Guardian Protection Services specializes in keeping people out but this week the beige walls at headquarters are getting a touch-up so visitors will be doubly impressed once they're allowed in.

The Marshall-based company is helping host the Electronic Security Expo, a gathering of security industry experts expected to convene in Pittsburgh from Monday to June 18.

A collaboration between the Electronic Security Association and the Central Station Alarm Association, the conference will mark its first Pittsburgh appearance at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Should Pittsburgh feel safer next week with all of these security experts in town?

"I don't know if I'd go that far," said ESA president Mike Miller.

Besides, it sounds like they'll be busy.

The conference is expected to draw about 3,500 people, mostly executive- and manager-level employees. Interested people can sign up to attend on the day of the conference. Pricing and other information is available at www.ESXweb.com.

The conference usually is held on the East Coast, where most of the attendees live, said Mr. Miller, who owns Moon Security Services Inc. in Pasco, Wash.

The five-day affair will feature conference mainstays, such as board meetings and award ceremonies, as well as the requisite fun time (last year's photo gallery shows a party that involved glow sticks and guitars).

Seminar topics include hiring tips, technology reviews, the "Best 75-minute Overview of Critical Fire Code Changes Ever" and tours of local security firms.

Emil Parent, director of central station operations at Guardian, was brushing up on his notecards this week for the 21-stop tour through his company's labyrinthine departments and storage areas.

The 76,000-square-foot facility is the Kremlin of the corporate park, with fingerprint verification required for certain wings and built-in two-way glass that can obscure whole conference areas.

Guardian has been in business for 60 years equipping homes and businesses with alarm systems, but company executives said they saw the current market as more "Mission: Impossible" than "Dragnet" with a move toward smarter, more mobile technology.

A Guardian iPhone app can sync a customer's phone with cameras installed around the house so the camera's view is displayed on that phone screen. Guardian technology also allows customers to remotely lower the thermostat or turn off the lights -- or receive an alert anytime the liquor cabinet is opened.

The company has about 1,000 employees nationwide and 500 in its headquarters.

Guardian has more than 220,000 subscribers, with one call operator per 20,000 subscribers.

The current technology is scalable to 800,000 subscribers, said Mary Lynn Moriarity, vice president of marketing.

Guardian's contracts with new-home builders now account for about a third of its business, although William Graham Jr., senior vice president of sales and marketing, said the recent housing bubble caused a dip in activity.

Expansion in the company's national contracts helped compensate for the loss, and Guardian has seen growth of 10 to 15 percent every year, he said.

Echoing the conference organizers, Mr. Parent said the latest security technology relied on seeing more of a home or business.

Some Western states now require video verification showing there is a problem before local police are dispatched.

That means a camera is installed in the home's keypad, allowing Guardian employees to see what is going on in the home.

"A lot of municipalities now will not send police to an alarm without first sending a third-party guard" to see what's up, Mr. Graham said.

Guardian's headquarters building constantly guards against power outages, since a shutdown could mean customers are left unprotected.

That calls for backed-up networks, surge protectors and generators the size of a Hyundai.

And an emergency contact is always on call to get diesel fuel to the generators in less than two hours.

The Marshall call center where alarm calls are received is lit in part by skylights along the roof. Looking up from his notecards, Mr. Parent said the natural light was deemed up-to-code only after bulletproof glass was installed.

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