Comelit - Experts & Thought Leaders

Fire and Security Apprenticeship Specialist, Skills for Security proudly marks the success of an inaugural Careers Fair, taking place near its Walsall training branch at The Bescot Stadium Locker Room. The event, designed to introduce local school leavers to career opportunities in the fire and security industry, welcomed an enthusiastic turnout of students, educators, and industry professionals. Fire and security sector The event provided a unique platform for students aged 14 to 18 to explore potential career paths As the first careers fair of its kind dedicated solely to the fire and security sector, the event provided a unique platform for students aged 14 to 18 to explore potential career paths. Says David Scott, Managing Director of Skills for Security: "We asked, and the industry responded. With the support of our sponsors, the overwhelming response, as the first careers fair dedicated to fire and security highlights the enthusiasm and curiosity of young people when presented with clear career pathways." Fire and security apprenticeships Scott added: “The industry offers rewarding and long-term opportunities, and the event has provided a vital local platform to showcase the many ways students can build a successful future in the sector. Seeing so many students, teachers, and employers come together to engage in meaningful conversations has been truly inspiring." Organised by Skills for Security, the UK’s pioneering provider of fire and security apprenticeships, the fair aimed to bridge the industry’s skills gap by offering hands-on insights into apprenticeship pathways, career opportunities and real-world industry engagement. Latest technological developments Attendees had the option to interact with keynote speakers and explore live apprenticeship vacancies Featuring industry-pioneering sponsors, including a dedicated speech from Steve Riley, Division Director at Comelit-PAC on inclusivity in the workplace, exhibitors included Ajax, CSL, Fenix Monitoring, HKC, Orisec, RISCO, Pyronix, HID Global, Honeywell, Cento, AddSecure, Deep Alert, Smoke Screen, Videcon, Yuasa Battery, Obsequio, Protec, Marlowe, EDSB, Amulet and the Skills for Security Talent Acquisition team.  Each was on hand to offer career guidance, CV-building support, and insight into the latest technological developments in the sector. Attendees also had the opportunity to interact with industry keynote speakers and explore live apprenticeship vacancies. Networking opportunities The event successfully connected students with potential employers, offering valuable networking opportunities and first-hand insights into the fire and security profession. Teachers and career advisors also benefited from the event, gaining a deeper understanding of the industry’s career prospects to better guide their students. Next generation with the skills and knowledge David concluded: “Following the success of this event, we are already planning future careers fairs to continue supporting young people in their career journeys." "We remain committed to raising awareness of the exciting opportunities within the fire and security sector and equipping the next generation with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive.”

Comelit-PAC LOGOS video door entry monitors have been installed at the luxury Mercantile residential development in just two weeks from quotation to project completion, thanks to the enhanced security technology. Situated in Ropewalks, a central hub in Liverpool, the Mercantile is a cosmopolitan living environment situated at the heart of the city. Featuring 32 one- and two-bedroom apartments together with a collection of penthouses, the development is suitable for buy-to-live and buy-to-let clients. Ideal features and benefits of smart LOGOs monitors With premier interior specification, security specialist on site Digital Vision North West was introduced to Comelit-PAC via its gold partner distributor Moreton Alarms, with the smart LOGOs monitors proving ideal features and benefits to seamlessly blend with their surroundings. Says John Morley of Legacie Developments: “Every aspect of the Mercantile has been designed to be world-class and completed to an impeccable standard to maintain our impressive portfolio of luxury living environments in key UK cities. We knew of Comelit-PAC for its own reputation for high specification solutions and were happy to be introduced to the LOGOs monitors. All 32 monitors were installed quickly and offer our residents impressive features and benefits.” Power and use of NFC communications New Comelit-PAC LOGOS monitor series offers installers ease of use and enhanced functionality The new Comelit-PAC LOGOS monitor series offers installers ease of use and enhanced functionality. By harnessing the power of NFC communications and the dedicated MyComelit app, the LOGOS Monitor was selected over other brands for its high-quality video capabilities, user-friendly interface, and competitive pricing. Says Mark Lewis, Director of Digital Vision North West: “The streamlined design and efficient integration of the LOGOs monitors made it the ideal choice for this residential development. Its real benefit is the use of NFC communications, where we could programme each monitor quickly and efficiently, ready for resident use. From quoting to works completion is a top effort to offer such advanced smart door entry technology; we’ll definitely be using them more in the future.” Innovation and security excellence Tom McCabe of Comelit-PAC added: “Whilst Comelit-PAC is known for our focus on style and design, the LOGOs monitor demonstrates our commitment to innovation and security excellence." "We continuously strive to enhance our product portfolio and simplify the setup process, enabling more installers to offer smart door entry technology with ease. It’s fantastic to see LOGOs installed at such a prestigious project in Liverpool and to witness how its advanced functionality enhances both security and convenience for modern city living.”

