When it first opened on 14 June 1998, the Storebælt link, which consists of a rail tunnel and road bridge, was the longest in the world at 18 kms, and today the bridge and the toll operation ensures the smooth and efficient movement of up to 56,000 vehicles a day.

G4S manages the toll operation of the bridge which connects Zealand to Funen. The toll plaza has 12 lanes on the westbound side and 10 lanes on the eastbound. These are all located in Zealand. Drivers from Zealand go through the plaza before crossing and those driving from Funen make their payment once across.

“When a driver has difficulty making a payment or if there is a technical issue, G4S team members led by our traffic manager, are on hand to talk remotely to the driver using a voice link,” said Brian Zimmerman, the department manager at the Great Belt Bridge for G4S. “We can also turn on the video monitoring in any particular lane so we can see the payment machine and help the person remotely, so there is no need to go to the lane in person.”

The operation has changed substantially over the last three years, with the implementation of a new technology system, which G4S has worked with A/S Storebælt to ensure it works accurately. This is part of A/S Storebælt’s digitalisation strategy to improve the safety and security of drivers and employees alike. It has transformed the safety and physicality of the working conditions for G4S professionals, who prior to this system’s operation, could walk up to 12 kms in an 8-hour shift, helping drivers with their payments.

The combination of skilled G4S employees and the technology provided by A/S Storebælt, means that up to 6,000 vehicles per hour can pass through the toll plaza. The record for a single hour is 5,600 vehicles.

“We’ve worked hard to deliver excellent customer service. Technological advances have brought great health and safety benefits to our employees by removing the need for them to physically be at the plaza. Previously this work was extremely strenuous and the improvements have increased the well being of G4S employees,” said Brian Zimmerman, the department manager at the bridge for G4S.

“This is testament to the commitment of the team to build a partnership of trust and respect with our customer,” said Julian Rudland, Director of Manned Service for G4S in Denmark, commenting on the operation and on the extension of the contract. “We are completely focused on 100% cooperation, working hand-in-hand at all times with the Storebælt team to ensure that any operational issues are solved quickly and we provide a very high standard of service.”

The latest year end financial results for Securitas AB demonstrate a strong and transformative year for the organisation, with record level operating results and the highest operating margin in more than a decade.

Commenting on these latest figures, the company’s President and CEO, Magnus Ahlqvist, said, “Our strategy, investments and actions are starting to pay off and resulting in increasing profitability in all business segments.” He believes that the strong cash flow generation has contributed to reduced leverage and a solid financial position at the year end, preparing the company for the closure of the Stanley Security acquisition.

Real sales growth

The company has finalised two transformation programmes and has achieved cost­saving targets in key areas and good benefit realisation in North America towards the end of the year, all of which, Ahlqist suggests, positions the company with a stronger foundation to enhance client value and drive operating margin improvement.

“We finished the year with 4 percent organic sales growth in the quarter and full year. The conditions in the business environment improved gradually during the year, with good commercial activity across all business segments while growth was hampered in North America due to reduced corona-related extra sales and the previously announced contract losses.

Sales of security solutions and electronic security showed real sales growth of 8 percent in 2021, representing 22 percent of Group sales. We saw improved growth in the fourth quarter despite challenges related to component shortages,” commented Magnus Ahlqvist.

“The operating result for the Group, adjusted for changes in exchange rates, increased by 15 percent in the fourth quarter and by 28 percent for the full year. The operating margin improved to 5.9 percent in the quarter and to 5.6 percent for 2021,” he confirmed.

 Transformational acquisition for leadership position

At the end of 2021, Securitas took a significant step in its strategy to pursue growth through technology with the agreement to acquire Stanley Security. “This is a transformative acquisition, which we expect will lead to significant added commercial growth and a substantial oper­ating margin improvement over time,” said Ahlqvist.

