Q: Can you tell us exactly who is behind Central Security
Distribution?
A: The people behind CSD are Vin Lopes, Doug Fraser and Mark
Cunnington
Q: It could be argued the local electronic security
distribution market is tight. What does Central Security Distribution bring to
integrators and installers they won’t get elsewhere?
A: You could justifiably say the wholesale market is tight
but we think it’s filled with ‘me too’ companies. What we are is a manufacturer
bringing its own products to the market, as well as carrying related products
from partners. I think at the moment as a distributor you need to do more than
put boxes on shelves – the market is more complex. We think product needs to be
offered with the same caliber of knowledge at point of sale as it took to
engineer the product. Just look at the market – at the move to IP and networked
solutions. What we hope to do is bring a manufacturer’s level of knowledge to
the counter. That demands a better connection between engineers and service
staff in order to provide customers with instant access to high levels of
technical knowledge – this is needed because products are getting more complex.
Q: Would you argue that there’s a lack of quality service in
the distribution market?
A: No, I wouldn’t say that. I think people are very good
with service but not quality technical service. I would say that in many cases
the point of sale does not have a handle on the product.
Q: Now the business is operational what’s your feel about
how things are going? How has the market responded to the more hands-on
approach?
A: We’ve really only just started out this week with the InnerRange
products so it’s too early to say. We have our other products coming in every
day and it’s a work in progress.
Q: Is CSD the only place installers can get their hands on InnerRange
gear like Insight, Concept 4000 and Fratech products?
A: InnerRange products are now
only available from CSD but Fratech has other resellers in the market.
Q: Is CSD’s operation national?
A: There are 5 CSD branches in the major state capitals.
Q: From InnerRange’s point of view, what will CSD give InnerRange
that the product wasn’t getting before?
A: As well as giving the market deep knowledge of the InnerRange
product, CSD will bring seamless market knowledge to InnerRange and that will give InnerRange
a clearer insight into what the installer feels about the product. That will
help us deliver the market what it needs. We’ll have a closer connection to the
market. This will apply to the other products in our range, too. We’ll be
working to develop interfaces between all the products in the CSD range and InnerRange
products.
Q: A key driver of CSD is obviously going to be the high
level of service for InnerRange product – what will
this entail aside from product support – will there be training?
A: InnerRange and CSD will always
train – it will be a key element of the business. We have 5 branches and each
branch has a training room. Training is big for us. InnerRange
will conduct training, CSD will conduct training and there will training in all
the products in the CSD range.
Q: In a more general area, the CCTV industry is busy with
the digital transition. While access control has long had a networked
component, what do you think the future holds for access control? Could there
ever be PoE readers and strikes or does the fundamental need for distributed
architecture demand remote door control and the reliability of solid state
electronics?
A: I think the latter. It’s not obvious just how much power
you need at the lock and PoE will not deliver it. There’s so much going on
between the lock, the door controller and the reader – you need solid state and
remote processing. You need remote power. I don’t think doors incorporating
readers and strikes can be managed using PoE – there are still too many
questions to be answered. Maybe sometime in the future developments will allow
it but not now.
Q: CSD has some brands onboard in the form of HID, FSH and
Blue, the former of which is the clear leader in proximity readers and cards
and the second of which is making a name for itself as offering affordable
quality locks while Blue has some very neat niche products, as well as some low
cost access control equipment. Will there be more partnerships soon and in
which directions?
A: Yes, there will be quite a few more patrtnerships but I
can’t announce them yet. What I can say is that there will be a focus on
partnerships in the world of IT. Part of all our these partnerships will be
development of high level interfaces between partner products and Inner Range
products, including Inner Range’s Insight management software. Obviously with
large integrated systems you can’t have multiple separate controls. We’ve
written a lot of plug-ins that will allow Insight to handle additional products
and there are many more to come.
Q: Is CSD carrying the entire Paradox range?
A: Yes, we’ll be carrying all the Paradox panels and sensors
– the new range of panels looks great. Paradox is also interested in having its
product integrate with ours. There is some overlap with the Paradox range but
we’ve thought it through and we will stock that overlapping product as well.
CSD is going to be faithful to all of its manufacturers and will be a genuine
distributor, not just a portal for InnerRange.
Q: How serious is CSD about video surveillance? Will CSD go
towards the high end and if so, would there be Insight integration?
A: Definitely. In terms of InnerRange,
there will be an NVR incorporated into Insight next year. We’re certainly going
to be including DVRs in the CSD range and DVTel and Verint are on the InnerRange
integration list for this year. There will be an affordable C-Vision range of
good quality CCTV cameras, and higher end cameras are on the way.
Q: InnerRange is one of a handful
of manufacturers of access control products that can seriously engineer
solutions for specific applications. Is
the fact this product is supported by a local engineering team is a big
advantage for CSD?
A: This is one of the main drivers of CSD. We have 25
engineers and we think we’ve got the best and biggest engineering team in Australia. CSD
will give customers an avenue to this engineering expertise and our team will
be tailoring solutions directly for CSD customers.
Q: What about pricing – is CSD offering better pricing than
installers have seen in the past?
A: There will be a bigger spread of prices – loyal customers
will pay less and occasional customers will pay more. The idea is that our
regular customers will buy better with the only qualification on these
discounts relating to technical proficiency – the high you go in our training,
the better your discount. The fact is that products are getting more powerful
and they demand proficiency – in the end having installers who know how to use
our product is just sensible business for us.
Q: What can we expect from CSD in the future?
A: Customers can expect a committed, capable distributor
that takes ownership of its product range. And if all goes well, you can expect
more branches.