Comelit-PAC has launched a new Gateway to allow customers to connect their PAC controllers to Housing Central, a simple-to-install device designed to facilitate seamless access control communication and remote management for residential customers. The PAC Gateway has been created to address the evolving needs of residential customers and to enable remote management between the primary PAC 511/512DCi and secondary 512DC door controllers on site, communicating via Ethernet or Cellular networks with Housing Central. Access control communication Says Steve Riley, Division Director at Comelit-PAC: “The PAC Gateway represents a simple-to-install device that facilitates seamless access control communication and remote management." "It addresses the evolving needs of our customers by enabling them to securely manage remote residential properties, administrate tenant credentials and remotely control doors to allow visitor or contractor access.” Transition to the 4G or Ethernet solution Upgrade will allow clients who have been using PSTN or GSM to manage their remote properties Riley added: “By adding the PAC hardware to Housing Central, we are also expanding the functionality our cloud solution offers, including the ability to create Time Profiles used to restrict Staff and Residents access to areas of the block, or applied to a door enabling free access during these periods.” This upgrade will allow customers who have been using PSTN or GSM to manage their remote properties to transition to the 4G or Ethernet solution with minimal effort, disruption and investment. Introduction of Access Profiles Steve continues: “With the launch of the PAC Gateway, we also took the opportunity to enhance the look, feel and functionality of Housing Central, guided by valuable customer feedback." "These updates include a revamped reporting tool that allows users to email reports directly, an overview section displaying managed hardware and an improved process for applying access permissions to credential holders - whether tenants or staff. The introduction of Access Profiles makes it easier for customers to quickly add, amend, or remove access without updating individual records, recognising their systems are always evolving.” Comelit-PAC gateways The PAC gateway can be configured to manage up to eight doors, in various configurations The PAC gateway can be configured to manage up to eight doors, in various configurations, but always with a PAC 511DCi or a PAC 512DCi connected directly to the Gateway with secure IP SSL or 4 G connections to Housing Central. Comelit-PAC has designed gateways for minimal installation requirements, ensuring a hassle-free setup process, providing flexible connectivity options to suit various customer needs. New 500 series door controllers Steve concludes: “Together with the network options and the capabilities to enable both new and existing 500 series door controllers, customers can enhance their current access control systems with a future-proof, scalable and cost-effective solution." “The launch of the PAC Gateway demonstrates our conscious efforts to make advanced, secure access control solutions more accessible and user-friendly. Compared to other solutions, we can manage both PAC and GDX hardware on our customers' sites as part of the same system, providing real-time management of remote doors and the ability to manage multiple controllers and doors efficiently.”

With the postponement of tradeshows and events due to the effects of COVID-19, Vanderbilt and ComNet have taken their high quality, innovative solutions online, directly to their customer base. Through an Online Events and Training resource, you can stay connected with the brands’ top resources and products, as well as join upcoming product webinars hosted by their in-house experts. With a majority of the world currently working from home, businesses must respond to this changing landscape. As such, Vanderbilt and ComNet have turned to online resources to share new product demonstrations and other company news. One cornerstone of the ACRE brands approach was the launch of their Online Events and Training resource page. Ross Wilks, Head of Marketing Communications at Vanderbilt, credits this online resource as the anchor to their communicative success with customers at present. “Through weekly webinars delivered by our in-house experts, Vanderbilt and ComNet have embraced more virtual opportunities to continuously communicate to our customers regarding our latest and most relevant products,” he says. “To date, our webinars have covered a wide range of industry topics such as Why Physical Security and Cloud go together, and The most recent developments in card cloning and reader hacking. Attendance to these online events has proved popular and effective in keeping communication with our customer base open and engaging.” Each webinar ends with a Q&A section, as well as follow-up articles on the most asked questions, plus recordings of the webinars being made available to attendees. As such, the webinar approach has proven a receptive approach for Vanderbilt and ComNet. The Online Events and Training resource acts as a one-stop-shop for all virtual information. Overall, the page outlines the brands’ value-added resources for customers, including the ability to request a remote product demonstration, the availability of free online training, 24/7 access to the Vanderbilt webshop, plus the aforementioned weekly webinars. Vanderbilt and ComNet’s business mantra is built on a foundation of customer-focused core values such as empowerment, collaboration, and high performance and Wilks credits this mentality with their ability to keep information flowing to their base during the present pandemic. “The ACRE brands moved early to kick-start online webinars and ramp up awareness of their already existing online training and shopping options. Now more than ever, it is important to keep customers up to date on the latest offerings,” Wilks explains. “Our commitment has always been to make their customer’s security journey the best possible experience, and that is what this Online Events and Learning page primarily focuses on,” he concludes.

