One of my customers approached me and explained that by optimising the server hardware specifically for the HD CCTV application it was being used for you can massively increase the performance. He proved to me that he could achieve over 15 times the incoming camera throughput of the servers and we decided that there was a business opportunity. It is Secure Logiq’s tenth anniversary this year and I am delighted to say we were right.

a&s Adria: Mr. Hughes, for a start, could you present yourself, your educational and professional background, and the role you’re playing at Secure Logiq?

Hughes: I’m Robin Hughes, co-founder of Secure Logiq and known to the industry as an evangelist for the technology we make. As a company that has grown organically over the last ten years my various roles have included pre-sales, sales, marketing, system design and even accounts, in fact anything that doesn’t involve using a screwdriver.

I have worked in the electronic security product industry since I left university nearly 30 years ago, the vast majority of this time in the distribution and manufacturing sector. I have been lucky enough to have been at the cutting edge of CCTV innovation for my whole career, being the first to introduce colour/mono cameras, speed domes, digital video recorders, Video analytics and Megapixel CCTV to the EMEA market. I have been at the forefront of, and consider myself to have played a big part in the transition of the CCTV industry from analogue to digital to megapixel where the requirement for ultra-high throughput, high storage density servers began. Whilst I am by no means a technical person, I have always made a point of knowing a product inside out before I promote it and have an excellent understanding of integration and system design. All of these traits I believe are necessary to get a full understanding of the amazing industry we are part of.

a&s Adria: Since 2011, Secure Logiq has been developing a missing piece of the HD surveillance jigsaw. What is that piece and how did you and your colleagues come up with the idea to fill that gap?

Hughes: The transition from analogue to IP surveillance has been incredibly slow, mainly due to the difference in skill set between the physical security integrator and IT infrastructure specialists. For many reasons our industry has always been a bit behind the curve when it comes to IT expertise. I was working for well-known megapixel camera and VMS manufacturer who were using commercial off the shelf (COTS) servers as the recording medium. One of my customers who was purchasing cameras and VMS software only approached me and explained that by optimising the server hardware specifically for the application it was being used for (in this case HD CCTV) you can massively increase the performance. He proved to me that he could achieve over 15 times the incoming camera throughput of the servers I was selling at the time as an end-to-end solution and we decided between us that there was a massive gap in the market and a business opportunity. It is Secure Logiq’s tenth anniversary this year and I am delighted to say we were right and are now the leading independent manufacturer of servers optimised for HD surveillance globally.

a&s Adria: Users can select best-of-breed IP cameras or VMS, but then select a server that was never designed and optimized for video. What are the shortcomings of that?

Hughes: We have server, workstation and client hardware for every application. In all honesty, for most small to medium sized installations which are not utilising a DVR / NVR solution a COTS server will handle the data just fine. However, when you get larger or more complex projects that is when that deep knowledge of everything involved with HD surveillance kicks in.

The mathematics behind calculating the processing and storage requirements for video is actually quite simple. It is based on a few basic variables such as camera resolution, frame rate and the archive time required. Where it gets more complicated is when you have to start factoring in additional functionality such as licence plate recognition, advanced video analytics, streaming to mobile devices, or thinking about the outgoing bandwidth requirements for a large control room with multiple monitors. Add to this that every piece of software operates in a different way and interacts and utilises different components and you soon discover that specialist knowledge is required. Within the IT world, software and hardware are also completely different disciplines which is why to date most VMS suppliers are content with recommending or rebadging IT centric solutions rather than a specialist optimised product. However, a well-designed hardware solution can offer savings in capital expenditure whilst significantly reducing annual operational costs.

a&s Adria: When we talk about performance, what’s the top speed your servers can achieve? What would you normally use to test it and what tool do you use instead?

Hughes: There is a common misconception in the industry that to increase the total incoming camera throughput of a server you simply need to upgrade the processor. However, with specialist knowledge and the correct selection of components there are much better ways to optimise throughput. In our industry there is a huge and often confusing variation in the way that the processing capability is defined. It could be number of cameras, total number of megapixels, average bandwidth or many more, but this still leaves so many variables that mistakes are often made and the server will underperform or even fail. The only way to accurately represent this number is the total peak camera traffic that the server can handle with  certain software and whilst performing multiple tasks but without having to make compromises on camera performance. Our highest performing servers are available today with incoming camera throughputs in excess of 4,000Mbps, equivalent to more than ten IT-centric servers. When we released these numbers to the industry, obviously we were asked to ‘prove it’ which at the time would have involved setting up 1,000 HD cameras with a rack full of switches which was unrealistic so our software development department engineered a solution called Logiqal Benchmark, a software which allows us to create a virtual IP CCTV system of any size.

a&s Adria: Do you use Logiqal Benchmark simulator to optimize the system for different VMS solutions? Can you give us an example?

Hughes: Logiqal Benchmark contains a ‘camera replicator facility’ allowing us to take any number of live or pre-recorded streams of video and duplicate them multiple times on distinct IP addresses to simulate the load of all cameras recording to an IP surveillance system of any size. Additional system features such as multiple client machines, ANPR, video analytics and mobile transcoding can also be added virtually to give a simulation of the overall system and our advanced diagnostics will provide valuable and accurate system data, such as actual and peak throughput ratings, disk read / write speeds, power consumption and temperature readings.

Different VMS solutions can be applied to compare the various software’s efficiency with the specified hardware solution. We use this as a tool to monitor how the data interacts with the server and fine tune components and settings to optimise the server towards a particular VMS. The server we sell for an Avigilon solution might be very different to a server we sell for a Milestone application even with the exact same camera count, resolution and frame rates. Logiqal Benchmark has proven to be a great tool for our internal testing but also for allowing us to prove that we can do a lot more with a lot less hardware therefore minimising cost, power and rackspace requirements.

a&s Adria: Since the law in countries around the world regulate the length of archiving recordings differently, what can Secure Logiq do to offer more storage space?

Hughes: We do have many more options available than traditional IT distributors to offer larger storage on a scale that is not often demanded in typical IT scenarios. There is nothing more storage intensive than real-time video other than multiple streams of HD video recording simultaneously for extended periods of time. As a result, we need much more storage than typical server room applications. At Secure Logiq, we offer the industry’s highest storage density servers and currently are able to offer direct attached storage (DAS) options of over 1.5 Petabytes in a single 4U server. This is of course a large number but remember that different regions demand different storage archives.

Due to data protection laws, large parts of Europe only record video for seven days in a typical installation. In the UK and most of the world 30 days is commonly specified, but in the Middle East it is not unusual to record the video for 90 or even 180 days which would be exactly three or six times the storage required for the same project in the UK. For even larger storage requirements we also offer SAN solutions that can scale to over 12 Petabytes on a single recording server. Most of our customers rely on us to help them determine the best storage solution for their application.

a&s Adria: It’s interesting that you have tested how much storage you need with different industry storage calculators and the same propositions. What results did you receive?

Hughes: In general, industry calculators are poor and often give wildly varied results and partial information. As an experiment I inputted the exact same camera statistics into five different well-known industry calculators, it was 100 x 1080P cameras recording with H264 compression, default quality, medium scene complexity at 12 frames per second for 31 days. Results varied from 49TB to 175TB with the lower numbers interestingly being from VMS brands that did not supply their own server hardware.

Technically the mathematics is exactly the same with the only variables being an individual’s concept of what constitutes an average acceptable image and how they have defined how complex that image is at the programming level. This is where vast experience comes into play. At Secure Logiq we have invested heavily in our design team and offer a design guarantee, if you let us do the calculations for you, we will guarantee the processing and storage necessary and if we get it wrong we make up any shortfall ourselves, free of charge.

a&s Adria: What RAID architecture do you use to achieve greater resilience against data loss?

Hughes: To help redundancy and improve performance the Secure Logiq range of HD servers utilise a number of different RAID architecture levels. The type of RAID structure we use depends on what is best for your application. We can supply any RAID configuration, but our default configuration is optimised for value and performance versus risk. In general terms, the more hard drives we utilise in a system the more redundant drives we have. Our best-selling servers which are the 2U servers do utilise RAID5 + Hot spare which like RAID6 has two ‘redundant’ HDDs but in the event of a disk failure has a significantly faster rebuild time, which is very important when your servers are under as much stress as an HD CCTV application. When correctly configured this will also increase the total throughput of the unit. Our ultra-high density SAN units offer erasure coding which has advantages over RAID in terms of rebuild times and flexibility when expanding the storage of the system whilst retaining the existing archive.

a&s Adria: What are the other features of Secure Logiq servers that increase their resilience? Why do you use enterprise drives instead of surveillance drives?

Hughes: If you are using a VMS and a server rather than an NVR solution, then it is likely that you are in the enterprise CCTV arena, and it is also likely that the solution is for a mission critical application. Based on this assumption, all Secure Logiq servers are built with multiple layers of resilience as standard, so that they do not fail in the field or if a component fails it will not affect the overall system operation.

All of our enterprise server range is hand made in London with a strict quality control process during which all products are soak and load tested before despatch. We only utilise the highest quality enterprise components and all servers feature a five-year, next business day, global onsite warranty. Often offered as optional extras by our competitors, we design in resilience features as standard, such as dual redundant power supplies; the Operating System and VMS applications separated from the main HDD archive on two mirrored Solid State Drives (SSD’s) in RAID1; and Battery backed RAID to ensure the disk array shuts down correctly in case of power failures. As mentioned before, we offer RAID to suit the application, IPMI for advanced remote diagnostics and support and Logiqal Healthcheck for system status monitoring.

Regarding the drives, if you go to any HDD manufacturer and ask what you should use to store mission critical data, they will point you to Enterprise HDDs every time. Our industry is ‘Big Data’, nothing puts HDDs under as much duress as Gigabits of data constantly writing and overwriting, so you want something that was designed for this purpose. Enterprise drives are rated for continuous use with a five-year warranty, they are designed for high throughput (540TB per annum), they have advanced enterprise class architecture which leads to a low failure rate which is ultimately best for our customers but also reduces our support burden.

a&s Adria: You are the only CCTV partner for Stratus everRun in the EMEA region. What are the benefits of having two mirrored management servers?

