We had our big
local show a few months ago and last month it was the turn of ASIS in Dallas.
The importance of this expo is that ASIS, ISC, IFSEC and Essen are the
industry’s bellwethers it’s well worth considering the sorts of trends visible
at the show.
It’s not going to
come as a surprise to hear the big trend at ASIS was integration. It’s
something that’s been going on in all markets over the past 18 months and ASIS
indicated it’s no aberration.
Integration is
going to be a really big deal in coming years. When you talk integration you
have to think PSIA and ONVIF and it’s indicative of the challenges the industry
faces that there were 2 integration lobbies waving their flags at ASIS.
Another phrase
that was much bandied about was ‘energy management’ and the word ‘eco’ was often
to be seen. Something else that stood out at ASIS was something we got just a
taste of at Security 2010 in Sydney – cloud computing. SE&N has droned on
about cloud solutions and MPLS in the past but thanks to very real challenges
there’s been little in the way of action.
At ASIS ‘the
cloud’ was on everybody’s lips, though given the complexity of handling video
over public WANs away from data centres in city centres, the future of the
cloud seems a little foggy to me just now.
Another topic on
many tongues was video monitoring – and this is an area we think does have a
real future. The U.S. is in the process of pushing broadband to all homes and
there’s a strong realisation of the potential of video alarm monitoring
underway there.
It doesn’t take
much nous to guess the attraction of video monitoring is the sale of bandwidth
but despite this imperative these are new markets electronic security people
must tap. There’s certainly no question affordable video alarm monitoring would
offer superior levels of security to homes and businesses.
It’s not possible
to write video monitoring and cloud solutions off. At the show, respected
players Axis Communications and Stanley announced a hosted surveillance
solution they’ve been working on for domestic and small commercial applications.
This was described at ASIS as a second convergence revolution – but it seemed
to me to be just a clever application of available technology. Nevertheless – roll
on NBN.
What were the new
products at the show? There was DVTel’s 3D technology based on its patent
pending Adaptive Visualization Technology (AVT). This technology drives DVTel’s
SceneTracker Video Stitching Solution.
Axis
Communications announced the expansion of its surveillance capabilities with
the introduction of Axis’ Corridor Format allowing a vertical field of view for
staircases, hallways, aisles, roads, runways and tunnels.
Samsung Techwin showed
off megapixel, IP-based and analog video systems at ASIS 2010, and introduced
several new video products and unveiled an extensive new access control product
line including fingerprint, proximity/smart cards and keypads.
IP-based
megapixel camera maker Arecont Vision showed new line of lower-cost H.264
compact megapixel cameras that are half the size and a third of the weight of
previous models. Meanwhile, HID Global President and CEO Denis Hébert and CTO
Selva Selvaratnam talked about credential virtualization. Hebert said the
market should expect the emergence of virtual credentials – including smart
phones.
Milestone Systems
showed off its new XProtect Corporate 4.0 product integrated with the solutions
of its partners Intransa, (access control and analytics) and BriefCam (investigative
tool that creates video summary).
Sony arrived in
Dallas with 15 new products in tow, including new models for its E-Series and
X-Series camera lines, plus two new analog cameras. They’ll be good too, being
Sony. Verint showed off Nextiva version 6.2, with new capabilities including
an intuitive user interface optimised for video visualisation and operator
efficiency, an ultra-thin web client for remote viewing, and advanced setup
tools to streamline deployment and maintenance.
Also on show at
ASIS 2010 was FLIR Systems’ new line of color night vision IP security cameras.
The core technology here is an EMCCD (electron multiplied CCD), which FLIR
brought in-house after its recent acquisition of Salvador Imaging. FLIR makes
the best thermal gear in the business – networking makes it better still.
But most
importantly, ASIS was the biggest and busiest U.S. security show we’ve seen in
years and that’s great news for all of us.
