Security industry specialists to demonstrate expertise at Axis Communications’ Partner Showcase event in London

Axis Communications’ upcoming Partner Showcase biennial will welcome delegates from across the security industry and highlight the very latest advances in physical security technology. The event is to be held on Wednesday 16 October at White Hart Lane, the home of Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Axis Communications will host 27 partners who’ll be providing product demonstrations, engage in seminars and offer Q&A sessions on key topics ranging from cyber security, Artificial Intelligence (AI)/machine learning, behavioural analytics and detection right through to cloud/hosted services such as Video Surveillance-as-a-Service (VSaaS) and Access Control-as-a-Service (ACaaS).

The much-anticipated Axis Communications Partner Showcase represents an informal opportunity for system integrators, security installers, distributors, security consultants and end users to learn more about the future trends that are shaping the industry. Joining the Axis Communications team of experts will be subject matter specialists from every field across many industries who will explain the technology and, as valued Axis partners, deliver integrated solutions that address the key security challenges of today.

Content highlights to be delivered on the day will include:

*Future technology trends and their impact on video surveillance and access control

*How Internet of Things technologies are integrating in the cloud and the benefits they offer

*How ‘as-a-Service’ solutions (eg VSaaS and ACaaS) are changing the way in which end users buy security

*The importance of leveraging partnerships to address industry-wide challenges

*How innovation in network video is helping to drive business performance

*Analytics: AI, machine learning, deep learning and their impact on today’s industry

Delegates will benefit from an invaluable experience to learn more about the physical security landscape, while also networking with security industry peers. The Axis Communications Partner Showcase event provides an opportunity to engage in discussions around the hot topics with learnings that can be taken away and implemented to improve efficiencies delivered through greater business intelligence.

Registered exhibitors include 2N, Briefcam, Camstreamer, Citilog, Dedrone GmbH, Facit Data Systems, Genetec,  Milestone Systems, Morphean, Observit, Quanika, Secure Logiq, Siemon, Siklu Communication, SimonsVoss, Sound Intelligence, Synectics, Total Security Stockholm AB, Vaxtor Recognition Technologies and Veracity UK.

*To register for the event visit the website

Advanced video surveillance solutions from IDIS showcased at Security Essen

The very latest advances in secure surveillance technology, engineered entirely in Korea, are being demonstrated by IDIS on Stand E10 in Hall 5 at Security Essen, which runs from 25-28 September.

The IDIS Total Solution is increasingly being preferred by major end users globally because it offers the advantages of secure, exclusively Korean design and manufacturing, as well as “outstanding performance” in all applications.

Important innovations on show at Security Essen include IDIS’ flagship DirectIP solution, a full array of IP cameras (including Full-HD and 4K models), NVRs, network accessories and monitors, new privacy masking features to support end user compliance with data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the IDIS Center (which typically delivers 50% cost savings on centralised monitoring systems in comparison with server-based solutions) and “game-changing Artificial Intelligence”.

Deep Learning Analytics

Proving to be the biggest draw for visitors this week is the latest iteration of IDIS’ Deep Learning Analytics (IDLA) technology that has opened a new door to the future of video analytics with “groundbreaking” 96% accuracy combined with a 200 ips speed allowing for the analysis of 32 channels simultaneously.

These exciting advances in video analytics make IDLA “more accurate, faster and more scalable” than competitive offerings. IDLA provides agile appearance searching, object detection and classification (for example people, cars and bicycles) intrusion detection, as well as loitering detection: all adapted to fit a 16:9 ratio.

The IDLA engine offers this “unrivalled accuracy” thanks to its advanced deep network architecture. IDLA is easy to set up and use simply by setting the region of interest and sensitivity. No calibration is needed.

Further, since IDLA doesn’t require additional processing power, end users can progress legacy hardware and cameras to transform their existing surveillance system into a powerful Artificial Intelligence solution.

Version 2.0 will be commercially available early next year. End users will be able to access both standard and advanced functionality, such as appearance search, through a single and affordable licence. Object detection and classification, intruder detection and loitering analytics are already available for users of the IDIS Solution Suite VMS.

