If you made it to the NEC this year you will know that it’s no exaggeration to say FSEC has now become huge. With its year on year increase in exhibitors, there is now such a vast range of products and services on show it’s difficult to know where to start … and we were there for the four days. So my sympathies for installers who squeezed the show into a day.
Of course, it is still possible to do the whole show in a day … if you know what you’re looking for. It’s tough on the feet, but the real work starts when you get back to base loaded up with business cards and all that information that needs sifting for those products and contacts that will give you the jump on your competitors, solve that problem installation or point you to a new profit area.
It’s now frequently described as the best security event in the world and – comparatively – it’s on your doorstep.
IFSEC has become so pivotal that people now measure their visits like campaign medals … “This is my third”. “Well, this is my fifteenth!”
But if you didn’t make it to the NEC this year here are some of the things that stick in my mind about IFSEC 2007.
For the Security Installer team it marked the launch of info4security, our unique new website. We had some great feedback at the show, but if you still haven’t seen what we’re doing online go to www.info4security.com
We’ve brought enough interesting material back to base to fill Security Installer magazine three times over. Expect to see all these new goodies detailed – and some bench tested – in the next few editions.
CCTV gets intelligent
Number one in the buzz phrase charts was “video analytics”. There was some of this last year when Cieffe won the Best of the Best at the IFSEC Innovation Awards with its Nettuno Senses codec and Sony showed the Ipela – the first camera with embedded intelligent motion and object detection.
But the concept – with intelligence in the camera, DVR or codec – has now swept through the surveillance industry. If there was a CCTV manufacturer who was not pushing this, I didn’t meet them.
The idea is to overcome monitoring fatigue suffered by operators after staring at the screen for relatively short periods. (“Too many cameras, not enough people”, said Texas Instruments launching their DaVinci range).
Object left, object removed, unusual action, wrong way walking, behaving suspiciously, loitering with intent … how far will it go?
One manufacturer says the ultimate would be a blank screen where the operator only has to give his attention when alerted by the analytics.
Celebrating 25 years in the industry (and a move to new a new Warrington HQ) Dedicated Micros launched a raft of new products. Video analytics featured in the high performance products designed for key applications such as transport and retail.
Installer interest
Of special interest to installers will be the new SD DVRs with all those attractive phrases: “mid range, off the shelf, out of the box, pre-configured, plug in and play” plus “analytics capability”. It’s also said to be the first targeted at small to medium sized business. Installers, especially those who buy a lot of DM kit already, will be interested in their new Fusion programme. In return for an agreed commitment, installers will get a single point of contact at the company, priority with demonstration teams, discounts on demo stock, enhanced tech support, training and more. Check out the new offerings on www.dedicatedmicros.uk and follow the link to the events section.
Cieffe also triumphed in the IFSEC Innovation Awards this year, once again winning the Best of the Best, this time with the Nettuno Mega PX megapixel camera – “the only one in the market capable of using an MPEG-4 compression algorithm allowing it to be used in IP installations”.
Indicating the way the biggest companies are well involved with analytics, Jeremy Kimber, Honeywell UK marketing leader, video and access, described it as “the smartbomb of security” that allows operators to focus on the real issues. (He will be writing on this subject in a future issue of Security Installer).
The new hot topic
Kimber also touched on another hot subject at the show: perimeter security using thermal imaging cameras and ground based radar systems. These technologies were limited to military applications and well out of reach of the average installer a short while ago but are now more accessible and affordable and starting to become part of the armoury.
I’ve seen thermal imaging demos from specialists FLIR but I was interested to see their latest ultra long range model suitable for many applications, including border and coastal surveillance. The HRC cameras use optical zoom on the thermal image, seeing much more detail even in complete darkness and through fog and smoke. You see the intruder, he doesn’t see you … and thermal cameras pick up events easily missed by the naked eye.
By reducing the need for perimeter fencing and with no need for CCTV lighting they can also be cost effective, and other mainstream providers have also picked up on this technology. Ganz launched their C-AllView Thermal which detects at “extreme range” in total darkness and all weathers.
But what happens when you need an evidential image? I wondered.
Binit Shah, marketing manager , CBC (Europe) said the Ganz model answers this by cleverly switching to optical technology at shorter distances. The company was also becoming involved with radar technology, he said.
Making the grade
You’ve probably been working with BT Redcare Classic for years. But I’m sure many installers will be interested in Redcare’s new Grade 2 product. Could this be the product to open up the largely untapped residential market to monitored alarms?
Agile is aimed at residential and commercial customers who want dual path signalling but only at Grade 2 level.
They developed Agile after talking to hundreds of installers and ARCs, said marketing director, Mark Chamberlain, and had identified a gap in the market.
“The feedback we have had from our customers and the industry is that they are very happy with our Grade 4 risk products but they felt there was a gap in our portfolio,” he said. Agile is said to be easily installed and works on any landline, not just BT lines.
Redcare were setting up a training programme to bring installers up to speed. Visit www.redcare.bt.com for details.
Network news
Of course, IP networking was everywhere, with far too many new products launched to include in this space, so expect to see them in the pages of Installer over the next couple of issues.
