloud-hosted access control and video accounts are often tied to the installing dealer’s account, and some platforms are dealer-proprietary. We identify what transfers cleanly, what requires the previous vendor’s cooperation, and what is worth replacing, before you sign anything.
We’ve lost admin access to our access control or video system. Can you help?
This is one of the most common calls we get, especially after a vendor change or staff turnover. Depending on the platform, recovery might mean a password reset through the manufacturer, a transfer of a cloud account, or reprogramming the head end. Tell us the make and model of what you have, and we will tell you what recovery looks like — and then document the credentials properly so it does not happen again.
Can our security system tie into the fire alarm?
In many buildings it has to — access-controlled doors on egress paths generally must release under alarm conditions, and how that interconnection is done depends on your occupancy, your hardware, and your AHJ. Because we work on both fire alarm and security systems, we handle both sides of that interface and the documentation that goes with it. We confirm requirements building by building; this is not something to generalize about.
Do you monitor burglar alarms?
Yes — we arrange central-station monitoring for intrusion systems, including takeovers of existing monitored accounts. If false alarms are the reason you are calling, we look at the cause first — sensor placement, entry delays, user procedures — because monitoring a system that cries wolf just makes the fines arrive faster.
How long will our camera footage be kept?
As long as the storage you buy allows — retention is a design decision, not a fixed number. Camera count, resolution, frame rate, and whether recording is continuous or motion-based all drive how many days of video a recorder holds. We ask what retention you actually need — insurance, incident review, internal policy — and size the storage to that, in writing, so there is no surprise when footage is requested.
Cloud-based or on-premise — which should we use?
We install and service both, and the honest answer depends on your building and your operation. Cloud platforms simplify multi-site management and remote administration; on-premise systems keep everything local and avoid subscription costs. Your IT environment, who administers the system day to day, and how many sites you run matter more than any vendor’s preference — including ours. We will lay out both paths with the tradeoffs.
Coverage
Service area
We serve commercial and institutional buildings across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Call to confirm coverage for your specific site — and if you manage multiple buildings, ask about consolidating security service across the portfolio.
Related pages
Access Control
Card, fob, and mobile-credential access control for commercial buildings across MA & NH. Design, installation, takeovers, and service. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Video Surveillance
Commercial video surveillance design, installation, and service for buildings across MA & NH. Cameras that record what you need to see. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Intrusion Detection
Commercial intrusion and burglar alarm installation, monitoring, and service for facilities across MA & NH. Call 617-207-2777 — we answer, or we call back.
Learn more →Intercoms & Automated Gates
Entry intercoms, video door stations, tenant directories, and automated gate operators for commercial properties in MA & NH. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Property Management
Fire alarm inspection, service, and monitoring for property management portfolios across MA & NH. One accountable vendor — call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Commercial & Industrial
Fire alarm service, testing, and repair for manufacturing, warehouse & industrial facilities in MA & NH — planned around production. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Massachusetts
Commercial fire alarm installation, testing, service & monitoring across Massachusetts. Based in Braintree, MA. Call 617-207-2777 — we answer or call back.
Learn more →New Hampshire
Commercial fire alarm installation, inspection, service, and monitoring for New Hampshire buildings, served from our Massachusetts base. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Browse all services or contact us with a question.
Tell us about your doors, cameras, and panels
Whether it is one dead reader, an orphaned system with no passwords, or a full building to design, start with a call. Tell us what you have and what is not working — we will tell you what makes sense next. Call 617-207-2777 or request service online.