Hughes: In the VMS world there are two types of system, those with intelligence and functionality distributed between the server estate (Avigilon and Axxonsoft for example) and those with a management server (Milestone and Genetec). Whilst both have their benefits, and all offer advanced failover models, in the second model the management server becomes the single point of failure with the potential to take an entire system offline.

Having two mirrored management servers utilising Stratus everRun eliminates that risk without the need for very advanced IT skills and additional Microsoft licencing. People often forget that even with failover on the recording servers, if you lose a server you lose the video archive on that server so you will not have access to the video from the cameras stored on those servers. However, in tandem with Stratus everRun we can also help design advanced failover models like ‘dual recording’ so that even when losing a management server and a recording server we would have zero downtime and the customer can continue to access the video archive from all of the cameras for the most recent events. We have deployed these systems in multiple high security applications such as banks, airports and datacentres.

a&s Adria: All of your servers come with Logiqal Healthcheck Pro. What processes do you monitor with that tool and can it help to prevent storage failures?

Hughes: Written internally by our software development team, Logiqal Healthcheck Pro is a software utility which is installed on all Secure Logiq hardware and, given permission, will monitor every process and component within our servers. This allows us and our customers to reduce maintenance requirements whilst increasing support performance. Our customers can view their entire server estate globally, either displayed as icons or on a map, and a full set of green lights will give them the confidence that there are no issues on site. A simple to follow traffic light system will alert customers of any potential or actual problems within the server, down to the component level including failed hard drives or temperature issues. The system can also be configured to send emails or SMS alerts depending on the severity of the problem so that an engineer can be alerted within five seconds of any issue arising. This allows our customers to offer a level of pre-emptive maintenance and support which has never been seen before in the industry

a&s Adria: Maybe you could share with us a case study so we can grasp all the benefits of customized Secure Logiq servers for video surveillance systems?

Hughes: Let me give you an example of surveillance solution that benefited purely from upgrading the server element of the solution. A well-known London-based English Premier League football club were early adopters of HD surveillance and immediately understood the benefits of an ultra-high resolution surveillance system which featured large sensor multi-megapixel cameras installed across the entire stadium. Six years ago, storage was a premium and three quotations were offered by the integrator £150,000, £300,000 and £1M, the only difference between these quotes was the total amount of processing and storage that was on offer. The end user opted for the middle quotation.

The IT world moves much faster than the CCTV industry and it is commonly accepted that IT hardware is ‘end of life’ after five years while modern solid state cameras have a lifespan of 10-15 years and VMS software usually has a paid or free upgrade path for the life of the system, though this again is highly dependent on the suitability of hardware being used. When the existing servers began to fail, and the software demanded more modern technology to fully utilise the latest features the integrator approached Secure Logiq for advice. We were able to replace the existing 15 servers with just two, high throughput, high storage density servers but at the same time offer them six times the processing and storage than they previously had.

The end result was that the football club was able to increase the frame rate to its maximum on every existing camera at the stadium and massively reduce compression, therefore increasing image quality. This completely transformed the existing security system by simply replacing the server hardware but in the time elapsed from the original installation the price for the server hardware was a fraction of the top level quotation.

a&s Adria: You recently attended Adria Security Summit in Belgrade as an exhibitor. Are you looking for regional partners and what are your plans for the Southeast Europe security market in general?

Hughes: We are constantly striving to increase our global footprint and our debut at the Adria Security summit this year was a really great solution for increasing our visibility in this region. We currently export to and support products in 42 countries across six continents and we are hoping to attract both integration and distribution partners in Southeast Europe and beyond.

This is one of the main reasons why we hired an extremely experienced and well-known European Sales Manager, Ivan Sval, who is based in Slovenia. We are certain that not just through our product but our extensive knowledge of IP CCTV and our incredible design services, we will be able to add value and help our partners succeed with any project utilising a VMS or video analytics-based solution.

a&s Adria: What can we expect from Secure Logiq in the years ahead, in terms of expansion of the product portfolio, new business strategies, and technologies?

Hughes: Video Analytics is an area we are heavily invested in, which is a really specialist area of server design. As these features become more cost effective and even free in some enterprise VMS solutions the server design will have increased importance even in the small to medium size projects. These applications will nearly always require a custom designed server and returning the designs quickly as well as being able to build and ship the equipment in a short time frame will remain our prime objective in supporting our partners.

As you have heard we have already invested heavily in a software development team, but our product management department are really excited to create hardware elements specifically designed for the efficient processing of HD video. Our primary growth objective is to replicate the success we have seen in the UK and many other regions by attracting a larger global customer base to join the Secure Logiq family.

Mr. Sold, can you please present yourself to our readers: your educational and professional background, the field of expertise, when did you start working for G4S, what area are you in charge with?
Great amount of my professional career I have been working for the Danish transport and logistics company Maersk. During my 16 years I have been assigned with multiple roles and geographies in Europe and South East Asia. Most of my professional experiences were around business transformation and new ventures. With nowadays fast changing environments, business transformation somehow became everyday reality rather than a special moment during the lifecycle of the enterprise. This being said, my expertise is to find the right balance between expectations of customer, employee and shareholder and make it sustainable for all. One of the lines of the G4S business lines in Serbia is transportation of valuables, so this was the link that conveyed me from Maersk to G4S. When I took up this role in G4S four years ago, we started a major transformation of the business in Serbia focused on bringing technology into the centre of gravity. Another important element of our strategy is customer centricity, we want to be the first choice of our clients, for instance later this year we plan to introduce a very unique IT platform improving customer experience for transport operations – we hope this will help our clients to improve their business. G4S in Serbia is very often considered purely through guarding services, however other than that we are also a transport company and last but not least a very important line of our business is Low Voltage Systems Integration, with our highly qualified team of Engineers and Technicians who design, draw, install and commission complex projects in Serbia. On personal note I moved to Belgrade from Prague but originally I am northern slav born in Warsaw and graduate of Warsaw School of Economics,

After months of negotiation Allied Universal has acquired G4S for 5,1 billion USD. This acquisition created the world’s 7th largest employer and world-leading integrated security company, providing an almost unrivaled breadth of capability for customers. How did it come to this decision, has the integration been completed, and will G4S keep its brand and decision-making process?
We combine our resources and expertise to create the world’s leading global security company with revenues of approximately $18 billion, operations in around 85 countries and a workforce of more than 800,000. We began integrating the North America operations of the two companies first with the goal of completing the process by late Q3/early Q4 2021, and at that time, in North America, the go-forward brand name will be Allied Universal. We will continue to operate under the G4S brand elsewhere in the group and will be conducting brand research in order to determine future brand strategy in 2022.

“The combination of the skills, experience, and talents in our two companies creates a unified business that will be unmatched in every important dimension including scale, coverage, employee opportunity, innovation, and customer experience and, of course, performance. I look forward to working alongside the Allied Universal team to deliver the considerable benefits that I know this combination can achieve,” said Ashley Almanza, CEO of G4S. Can you comment on these benefits for your customers around the world, including the area you’re in charge of? From a customer perspective, what can they expect from a unified company in the future?
The combination of the two businesses will create a world-leading integrated security company with a strong international platform and an extensive portfolio of enterprise clients. We will be ideally situated to address customers’ evolving security needs, partnering and growing with our clients on a national and international scale and serving G4S’s existing customer base around the world.

What about G4S’s business in Serbia? (stats) Would you say G4S is now the largest manned security provider in that country? Has G4S’ business improved since you’ve taken the lead?

Our large number of Security Officers make a powerful backbone for the integrated security systems and cash management solutions that are key to our strong position in the market. security is considered by clients as a pure cost to the organization, but we in G4S always try to enable the value to the customer. In order to change this perspective it is very important to look at the security function as one essential component serving as a business enabler. Very often a mistake is looking at security electronic systems in separation – during tenders or design process – from manned security whereas this is one interconnected system. With proper design of the solution not only we lower the long term Total Cost of Ownership but also enable multiple value added services that convert to monetary benefits of our customers. How? It could be customer behaviour patterns analysis for retail business, it could be improved revenue/utilization from smart parking systems, could be a decreased number of injuries in industrial sectors or even strong management of Covid related safety processes. All of it evolves around smart security systems being the combination of technology and manned security. G4S has a unique customer proposition in Serbia being at the same time electronic security system integrator but also the final user of the same. When it comes to the size of our operations in Serbia we definitely look more into the quality and complexity of our offering and we hope to be the first choice of our customers when they think about security.

Let’s talk more about your services. What do you offer to clients interested in manned and electronic security services?

Our business is segmented into three core services – Secure Solutions, Cash Solutions and Risk Consulting Services. Our mission is to use G4S global knowledge and expertise to co-create industry-leading solutions. The global G4S Academy plays a critical role in keeping up with the latest industry trends, solutions, concepts and evolving threats. It was created with a clear vision of combining Customer Intimacy with Operational Excellence. At the core of our security management are systems based on the ability to adequately assess risk, correctly design, install, integrate and maintain in the general concept of security of a specific facility or client’s property. It is the famous 3R model (Resources, Risks and Resolutions), a true “man-tech” concept – a synergy of man and technology. G4S has the expertise and know-how to propose and implement the Integrated Security 360 ° concept while adhering to the strict procedures in addition to having professional liability insurance for everything we do.

Has the pandemic affected your business? What measures did you have to take to ensure the continuity of your services? Do you see that the market is recovering?
Unfortunately, yes, we have been heavily affected by Corona. Many of our colleagues got infected with Covid and unfortunately few of them we have lost to the pandemic. This is a very tragic and traumatic experience and shows how devastating this last 18 months has been. Having this opportunity I wanted to share words of appreciation with all professionals working in this industry. Private Security Officers are very often underestimated when it comes to the importance of their function in modern societies. Pandemic has shown that they are part of the essential workers group which plays a very important role in providing basic security and also making sure our public spaces are safe. I think we as societies should pay greater tribute to this professional group. Here I would like to say thank you to all G4S colleagues but also to all security personnel.
When it comes to Covid prevention, in G4S we have implemented measures regulated by the Government of Serbia and WHO supported by our inhouse technology such as cameras counting people and allowing control of social distancing or different technologies for fever screening and connected to automated access control. We also implemented remote work for HQ employees, distribution of PPE but also psychological assistance to those who were affected in a negative way..
Business wise Corona has had various impacts, there are industries that observe significant demand growth – take for instance food delivery, some in neutral but we see a lot of industries and businesses of our customers affected in a negative way, for example restaurants, hotels, shopping and retail. This creates additional pressure on the cost and unfortunately that leads to the increase of the gray economy. Market recovery ratio is different from industry to industry thus there could be no general statement but we consider the near future as a challenging period of time. Again the state will play a critical role in the Post-pandemic situation in making sure that the grey economy will not take over. This is especially important in sectors such as Private Security due to potential exposures and consequences for people’s safety and health and insurance of assets.