Building a “new Securitas”

Going into 2022, the company is preparing to close the acquisition of Stanley Security. The integration has started and is well on track, according to Ahlqvist.  “We are continuing to execute on our transformation programs in Europe and Ibero-America, which are developing according to plan. The transformation programme in North America was successfully finalised in 2021 and we see positive impacts on our operations and the operating margin at the end of 2021 with further opportunity going into 2022.”

“When Stanley is integrated and the transformation programs are fully implemented, we will have built a new Securitas – a modern, digitised and innovative security solutions partner for our clients with a structurally higher margin profile” concluded Magnus Ahlqvist in his closing statement.

The global fire protection system market size is expected to reach USD 130.37 billion by 2030, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2022 to 2030. Increasing adoption of wireless technology in fire protection systems, growing human and property loss owing to fire breakouts, and stringent fire safety regulations are projected to fuel the market growth.

Technology enhancements

Increasing implementation of building safety codes and renovation projects is also anticipated to be a major factor influencing the market growth. The application and usage of fire protection systems are anticipated to increase continuously with the developments of commercial entities and corporations. Furthermore, technology enhancements such as extinguishing technology based on mist and products such as laser optical/infrared smoke detectors, alarms with embedded voice evacuation announcements, hypoxic air fire suppression systems, and wireless fire alarm systems are expected to gain traction in the market globally.

Integration an opportunity

The growing trend of integrating fire alarm and detection systems with building automation systems offers vast growth opportunities to the market. Connectivity with building automation systems is increasingly becoming a major feature of fire protection systems in commercial, industrial, and residential applications. This can be attributed to the fact that such integration allows for the development of systems that are capable of sharing and gathering data, which can help in alerting individuals about fire safety issues in the premises. A notable rise in investments in smart building automation technologies across several regions is expected to lead to new opportunities for building automation systems in the industrial and commercial sectors.

Unregulated and untapped markets

Consumers in developed regions such as Europe and North America have seen a steady rise in demand over the past few years, and the growth trend is also projected to continue over the next few years. However, a lack of stringent regulations and the high cost of advanced fire protection systems have kept the markets in emerging countries largely untapped. Nevertheless, improving economic conditions in countries, including Brazil and India, are anticipated to boost the demand for fire protection systems over the forecast period.

Infrastructural development activities across the Asia Pacific region owing to the rising demand for new transport and utility infrastructure will drive the demand. The high rate of urbanization is placing increased pressure on under-invested, weak city infrastructure. The consecutive rise in focus on new residential and infrastructural development projects is expected to propel the demand for fire protection systems across this region; thus, such factors are fueling the market growth.

Key players

Key players in this market and named in the report include companies such as, Honeywell International, Inc., Johnson Controls, Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Gentex, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Halma and Eaton.

As the top 3 security manufacturer with complete product lines, Uniview enriches CCTV products with series of cutting-edge technology. Meanwhile, as a security company Uniview takes its responsibility seriously and is dedicated to helping overcome technical challenges.

As we all know PTZ Can rotate to monitor multiple directions and its zoom function allowing it to capture a target at a greater distance compared to normal cameras. Based on that, we prefer PTZ camera than normal camera in many scenarios.

However, there is a cons of normal PTZ which only can monitor in one direction at a time, Once the lens rotates to another direction, the live view in the original direction will be disconnected. For UNV previous solution to this problem, it generally was linkage IPC and PTZ, but it might result in higher costs.

Committed to solve above problem with cost effective solution, UNV has launched the dual-lens PTZ camera of easy series which combined the advantages of fixed IP cameras and PTZs. It is a new form and suitable for more scenarios. However, other competitors at this level do not have this type of dual-lens formed product.

The aesthetic of Dual-lens
In terms of appearance, this camera overturns the previous design by adding a lens. The upper lens is a 2.8mm panoramic lens to capture the overall picture, while the under lens is a 4x zoom detail lens which can rotate 345° to capture the details of the picture. Owing to the design of Fixed lens & PTZ，it prompts that when PTZ tracks the target, the panoramic lens still monitors the whole situation at the same time, will no longer lose any information and makes blind spot eliminated.

