Technology Sectors
ASIS, as it was
Thu, 2009-09-24 11:47 AM
Attendance at the sprawling ASIS security show in sunny Anaheim, CA, September 21-23, seemed a bit lighter than last year, but the mood was buoyant, many companies boasted about their year-over-year revenue growth – which strained credulity in the midst of a record-setting recession -- and many exhibitors dusted off that old line: "The crowds aren't large, but the quality of the leads is excellent."
It seems to me that the security industry is in no mood to whine and grumble about the economic hard times besetting the nation. It has instead adopted an upbeat, optimistic posture.
As I made my way around the exhibit floor by day -- and the parties at night -- I picked up several news nuggets which I'm happy to share with you:
###
On Sunday evening, FLIR Systems, Inc., one of the world's leaders in thermal imaging, brought a group of journalists to a restaurant that occupies an old mining company's wooden building at the top of a hill, with wonderful 360-degree views of surrounding Orange County. FLIR likes to host such nighttime gatherings, where the views are excellent, so it can show off its ever-expanding line of thermal cameras. But on this particular evening, the company also unveiled a new marketing strategy.
In addition to selling a wide range of fixed-site, pan/tilt and outdoor dome cameras, FLIR has decided to sell more of its "cores," the key imaging component of its thermal systems, to other manufacturers to put into their cameras. Just as Intel has made a fortune by putting its chips into a slew of computers, FLIR hopes to put its thermal "cores" into a slew of other manufacturers' cameras. FLIR's ambitious slogan says it all: "Infrared Everywhere."
Over dinner, Andrew Teich, the president of FLIR's Commercial Vision Systems unit, told me about his company's intriguing approach to protecting its prodigious intellectual property. Each year, employees at FLIR file for hundreds of patents – and receive a $1,500 reward when one of their inventions actually receives such a patent – but the company does not seek patents for its most sensitive and most precious ideas, explained Teich. Instead, its best ideas are often treated as trade secrets, carefully safeguarded and not described in writing in publicly available patent applications. The company might seek a patent for a new invention that is susceptible to reverse-engineering by competitors, said Teich, but its best ideas – and especially those that are hard to reverse-engineer – it generally prefers to handle as closely held trade secrets.
###
The folks at TASER International Inc. stopped by the press room to claim that, according to a recent UK study, 84 percent of the time that a Taser electro-shock weapon was shown by a law enforcement officer at the scene of an incident, the officer got compliance from the individual they were trying to arrest or subdue. Taser bragged that in many situations, the weapon doesn't even need to be fired, its mere visible presence will often lead to prompt compliance.
I found it interesting that in seven U.S. states, only law enforcement officers are allowed to use Taser weapons, while in 43 states, the same devices (which have inspired considerable controversy in years past) can be used openly by ordinary citizens and are lightly regulated, much like pepper spray.
Taser claims that it requires its customers to submit themselves to background checks (by withholding necessary code numbers that are needed to operate the weapons) until such background checks have been completed, even though such checks are not required by U.S. law.
###
Dave Tynan, the vice president for global sales and marketing at Avigilon, a video surveillance company based in Vancouver, Canada, caught my attention when he observed that some video surveillance systems are becoming a liability to the property owners that operate them, rather than an asset, because they can open their owners to serious lawsuits. He cited the theoretical situation of a mall owner who installed a video surveillance system, but was accused of negligence when the poor quality of the system's video images made it nearly impossible for police to use the video to successfully track down and identify an alleged attacker in the mall.
Tynan proudly described a surveillance system supplied by Avigilon to some of the largest indoor sports arenas in the country that can capture detailed images of every spectator sitting in the stands, during every minute of the game. If an incident, brawl or argument occurs in the stands, the Avigilon system can zoom in on a particular spectator and review his or her behavior in exquisite detail, at any given moment in the game.
###
Indigo Vision, another leading video surveillance company, claimed impressive year-over-year revenue growth of 81 percent, and boasted about its recent contract with the Government of Canada to install about 1,000 cameras (including 500 high definition mega-pixel cameras) on the northern side of the U.S.-Canadian border.