I’ve always wondered about the reason for G4S not spreading to other regional countries, like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia. Why is that? Do you see that might change? What would it take to make such a step?
We would like to grow and we have ambition for growth however such decisions must have strategic and financial reasoning behind. We would not enter markets just for the sake of growing presence. For a time being G4S has small operations in Slovenia and Montenegro. Now we are concluding integration between Allied Universal and G4S which is historically the biggest transaction of this nature in our industry and once this is concluded we will know more about the future strategy of our new HQ.

A trend of decreasing security guards and replacing them, in some manner, with security systems is gaining pace. Do you find this to be true in the Western Balkans region, what business area is affected the most, and do you have a strategy related to this inevitable trend? Can you explain the concept of “man-tech” you’re implementing?
This is a very good and valid question in Serbia. There are two critical factors that will transform the Serbian security industry in the near future and bring it more towards the solutions and concepts present in Western Europe. Namely it is inflation of wages and migration of people. To Mention minimum wage changes alone, in Serbia since 2017 those have grown by 55% percent, although the starting point is relatively low compared to other countries, the dynamic of the growth is very high. Government strategy ‘Serbia 2025’ is to continue increasing the wages to an estimated 900 Euro level for the average wage in Serbia in 2025. This increase will put pressure on the economy and private sector to find cost predictability. In the traditional guarding model wage to bill ratio (% of wages in rate towards the security customer) is more than 90%. Historically in the Balkans the cost of technology was higher than the security wage however this is changing as we speak. Men-tech concept is a combination of multiple and historically independent eyes of a chain into one system. For example, our newest product that we started to offer on the Serbian market called ‘Digital Guard’ consists of cameras with Artificial Intelligence function, public address system, Alarm Monitoring Centre and Alarm monitoring Response teams. It allows remote recognition of risks, remote interaction with the threat and in ultimate situation dispatch of response teams that can support customers onsite. All of those elements substitute traditional guarding with not only lesser cost but on the contrary more predictable cost of guarding in the long term since wage to bill ratio is less than 50%. All of this happens with no loss to quality of service and in many instances brings more quality.
Similar concept applies to our transport operations, by definition cash that we transport is at all times under electro-chemical protection that makes it safe. Also our continued investments into the fleet makes those vehicles complying with highest global security standards thus less man power required to operate them. In this business we leave no room for mistakes.

When it comes to security systems, what manufacturers/vendors do you work with?

Since G4S is a global company we have global agreements with the biggest and most renowned security equipment manufacturers in the world. This gives us good access to competitive products but also newests technology available. Our product and vendor mix is always driven by our customers, this being said in our portfolio we have brands and solutions for budget solutions but also premium manufacturers and technology. In G4S we sell products to individual customers such as Alarm Monitorings to households but also complex infrastructural objects thus we have to be flexible.

Do you see an increase in usage of advanced technologies in Serbia, like cloud video and access (VSaaS and ACaaS), AI, IoT devices, user-behavior analytics, etc.?
Definitely. Firstly, it is important to note that our internal G4S systems/operations are cloud-based whereby we are truly “walking the talk”. That said, along with the inflow of new customers, we have also recognized the needs of the existing partners and offered them cloud-based services in areas such as remote guarding, alarm-monitoring or transport of valuables. These technologies, therefore, sustain continuity of quality and stability of service provision. Artificial Intelligence is part of our Digital Guard solution that I mentioned before. Also customers recognize the need and value of Big Data and those are possibly to become products on its own. The security industry is a natural source of business analytics and we hope that we can build on this with our customers in the near future.

Reference list of G4S is, without a doubt, extensive. Among many assets you secure, what would you highlight as particularly important or complex in the last few years?
As we convert more and more of our “traditional” services into truly integrated security solutions based on Risk Based Approach, we are being recognized as trusted security advisor and provider to several big projects. Starting from providing complex security systems installations to national critical infrastructure projects (new highway with several road tunnels in which we delivered anything from fire & gas detection, SOS intercoms, Video surveillance etc; railway reconstruction in which we deliver anything from fire detection, public address, video surveillance to passenger information systems etc); followed by securing wind park construction project by deploying our man-tech (combination of manpower with technology) solution and for the first time using advanced IoT systems based on LoRaWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) and last but not least delivering one of the World’s largest smart parking projects in biggest shopping mall in this part of Europe.

Lacking man guards and dumping prices is one of the greatest challenges of manned security companies in the Adriatic region. How do you battle this issue, what have you undertaken to try to keep your workforce?
I have to start by pointing out how important it is not to look at Security Officers as “doormen” but as licensed and trained professionals who stand at the very beginning of any security systems solution, right next to the modern technology. From Security studies graduates to police/army veterans, our team is made up of 3.500 people who are at the core of our operations. We are proud to say that more than a third of employees are in the company for a very long time (10 years and more). They maintain great relationships with clients, recognizing all the risks and reacting in time to prevent them. Salary is always on time and their insurance paid with no exception. As many of them have stated, these weren’t the case with other employers on the market. During last year’s state of emergency, we showed equal care for everyone, and organized transportation for colleagues to and from work, organized tests and sent health packages to everyone who was ill. Most important of all is that everyone kept their job. We show effort to promote their work through internal and external channels of communication. Our goal is to also empower women in the security industry and we are constantly increasing their number in our company. In a nutshell, struggle (to find new employees) is real but being consistent in fulfilling your contractual obligations is what keeps both your employees and customers on your side.

You are a Platinum sponsor at Adria Security Summit, the largest security event in the region, which will be held in Belgrade. Do you find it to be a good opportunity to finally meet all the market players after a year and a half of pandemic and canceled events?
Excellent opportunity, to say at least. We have prepared a real “treat” for security professionals and decision makers. Two side events, one of which focusing on the integrated security systems and the other on the cash management, will by no means prove G4S a leader in the security market. Not only that we’ll be bringing World’s top experts but also having local specialists and customers talk about our solutions that contributed to their businesses’ running smoothly. Certain topics, such as insurance when dealing with cash processing or buying cheap(er) equipment while designing your own security systems have not been discussed in a proper manner. It’s high time they were and we are happy to share our knowledge with other participants, as G4S Academy, our business philosophy is exactly that: sharing our global expertise in order to reach the best solutions together. Many thanks to the Summit’s organizators for making this event possible despite the circumstances. I am sure it’s going to be a success.

At the end, G4S Serbia short-term plans for the future?
Our ambition is to be the first choice of the customer when thinking about security in Serbia. Our entire focus is shared amongst day2day service quality but also looking in the future, as spoken we are investing into technological solutions to bring world class security standards to Serbia, introducing a new set of products such as Digital Guard. Serbia and WEstern Balkans is a very important market for G4S and we hope we can contribute to business sustainability by making the environment safe but also we hope to contribute to the commercial success of our customers.

Dear Mr/Ms, tell us a bit about yourself, your position at Genetec, what are you in charge of, and your previous professional and educational background?

Based out of Poland, I am in charge of managing sales for Genetec in East and Central Europe. I work closely with the Europe team, as well as the Executive team in Montreal to deliver on the company’s corporate and customer strategy. I came to Genetec from L3 Security and Detection Systems, where I served as a Sales Manager for Eastern Europe. I originally started my career in public safety and defense, but swiftly switched to physical security, where I have now been for over 18 years.

Genetec is a renowned, fast-growing security company. In numbers, what year-on-year growth and revenues did you achieve, how many employees and offices do you have, and what would be the reason (important milestones) behind this success?

As a privately owned company we don’t share year-on-year revenues. However, IHS Markit Genetec ranks us as the world’s number one vendor of VMS, having sustained a 24.1% CAGR over a three-year period. We’re also the only security and public safety solutions developer to hold top-10 global rankings across all physical security industry sectors, including VMS, Access Control and ALPR software.

Genetec has marked the beginning of 2021 with the opening of its 16th global office in Vienna. How will the new headquarters support the company’s expanding footprint in Central Europe? With a multilingual staff representing eighteen nationalities, does it serves customers in Southeast Europe as well?

Opening our Vienna office shows that Genetec is dynamically growing across Europe and see it as an important market. Vienna office will not be directly supporting ECE, although we are part of the same region called DACH ECE, so there will be some mutual collaboration between ECE and DACH.

Following the acquisition of Austrian video analytics company Kiwisecurity, will the Vienna-based R&D team focus more on areas like privacy and video analytics solutions?

Privacy is a strategic focus for our R&D teams globally, not just here in Vienna. Genetec believes respect for individuals’ privacy should be the foundation of responsible design and that organizations should never have to make an artificial choice between privacy and physical security. Privacy by design methodologies therefore provide an essential road map for every product we bring to market.

With regard to video analytics this is also a key strategic focus as they’re an important enabling technology in helping our customers to extract even greater operational value from their systems.

A center of Genetec’s success is Security Center, a collaborative platform that unifies all security applications and promotes an open approach to security. Why is it, as you stated on your site, a different type of platform than the others on the market? What are its key features?

The terms unification and integration are often used interchangeably, but they don’t mean the same thing.
Whereas integration refers to establishing some form of connectivity between two standalone security
systems (i.e. access control and video), a unified system is unique in that it refers to one platform that fully embeds all video surveillance and access control (ACS) capabilities. This not only means showing video feeds when alerts are triggered by the access control system, but also being able to see data from all related sensors in a single click, from anywhere in the system.

With a unified solution like Security Center, employees only have to get to know and use one system. Administrators save time configuring the system and only have one manufacturer to contact – Genetec – with any questions or issues. Another key feature is that in a unified solution, cybersecurity is already applied – and updated – across all physical security components.

The result of this open approach is a constantly evolving ecosystem of technologies, within which one can choose from thousands of devices integrated with your Omnicast VMS, a part of the Security Center platform. What brands and technologies are integrated with Omnicast?

