Larry Anderson's Security Beat

As my trip to London for IFSEC International ends, I can look back on three days jam-packed with new approaches, new technologies, and the best the global security market has to offer. I met people from all over the world who share an interest in physical security technology -- and how it can be used to make the world a safer place. I heard several exhibitors mention that business was slow in Europe in the early part of 2015. However, the show highlighted that R&D investment has continued t...

You couldn’t miss IDIS America at ISC West this year – they had a 2,800-square-foot booth. But who are they? That was a question many attendees asked. The big booth presence, and flood of industry advertising before the show, both reflect that IDIS is not an upstart. The name may be unfamiliar to some in the U.S. market, but IDIS has been making a similar splash all over the world. The high profile reflects the global player’s commitment to being a “game-changer” i...

Axis has a new camera that “shakes like a dog” when it rains -- to get rid of the extra moisture. KiwiSecurity, an Austrian company and IFSEC newcomer, uses video analytics to scramble images of faces in live video to ensure privacy.These were two of the surprising things I saw on Day Two of IFSEC. Attendance picked up nicely in the halls of London’s ExCeL -- and the show floor seemed to get bigger as the day wore on (at least according to my weary feet!). There definitely were...

Many of the new products being promoted at IFSEC International this year at ExCeL London were previously unveiled at the big ISC West show in the United States in April. Now the IFSEC audience of Europeans and other international visitors are seeing them for the first time. Traffic seemed a little slow the first day, and you heard some exhibitors grumbling about it, but IFSEC exhibitors are finding a lot of new things to talk about with attendees. The cool London weather is perfect for a trade s...

Time flies, and I’m sure it’s been 10 or 15 years since the term PSIM (meaning physical security information management) came into favour in our market. It was a variation on the term SIM (security information management), which in the realm of information security refers to a collection of data into a central repository for trend analysis. The idea was to apply the same concept to physical security equipment in the form of an over-arching software system that takes information from...

Security vigilance can be sporadic at many companies and institutions. Facilities tend to tighten security in the days after a scary event happens or makes headlines, and people are generally tolerant of the associated inconvenience – for a time. But as memory fades, so too does tolerance for being inconvenienced. We want to be safe, but we also don’t want to be bothered. We want a security system that both provides safety and is unobtrusive. Security doesn’t have to be inconv...

We’re seeing a market trend toward manufacturers seeking to provide “total solutions” rather than components. The trend is reflected clearly in recent industry consolidation, for example. When companies that manufacture various components become part of a single corporate owner, it’s not a stretch to expect the new owners to combine those components into a single end-to-end solution – sooner or later. Manufacturers are also leveraging OEM agreements and other partne...

Most of us think of shrinkage in the context of the retail environment, where a host of video cameras, tamper-proof packaging, sensors and other technologies help control theft by customers and employees. However, the term shrinkage also applies to goods before they get to a retail store. Goods can be stolen at any stage of their manufacture and distribution, usually by employees, and there are fewer technology solutions geared toward theft along the supply chain. In fact, some distribution cen...

It has been seven months or so since Tyco Integrated Security entered the small business security sector, and the company’s focused approach is paying off well in the five initial markets of Chicago; South Florida; Dallas-Fort Worth; Orange County, Calif.; and Burbank, Calif. It’s no wonder they hit the ground running. TycoIS had plenty of time to prepare for its September 2014 launch into the small business market. Expiration of a two-year non-compete agreement after the company sp...

Buying security services can be a tricky business, and success requires a strategic approach involving multiple stakeholders and careful evaluation of proposals, including a scoring system that targets the most important criteria. “Buying security services is a special beast,” says George Councils, AlliedBarton’s vice president of strategic sourcing and acquisition integration. “Evaluation requires special considerations.” I listened in on a recent AlliedBarton web...

When you need to view video of an incident or information about an access point, you expect your security system will provide that information. But what happens if a camera or card reader isn’t working for some reason? It’s the security director’s worst nightmare. Sadly, the moment when a system fails is often the first indication an end user has that there is a problem. A useful trend I saw at ISC West this year is growth in various types of diagnostic, monitoring and control...

Since acquiring SeeTec AG, On-Net Surveillance Systems, Inc. (OnSSI) is bringing production of its entire software platform in house. The SeeTec recorder will replace OnSSI’s legacy recorder, previously OEM’d by Milestone, beginning with the introduction of Ocularis 5.x. Familiar in Europe, SeeTec is a privately held German-based company providing VMS solutions and was among the first providers of network-based video management applications. With SeeTec now part of OnSSI, the combin...

Anyone thinking the Canon acquisition of Axis is a done deal should reconsider. Not so fast. A wrinkle has emerged as the Japanese imaging giant has been buying up shares of Axis in anticipation of acquiring the Swedish camera manufacturer. The wrinkle comes in the form of a hedge fund company called Elliott Management, which has reportedly bought 10.91 percent of Axis stock. Incomplete sale The number is significant because Canon needs to acquire 90 percent of Axis stock in order to force th...

Phybridge is an unfamiliar name in the physical security market. That’s because the Canadian company first made its mark in the telecommunications market, serving customers transitioning from analogue to digital telephone systems using “voice-over-IP.” The telecommunications transition came six to 10 years before a similar transition happening now in the physical security market, and the infrastructure solutions that succeeded in the former market are also applicable to the la...

The latest in video surveillance equipment at ISC West this week is reflected by the numbers you hear repeatedly on the show floor, numbers like 4K and H.265. Big players like Panasonic have joined the 4K bandwagon in a big way. Sony introduced a 4K camera with a larger sensor size (1-inch) to increase light sensitivity, displaying the better view alongside a “Brand X” competitor in the Sony booth. “Sharper and smarter” Promoting a theme of “sharper and smarter,...

