ISC West Abounds With Solutions Offering Much More for Less
SSI Editor-in-Chief Scott Goldfine highlights the latest technologies from Honeywell, IQinvision, OnSSI, JVC, Allegion and Lenel that he saw at ISC West 2014.
ISC West 2014 was just about an unequivocal success with packed aisles and happy, sometimes overwhelmed vendors. Let’s hope this is a harbinger of what the year holds in store for the electronic security industry. Often feeling like Adrian Peterson pushing to make it through a stout defensive line, I made my usual nonstop rounds with exhibitor meetings every top and bottom of the hour throughout. Here are some Day 1 highlights . . .
Ralph Maniscalco, and other friends at Honeywell, showed some very slick new offerings, including an advance look at Tuxedo Voice that accepts user voice commands at the touch screen controller and can also display on any connected device in the home. In addition, it can function like a DVR with a camera interface and SD card storage in the controller. Also saw how the Lynx can now handle up to four cameras and Honeywell is beta testing a tablet-based app that replicates the actual system touch screen interface and in doing so functions as a great sales tool for dealers.
Wendi Burke at IQinVision showed off one of only a half-dozen 4K Ultra HD displays at the show. There was much excitement in the air as news of the merger with Vicon had just been announced. Burke says the deal is a 50%-50% split and is a strong complementary fit as the two video surveillance solution providers have no overlapping products or market focus.
Caught up with my old friend Ken La Marca (ex-Sony) in his new digs with OnSSI. He was jazzed about the Ocularis 4.0 VMS that he said is the company’s most significant update since the product’s launch several years ago. Four significant new features are: mix and match of cameras and less costly licensing; critical failover coverage on all cameras; easy audit logging; and integration with Axis’ new access control solution.
Over at JVC, John Grabowski said the company was ramping up its efforts in the security surveillance space. He spoke highly of a new line of entry-level IP cameras and also upgradable NVRs. At the same time, he said the firm’s analog business was still strong, so much so that a new line of DVRs has also been released. According to Grabowski, JVC has the lowest IP camera failure rates in the industry. And they are looking at migrating 4K Ultra HD technology over from its broadcast division to security.
April Dalton-Noblitt and Minu Youngkin at Allegion shared a lot of wisdom about how the firm is strategically targeting the health-care market and in doing so helping integrators gain more business in the space. They said it is all about increasing value to the end user by leveraging the technology for management beyond security and driving outcomes that reduce costs. They said more than ever compliance and higher efficiency is mandatory for health-care clients, which is a great opportunity for integrators. They also told me how excited they are about the recent rebranding of their business as Allegion and how there is a palpable buzz around the enterprise.
Had an enjoyable one-on-one with Lenel‘s Ross McKay, who expounded on some key shifts he is seeing in the access control business. He said there are much fewer very large projects than there once were, and so the real opportunity is in the mid-market. This is why the company is offering its TruePortal product as a solution to those end users that easily allows them to scale up down the line to the more robust OnGuard platform. McKay says he is also seeing wireless access really coming into its own and more true systems integration. At the same time, he has observed a loss in momentum for managed access control, particularly where it comes to large end-user customers. He also conceded there had been a lot of shifting in recent times within Lenel and parent UTC on the security side, but those days are over and the mantra now is stability.
That’s enough to chew on for now. Much more to come in our ongoing ISC West 2014 coverage.
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