We have more than 180 technology partners within our ecosystem so too many to list here. But they can all be found on our website. No single hardware provider could hope to have the best sensor technology for every possible user requirement. We therefore give our customers the widest possible choice of sensors such as cameras, door readers, intercoms, intrusion panels and more so that they can select the ones that best fit their budget and needs.

Omnicast offers hybrid recording, seamlessly combining on-premise and cloud storage. Do you believe more chief security officers will let go of the division between cloud and on-premises physical security systems and embrace a hybrid deployment model and why? For what applications would you find this to be the best solution at the moment?

Yes, physical security departments have been slower to adopt the cloud than other business functions but it is clearly the direction of travel. Cloud and hybrid cloud systems offer advantages with respect to data protection, system flexibility, performance and cost savings. They encompass near-term enhancements such as greater scope for monitoring and longer-term opportunities such as the addition of new functionalities.

There is no one-size-fits-all, each organization should explore the possibilities based on their own specific requirements. Though, for those just beginning this journey, hybrid cloud is a good place to start.

The other model, the one entirely based on cloud, you have offered via Stratocast. According to a report conducted by Genetec last year, only 20 percent of respondents had deployed cloud solutions in their physical security environments, which means the business possibilities are good ahead. What are the pros of video surveillance as a service?

We’ve since conducted another report with our Europe and Middle East customers that shows cloud deployments are picking up pace. Pre-pandemic, just 37% of respondents identified as well underway in their adoption of cloud or hybrid cloud infrastructure for physical security. However, almost two thirds (64%) reported the pandemic as having somewhat (51%) or greatly (12.5%) accelerated their cloud strategy in relation to physical security.

With an on-premises system, you can expect to see a higher initial price tag, with lower ongoing expenses. Other costs to keep in mind are those related to the purchase, maintenance, and replacement of recording equipment, typically every 5 years. Cloud-based systems have recurring monthly or annual subscription costs, which are based on your selected plan. And with no recording equipment needed on-site, you can expect a lower upfront cost with predictable ongoing expenses. A hybrid deployment is also a great option for those with a central site and multiple smaller, dispersed locations.

Genetec didn’t stop at securing premises, but traffic too. High-performance ALPR named AutoVu gives your customers real-time insights. Is there more to this solution than just registering license plates?

ALPR systems include specialised cameras that capture license plate images and analytics that automate license plate reading, identification, and potential matching to license plates listed in a live database. But the incorporation of ALPR into video surveillance and access control systems has now given us smart parking, resulting in improved parking enforcement, management, and compliance.

ALPR systems can provide both on-street and off-street parking solutions. Mount an ALPR camera on an enforcement vehicle and it can continuously scan license plates and alert police officers in real time to parking violations or scofflaws. When parking rules and permits aren’t properly enforced, parking lots can fill up with non-paying customers, leaving paying customers without a parking spot and dissatisfied. ALPR can assist in off-street parking by recording vehicles as they enter and leave monitored parking lots, revealing off-street violations and lot occupancy in real-time.

For Parking Access and Revenue Control Systems (PARCS) that offer real time computerised parking systems for transient and credentialed customers, an ALPR solution can be an effective way to improve customer service and prevent crime. ALPR can track where people have parked, help long-term parking customers locate their vehicle, check how long vehicles have been parked in a lot, and identify vehicles that are wanted or designated stolen just as soon as they enter a PARCS facility.

For decades access control had this setback of being dominantly proprietary. You offer something else – an open architecture access control system. How does Synergis helps end-users to avoid the long-term setbacks of closed solutions and is the list of integrated devices with Synergis expanding? Do you feel that the new ONVIF’s Profile D for access control would help things moving forward to opened architecture?

Genetec’s CEO Pierre Racz recently mentioned several things our industry should focus on during these challenging times: “cybersecurity, architectural paradigm shift as people are accepting more hybrid cloud solutions, need for more accountability and governance for the stewardship of our critical telecommunication and computing infrastructure, need to understand the limits of machine learning technology, and last work on proper levels of reliability software engineering”. Can you elaborate on these points: why do we need to invest more in securing networks from cyber attacks and data from theft, what is implicated by reliability software engineering, and why is it important to understand the limits of machine learning?

I’ll give you some sobering statistics that put the need to invest more in securing networks from cyber attacks into context. A cyber-attack is launched every 39 seconds, we’re witnessing a 42% rise in exposed devices that can be accessed remotely and 90% of all IoT attacks go through routers and connected cameras. Most of these could be easily prevented.

Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility between the manufacturer, the installer and the end user so we all need to play our part in reducing exposures to vulnerabilities. For example, software developers must proactively monitor for vulnerabilities in their software and swiftly roll-out security updates when weaknesses are found. Installers and end users must ensure these updates are quickly and consistently applied.

With regard to AI and machine learning it’s important to recognize that computers are brilliant at performing specific tasks but display nothing like human intelligence. There’s a famous example in the medical field of an attempt to train an algorithm to spot tumors by feeding it lots of examples of healthy and cancerous organs. In every training photo of a cancerous organ there was a ruler and all the system learnt was that the presence of a ruler was a sign of cancer.

We should use machine learning to assist a human operator and to perform the heavy lifting. But a person must always decide.

When it comes to the aforementioned cybersecurity, for security businesses it’s even more important because much of what security companies do has a fundamental privacy component. Genetec recently pointed out that a secure IT perimeter no longer exists – physical security professionals must put measures in place to deter hackers and protect their businesses. Are encryption and multi-factor authentication important parts of this and what measures did Genetec undertake to make its software cyber secure?

Physical and cyber security are co-dependent. You cannot have one without the other. For example, if criminals can gain unrestricted access to your physical servers, then whatever cyber security precautions you have in place are redundant. Equally, if IP cameras are running out of date firmware, then they can present criminals with an entry point to the network. Encryption and multi-factor authentication are of course vital aspects but businesses can’t rely purely on technology to remain secure. Hardening an organization against cyberattacks means thinking about people, process and technology.

At Genetec we build our software from the ground up with cybersecurity in mind and regularly bring in external penetration testers to help us find vulnerabilities in our software. We also work hard to educate the market to ensure our software is correctly deployed and maintained by partners and end users.

Partnerships allow businesses to mutually recognize strengths and weaknesses and help each other improve. It can lead to valuable knowledge sharing, allow innovation, access to new markets, and increased customer loyalty. You have four types of partnership programs. What benefits can a company gain by becoming Genetec’s channel&consultation or technology partner?

Genetec has just launched its brand new Virtual Experience Center. Would you find that this platform will enable channel partners and end-users to easily and efficiently collaborate with Genetec employees in one virtual environment?

The platform will enable channel partners and end users to easily and efficiently collaborate with Genetec employees to discuss projects, view demos and access materials, in one virtual environment from anywhere in the world. This platform recreates the same personalised interaction of visiting the existing Genetec Experience Centers in Montreal, Paris, London, Dubai and Singapore.

In the end, Genetec’s in the Adriatic region. What are your plans in this area, are you looking for new partners, do you plan to open an office or employ additional staff in the region, etc.?

Our partners are vital to our success at Genetec, and we definitely want to grow our network of partners in the Adriatic region. We want to build a close network of strong local system integrators that are well trained, and aware of the threat landscape as it evolves.

We have been protecting people and assets for more than four decades by developing and providing technologically advanced and integrated security solutions, and this can be seen in all our product lines. Our comprehensive range of devices covers all types of installation requirements, from small to large applications, and focuses on four main product lines

a&s Adria: Mr. Pastorello, tell us something about yourself, your professional and educational background, what are you in charge of at EL.MO.?
Pastorello: Hello, I’m Alberto Pastorello, International Sales Manager of EL.MO. Spa. I deal with customer relations, specifically I support and provide our clients with solutions that best fit their needs, while creating lasting business collaborations worldwide. I’ve been always interested in technology and innovation, this brought me first to enroll to engineering school, and later to land a professional path within EL.MO.. I started from the company’s internal system design team, designing security solutions for our clients, while developing and increasing know-how and expertise during the years; this helped me when offered the chance to enhance the Company’s presence abroad, a challenge that I accepted with enthusiasm and I’m happy to confirm that brought us many good results, both in terms of business partnerships, and product portfolio development.

a&s Adria: EL.MO. has been designing, producing and supplying intrusion prevention, fire prevention, video surveillance and access control systems since 1975. Give us a brief presentation of your product lines? What product from each category would you single out as the best-selling (flagship) one and why?
Pastorello: Protecting people and assets is what we’ve been doing for more than four decades, by developing and providing technologically advanced and integrated security solutions, and this can be seen throughout all our product lines. EL.MO. comprehensive range of devices cover all types of installation requirements, from small to large-scale applications, and focuses on four main product lines.
We can start with intrusion detection, its devices are available in both wired and wireless configurations, and range from traditional to EL.MO. advanced technologies, such as ULTRABUS and NG-TRX. This line can count on up to EN50131 grade 3 IMQ-ALLARME-certified solutions, designed and manufactured to withstand and safeguard against any threat.
Highly integrated with intrusion detection is e-Vision®, EL.MO. specific brand of top-performance video surveillance products. Based on multi-standard analogue systems and IP devices, e-Vision range is available in different formats, that allow 24hr monitoring, prevention and identification of all types of criminal acts. Several devices are also AI-powered, offering a number of specific and advanced features, in order to ensure the maximum control and monitoring of areas and premises.

EL.MO. also offers a wide range of fire detection devices, cutting-edge high-performance prevention and safety products for large- and mid-sized businesses: our fire protection devices, such as FYRA proprietary analogue-addressable device line, offers the best possible solution while maximizing the investment-performance ratio.
Finally, protecting access points to sensitive areas from unauthorized entry is just as important for us: to limit access to sensitive areas we can provide an extensive selection of controllers, proximity card readers and biometric fingerprint systems designed for this very purpose, catering to even the strictest security requirements.
Ultimately, it’s important to point out that being a one-stop supplier to our customers is definitely a fundamental element for us: being able to offer them tailored solutions, integrated systems and added-value services without the need to refer to other professionals but EL.MO. is an exceptional tool that we believe grants an extraordinary business growth.

a&s Adria: To integrate all those systems on a single cloud platform you use e-Connect. What are its key features and do you find cloud to be the future of security systems?
Pastorello: e-Connect is a web service, available in different formats, that allows different product lines and systems to interact effortlessly while providing an all-round solution to end-user and installers/distributors alike. This cloud platform features a multilevel structure, thus is able to answer the needs of all parties, granting more autonomy for end-users, and business opportunities for the professionals, while keeping its focus on to security. To security professionals specifically, e-Connect is an extraordinary tool that allows to manage all the systems of their customers on a single platform, with the possibility to customize, supervise and assist all the systems even remotely. This turns out to be an exceptional advantage for our clients, which can provide ad-hoc solutions and high-value services to enrich their business proposal.