Axis, world leaders in the global network market, unveiled four new network cameras, including one mounted in the centre of the ceiling that solves the problem of blind spots. An auto-flip on the Axis 215 PTZ reverses the pan direction whenever the camera reaches the mechanical stop at 180 deg.
Some IP suppliers cite installer fear or even an “attitude problem” as a factor holding it back. Axis MD Steve Gorski did agree with what other manufacturers had said about the UK being a difficult market for IP because of the high number of legacy systems. But he said he was excited at the prospect of four and a half million cameras eventually needing to be upgraded.
Launching two new IP mini domes, Sony announced a record year for its network video monitoring. Key to its success in Europe over the last year was its ability to deliver intelligent surveillance through its Ipela cameras, said Simon Nash, European product manager.
He predicted a massive increase in video content analysis in network cameras. Sony launched two new “intelligent” IP mini domes (SNC-DF50P and SNC-DF80P) but they also launched four analogue mini dome designs as well (the SSC-CD45P, 49P, 75P and 77P) saying they were reinforcing their commitment to delivering a “broad range of choice” to customers.
State of the market
Norbain’s MD Alun John also gave a realistic assessment of the network video market, saying the company was “agnostic” and put end user satisfaction as their ultimate goal, no matter whether analogue or IP was used.
He reminded a gathering of the security press that network video is only 7 per cent of the current CCTV market and that 70 per cent of sales is still via the traditional channel.
Network video was successful in specific segments such as high end enterprise systems and low end surveillance (such as server rooms serviced via IT distribution). It was also successful in the education and transportation sectors where there is a robust high redundancy network in place.
However, the big mid-market was a difficult one in which to make the IP transition and there was a high level of satisfaction with current CCTV by end users.
“Video on copper cable provides a great solution,” he said “There is still a huge analogue market that will continue.”
Although there would be a big increase in network products up to 2009, the analogue camera market would also show strong growth. Fixed network cameras would be the early movers in the UK, he said, because network latency made high speed dome control difficult. Network cards in cameras were also still expensive.
Also inhibiting the change to full network systems was a knowledge and skills shortage and an inertia to change.
“We talk different languages”, he said.
There were “cost/performance benefits” to be had in IP enterprise and low end systems.
But, reminding the press that the average number of cameras per system in the UK was eight, he said the cost/performance ratio of full network systems did not satisfy the mid market.
He added some entry level vendors were creating confusion by trivialising the demands of traditional security installation.
He explained the analogue to network bridge via hybrid technology that would allow IP to make an easy transition. Norbain aimed to be a bridge between the markets, he said.
Norbain launched the “Formidable 4” products: Vista Navigator, a mid range DVR for 4,10 or 16 cameras; the Blade DVR an enterprise level real-time DVR; The PowerDome2 with an improved housing design and more powerful camera modules; and Graphica2, an updated version of Graphica that allows for control of the new Blade and Navigator DVRs
Get trained up
Tim Giles of Nice Systems, addressed the installer skill shortage issue. Demonstrating the NiceVision Net end-to-end IP solution, he urged installers to buddy up with integrators or train to develop their IP skills. He said the UK was a crowded and difficult market. There had been so much hype that many installers and end users were confused over IP.
“How many installers have the necessary knowledge? How many are Cisco certified?” he asked.
Bosch also saw the UK analogue to IP transition being via hybrid systems. The company also said that in some parts of the world (such as Australasia, India and Thailand) the intruder market was thriving.
Wireless technology would also grow by a predicted six per cent over the next five years, said Uwe Glock, chairman of the board of Bosch Security Systems.
“Our research indicates particular growth in access control and CCTV in 2007, although the US and Europe seem to have reached maturity for conventional video surveillance,” he said.
The company launched the AutoDome modular camera system – IP enabled dome cameras that have interchangeable modules that enable installers to update functionality quickly – and the Professional series of intruder detectors, said to be ideal for commercial and indoor industrial applications. (We will be Bench Testing these in a future edition).
Access in vein
Of course, biometrics featured in many access control products.
Panasonic Systems Solutions Europe won the Best New Access Control Product award at the IFSEC Innovations Awards for its BT-EM 200 iris recognition reader, and fingerprint readers were being demonstrated on a number of stands.
But now veins seem to be the thing. The readers are contactless, so offer more cleanliness and no smearing, say manufacturers. Veins remain constant over the years and, of course, there is little risk of forgery.
I tried two Hitachi finger vein units – a door access unit and an embedded reader popular in Japan at ATM machines. Both worked easily and quickly and I can see a lot more use of this technology in the future.
I also tried TDSI’s PalmGarde, a new access reader which processes the vein patterns in the palm of the hand. Because no contact is made, this reader would be particularly suitable for the healthcare environment and the veins can be read through surgical gloves.
… and a thank you
As trekking round the show for four days can be thirsty work, the Security Installer and info4security teams were grateful to those exhibitors who invited us to their after show gatherings.
We joined the hundreds of installers who attended the Panasonic PPI Awards and comedy night at Jongleurs and the wild west evening organised by Norbain at the National Motorcycle Museum. So our thanks to those companies.