Bi-directional MIC design：
Built-in two MICS, distributed on both sides of the fixed focal lens, to achieve surround radio. This design makes the sound of the collected video louder and more three-dimensional, which makes the video sound better when viewed back.

Dual light design：
Equipped with IR light and warm light. It could provide more clarity at night. At the same time, the warm light can also be linked to smart intrusion prevention. When a target is detected entering the area, the warm light will blink to alarm, which can deter things before they happen.

Smart Intrusion Prevention
In security monitoring, most users only want to pay attention to the real events, such as alarms triggered by people and vehicles. UNV Smart Intrusion Prevention (SIP) filters false alarms with a lower than 1% detection error rate and allows people and vehicle classification to focus only on interested targets.

Good and clear image
Powered by Lighthunter Technology, it has an excellent low-light sensor with a minimum illumination of 0.002 lux. It can deliver clear and colorful images in low-light environments. Featuring a 4x optical zoom motorized lens, the cameras are able to catch more details.
Applications
UNV new dual-lens PTZ, not only increase a panoramic lens configuration, but also comprehensively upgrade other hardware configuration.

Equipped with better sound and painting effects, more comprehensive intelligent functions, so that it can be better used in intersection, perimeter and some public area such as fire lanes and other no parking areas, which are always supposed to be free of obstructions.
More information please visit www.uniview.com. If you have any business query, please contact huangluyu@uniview.com.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is made up of the ten Greater Manchester councils and the Mayor’s office, all of which work with other local services, businesses, communities and partners to improve the city-region. The authority focuses on issues that affect everyone in the region, including transport, regeneration, investment, and public services.

The Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), part of the GMCA, is one of the largest fire and rescue services outside of London with more than 1,637 members of staff and 41 fire stations covering an area of around 500 square miles.

Mark Scoales, Digital Services Manager at GMCA, and his team of 35 staff are responsible for ensuring frontline firefighters and their support staff have all the tools they need to carry out their roles, responding to incidents and keeping citizens safe. This involves being able to communicate with colleagues clearly, accurately and quickly across the city-region.

When the pandemic hit in Spring 2020, this need became even more acute and Scoales and his team undertook a project to upgrade audio-visual equipment across the region’s fire stations. The desire was to increase digital functionality and improve remote communications between colleagues across all sites.

With communications rooms used daily by almost 3,000 staff members, usability was essential when it came to looking for a solution. In addition to facilitating easy access to their video conferencing tools, Scoales wanted to make it easy for staff to access the apps and tools that are regularly used by firefighters and their support teams.

After going out to tender, GMCA began a project to install 65-inch interactive touch display screens in the community rooms in each fire station throughout the GMCA region. The decision was then made to install DisplayNote Launcher on each screen across GMCA’s 47 sites.

Launcher is a simple interface for meeting room displays that gives users easy access to calls, content and apps while maintaining the highest levels of security. All settings are PIN protected, and with Automatic Cleanup, one tap clears the user’s footprint, closing apps, removing sign-in information, and clearing any browsing history.

This simplicity, security and consistency were crucial factors in the decision to standardise on Launcher. Firefighters rely on repetitiveness and uniformity. The layout of fire stations is uniform to ensure firefighters can walk into any station and know where to find what they need. Scoales and his team were keen to replicate this across the digital offering.

Before using Launcher, Scoales describes the communication and collaboration experience as being “clunky”. Laptops were connected to projectors, making it difficult to create a smooth user experience across the rooms.

He adds: “It was hard to manage the devices and technology in the rooms and difficult to control what users were downloading. We knew that if we were going to find a new way of doing things, it had to be a simple, easy-to-use solution as this was the only way it would be adopted across the 47 sites.”

Launcher’s Kiosk Mode provides an entirely uniform experience to all users. They also now have full control over what apps and tools can be accessed, keeping the screens secure.

Scoales adds: “When we discovered Launcher, there was nothing else out there that came close. With Launcher installed, we are reassured that every screen is exactly the same no matter which station you go to; the same apps and icons are always there.