In a broader sense, we believe that cloud-based solutions will increasingly gain importance in the security market, as happened in any other sector: since almost a decade ago, when we first started to involve in this kind of innovations, integration and cloud systems has become a relevant element in the provision of a complete security solutions. Now more than ever, with IoT and integration demand at its peak, a synergic interaction between devices is necessary. EL.MO. is not only listening and following trends, but actively working by promoting deeper implementations, un example is the integration with Amazon and Google voice assistants within our intrusion detection systems, as well as IFTTT services, that grants a tighter and more resilient solution, not merely related to security, but spacing into the smart living experience.

a&s Adria: What are the main advantages of ULTRABUS, EL.MO.’s advanced RS-485 serial bus for its security systems?
Pastorello: ULTRABUS is the advanced serial bus designed by EL.MO. that completely change the approach to the setting-up of wired intrusion detection systems. In fact, devices operating on ULTRABUS are fully software controllable and programmable, even locally or remotely. This helps installers as it grants a considerable reduction in the number of field devices compared to classic hardwired systems, and the opportunity to implement advanced settings. As mentioned, ULTRABUS simplify the installation process while bringing precision and efficiency, from the commissioning of the system to following configuration and maintenance activities. The long range and flexibility of ULTRABUS systems in fact allows the design of simple yet effective solutions, with up to 3 km range and star formations, and its wide range of available devices can also count on smart functions.

a&s Adria: High sensitivity of radio receiver, triple frequency, two-way communication, anti-collision technique, and advanced encryption are making your NG-TRX on of the most advanced bidirectional wireless systems for intrusion detection. Can you explain each of these features in detail and give us an example of NG-TRX use?
Pastorello: NG-TRX is another innovative technology which features extremely high performances, besides freedom of installation and configuration, it grants an exceptional level of security thanks to the employment of different levels of protection. First of all it’s fundamental to highlight that NG-TRX is a wireless system, designed upon two-way communication, that can reach up to 2 km in open field. This technology allows to create extremely flexible systems without weighting on sensitivity: in fact, control units and working devices constantly exchange information, transmitting data regarding the signal quality and devices status. This type of bidirectional transmission enables among other things to the remote configuration of devices, making installation and maintenance easier, as well as managing and sorting all the information received from its devices, thus avoiding information overload, common in one-way, simultaneous communications.

In case of severe disturbance our system can count on a sensitivity which is 20 times more sensitive than a traditional one, guaranteeing more effective communications. As previously said, we particularly care about the security of our systems, this is why NG-TRX can count on triple frequency for its transmissions, and advanced encryption algorithms. The transmissions between the systems’ elements take place on three differentiated frequencies that, according to environmental conditions, automatically move to the frequency guaranteeing the highest level of effectiveness and security, shielding also against jamming attacks. Finally, the devices communicates under the protection of encrypted algorithms, encryption keys and rolling codes, which guarantees secure communications that cannot be decoded by outsiders.

a&s Adria: One of the major problems when it comes to intrusion detection systems is false alarm rates. How do you make those rates lower?
Pastorello: EL.MO. has designed specific products that helps the prevention of false alarms, I’m referring specifically to the VISIO2K devices and, in a broader matter, to the InstaVision function. The first is an intelligent sensor which merge the sophistication and potential of video surveillance with the effectiveness of infrared technology. In fact, VISIO2K leverages IR and on-board Motion Video Analysis to detect and examine the scene, and only after establishing it’s a real threat event, it sends the image to the control panel, which immediately notify the user through the e-Connect platform. InstaVision instead is a function that exploit the already deep integration found throughout our product lines, increasing the synergy between intrusion detection, fire detection and video surveillance through e-Connect. InstaVision helps end-Users to verifying in real time the status of their systems through live images, images recorded at the exact time of the event, and images recorded a few seconds before the occurrence of the event directly from e-Connect app notifications.

a&s Adria: When it comes to video surveillance, you offer both the AHD/TVI/CVI multistandard technology range of products as well as IP range. Why is e-Vision the ideal solution to create high definition CCTV systems on RG59 coaxial cables, in the first case, and how do you achieve e-Vision IP product range to provide the best investment/performance ratio? Do your IP range of products exploit AI technology and to what use?
Pastorello: e-Vision® AHD/TVI/CVI multistandard technology stands out for its extreme ease of installation and for maximizing the investment-performance ratio. With the video signal being transmitted over RG59 coaxial cables with a range of up to 300 meters, CCTV systems can be created from scratch or existing systems upgraded effortlessly and at little cost. The options are endless, including the creation of hybrid systems, with AHD/TVI/CVI, analogue and ONVIF IP security cameras, and integration with the latest communication technologies, such as smartphones and tablets, for viewing images and controlling the system remotely. While a classic video surveillance system comes with various limitations, means of transmission and a fixed number of possible extensions as the number of cameras increases, e-Vision® IP systems instead adapt to accommodate changing needs without altering the structure of the network. On the other hand, the IP line is the ideal solution for complex setups requiring high levels of detail, up to 4K, or where there is no limit to size. The structure is Ethernet based and exploits the latest AI digital communication technologies to essentially analyze video streams. For example, analytic capabilities allow the system to detect when an imaginary line is crossed, distinguishing between vehicles and individuals, perform face recognition or read car number plates to enable a barrier to be opened or kept closed. All this changes though once VCA applications are embedded into the solution, transforming passive IP video systems into proactive solutions.

a&s Adria: What are the key innovations in recently presented e-Vision Pro Manager Enterprise, the new version of the centralization software dedicated to the e-Vision PRO line?
Pastorello: e-Vision PRO Manager is the new comprehensive security management platform, that properly supports all the e-Vision PRO products and other devices from the main players in the global market. This new system is equipped with powerful video monitoring capability, it supports real-time preview, centralized recording, local and remote playback, backup, alarm linkage, intelligent analysis, and much more. In addition, it is built on an open system architecture, as it supports SDK/OCX for third party integration for a comprehensive security. The software in fact support access control systems, intrusion detection systems, attendance systems, intercom systems, electronic fence, RFID, dynamic environment monitoring and other subsystems. Besides, this platform supports various AI applications, such as face-control-based solutions (face access control, face surveillance, face attendance and face greeting), people counting, behavior analysis (item care, area invasion), and so many more. For its enormous potential, e-Vision PRO Manager can be widely used from smart retail to large and medium-sized video surveillance system, for example, parks, banks, commercial buildings and other industrial applications, granting full control and monitoring of the area to be protected.

a&s Adria: TACORA hybrid control panels and HEKLA analog addressable control panels are your key offerings in fire protection. What are the main differences between them and are they certified to the strict CPR regulatory standards?
Pastorello: Available in different models, custom configured to the requirements of each project, the TACÓRA® control panels exploit a dual operating mode, conventional or conventional-analogue addressable hybrid with FYRA® protocol, to ensure far-reaching monitoring of fire risks. This extreme power is coupled with super easy programming and use: the user-friendly interface, with graphic display and indicator LEDs, makes controlling the system’s operation quick and intuitive. With the use of the optional GSM, LTE and LAN modules, the TACÓRA control panels can interface with e-Connect, enjoying all the advantages that it offers: remote supervision, graphic maps, management and support, and InstaVision® video verification.

With the HEKLA® series instead, we have made a real breakthrough in the fire detection sector, presenting the market with a series of high-performance analogue addressable control panels. A key element of the whole system is the ability to create highly complex yet easily deployed structures. Based on a modular architecture designed to grow to meet changing requirements, HEKLA control panels can work either on their own or as part of a network comprising a large number of units. As an added bonus, the system is teamed with products from the new FYRA series, EL.MO.’s line of analogue addressable devices with built-in isolator. Flexibility and integration are again two key cornerstones of the HEKLA design: in fact it can communicate with supervision, central alarm or building automation systems, whether EL.MO. or third-party systems, all of which is achieved quickly and with very limited deployment costs.

a&s Adria: Cybersecurity is still a big issue. During last year, sophistication and number of those kinds of attacks have increased. How do you battle data losses and breaches?
Pastorello: EL.MO. can count on many elements to protect against data losses and breaches, first and foremost we own full propriety of the servers in use, which means complete control, in terms of both security and service continuity, ensuring a high-profile protection for end-users, without compromise. This means, for example, immediacy in management of future introductions of blocks, filters etc., which is not guaranteed by third-party servers. These servers also present a high degree of robustness to cyber attacks: Denial of Service (DoS), brute force, etc. etc. As mentioned before, we employ encryption protocols for communications between control panels and servers, and between servers and mobile devices. All the information stored within the database are encrypted as well, in order to ensure the maximum security, as well for privacy reasons. On a periodic schedule, we run also Vulnerability test and Penetration test, which allow us to detect if any malicious attempt or corruption event have occurred. In case a scenario of this kind takes place, we devised disaster recovery / Business continuity planning intervention plans, so if the firewall that control incoming and outgoing connections to servers failed as well to protect the data, we have standard procedure to minimize any damage. All these measures helps to keep safe EL.MO. systems against cyber attacks, and are continuously and mutinously updated in order to respond to these ever-growing threats.

a&s Adria: What vertical market do you focus on or have the most references? Could you present several important projects you were working on in the past couple of years (give us info on specific projects, how many and what kind of devices you used, what were customer expectations and results)?
Pastorello: From what shared so far I hope it’s clear that EL.MO. can provide solutions suitable for any kind of environment depending on the security needs of the customer and the installation requirements: we can count on many references spacing from the residential sector to the large-scale distribution, from the automotive to the Horeca industry, as well as financial, public and service institutions. To give you some examples I can cite the Opera Primeziaole Pisana, the Bank of Ghana, and Program, which are respectively from the public sector, a financial institution and the automotive industry.

