The healthcare sector is a crucial part of a functioning society as it provides life-saving care and reassurance to the population. A key part of ensuring the professionals in this industry have the best work environment is the ongoing security of the facilities.Overcoming environmental challengesHospitals are challenging environments for security integrators. There is little room for mistakes because staff, patients and assets cannot be compromised. Medical centres and their facilities can be vast complexes and security teams must be confident in their ability to identify and nullify threats as soon as possible.Chubb provided Queensland Children’s Hospital's security team with a simple and easy-to-use toolChubb Fire & Security offers a range of intelligent video and access control systems to solve these challenges. The Queensland Children’s Hospital in Australia, formerly named Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, is the major specialist children’s hospital for families living in Queensland and Northern New South Wales.The facility not only provides care to the local families but also the state’s sickest and most critically injured children who need highly specialised care. This state-of-the-art hospital, coupled with a leading academic and research facility and the high calibre staff, provides a platform to continue to develop as a leader in paediatric health care, education and research.Comprehensive security solutionChubb developed a solution for Queensland Children’s Hospital that included access control, video management, communications and asset tracking. There’s almost no installation that goes 100-percent smoothly in the field of video surveillance.
Unexpected issues routinely arise that can increase time on the job, cost of the project and frustration. Manufacturers work on the product side to help ensure their products are easy to install and – when troublesome situations do arise – are flexible enough for installers to quickly find a remedy.Importance of ease of installation Ease of installation is a very important part of the project to the system integrator because the cost of labour is variableEase of installation is a very important part of the project to the system integrator because the cost of labour is variable and can be very expensive. In some cases, the cost of labour to install a camera can be more than the cost of the camera! If labour costs are high – or are more expensive than a system integrator planned – they can lose a great deal of money on a project.If a cautious system integrator includes too high of an estimate for labour in a project bid, his overall bid will to high and it could cost him the project.
The easier the camera is to install, the lower the labour cost, subsequently achieving higher savings for end-users. Hence it is essential that camera manufacturers develop products that are easy to install or are flexible in the field for system integrators and installers who know that time is money.Enterprise projects can involve thousands of cameras installedSimplifying installation of camerasCamera installation typically involves an electrician, the camera installer and the person who configures the VMS (Video Management Software). For those of you old enough to remember, video matrix switchers were once the heyday of surveillance camera control. These cumbersome antiques were at the heart of every major video surveillance system (CCTV at the time) in premier gaming properties, government installations and corporate industrial complexes.
They required more physical labour to construct and configure than perhaps the pyramids – maybe not – but you get the picture.And then digital video made its way in to the market and everything changed, transforming the physical demands for camera control and management from a hardware-centric to a software driven process. We’ve come a long way in a few short years, and the borders that once defined IT and security continue to diminish, if not disappear completelyThere’s no doubt that this migration also presented significant challenges as many security professionals often struggled with all things IT and software programming being one of the industry’s soft spots.
AMAG Technology announces the release of Symmetry CompleteView Video Management System version 4.5 and four new Symmetry PowerProtect NVRs. Earlier this year AMAG announced a deepened partnership with Salient Systems, Inc.
Where AMAG now offers Salient’s CompleteView VMS, PowerProtect NVRs and TouchView Mobile App video solutions as part of the Symmetry product line. This is the first software upgrade and NVR addition since the initial announcement in March.Symmetry CompleteView 4.5“Symmetry CompleteView 4.5 delivers advanced capabilities such as dynamic video management tools to support and streamline complex enterprise deployments, yet remains affordable to provide a powerful standalone system for any size organisation,” said AMAG Technology, Senior Product Manager-Video, Jim Murray.Symmetry CompleteView VMS 4.5 includes a suite of software tools called Dynamic Video Management. 2014 was a year for eye-popping merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the security space. The big deals of the year included some of the largest names in the industry.
One name is larger than any in the security market – Google, which made not one but two acquisitions this year that could impact the future security market.It was also the year that a smaller player in the video camera market (although a huge familiar brand overall) bought a large, open systems VMS company (to almost everyone’s surprise). There was major activity on both sides of the Atlantic, impacting a wide range of industry sectors, from video to access control to home security. It was a year for acquisition and reinvention, for mergers and management refocus.
And it was the year that Samsung stopped owning Samsung Techwin.Let’s take a look at the Top 10 M&A stories of 2014 1. Canon Acquires MilestoneWhen Canon, a fairly small player in the video surveillance market, announced plans for its European subsidiary to buy open systems company Milestone Systems, it sent shock waves through the market. Obviously Canon is signalling its intent to become a larger player in surveillance, but what does the move mean for the long-term viability of Milestone’s open systems approach?
Can an open systems company be owned by a camera company and keep its business approach intact? Yes, according to the Milestone announcement: “Canon respects how we built our business with our partners and supports our strategy of providing open platform solutions.”2. Vanderbilt Acquires Siemens' Security ProductsSiemens’ Security Products is well known in Europe, including familiar and established brands such as Bewator and Cotag in access control and Alarmcom and Europlex in the intrusion alarm sector.