Where did all these people come from? That was the happy question among exhibitors pleased with the brisk booth traffic on the first day of ISC West in Las Vegas. The aisles on the traditionally busy first day of the show did seem especially crowded at the Sands Convention Center.Lower pricing was one theme emerging on the first day of the show, with camera manufacturer Samsung leading the way with the introduction of its WiseNet Lite cameras, versions of its popular line that have fewer feature...

A message we’re hearing a lot at ISC West this year is the customer’s growing demand for end-to-end solutions. In the small- to medium-sized business (SMB) segment, especially, there is a strong demand for total solutions that are simple to use and easy to integrate and manage. The most efficient path to achieve such systems is often to install an end-to-end solution from a single supplier, combining access control and video. Creating unified solution by uniting product businesses...

Cybersecurity has been getting much more attention lately in the physical security market. One company ready to address cybersecurity of IP video products is DVTEL. The Israeli company’s roots in IT and networking make it a logical choice to take a lead in cyber-defence of IP video systems. DVTEL’s core research and development (R&D) in Israel includes cyber-defence expertise. DVTEL’s cyber-defence plan In fact, DVTEL is moving fast to implement its cyber-defence plan &nd...

Milestone Systems is closing in on a year since their acquisition by Canon’s European subsidiary in June 2014. Throughout the ownership transition, Milestone has reiterated its commitment to open systems and continued to flourish, building its “ecosystem” alongside other industry partners. At the recent Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS 2015), I had a chance to chat with Lars Thinggaard, Milestone’s president and CEO, about industry trends and what’s ah...

If you’re heading to ISC West in Las Vegas this year, it’s helpful to acknowledge immediately that there’s no way you can experience all aspects of the show. Just not enough time and too many options. Once you give up on seeing everything, you can immediately lower stress. But you also raise the stakes in terms of picking and choosing exactly what you have time for – or want to make time for. Hoping to help out as we all set our ISC West priorities, here are some Ways to...

Traffic is a big challenge in most urban environments, and I had a chance recently to visit with the agency in Montreal, Quebec, that monitors traffic throughout the island, reacting to traffic conditions and daily situations such as road congestion and managing specific events and incidents. A network of traffic light controllers and video cameras provides data that is tied into Montreal’s Urban Mobility Management Center (UMMC), which is the “brains” of the city’s Inte...

For attendees at ISC West in Las Vegas, the show each year brings together elements that are comfortably familiar with elements that are brand new, even unexpected. The U.S. security marketplace’s largest yearly gathering is an unrivalled forum for new product introductions, and the exhibition sets the stage for much that happens in the market throughout the rest of the year. The ISC West exhibit hall at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas will be open April 15-17, and education sessions will be...

Commoditisation of cameras and downward price pressure are big topics in the video surveillance market. There was an interesting discussion about pricing and its impact on the integrator community at last month’s MIPS 2015 (Milestone Integration Platform Symposium). Participants were several of the major camera manufacturers, who provided a variety of viewpoints. Prompting the discussion – but with no representative on the panel – were the emerging Chinese manufacturers, who a...

Advances in LPR: License plate recognition (LPR) is used widely today in law enforcement applications, but the enterprise security market is also catching on to benefits of the technology – especially when it is combined with other video analytics. PlateSmart Technologies, Oldsmar, Fla., is working to maximise those benefits and to use LPR as a real-time, proactive tool for physical security. PlateSmart’s ARES Enterprise Video Analytics System is a software-only platform that combi...

This year’s 10th anniversary Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS) was the largest ever, with 463 participants, including manufacturers, integrators and thought leaders from throughout the industry. Emphasizing Milestone’s “open platform” approach to the market, the 2015 event highlighted successful Milestone end users, new integrations with a variety of manufacturer partners, and a theme of “winning together.” Keeping Mum on the Canon-Axis acquisti...

3xLOGIC has a vision to provide a fully integrated video, access control and cloud-based managed solution. The acquisition this week of the infinias access control product line provides the missing piece of that vision, says Matthew Kushner, CEO of 3xLOGIC. “This acquisition is a pure strategic play to create a disruptive solution for cloud-based managed services,” says Kushner. The acquisition includes the infinias brand, its intellectual property and the infinias team, including e...

The spirit of collaboration was alive and well at AMAG Technology’s Security Engineering Symposium 2015 in Carlsbad, Calif. Targeting consultants, architects and engineers (A&E), and integrators, the weekend conference was built around AMAG’s Symmetry access control products, especially their role in a unified system that incorporates a variety of other technologies, too. Also participating in the event (and emphasising the value of long-term partnering) were several other techn...

In the wake of Canon’s acquisition of Axis Communications, the company faces a communication challenge in the market – to reiterate the camera manufacturer’s commitment to open systems- acknowledges Fredrik Nilsson, General Manager, North America of the Swedish IP camera vendor.    “We say nothing will change, and we will show it in our action as well as say it,” he comments. “There have been companies that have claimed openness, but then don&rsquo...

Given the current trend toward consolidation, the industry has seen more camera manufacturers and software suppliers aligning under the same owner. Bucking the trend is software company Genetec.  “Staying independent will help us innovate,” says Georges Karam, who recently joined Genetec as chief commercial officer. “What’s important for the customer is the end-to-end solution, and our integrators can provide that.” Genetec positions itself at the centre of a...

A more than 20-year shared history between Canon and Axis Communications has been an underreported aspect of the recent announcement by the world’s largest camera company of plans to acquire the Swedish IP video camera company. The fact is, Canon and Axis have worked together for years, dating back to the time when Axis was focused on making printer servers (rather than IP cameras). In those days, Axis often worked with Canon to supply printer servers, which were bundled with Canon printe...