IDIS DirectIP

Making its major exhibition debut in Germany, IDIS DirectIP is a true plug-and-play, end-to-end IP surveillance platform which offers “industry-leading” ease of use and performance. Consisting of IP cameras, NVRs, network equipment and totally cost-effective IDIS Center software, IDIS DirectIP is a complete package that’s easy to install, secure, flexible and scalable. It’s compatible with legacy systems and supports third party and ONVIF protocols for maximum installation flexibility. DirectIP provides users with Best in Class performance. Combined with the seven-year IDIS Ultimate Warranty, it’s affordable and cost-effective to run.

Visitors to Hall 5 are also learning about how IDIS Dynamic Privacy Masking is supporting users in complying with privacy legislation. IDIS Dynamic Privacy Masking securely masks areas of interest without transcoding, allowing end users to protect the privacy of selected individuals, for example bystanders, in any video footage which is being used as evidence in a Court of Law.

Together, these advances offer end users, installers, consultants and distributors new levels of system-building flexibility and security with significant cost advantages.

Joon Jun

Joon Jun, president of IDIS’ Global Business Division, stated: “IDIS technology is now recognised as a trusted and premium brand. It’s being adopted by major users around the world. This success is thanks to our commitment to highly secure manufacturing – which is exclusively Korean – and innovative design which keeps us at the very forefront of the video surveillance sector.”

Dahua UK to open northern office in ‘partner’ city of Leeds

Dahua Technology is expanding its presence in the UK with the opening of a new office in Leeds. This is the first time that Dahua – the world’s second-largest video surveillance solutions manufacturer – has expanded in the UK beyond its existing offices in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

The new northern office will be located at the White Rose Office Park in Millshaw Park Lane, Leeds, which is around four miles south of the city centre. With its handy location between the M62, M1 and M621 and also with nearby rail connections to Leeds city centre, the new office boasts excellent transport links.

The main aim of establishing a permanent presence in the North of England is for Dahua to provide better support for its local distributors, integrators and installers, as well as to offer training locally and provide a local base for partner events and client demonstrations.

Dahua Technology’s global headquarters in China is located in Hangzhou, a city that has been twinned with Leeds since 1988. It was no surprise, then, when the company approached Leeds City Council to help the business find a suitable location for its new offices. The link between the two cities generates co-operation in the fields of business, education and culture. Last year, officials and representatives from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership visited Dahua’s global headquarters as part of a delegation to Hangzhou and Shanghai.

Dahua’s connections with Leeds and the fact that its home city of Hangzhou is twinned with the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ have resulted in links with many local companies and public bodies. “Working with a proactive organisation such as Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership really helps us, because the partnership goes out of its way to create mutually beneficial business activities,” explained Ben Perkins, head of marketing for Dahua UK and Ireland.

Perkins added: “The partnership attracts business and international money to the region, which not only makes a positive impact on the lives of the people who live and work in Leeds, but also brings a great wealth of talent into the area. This will benefit Dahua as we grow our presence in the region.”

Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, stated: “Leeds has a long and prestigious relationship with China. Our trade and investment missions have helped build relationships. It’s great to welcome Dahua to Leeds as a result of this activity. We will be holding a series of business meetings in Hong Kong, Hangzhou and Qingdao to review how our cities can work together to increase trade and deliver economic growth.”

The Leeds City Region covers Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield and York, and has a £1 billion-plus Local Growth Deal in place to boost jobs and growth across the region. It’s home to the UK’s largest regional financial centre and has a digital technology sector now worth more than £6.6 billion.

RISCO Group introduces “pioneering” RISCO Stars Partners Programme

RISCO Group, the manufacturer of end-to-end solutions for the professional security market, has announced the launch of its RISCO Stars Partners Programme – described as a “pioneering rewards scheme” that’s designed to help the company’s loyal distribution and installation partners grow their businesses and enhance their marketing activities.