The Opera della Primaziale Pisana (OPA) are a non-profit organization concerned with managing and looking after the architectural complex that incorporates the magnificent monuments set around the city of Pisa’s cathedral square, Piazza del Duomo. The complex was in need of protection against acts of vandalism, terrorism, and common criminal acts, while it also required a system that would detect early signs of a fire, provide video surveillance, and pick up potentially dangerous situations in general. The comprehensive GLOBALPRO supervision software was used for the centralized control of all the security systems with 24hr monitoring, both locally and remotely, in order to view the information quickly and effectively. In addition, the software’s flexibility means it can be reconfigured at any time to include additional control units or accommodate new operating requirements. MIRASYS software was used to manage the video surveillance system. This software allows operators to manage and check recordings, to run video analysis for movements, and provides facial recognition, all of which is supervised in real time by the police.

The Bank of Ghana is the State’s central bank, and for its new and modern five-storey building in the centre of Accra, the Bank relied on EL.MO. to provide an high-end and effective security system. Credit institutions are highly targeted locations, always under threats of attacks, vandalism, and robbery, as well as highly sensible places for personal data. For these reasons, EL.MO. provided a well-structured security system based on intrusion detection, able to guarantee system modularity through a common logic of centralization, granting uniformity and protection standards also for future integration, for remote sites and branches, geographically distant but connected. The powerful TITANIAPLUS intrusion detection control panel, especially suited for banking, commercial or industrial installations, control and manage the system formed by TRIAL485V, DTS3000L and TRES01485 sensors for wall or ceiling mount, which protect the building both internally and externally, while NEBULA security fog system prevents criminals to find and thieve precious objects as well as restrain them until law enforcements arrive to the scene. Any theft and intrusion attempt is also made unequivocally clear by the powerful LEDA485VOX external sound systems, which guarantee an immediate response in case of alarm. The whole system is configured on ULTRABUS, while GLOBALPRO is entrusted to monitor 24/7 the intrusion detection system. The whole systems is certified IMQ EN50131- 3 grade 3 environmental class II, EN50131-6, the minimum level of security expected in such institutions. Thanks to the security solution provided by EL.MO.. The level of protection has been satisfactory enough to lead to new integrations of EL.MO. solutions in other Bank of Ghana branches.

Operating in Italy since 1992, Program is part of the international Salford Van Hire Group, which boasts 50-plus years of experience in Europe in the management of company fleets, and manages over 13,000 vehicles. Program’s Florence site needed an all-round security system designed to keep a check on a wide range of circumstances and situations. EL.MO. presented an all-encompassing solution involving intrusion detection, fire protection and CCTV, granting the extensive integration of product lines by means of InstaVision and e-Connect. PROGRAM’s security management team can now receive alarm notifications and analyse in real time the situation straight away, the security system is managed by PREGIO2000 control unit, with DT2000 and TRIAL485 interior and exterior detectors for volumetric motion detection, and a multifunction touchscreen to control, enable and disable the devices and the whole system. Full perimeter protection employing tamper proofed columns with a 250m range implement the detection side of the project, while against any risk of fire, a system was designed based on point detectors, centrally managed with the aid of the Tacòra fire control panel. For remote control of the system, the proposal included the ATLANTE2K remote control, which has buttons for switching on and off the whole system, for day and night zoning, and for controlling programmable outputs such as automatic gates, exterior lighting, and so on. In addition, should the system pick up a, the images from InstaVision allow prompt action in case of break-in attempts or early signs of a fire.

a&s Adria: The security market is developing quickly. How will you manage to be at the forefront of innovations, keep up with the trends and sustain your position in the market? What can we expect from your company?
Pastorello: EL.MO. considers Research and Development strategical, this is why we have a whole department designated to this sole purpose: to test and improve the existing solutions we offer in our portfolio, and to constantly came up with new devices and technologies to answer the market needs. You see, the existence of this department is completely on line as what previously stated, EL.MO. is not only passively responding to external demands, but by carefully analysing the sector, we have been able to design solutions which features pioneering services, going much further than what it’s asked from the typical security system. Integration, coherence and above all the presence of shared and intersectional platforms, for management, configuration, and maintenance, working diagonally within all these areas, are the result of thorough analysis and some of the most relevant strength we can rely on. All these elements guarantee greater efficiency and effectiveness to our partners. We believe that these elements, which are a diverse products portfolio, synergic lines and also the supply chain’s technical and professional training activities, can definitely guarantee and result in extremely good business opportunities, for all the actors of the supply chain. For EL.MO., the future to expect is consistent with what done so far, and that can be seen all around us: increasing integration of services within a scalable, connected solution, which don’t lose sight on its most fundamental aspect, security.

a&s Adria: EL.MO.’s position in Adriatic region: sales results, growth, partner companies, marketing? Where do you see a possible improvement?
Pastorello: In the past years we’ve been able to create a strong network of professional Partners who operate in the Adriatic Regions. We mostly rely on qualified Installer companies and system integrators, which understand the quality and expertise that comes from EL.MO., as well as System Design studios who can count on our well-round solutions that not only grant security but also ensure “smarter” living through home and building automation integration. In addition, we guarantee direct Regional support, via our technical and commercial Team, as well as technical Support 24h/7 days, to help customers in case of assistance. As I said before we strongly believe in the educating and training our partners, this is why we also offer our clients an extremely powerful on-line training platform, EL.MO.’s e-Learning training and certification hub, which allows our partners to be always up-to-date and to access educational materials about our systems. We definitely aim to increase our presence in this region, as we understand it features great potentials and it’s growing demand of inclusive solutions.

Mr. Acimov, can you present your educational and business background to our readers? How long have you been working for Ingram Micro and in what roles?

I am currently holding the post of manager for security systems with a focus on CCTV and the field of telematics, i.e. on the branch that combines telecommunications and IT solutions. I am in charge of organization and specialized management of all activities in order to provide support and cooperation and overcome project challenges that our partners face in the security system market. I have been with Ingram Micro for less than a year and I am responsible for the entire territory of the countries belonging to the SEE region, more precisely non-EU countries. I am a graduate engineer in the field of technical sciences and my career in the security industry has lasted for almost 15 years now. Prior to Ingram Micro, I worked in security and technical protection roles, first in the state and then in the private sector with one of the leading system integrators in the Balkan region. Previous experience in the market as well as direct cooperation with dozens of manufacturers in the market recommended me for receiving the call from Ingram Micro and joining their successful team.

Ingram Micro is one of the world’s largest wholesalers and providers of ICT products and services. The numbers are really impressive. What’s the state of Ingram Micro’s revenues at a global level, how many countries do you do business in, with how many manufacturers, how many resellers, buyers and logistics centers do you have, etc.?

Ingram Micro is the largest distributor in the field of IT and security solutions in the world. The company was founded in 1979 and the figures themselves are rather impressive considering that in the previous year, the globally generated revenue amounted to more than 50 billion dollars with the help of more than 36,000 employees. The company operates in over 160 countries, and cooperates with almost all major manufacturers of equipment and services in the field of IT and security solutions, i.e. with more than 2,000 of them. At the same time, the number of partners is constantly growing and has now reached over a quarter of a million. There are almost 200 global logistics centers with a total storage space of about 2,000,000 m².

What are the main benefits you would point out as the reason why so many companies use your distribution channels?

Ingram Micro actively helps partners to fully achieve their market goals and maximize the value of the technologies they produce, sell or use. With a huge global structure and focus on the cloud, our technology lifecycle and solutions and global training we provide, Ingram Micro enables business partners to operate efficiently and successfully in their markets. It is evident that no company provides such a wide and deep range of technologies and services for timely supply to its business partners around the world, which has granted us both global and local leadership position and recognition among all important market players.

On its path to success Ingram Micro has acquired more than 40 companies worldwide. What are the most important acquisitions, primarily in Europe, and when did you start doing business in the Adriatic region? Do you have offices in the regional countries?

You are right. Ingram Micro has acquired a total of 44 companies, including 9 of them in the last 5 years, mostly in the field of distribution (57%) and information technology (19%) and this trend is ongoing. Globally, the largest acquisition is Brightpoint, which is worth just shy of half a billion dollars. When we talk about Europe, the most important acquisitions certainly relate to Eurequat and Intertrade, two leading distributors in the field of DC / POS (Data Capture/Point-Of-Sale). I would also like to add the latest acquisition of the European company Ictivity which operates in the field of ICT. As Ingram Micro we have been doing business in the region from mid-2016 by taking over operations throughout Eastern Europe from the Russian company RRC which is also one of the largest IT distributors with over 20 years of business in the IT market in our region and beyond. Ingram Micro has offices and employees in all SE countries with a division covering EU and non-EU countries.

In December last year, Platinum Equity announced its intention to buy Ingram Micro for approximately $ 7.2 billion. The transaction should be completed in the first half of 2021. What benefits will it bring to your clients and customers? What do you expect from this acquisition and how will it affect your business?

As you may have noticed, our excellent performance and growing lead over competitors did not go unnoticed. I am pleased to share with you the fact that Ingram Micro will partner with the Los Angeles-based global investment fund Platinum Equity, while launching the next chapter of our hugely successful success story. We believe that Platinum Equity is the right partner to accelerate our innovation and industry leadership while providing a great place to work for employees as we continue to nurture an environment that inspires each individual to participate and succeed in an engaging, inclusive and stimulating workplace. Platinum Equity is a global investment company specializing in mergers, acquisitions and operations. The company has about $ 23 billion in assets under management and is backed by many of the world’s largest and most prominent institutional investors, including various pension, private and state funds, university endowments, charities and financial institutions. Platinum Equity knows our industry well and has extensive experience in working with technology and logistics companies to maximize potential. We fit in perfectly with Platinum Equity for the reason that they are looking for industry leaders with clear and sustainable differentiation. There will be no interruptions in our business due to this transaction – Ingram Micro will work normally. In fact, we expect our partners and customers to welcome the new ownership as they will be direct beneficiaries of the additional flexibility and resources that will continue to extend our range of services and solutions. This transaction will accelerate our growth and provide access to additional resources. Our brand, strategy, purpose of existence, values and principles are well aligned with the fund’s plans. Ingram Micro will continue to operate as a separate and independent company which performs set operations according to planned strategies. Our mission remains the same as before and it is about providing an exceptional experience that our customers and suppliers rely on a daily basis by using all the benefits which they are accustomed to. In other words, we continue to do what we have done and what has been proven to work!

