As Published June 2, 2004 in the Curry Coastal Pilot:

DIAMOND COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVES FIVE-STAR AWARD

By DONALD ALLISON

Pilot Staff Writer

Diamond Communications Inc. was recently awarded a five-star dealer award from HAI for creating an "innovative" monitoring system for elderly people who need immediate medical attention.

HAI is a manufacturer of integrated automation and security products, and has been in business since 1985.

Diamond Communications Owner Ken Streacker said he came up with the idea because when an elderly person uses a bracelet to alert someone when they need medical attention, they either have to be conscious or wearing the bracelet for it to work.

The "lack of motion" system works by using the home's security-system monitors to watch the interior of the home, and after there has been no motion in the home for approximately two hours or for whatever the time segment is set, a computer calls authorities or family members to alert them that the person has not moved.

The sensors can also be used to turn on lights when a person enters a room or hallway, he said, or turn on exterior lights when night falls.

Streacker said Diamond Communications offers audio and video systems for an entire home, security and automation systems, computer networks, telephone systems, home theater, audio equipment and surround sound.

"Ninety percent of our work is new construction," Streacker said. "When someone is building a home, we come in after the electrician and run all the wires."

Streacker said he has been working to educate home contractors in the area about the new ways to wire a home for television and telephone.

"Computer networking has really taken off," Streacker said. "Now that every room has a television, I believe that will happen with computers."

The technology that makes such computer networking possible is impressive, and Streacker said in one scenario, if someone was planning dinner away from home, they could log into their computer system and look in the automated refrigerator to read a list of what food is in there.

Streacker said his own home is a demonstration studio that he calls "kid tested."

"If it doesn't work in my home then I'm not going to sell it," Streacker said. "The new term throughout the industry is ‘home integrators,' where we take multiple systems and integrate them so they work with each other."

Streacker said the audio server he sells, Request Multi-Media, allows him to download all of his customers' compact discs onto the system, and that way the person has access to their music throughout the house by simply logging onto the system.

When the user buys a new compact disc, Streacker said, they simply load it into the system and the technology then logs onto the Internet and finds the cover art for the disc, and puts it up on the computer screen whenever the disc plays.

"Request Multi-Media offers free upgrades for life," Streacker said.

Because of demand from his customers for upscale audio systems, Streacker said he currently sells state-of-the-art stereo equipment with surround sound that cannot be purchased in the immediate area.

"I design the system to their needs," he said. "Their room is part of the component. I design the system to how the room is designed, speaker placement and everything."

Diamond Communications can be contacted at (541) 469-7518, and the mailing address is P.O. Box 1355, Brookings, OR 97415. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.diamondtelecom.com.

Last Update 06/06/04 RSH