There is a new event on the calendar for the security industry in 2019: The Security Event 2019, 9-11 April, at NEC, Birmingham. For additional details and a preview of the new trade show and conference, we spoke with Tristan Norman, Founding Partner and Event Director, The Security Event. Q: It seems recently that some trade shows have been on the decline in terms of exhibit size and attendance. Why does the physical security industry need another trade show? Norman: I think there are numerous factors that play into the decline of trade shows in general and not something that is limited to the security industry. Those events that are suffering are no longer serving their target market or have failed to adapt to the changes in the industry they serve. However, what we are seeing now is the rise of focused, more “evolved” trade events which fulfil a gap in the industry event calendar and provide something new and fresh to a disillusioned audience. Q: What will be unique about The Security Event, and what role will it serve in bringing together buyers and sellers in the market? Where (geographically) will attendees come from? What we are seeing is a rise of trade events which provide something fresh to a disillusioned audience Norman: The driving ethos behind The Security Event is that we are “designed by the industry, for the industry.” We were able to start with a blank canvas and take onboard all the feedback from stakeholders throughout the security buying chain and create an event that is sustainable and fit for purpose. We see the role of the event as a very important one – to truly reconnect the currently fragmented UK commercial security industry, back at the NEC in Birmingham. We had originally anticipated that this would be an almost-exclusively UK event in year one. However, we have seen significant interest from potential visitors from across the wider EMEA region who are keen to do business in the UK. We formed a strategic alliance with Security Essen to help facilitate and strengthen our reach in these regions through additional marketing and PR activities. Consequently, early registrations indicate that it will be approximately an 80% UK and 20% international split. Q: What conference programming is being planned to augment the trade show event? Norman: Content will be delivered across three focused theatres, serving the needs of our audience throughout the buying chain. Emphasis will be placed on the latest technology innovations impacting the industry, practical advice on the most pressing issues facing security technicians, and important industry updates and insights. All sessions are focused on delivering tangible benefits to ensure professionals are equipped to stay relevant and to grow their business and we’re excited to be working with key industry bodies, innovators and experts to deliver the programme. We look forward to announcing those in coming weeks. Exhibitors want to re-engage with the thousands of industry colleagues who no longer attend other events on offer Q: Comparisons to IFSEC are inevitable. How will The Security Event be different than the IFSEC Security and Fire shows? What are the advantages of locating at Birmingham NEC? Norman: Both The Security Event and The Fire Safety Event, based at the NEC are completely different to any other trade show in the UK. We pride ourselves in creating a business platform that puts the exhibitors’ needs first, by limiting the size of stands and total number of exhibitors as well as creating a comprehensive CPD accredited educational programme for the visitors. Q: Which big industry players are supporting the launch of The Security Event, and what feedback are you hearing in terms of why they signed up at the show's inception? If a global manufacturer has a footprint in both the US and Europe, any tradeshow will be managed locally Norman: Our founding partners are Assa Abloy, Avigilon, Anixter, Comelit, Dahua, Honeywell, TDSi, Texecom, Tyco and Videcon. The full list of exhibitors and supporting partners can be found on our website. The reasons why they have signed up are very simple. They all see the exact same gap in the industry event landscape as we do. We believe there is a need for a 3-day channel focused commercial security exhibition based at The NEC in Birmingham. Our exhibitors want to re-engage with the thousands of industry colleagues who no longer attend the other events on offer. Q: Your 2019 show will be the same week as ISC West in Las Vegas. Do you think the competitive calendar will be a factor? Norman: In terms of our both our audience and our exhibiting base there is very little overlap with ISC West. Generally, if a global manufacturer has a footprint in both the US and Europe, any tradeshow will be managed locally so we haven’t observed any issues so far. We do acknowledge that having two shows at the same time globally isn’t ideal and we have moved our dates in 2020 to the 28-30 April to mitigate this going forward. The Security Event 2020 will not clash with Las Vegas' ISC West 2020 as it will in 2019, says Norman Q: How will you measure success in the first year of the show? What measurements (show size, number of attendees, exhibitor feedback, etc.) will constitute a "successful" first year for the show?Security Event will continue to evolve year after year, but will intent to stay true to the event's original concept Norman: Great question – the most important barometer of success for me and the team next April is the general industry reaction, after all, this show was created for them. Furthermore, it is vital to us that our exhibitors feel they have achieved their objectives for the show, whether it be quality, quantity of leads or raising awareness of a new product launch. We’ll also be keen to understand how satisfied visitors are with the event, including their views of the content, access to new products/services, effectiveness of the out of hours networking, etc. We are anticipating 6,000 visitors over the 3 days and I believe if we achieve this goal, we will have a strong rebooking on site, laying a great foundation for our 2020 event. Q: How would you expect/hope the show would continue to evolve in coming years? Norman: I hope over the next few years The Security Event cements itself as the industry’s favourite trade show and that exhibitors and visitors alike look forward to every year for both the business opportunities at the event and the networking outside of it. The Security Event will continue to evolve year after year, but I am determined that we stay true to our original concept and the principles on which the show was founded. After all, it is this formula that has proved to be so popular to date.