There are five major areas in which your company offers products and solutions: global training, cloud, consumer electronics, technology solutions, and IoT. Can you tell us what each of these fields covers and list the most important brands you distribute?

Our commitment to a common set of principles unites us and leads to better decisions, enabling us to focus on the success of our business partners and associates. They are distinguished by results, integrity, innovation, talent and human potential, responsibility and courage. We support our partners with a range of products and services that solution providers can use to increase efficiency and gain a competitive advantage in the market by meeting their customers’ needs for quality, competitive and secure solutions. We are the right choice to look for specialized solutions in the following categories:

– Security – network security, technical security systems, security management, secure content and rights management, management and access control;
– Cloud services – IaaS – Infrastructure-as-a-Service, AZURE migration;
– Data Center infrastructure – servers, storage, power supply systems, software;
– Networking – switches, routers, wireless, modems, media converters, management software, IP telephony, VoIP, IP video monitoring, FTTH / FTTB, video surveillance;
– DC POS – mobile computers, barcode scanners, RFID, barcode printers.

What can resellers and installers expect from you in terms of pre-sales and after-sales support, education, eBusiness tools, logistics services, marketing, certification and technical support?

It is a well-known fact that Ingram Micro is a VAD (Value-Added Distributor) that not only provides the sales of products and services but rather helps partners to realize the full potential of advanced technologies. Thanks to the global infrastructure and focus on cloud technologies, logistics and advanced technological solutions, we ensure that our partners receive the appropriate tools and support for successful business. Today, there is no other company in the world that provides such a wide and comprehensive range of technical and logistics services. What also sets us apart is that we provide our clients with a wide range of end-to-end services and solutions as well as support in all phases of the business cycle with a focus on joint project development, selection of appropriate technologies, process financing assistance and constant technical support in all phases, and in the course of development, implementation and maintenance. The greatest value is the technical knowledge and many years of experience of employees working in sales and technical sector. We are one of the few companies in our market that employs engineers in the field of technical sciences that are closely related to the subject technologies in almost all business functions. Ingram Micro d.o.o. Belgrade has an authorized Training Center for training relating to the companies such as IBM, Oracle, Veeam, Kaspersky, Veritas, Check Point and others. We offer a wide range of training courses for salespeople and engineers as well as the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills relevant to the latest technologies from the best experts in the IT industry and their global partners. Also, as an authorized Pearson Vue test center Ingram Micro d.o.o. Belgrade offers the possibility of taking a large number of exams to obtain certificates from many well-known software and hardware companies such as Oracle, IBM, CISCO, VMware, Veeam, CompTIA, Linux Professional Institute, Software Certifications, etc.

When we talk about the security industry or CCTV, which brands do you work with and which of their products and services do you offer?

At the global level, Ingram Micro has achieved long-term cooperation with CCTV vendors from the premium segment when it comes to the quality of security solutions, and the region which is within my competence is certainly no exception here. These are well-known providers of products and services, such as Axis Communications and Milestone Systems, and their end-to-end solutions. Ingram Micro has established strong relationships with these vendors which have yielded outstanding results that have, in particular, fully justified their quality over the past six years in which Canon Corporation has acquired both companies. There is a noticeable rapid growth in the field of integrative solutions, both independently and in the field of mutual cooperation, which justifies the leading position and innovative role in the market. As I think that your readers are aware of the strength, quality and capabilities of both vendors, I will briefly say that Axis Communications is a leader in the global IP CCTV market and that it offers network video solutions for professional installations and creates products and solutions based on innovative and open technical platforms. Axis Communications has achieved a leading position in the market in the category of video encoders and thus strengthened the company’s position in the video surveillance market. Milestone Systems is a global leader in the open source IP video management software platform (VMS) industry. Our partners choose Milestone VMS because of the proven technology and open platform architecture that provides flexible hardware selection and independent integration. Milestone Systems assists customers to enable video integration into their business processes, helping them manage risks, protect their employees and assets, and reduce costs. Ingram Micro cooperates with these vendors on open access and mutual planning of activities, strategies and development of quality project opportunities throughout the region. Having in mind that I have had the opportunity to cooperate with them for many years, I can responsibly say that they represent the best that the users can get in terms of IP security systems in the market and their combination of project and security solutions achieves exponential benefits during long-term operation.

During the pandemic, did you have difficulty delivering security products on time and, if so, how did you overcome it?

One of the first things I noticed when I came to the company was the strength of the logistics business and the organization within Ingram Micro. I can freely say that it is the simplest complex or the most complex simply organized system that I have had the opportunity to encounter. The emergence of a pandemic and the evident crisis that has befallen us has not had a significant impact on our business in terms of delivery of products and services. A large number of central and local warehouses, warehouse management, long-term cooperation with internal and external logistics service providers, planning, ordering and inventory tracking systems, and precisely planned and implemented reallocation of existing stocks in line with the needs, in a unit of time has demonstrated the strength of the company in a very short period of time. Timely delivery, logistical and financial support, as well as the equipment stock itself allowed for uninterrupted work with partners on the undergoing projects and the development of future ones, and, more importantly, the safety and peace of mind stemming from awareness that the contracted work will be completed on time. It is also the fact that many system integrators, among other things, turned to our solutions for that reason. During the work at the time of the pandemic, it happened on several occasions that certain specific products from the CCTV segment in the whole of Europe were found in stock only at Ingram Micro, considering, also, other brands that are represented in our region. As the basis of our successful work is found in the satisfaction of partners and customers with all that Ingram Micro has to offer, I believe that we have fully justified what was expected of us, among other things. The partners were able to continue working with us without hindrance and get what they are used to just as they have been able to do in the conditions before the crisis caused by the Covid-19 virus.

Which important projects in the region have you participated in when it comes to CCTV?

Bearing in mind that without the written consent of the end users and partners and regardless of the type and form of their ownership, Ingram Micro does not disclose details and data on specific projects in which it has participated, I can list some of the most significant market verticals in the region. I am in charge of i.e. in the non-EU territory. As a rule, it has been evident that for more demanding solutions, as well as in the situations in which it has been necessary to meet sensitive security needs, partners choose our solutions with which they can properly provide education and meet customer needs. This has proven to be a welcome recommendation and practice in various projects regardless of industry, business area, ownership structures, the size of the system itself and the sensitivity of the resources being secured, which I am personally particularly proud of. In the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, I can single out projects in the field of road infrastructure and financial institutions; In Albania there are projects in the energy sector; with partners in Northern Macedonia we participated in the implementation of projects in the field of shipping and transport while Serbia saw implementation in the construction sector and various commercial service industries. At the moment, there are several security and CCTV projects in the region in which we participate in the creation and implementation of innovative solutions by observing the global framework, which proves our strength and the strength of the vendors that we work with. By the end of the year, I expect results that will enable these solutions to be more widely used and applied in Europe and the rest of the world, and, at the same time, demonstrate that there is a fully professional approach to meeting the needs in the security field in our region, but what makes me especially happy is a strongly proactive action with regard to the emergence of various challenges and the creation of the solutions themselves. I am really proud of these and similar things as part of an industry that can contribute to changes on a broader scale through its development in our region.

Do you offer security solutions to combat COVID and what are those? Have you noticed an increased demand for these solutions?

Regarding solutions that include those intended for combating the Covid-19 virus, there was a significant demand at the very beginning of the pandemic when, I can freely say, partners were burdened and confused by different demands from users without them clearly stating their need to adapt the solution to business conditions and the activities they perform. Unlike most other vendors, Axis Communications and Milestone Systems had a different approach to this problem, which primarily referred to the improvement of existing products as well as to the cooperation with specialized software companies that created similar solutions long before the pandemic. The combination of know-how enabled the development and application of security solutions for this purpose, such as AI analytics, people-counting systems, and the use of thermal cameras in combination with elements of face recognition, access control and the like. All of this primarily had to do with the timely detection of Covid-19 symptoms in persons who would not be allowed access to certain protected areas, yet without violating their guaranteed human rights. To conclude, an advantage has been generated in the already existing integrative solutions developed by our CCTV vendors before the pandemic, while Ingram Micro’s partners know that by cooperating with our sales and technical teams they have the opportunity to respond to customer demands and challenges with a complete project solution in terms of the entire infrastructure (CCTV, network equipment, server and storage architecture, uninterruptible power supplies, security and virtualization software and many others).

Finally, the countries of the Adriatic region are going through the most difficult period in the past two decades. The security industry is also affected, although potentially less than others. When do you expect it to stabilize and return to its previous growth? Also, regardless of the pandemic, what is your assessment of the regional security market in terms of keeping pace with the technological trends, i.e. what should be worked on more on the path to even greater level of professionalization?

With the emergence of the pandemic in our region, I had the opportunity to observe a sort of general confusion in the market regarding how and in what way security systems should be used in the fight against the virus. I appreciate that the previous year, as well as this one, will be marked by a kind of hasty and emotionally guided procurement without a clearly defined goal of its use and adaptation to the given situation. The crisis and the unpredictability of the further developments understandably contributed to the increased concern for the personal and property security of each of us, which also reflected on many irrational procurements and implementations of the systems that did not lead to the expected results. Unlike most business associates with whom I communicate, I do not share the opinion that the crisis will provide a new chance and sales growth, at least not in the near foreseeable future. We are already witnessing regular prolongation and abandonment of planned projects due to uncertainty, rebalance of planned funds and budget cuts. When we talk about the Adriatic region, I can certainly say that there is undoubtedly room for improvement, especially in the field of network video surveillance and the opportunities it offers, especially in the area of integration with other systems. I expect to see significant investments in the development of smart cities with reservations and fear that their design will not be approached in detail and that no account will be taken of the interconnection of such cities and regions as the next step to be taken. As for the emerging trends in terms of technology, we are on the right track when it comes to the quality, expertise and professionalism of the leading system integrators in the region and I would use this occasion to tell them to think about basing their future growth on, among other things, investing in new staff, their education and professional training. We can see that the education systems of the regional countries do not take note of that, and that there are no indications that anything will change with regard to this issue. The foundation of professional solutions rests on the shoulders of professionals who do their work.