"It is the largest deployment of HD in North America, if not the world," said Indigo Vision's senior vice president for North America, Bill McQuade, before sheepishly asking the assembled reporters whether anyone in the room was aware of any larger HD camera deployment.
 |
|
Daniel Myslewski (left) and Tony Byerly, Stanley's president, N.A. |
It seems to me that the security industry is in no mood to whine and grumble about the economic hard times besetting the nation. It has instead adopted an upbeat, optimistic posture.
As I made my way around the exhibit floor by day -- and the parties at night -- I picked up several news nuggets which I'm happy to share with you:
###
On Sunday evening, FLIR Systems, Inc., one of the world's leaders in thermal imaging, brought a group of journalists to a restaurant that occupies an old mining company's wooden building at the top of a hill, with wonderful 360-degree views of surrounding Orange County. FLIR likes to host such nighttime gatherings, where the views are excellent, so it can show off its ever-expanding line of thermal cameras. But on this particular evening, the company also unveiled a new marketing strategy.
In addition to selling a wide range of fixed-site, pan/tilt and outdoor dome cameras, FLIR has decided to sell more of its "cores," the key imaging component of its thermal systems, to other manufacturers to put into their cameras. Just as Intel has made a fortune by putting its chips into a slew of computers, FLIR hopes to put its thermal "cores" into a slew of other manufacturers' cameras. FLIR's ambitious slogan says it all: "Infrared Everywhere."
Over dinner, Andrew Teich, the president of FLIR's Commercial Vision Systems unit, told me about his company's intriguing approach to protecting its prodigious intellectual property. Each year, employees at FLIR file for hundreds of patents – and receive a $1,500 reward when one of their inventions actually receives such a patent – but the company does not seek patents for its most sensitive and most precious ideas, explained Teich. Instead, its best ideas are often treated as trade secrets, carefully safeguarded and not described in writing in publicly available patent applications. The company might seek a patent for a new invention that is susceptible to reverse-engineering by competitors, said Teich, but its best ideas – and especially those that are hard to reverse-engineer – it generally prefers to handle as closely held trade secrets.
###
The folks at TASER International Inc. stopped by the press room to claim that, according to a recent UK study, 84 percent of the time that a Taser electro-shock weapon was shown by a law enforcement officer at the scene of an incident, the officer got compliance from the individual they were trying to arrest or subdue. Taser bragged that in many situations, the weapon doesn't even need to be fired, its mere visible presence will often lead to prompt compliance.
I found it interesting that in seven U.S. states, only law enforcement officers are allowed to use Taser weapons, while in 43 states, the same devices (which have inspired considerable controversy in years past) can be used openly by ordinary citizens and are lightly regulated, much like pepper spray.
Taser claims that it requires its customers to submit themselves to background checks (by withholding necessary code numbers that are needed to operate the weapons) until such background checks have been completed, even though such checks are not required by U.S. law.
###
Dave Tynan, the vice president for global sales and marketing at Avigilon, a video surveillance company based in Vancouver, Canada, caught my attention when he observed that some video surveillance systems are becoming a liability to the property owners that operate them, rather than an asset, because they can open their owners to serious lawsuits. He cited the theoretical situation of a mall owner who installed a video surveillance system, but was accused of negligence when the poor quality of the system's video images made it nearly impossible for police to use the video to successfully track down and identify an alleged attacker in the mall.
Tynan proudly described a surveillance system supplied by Avigilon to some of the largest indoor sports arenas in the country that can capture detailed images of every spectator sitting in the stands, during every minute of the game. If an incident, brawl or argument occurs in the stands, the Avigilon system can zoom in on a particular spectator and review his or her behavior in exquisite detail, at any given moment in the game.
###
Indigo Vision, another leading video surveillance company, claimed impressive year-over-year revenue growth of 81 percent, and boasted about its recent contract with the Government of Canada to install about 1,000 cameras (including 500 high definition mega-pixel cameras) on the northern side of the U.S.-Canadian border.
"It is the largest deployment of HD in North America, if not the world," said Indigo Vision's senior vice president for North America, Bill McQuade, before sheepishly asking the assembled reporters whether anyone in the room was aware of any larger HD camera deployment.
Recent Webinars
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 2:00pm - 3:00pm