“Having a screen that looks exactly the same in every station has made a massive improvement. We don’t have any issues with users not knowing how to use it.”

The teams at GMCA now have one-touch access to their most frequently used video conferencing platforms and tools across the 47 sites. And, because Launcher makes the screens so easy to use, it has improved adoption, usability, and engagement with all the tools accessed via the screens.

Another area that has seen huge improvements thanks to Launcher is training. Previously, delivering training to each watch in every station would have taken around 2-3 months. With the upgraded AV set up, however, training has been provided remotely using MS Teams to 4-5 fire stations at a time, reducing the overall delivery time.

The fire service’s learning portal has also been set up as a shortcut on the screens. This means firefighters can now access the regular mandatory training that they must complete via this shortcut. Training can also be conducted in small groups rather than individually, which they have found to be more effective.

Scoales notes the positive impact this has had on the overall organisation: “Launcher has made a significant difference to how we deliver training. Because it makes the interactive displays so simple to use, our staff use it a lot. We’re getting the full return on the investment of our equipment.”

He concludes: “Onboarding new partners can be difficult for us. We always push the boundaries of what technology can do and what we expect as an organisation. The initial conversations we had were enlightening. Any suggestions we had, DisplayNote was happy to assist, happy to develop. This was a big positive for us.

“This is probably the best software I’ve seen for functionality. I would recommend Launcher to anyone.”

SALTO Systems has achieved carbon neutrality thanks to its participation in two innovative projects with a triple-transformative effect on the economy, society and nature to achieve SALTO’s goal: for its operations to have zero impact on the climate.

In order to accelerate decarbonisation and contribute to achieving the emission-reduction goals set by the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, SALTO maintains it is committed to promoting environmental recovery projects through revegetation, in order to offset CO2 emissions by sequestering them in tree species.

In total, the 1,721 tons of CO2 generated in 2020 (359 at its headquarters in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa in Spain and 1,362 across its worldwide network of offices and group companies) were offset in 2021 through two ground-breaking projects: River Chinchiná Forestry Project, Colombia (Fundación Ecodes and CeroCO2): Reforestation and protection of hydrographic basins in the Andes, and Apadrina un Olivo (Sponsor an Olive Tree) in Teruel, Spain, which fights to recover olive groves, as well as against depopulation and the abandonment of olive groves in Spain.

Thanks to these two projects and other strategies devised to decarbonise SALTO’s activities, together with a commitment to the environment and looking after the natural world, SALTO claims it has been able to achieve carbon neutrality across all its factories and offices, in more than 40 countries.

The achievement can be demonstrated in the figures provided by the company, for example, 100% of the electricity used in SALTO’s factory is sustainable and comes from renewable sources, and 25% of the electrical energy comes from the sun. SALTO has installed 640 solar panels in its factory, the first large-scale solar power installation in its global network. In addition, numerous energy-efficiency initiatives have been adopted that have reduced carbon emissions through energy saving, avoiding 198 tons of CO₂ per year.

In addition, SALTO has minimised single-use plastics in its packaging, offices, work café and marketing materials and replaced them with more sustainable alternatives, such as biodegradable products made from FSC-certified paper, cellulose and wood.

The environmental policies implemented by SALTO reduce the environmental impact of its operations. By adopting practices that reduce its carbon footprint, helps the company to consume energy responsibly, whilst minimising waste as much as possible and maximising resource use. SALTO also sets mandatory environmental standards to embed sustainability across SALTO’s worldwide network of offices and headquarters.

Since February 2022, Partizan mobile app also for iOS can control SATEL security devices. Previously, just owners of smartphones on Android could appreciate this functionality.

The developers of both companies have done a lot of work. The result was a multifunctional security system that works on the principle of “all in one smartphone”.

SATEL is a well-known Polish manufacturer of smart devices for security systems, smart homes, access control systems and fire alarms. During its more than thirty years of history, SATEL has repeatedly received the highest international awards. The company supplies its innovative products to the markets of 70 countries of the world.