Participants simply collect ‘Stars’ through the purchase of eligible RISCO Group products and redeem them against a wide selection of activities that will help increase visibility and sales.

Being part of RISCO Stars couldn’t be easier. By downloading the free RISCO Group HandyApp from the Apple App Store or Google Play, individuals simply register their details and then, after every purchase, scan the QR code on the packaging. RISCO Stars are then added to their account, which can be reviewed online at any time. Not only that, but each product that’s scanned receives an automatic six-month warranty extension, with an additional 12 months for RISCO Stars members.

Once sufficient RISCO Stars have been collected, they can then be redeemed for rewards. These rewards comprise a range of tried and tested marketing activities that are proven to increase business exposure and help reach potential customers.

The rewards have been carefully chosen and include the development of a business Facebook page, bespoke e-mail marketing templates, printed company literature, a third party website audit with an improvement strategy, branded videos, Google AdWords and branded workwear.

Commenting on the company’s latest initiative, Greg Smith (marketing manager for the UK and Ireland at RISCO Group) commented: “RISCO Stars is a totally new and unique rewards scheme that’s designed to offer our valued distribution and installation partners genuine ways in which to improve their levels of business activity. We’ve now made gaining access to first class specialist marketing support as easy as possible through the purchase of our innovative products and training, so that there’s always something for everyone to save for.”

Hanwha Techwin opens new demonstration showroom

Hanwha Techwin recently held an open day at its new European headquarters in Chertsey to officially mark the opening of its Wisenet showroom.

Distributors, installers and systems integrators from across the UK, many of whom were accompanied by end user clients, accepted an invitation to see Hanwha Techwin’s new demonstration and training facilities. This provided them with the opportunity to be among the first to have a close-up look at the new Wisenet X ‘extreme performance’ camera series, as well as the company’s premium 4K Wisenet P and feature-rich Wisenet Q cameras.

“We have simulated a Control Room environment within our new showroom facilities so that we can demonstrate many of the practical features built into our cameras,” said Chris Parry, country manager for the UK and Ireland at Hanwha Techwin Europe. “With cameras installed throughout our self-contained building and overlooking our car park, we’re able to show in real time the benefits that are achievable from the very latest advances in video surveillance technology.”

Sitting at the ‘Control Room’ consul, Hanwha Techwin guests were able to put a wide range of Wisenet cameras through their paces via spot monitors and a large video wall. This allowed them an opportunity to test the usefulness of analytic solutions like ANPR, people counting and heat mapping as well as privacy masking and advanced Gyro digital image stabilisation.

Commenting on his visit to the new demonstration facility, Paul Miller (director of systems integration specialist RJ Pro-Vue Ltd) said: “I was very impressed and will certainly be taking advantage of the opportunity to bring my existing and potential customers to Chertsey so they can benefit from hands-on demonstrations of the technology built into the Samsung Wisenet cameras and recording devices.”

Nick Kalsi, technology consultant for Edwardian Hotels London, also felt his time was well spent visiting the new showroom. “We are an existing and satisfied user of Wisenet cameras and, together with Mohamed Elsebahy, group CCTV manager for Edwardian Hotels London, I was particularly interested in the detailed demonstration of the new Wisenet X cameras. We will certainly consider deploying these at one of our new hotels.”

Hikvision launches new website and outlines Roadshow Series for 2017

Hikvision UK and Ireland has launched a new website at www.hikvision.co.uk. With tailored content for the UK and Ireland market, the new website forms part of Hikvision’s wider marketing strategy in the region.

In addition to information on localised product content, news and details of its authorised distributor network, Hikvision UK and Ireland is now able to promote all industry events that the business will be attending.

Andy Keeley, marketing manager for Hikvision UK and Ireland, stated: “Our new website builds the foundations for our customer communications moving forward. We now have the flexibility to promote product content, news and events which are applicable to our UK and Ireland customer base along with relevant news and information from our international headquarters. We’re also very pleased to announce the dates and locations of our Spring 2017 Roadshow Series on our new website.”