But who is Vanderbilt Industries? It's a fairly new U.S. Company created around the acquisition in 2012 of the Schlage Security Management Systems (SMS) access control product line from Ingersoll Rand. The Siemens acquisition makes them instantly a global player.
The move expands the global reach of Vanderbilt’s parent company, ACRE Ltd., and greatly enhances its technology capabilities and product portfolio.3. Avigilon Acquires VideoIQ2014 began with news that HD surveillance company Avigilon Corp. Had agreed to buy video analytics company VideoIQ for cash consideration of $32 million. Avigilon moved quickly to incorporate VideoIQ's technology into its product line, highlighting video analytics (including the Rialto analytics appliances) along with other technologies at ISC West, IFSEC and trade shows throughout the year. Avigilon is positioning its 'adaptive' analytics as a way to simplify total system operation, delivering only the information an end user needs rather than a flood of video images.2014 saw major activity on both sides of the Atlantic, impacting a wide range of industry sectors, from video to access control to home security4. HID Global Acquires LumidigmHID Global is an undisputed worldwide leader in secure identity solutions, so it was big news when HID acquired a biometrics company in February.
More accustomed to interfacing with biometrics technologies than owning them, HID’s acquisition of Lumidigm reflects a high level of confidence in the company’s multispectral imaging technology, which uses multiple light spectrums and advanced polarisation techniques to extract unique fingerprint characteristics from both the surface and subsurface of the skin. The system can authenticate identities with a high degree of certainty (and even in non-ideal environments where fingers can get dirty or greasy.)5. Vicon and IQinVision MergeVicon Industries and IQinVision announced a merger agreement in the spring to create a global provider of integrated solutions to the video security market. Vicon has long been known for designing and producing (mostly proprietary) video security and surveillance systems.
IQinVision designs and produces high performance HD megapixel IP cameras. There are high hopes for the combined company, including continuing a camera line branded IQinVision and transitioning to an open systems approach with an emphasis on extracting business information from video streams.6. Anixter Acquires Tri-EdIt was a milestone for Anixter International, the largest acquisition in the global distributor’s 57-year history.
When Anixter bought Tri-Ed for $420 million, the acquiring company emphasised the opportunity to accelerate implementation of IP video and access control by the new Tri-Ed customer base, previously more focused on analogue. Tri-Ed, independent distributor of security and low-voltage technology products, sells 110,000 different products to 2,000 active dealers and integrators through 61 branches and two technical sales centres located throughout North America. Anixter is a global distributor of communications and security products, electrical and electronic wire and cable, fasteners and other small components.7. Google Acquires Nest LabsIt makes headlines when Google does anything, and Google’s entry into the home systems market is no different.
Therefore, everyone noticed when Google acquired Nest Labs, a designer and manufacturer of sensor-driven, Wi-Fi-enabled, self-learning, programmable thermostats and smoke detectors. Many observers saw the $3.2 billion transaction as providing a critical foothold into the home systems market. Announced in January and closed the following month, the acquisition set the stage for another acquisition that would serve as further evidence of Google’s intent to be a dominant player in the home systems market.The big deals of 2014 included some of the largest names in the industry8. Nest Labs Acquires DropcamGoogle-owned Nest Labs, Inc announced that it had entered into an agreement to buy Dropcam for $555 million in cash, subject to adjustments. DropCam provides do-it-yourself IP video cameras for the home environment – and another foothold for Google.9.
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Kaba Holding Acquires KeyscanEmblematic of the continuing consolidation in the access control market was acquisition of Keyscan Inc., a Canadian provider of networked access control solutions, by Kaba Holding AG, based in Switzerland. The Keyscan brand presence will be maintained, operating as a separate division of Kaba’s ADS Americas Group.10. Hanhwa To Buy Largest Interest in Samsung TechwinWhen Samsung sells its interest in Samsung Techwin, it’s bound to be news, even as the company’s management insists everything is business as usual.
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It was just a stock transaction (they say), and Samsung Techwin (which was always separate from the larger Samsung Electronics) will continue on its successful course in the video surveillance market. Korean conglomerate Hanwha Holdings announced in late November its 32.4 percent ownership in the video surveillance company (as part of a larger sale of Samsung Techwin’s defence and chemical affiliates). What about the Samsung name? Management assures the market the valuable and well-known brand will remain intact.See the full coverage of 2014/2015 Review and Forecast articles here. The HD video appliance combines a PoE network switch along with full video management serverSourceSecurity.com recently attended Avigilon’s Video Analytics launch event at the High Commission of Canada in London to discover more about the latest additions to the company’s product portfolio.The event began with a presentation by Mark Buckland, Regional Sales Manager at Avigilon, on the benefits of the latest product in the analytics range, the HD Video Appliance Series.