Mr/Ms …, tell us something about yourself, your educational and professional background and experience?
I was born and educated in Scotland. I have been living and working in sales and marketing in Germany since 1985. In 2000 I joined Dr Ralf Hinkel at MOBOTIX to build a Global Partner Network and I have been in the IT/Security/Intelligent Solutions industry ever since.

How did everything started with frogblue? At first, it was technology company Abionix, founded in 2014, which later transitioned into the Frogblue Technology GmbH. When and how did you come up with the idea to start this company, how was that transition like, what were the most important milestones, how many employees do you have now and where do you sell your products?

The company was founded in 2014 by Rene Hinkel and his father Dr Ralf Hinkel. Rene had studied dimming electronics as the topic of his bachelors degree and at Abionix he started to develop a robust, reliable and affordable dimming solution. He quickly realized that this solution had much more potential than just dimming lights and the vision of frogblue was born. After looking at the existing market Rene and Dr Hinkel were convinced that there were no other manufacturers focusing on a high quality, easy to install, easy to expand, easily affordable and secure solution. One of the main elements of this solution had to be a reliable and globally accepted communication method between the devices so Rene and Dr Hinkel chose a Bluetooth LE solution enhanced by frogblue to give it quicker response time. Because the solution is environmentally friendly (green) and the messages and commands “hop” from one device to another the name frogblue seemed an obvious choice. We currently have around 60 employees split between hardware and software development, sales and marketing and our technical / sales support team who are also available to assist our partners in project planning. Frogblue are currently active throughout Europe and also as far away as Australia and Japan.

With frogblue everything is smart: from lighting and access control to living and sleeping. Tell us more about your system: what is it based on, how does it uses the frogs to combine all aspects of smart buildings into one solution, what are its major features?

Frogblue is based on a concept and a vision that reaches far into the future, we have a comprehensive and robust roadmap which is already entering the next phase with new products and powerful new software management Apps.
This future proof concept is made possible through a combination of robust reliable hardware and intelligent powerful software. Every frog has the built-in intelligence and logic to receive, analyze and forward messages and command to every other frogblue device in the system.
For example, the frogs that are controlling the internal and external lighting can communicate with the frogs that are controlling the garage and front door lock so when a person activates the garage door using his frogblueApp or frogKey(intelligent transponder) the lights leading to the house and inside the hallway will automatically go on and the door will unlock either immediately or on a time delay. All of this can be configured to only happen under set parameters – only at night, when its dark, after a certain time. If a window is open the heating system will be alerted, if a door is open an alarm will be sent, if the humidity goes up the ventilation will be turned on – the interaction possibilities are endless.

You market frogblue as “easy to install”. What do you imply by that? Do you need any additional IT maintenance?

Because we use an intelligent Bluetooth LE mesh network as each frog is added to the system they automatically – without any configuration- join the mesh network. As long as you have 100V-230V power the system is up and running. The Bluetooth LE Mesh network does not require, for example, the hardware installation and software configuration that a wireless based network would require. The frogs do not require a central unit or an internet connection in order to be configured or to operate. There is no need for complicated IT installation or maintenance. There is no cabling required (green, environmentally friendly). The frogs do not take up valuable space in the sub-distribution cabinet of the building. Once the frogs are installed they immediately start working in default mode – on/off and dimming functions are instantly available.

Is frogblue expandable? Can a company, for instance, install frogblue modules and accessories into one building and expand it later to another one in close proximity?

Scalability is an integral part of frogblue philosophy. In fact because of the intelligence in each frog you can introduce the “smart” concept into any home or building with just one frog. For example a frogDim2-2 with two outputs and two inputs is capable of providing an intelligent dimming solution for two 300W light circuits . This could be an open plan dinning room set up or a combined bedroom bathroom solution – with just one frog. This is also important from an affordability aspect. the user is not forced into a higher investment by having to buy an additional central unit to make the system work. If for example an office building decided they wanted to install an intelligent control system for their window shutters frogblue would be the solution, if they then wanted to enhance the effectiveness of that solution by integrating the lighting solution with the shutter system frogblue could be easily installed. They could then gradually integrate the door entry system, the heating, the alarms, the ventilation and have everything managed intelligently via time settings, temperature, humidity, motion, open door and window notifications, Astro function, and many more sensor based inputs. The system can be extended to buildings close by and far away via the frogDisplay which acts as a gateway as well as, among other things, a central control panel for setting preconfigured scenes and scenarios, controlling heating, viewing security cameras.

The robust quality of the frogblue hardware is only half the story. Frogblue also provides management software. How does it get the most out of these high-quality hardware products?

We have the software to make our hardware smart. Our dedication to intelligent software development is what differentiates us from the competition and allows us to plan for the future. Our frogs already have embedded functionalities that will be improved and increased with subsequent – free of charge- software releases. The logic module inside each frog gives us “if this then that” based capabilities. If this happens then the frogs should do that, if that happens then then the frogs should do this but only if that happens under certain conditions and only at certain times of the day/week/year/ at other times only selected frogs should react in another way – logic based software.

The frogs connect wirelessly via frogblue Bluetooth mesh network. How do you create a virtual cable between these devices?

By giving an output and an input the same name – kitchen light, back door, bathroom ventilator, security light etc- you immediately create a virtual cable between devices with no need for drilling, laying cables, re-plastering and painting. Each frog input and output is capable of receiving and sending multiple commands so without any physical cabling one frog in the system can be giving and receiving commands from multiple frogs within the system. For example in panic mode one frog can tell all other frogs in the building to turn on and off, if someone comes home to an empty house in the dark one click will turn on all lights in the house.

The major concern with the smart building is the level of security from data breach and cyber attacks aimed at taking control over the system. What did you do to make your system as secure as possible?

Security was a major factor in deciding to go with Bluetooth. Bluetooth has its own embedded encryption to which we added the frogblue 128bit encryption. We also have an embedded time stamp in every communication that is sent by the frogs. This time stamp is accurate to a split second and once the message has been sent it cannot be used again and every frog in the system will recognize this.

Your company is VDE-certified. What does it represent?

VDE stands for Verband der Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik. It represents the highest standard of electrical and fire testing available in Germany. Each product is given over 100 safety tests and frogblue passed every one. The VDE certification represents safety and this is very important for both user and installer. The products are tested and inspected for electrical, mechanical, thermal, toxic, radiological and other hazards and have been proven to be completely safe.

Co-founder of frogblue, Dr. Ralf Hinkel, has also founded MOBOTIX AG, a developer of IP cameras and software with about 400 employees and other High tech business . One can assume that frogblue product is well integrated with the offerings of MOBOTIX. What are the benefits of such interaction of three companies for the end user.

There are really limitless benefits to the experience gained from starting and growing MOBOTIX from a start-up company with under 20 employees to a company with an annual revenue of over €80 million and 400 hundred employees. Many of the people responsible for the hardware and software development at frogblue were involved with developing the innovative software that put MOBOTIX in a class of its own. There are certain synergies to be drawn between the two companies – Decentralised concept, every device is a system within itself, distributed intelligence, no central point of failure, powerful software enabling high quality robust hardware. We have naturally integrated a lot of the intelligent functionality of the MOBOTIX cameras into the frogblue solution so that it is now possible to wirelessly connect both systems and use the multiple sensor and notification capabilities of each to further expand the overall effectiveness of the system. For example the a MOBOTIX camera can now interact with security lights or gates based on motion detection without any cabling necessary or a MOBOTIX thermal camera could also control the ventilation system in an industrial setting – again the possibilities are almost endless.
So although frogblue are still a young dynamic forward looking company we have many years of experience in innovative solutions development and supporting a global network of partners.

Are your products applicable to any type of buildings? Who are your major customers? Could you present or enlist a couple of case studies (give us an info on specific projects, how many and what kind of devices you used, what were customer expectations and results)?

Frogblue solutions can be used in any type of building whether it is a private residence or a commercial building. Because of the ease of installation frogblue is also ideal for retrofits and renovations in old buildings where a smart solution is desired but the cost and disruption of a new installation is prohibitive. To date we have installed frogblue solutions in private homes, holiday homes, hotels, commercial properties, renovated and new apartment buildings, industrial premises. Some examples that I can give you are a renovated villa in France with 130 frogs, industrial food processing plant in Ireland with about 40 frogs giving them a safe secure and switchless lighting and safety control solution, renovated apartment building in Belgium with over 180 frogs and 40 frogDisplay and frogAccess devices controlling every aspect of the building. Last year we also got involved with an installation in a winery that started with an intended 40 frogs for guest chalets and ended up with over 400 frogs covering not only the comfort in the accommodation but also the commercial and retail applications of the winery. This year we are starting another winery installation with over 1000 frogs planned. Another successful project was the upgrading of the lighting system in a major bank in Eastern Europe. The frogblue solution is very flexible and has something to offer in every type of building and installation.

The koronavirus pandemic has affected the smart building and security markets. Was your company affected as well and how did you adapt to this situation? In your opinion, when can we expect the market to recover?

Sadly the Corona pandemic has effected almost everybody and every industry however we have to be thankful that frogblue has continued to grow at a high rate and we will always keep looking forward. At frogblue we have been using this time to get our new products to market and work with our partners on educating them in the frogblue solutions. Generally preparing for a bright, optimistic and successful future. We already see markets recovering in many areas. I expect that construction and renovation projects will be among the first to bounce back. There is also a much higher awareness of not only what constitutes a safe and comfortable office environment but also the need to adapt to the changes brought about by having less people in the office and using resources in the most intelligent and economical way.

You are strongly positioning yourself in Adriatic region. Who are your major partners in the area, are you pleased with the sales results and growth? Where do you see possible improvements?

Together with our partner TEND we are setting up a frogblue Competence Center to provide local technical ,sales and marketing support. TEND have been a partner of ours since the very early days of MOBOTIX, almost 20 years.From this base we will train and support our new partners that come on board.
Frogblue are at the start of a very promising future in the Adriatic region and we are looking for the right partners to accompany us on the journey. If any of your readers are interested then they should contact Ales Polajnko at info@frogblue.si