 

Taking place in March in five cities across the UK and Ireland, the Hikvision Spring 2017 Roadshow Series is designed to demonstrate the latest technological advancements from Hikvision including 4K and H.265+ surveillance cameras, the Hikvision 24 MP PanoVu, thermal imaging solutions and the latest in Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology.

Hikvision will also be joined by Pyronix, Seagate and Wavestore who will all be demonstrating their latest products and solutions. Further details and event registration can be found at: www.hikvision.co.uk/roadshow

The new Hikvision UK and Ireland website will continue to evolve to ensure that industry professionals are kept up-to-date with the latest news and product details.

BSIA member companies report on “successful” Intersec 2016

Members of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) have returned from Intersec reporting a successful exhibition for UK companies.

The three-day show – held at the Dubai World Trade Centre between 17 and 19 January – is seen by many as the most important security exhibition in the Middle East region. The event plays a pivotal role in enabling UK companies to meet with potential customers, existing distributors or partners and serves as a platform for launching new products into the Middle East market.

Intersec has been a key fixture for many BSIA members who exhibit year-on-year, and the show continues to attract new exhibitors keen to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the event.

One BSIA member company, RGL Electronics Ltd, has already been active in the Middle East for a number of years and attended Intersec 2016 as an exhibitor for the first time.

Geoff Jones, director of RGL Electronics Ltd, said: “By exhibiting at Intersec this year, we had the opportunity to be in front of the people that really matter, and we were able to build upon what’s already a major marketplace for the RGL brand.”

Jones continued: “We showcased our range of access control products and a disabled toilet alarm, all of which attracted a good response from visitors. Indeed, the quality of the contacts we made on site was very high, and I fully anticipate that some of these contacts will develop into orders over the coming months.”

He concluded: “Something that struck me during the show was how much larger the scale of the projects in the Middle East are compared to those in Europe. The sheer scale of the developments in the Middle East offer promising opportunities for RGL and, indeed, other UK companies.”

Excellence in design and innovation

Much of the interest in UK security products in the Middle East comes from the long history of excellence in design and innovation. This was certainly evident at Intersec.

Storm Interface – another BSIA member company – launched its Storm S60 range of mullion format readers at the show and duly received a fantastic response from prospective customers.

Peter Jarvis, senior executive vice-president at Storm Interface, commented: “The response to the Storm S60 was absolutely astonishing. When developing the product, we found that there was a real need for a solution that wouldn’t affect the aesthetics of landmark buildings where, typically, you wouldn’t want to drill into the building materials to affix a traditional reader. The S60 has been designed so that it can fit into a door frame, thus removing the need to attach it to glass, marble or other similar materials.”

Jarvis added: “We’ve found that there’s a real demand in the Middle East for products that meet the design specifications of landmark buildings, and particularly so in Dubai.”

In conclusion, Jarvis told Risk UK: “Our attendance at Intersec has been particularly successful. We’ve been able to talk to all of our target contacts, including existing distributors in the UAE and the regional managers responsible for some of our recently-agreed distribution partnerships.”

Variety of international visitors

A large part of the attraction for UK companies to exhibit at Intersec is the sheer variety of international visitors attending the show, both from the wider Middle East and further afield.

John Davies, managing director of TDSi and chairman of the BSIA’s Export Council, said: “TDSi had a highly successful appearance at Intersec 2016. We gained 30% extra visitors compared to the previous year, some of which came from a wide range of countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey, as well as further afield from Angola, India and Sri Lanka. The overall quality of visitors at the show was excellent. The majority of people we spoke to were working on active projects, so we enjoyed both productive and substantive conversations on all three days.”

Davies continued: “Our integration to wireless access control products from ASSA ABLOY and Simons Voss created a lot of interest on our stand, as did our new Time and Attendance software packages. Visitors were also drawn to our new reader range, both for the aesthetics and the functional multi-technology capability. As always, our strength in terms of being able to offer open platforms for security integration proved very popular with visitors to the stand.”

