Every April we, at Hoosier Security, try to attend ISC West – the largest security conference in the U.S. When we’re out in Vegas, we take the time to meet with vendors and some of our larger clients. We encourage our employees to take part in the SIA Education Classes that are being offered because these are prime opportunities to learn about the major advances taking place in the industry.
During ISC West, we pay close attention and look for technological advances that would serve our clients in the best ways possible. Upon returning to Indy, we take the technology we learned out in Vegas from a novel idea to a problem-solving solution. Some of the key advancement takeaways from ISC West this year include “mainstreamification” of cloud-based access control led by the Paxton BLU System.
Cloud-based Access Control
In general, cloud-based access control is bringing enterprise level access control to smaller businesses (20-50 employees) that may not have a full-fledged Information Technology Department to manage and maintain the server and other associated software and control systems. In the end, there are major cost savings associated with this approach and we encourage it.
It’s been about a year since the beta of Paxton BLU was launched at ISC West last year, but this year it was a fully-integrated product with a support structure and solid place in the star lineup. It’s also impressive that Paxton continues to develop a product that brings new features and uses, which make a real difference for the end user.
The Paxton BLU System
Ironically, Hoosier Security has been selling BLU since it came out, but only now is Paxton finally offering it’s first-ever standalone product with heightened software developments. At this point what Paxton is doing in regards to cloud-based access control is no longer a curiosity. Now with the advancements out in the open the company has the potential to change the way access control is done from this point moving forward.
So, with all the different options in cloud-based access control or hosted access control as some call it, why does Paxton’s BLU System seem like a game changer? Quite frankly, we believe it’s for the same reason that we enjoy working with their standard access control system – Paxton does a great job streamlining the process.
The company has a knack for taking complicated processes and simplifying them to the point that they become usable on a daily basis, even by the Human Resources Department. In essence, the majority of security systems are designed for the initial installer, but Paxton has built an array of products that focus on the end-user, and their cloud-based BLU System has been developed in that same tradition.
ACTi
Beyond the finished products of Paxton, one of the less publicized veteran camera companies out there, ACTi, was brought to the forefront at this year’s ISC West. ACTi has a strong offering in the area of leveraging existing video data to provide business reports. Generally speaking, ACTi’s efforts over the last couple of years have been focused on bringing more usability and quality to battle commoditization.
What’s unique here is that ACTi has been able to discern almost everything into a usable business reporting format for management use. They appear to have the ability to customize this solution to include data from existing third-party systems in combination with data derived from video analytics, which is a solid step in the right direction. ACTi has the ability to look beyond revenue and make their system compatible with third-party existing video systems. Historically, video analytics have struggled to find the right combination of relevancy and accuracy, but we believe that ACTi may be onto something here.
This concept really taps into the need for the security industry to provide more than just reactive data. It’s a great start at moving recorded video from simply evidence gathering to useful, actionable data for business intelligence. ACTi has done this in a visual way without just spitting out spreadsheets is a key to making this a viable part of the surveillance industry offering. In the end, we’re looking forward to seeing this product developed further and will be actively looking for opportunities to beta test.
The Wrap-Up
There were many things to be “wowed” by at ISC West this year. For starters, records were set this year for number of attendees and vendors. And then there were the usual far-out ideas like Knightscope’s Robocop Egg to Nightingale Systems’ drone security system to the downright silly Uniview’s “Happiness Analytic” that measured the happiness of the person standing in front of the camera.
In the end, there was no shortage of things to stare at. As always, for every 10 of those companies that don’t really have anything groundbreaking to share there was one bright engineer who designed something spectacular.
These two offerings from Paxton and ACTi may not be the most “awe-inspiring,” but then again it’s hard to compete with a drone. However, they do represent the future of security.
We believe at Hoosier Security that we should provide more value at a fair price with exceptional service and make the technology accessible to our clients. We should always listen to their needs because during that conversation is where the real long-term benefits are. Our clients start to tell us how to become more than just their security partner, which is the secret to our success, and in the end it’s nice to see there are manufacturers who believe in those same principles.