Partizan is a European brand founded in 2008. Today it is one of the leading manufacturers of video surveillance solutions on the continent. Partizan mobile app is well known in the security industry. In 2019, this program received the Grand Prix at the prestigious European exhibition Adria Security Summit. This development has one of the highest user ratings on Google Play and App Store among similar software.

Controlling smart home devices, SATEL fire and burglar alarms with Partizan app opens up great opportunities for both installers and end-users.

“Our partnership with Partizan Security will undoubtedly benefit all those who seek to make their home or business more secure”, — notes Grzegorz Rutkowski, SATEL board member.

“Such integrations bring professional security systems closer to ordinary consumers. This expands the opportunities for both business and end-users”, — commented Dmitry Danilchenko, CEO of Partizan Security.

HID Global has been awarded Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs contract for the passport issuance and processing system. The contract will see HID Global provide a new operating system for the Department’s passport service.

HID Global’s HID Integrale software system makes the management of applications easier and more efficient by providing a citizen-centric case management solution connected to all services for the issuing of passports and related documents.

Craig Sandness, Senior Vice President and Head of Secure Issuance and Citizen Identity at HID Global said, “We are very excited about this award, which extends our relationship with Ireland. The new service will be designed to meet all the requirements set out by the Department of Foreign Affairs in terms of security and data privacy, using technologies which already protect the personal information security of citizens in other countries.”

Simon Coveney T.D., Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs said, “My Department is partnering with HID Global to deliver a more modern and efficient Passport Service for Irish citizens. Over the last number of years, the passport service has delivered significant change through the Passport Reform Programme. In order to continue to provide a world-class service, we are partnering with HID to upgrade and replace the current passport service operating system. Completion of this project will result in a standard, scalable and resilient technical platform that will be capable of handling increased application volumes while maintaining the high standards of security that are a hallmark of the Irish Passport.”

The new solution will be designed by HID Global in partnership with Irish companies AG2 and Inpute Technologies, and alongside the Canadian organisation Worldreach Software. It will provide a complete, tailored and configurable solution that integrates all specialist software, hardware and equipment to meet the DFA’s goal of running an efficient, digital system for awarding and renewing passports. HID Global is already a subcontractor of software and components for the existing electronic passport programme in Ireland.

In 2021, HID Global announced plans to create a new Centre of Excellence in Galway, Ireland, that will consolidate many of HID Global’s European operations into a new facility and increase headcount from 180 to 300 over the next three years.

Bosch Building Technologies plans to acquire Hoerburger AG, headquartered in Waltenhofen, Bavaria, Germany. Bosch and the owners of Hoerburger AG have already signed corresponding agreements at the end of 2021

Hoerburger offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions focusing on building automation and energy management. The company has 45 years of experience in planning and implementing projects and providing services in this area. A major focus of its activities is the efficient and sustainable operation of buildings. The solutions are used in numerous sectors, for example in large industrial companies, healthcare facilities, and retail chains. Hoerburger has more than 200 employees at six locations in Germany and one location in Romania and generated sales of 33 million euros in 2020.

Designing intelligent building solutions as a team

“We are very much looking forward to working with Hoerburger’s highly experienced employees to jointly shape and expand the fast-growing market for smart building solutions in the future,” said Thomas Quante, president of Bosch Building Technologies. “Digitalisation, connectivity, and artificial intelligence are opening up ever more opportunities for us to transform commercial buildings into smart living and working environments that provide people with increased security, safety, and comfort, and ensure greater sustainability. Hoerburger’s many years of experience will further strengthen our current portfolio in the areas of building security, safety, energy services, and building automation,” Quante continues.

“We are very excited to become part of the Bosch family. We will leverage our know-how to further expand Bosch’s already strong position as an integrated partner for connected building solutions with future-oriented solutions and services,” said Christian Hoerburger, CEO of Hoerburger AG.

The acquisition is subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities. It has been agreed that the purchase price will not be disclosed.