In conclusion, Davies told Risk UK: “We were delighted to receive confirmation of a project win in Abu Dhabi at Intersec 2016 and expect to close projects in Kuwait, Saudi and Qatar within the next few weeks as a result of conversations at the show.”

Uplift in validated leads

Remsdaq also experienced an uplift in validated leads, estimating that the business recorded approximately 25% more than last year.

Alan Hardy, EMEA sales manager, explained: “It was an extremely satisfying exhibition with unprecedented numbers of good quality contacts visiting our stand. There was an extremely positive reaction from all visitors to our EntroWatch, EntroStar and EntroPad range of access control solutions and considerable interest shown for StarWatch, our enterprise product range, as well as Sabre, our fibre optic perimeter intrusion detection products. We’re confident that our business in the region will increase significantly as a direct result of our participation in the show.”

Texecom also found the show to be a great platform for demonstrating its professional electronic security solutions – including the Premier Elite Series – to the Middle East and beyond.

Clym Brown, the company’s marketing director, explained: “We see themes from Intersec that resonate with global market challenges – the proliferation of advanced wireless security devices, home network and smart phone connectivity for users taking control of their own security and increased connectivity and integrated features for both commercial and security applications. At Texecom, our product range caters for small, low-risk applications right through to high risk, high value and complex installations. At Intersec, we found our breadth of system offerings, using the same architecture and programming structure throughout, was really well received by visitors looking to provide the highest levels of security for a wide range of applications.”

Excellent representation from the UK

73 UK companies took advantage of the many benefits that come with exhibiting as part of the UK Pavilion, which was organised by the BSIA.

Benefits included a prominent stand position in the main section of the show, logistical and on-site support, hassle-free stand design and build and increased exposure to visitors through a strong UK brand presence.

Peter Jarvis commented: “We’ve been really impressed with the level of support that the BSIA has provided, both before and during Intersec. An association with the BSIA is absolutely essential at these types of exhibition. The BSIA’s excellent organisation of the UK Pavilion this year in 2016 has freed us up to come here and do what we need to. In short, meet with target contacts, promote our products and make valuable sales.”

*The BSIA is also organising UK Pavilions at Security Essen and IFSEC South-East Asia, both of which run in September 2016. For more information, or to enquire about exhibiting as part of the UK Pavilion, please contact the BSIA by calling: 0845 389 3889 or send an e-mail to: d.wood@bsia.co.uk

Axis Communications bolsters UK team thanks to multiple appointments

Network video specialist Axis Communications has made three new appointments to its UK sales and distribution teams.

Peter Dempsey joins the business as a key account manager for the Irish market. Dempsey has over 23 years’ experience of the Irish security industry and a vast knowledge of network video.

Prior to joining Axis, Dempsey was a key account manager for Panasonic for ten years, managing the distribution and system integrator channels as well as key product launches.

Peter Dempsey

Katherine Bramwell joins Axis Communications as a distribution account manager based in Watford. Bramwell boasts over 20 years’ experience in the security and IT sectors and was previously the northern region area sales manager for ADI Global Distribution.

At Axis, Bramwell will be responsible for managing key Axis distributors and establishing long-term partnerships, helping them with the growth of their businesses.

Katherine Bramwell

Mark Egget is a new sales engineer for the South East of England region. At Axis, he will be working closely with the sales team and helping the channel and partners realise the benefits of Axis Communications products.

As a former solutions engineer for Axis partner company Milestone Systems, Egget is highly experienced at helping customers specify the right product for the right solution.

Mark Egget

Atul Rajput, regional director for northern Europe at Axis Communications, stated: “We’re delighted to welcome these new members to our UK team. All of our new recruits have the necessary specialist experience to support our partner network. These are key strategic appointments for us and demonstrate our continued commitment to offering ‘Best in Class’ support for our partner network.”

Rajput concluded: “Following on from many years of successful growth in the UK and Irish markets, these new appointments will further strengthen our team and ensure we have the resources in place to support our partner network as we continue to see our business grow and develop.”