Security Solutions for the Past Present and Everything In Between

Innovative technologies rely on past success to enhance the security market.

Operating in the United Kingdom and America for over 30 years, surveillance technology company Dedicated Micros continues to innovate on a regular basis. The company ensures its customers— both old and new—transition to HD in a way that works best for their company while also realizing that users are primarily looking for an exceptional return on their investment.

Dedicated Micros designs and manufactures cameras and recording equipment that can be seen in a variety of installations, from transportation, to retail, to education. The company has also pioneered various technologies, such as closed IP network security, and has diversified into using multi-mode recording, making Dedicated Micros a security company to look out for in the future.

Closed IP Network Security

According to Pauline Norstrom, the vice president and marketing director at Dedicated Micros and the COO at the AD Group, the invention of closed IP network security is arguably the most important part of this company’s portfolio.

“The key advancement in the Dedicated Micros portfolio is the invention of the closed IP network security feature,” said Norstrom. “Not only does this ensure that end users can have one hundred percent peace of mind, but that IP cameras are one hundred percent safe and trusted.”

In addition to being safe and secure, the closed IP network security feature is also cost-effective and easy-to-use.

“The installers and integrators who put this together can configure the system automatically without having to use highly-skilled labor, which is not only a benefit for installers and integrators, it’s a benefit for the user in that once they start using the system; the skill of the labor involved is much lower.”

Another benefit of the closed IP network security feature is that users do not have to re-license their cameras.

Dedicated Micros sets itself apart from other companies by addressing the fact that analog cameras cannot be fully phased out quite yet. Dedicated Micros has created technologies that help make the transition from analog to HD less drastic and more cost efficient.

“The customers who have been in the analog market are taking a long time to transition into IP,” said Norstrom, adding that closed IP network security helps make the transition easier. “However, once they’ve seen the closed IP system, it enables them to offer IP cameras to their customers without the retraining of installation teams.”

Product Line

Dedicated Micros’ product line includes a handful of solutions that help make the transition from analog to digital easier. Two of these products include the Hybrid IP Video Solution and the NVR Cloud Solution.

Hybrid IP Video Solution. Most users cannot make the jump from analog to HD in one swift move. Therefore, this solution enables an incremental upgrade to an HD solution while allowing the customers to get the most for their money by letting their analog cameras, which can last for 10 to 12 years, approach their end of life. The solution is ideal for applications in small businesses, retail, education and small manufacturing.

“The Hybrid IP Video Solution is a transitional product that enables users who have invested a great deal in analog systems to continue using their analog cameras, because in many cases, analog cameras outlive the recording device,” said Norstrom. “During the life of the system, there is going to come a point when the recording device has to become upgraded, but the user can’t afford the update and moves to a high resolution IP camera system estate. So, they want to use those analog cameras for a bit longer. And, we’ve found that by switching to one of the hybrid systems, they can retain their analog cameras, and they gradually update the estate to include IP cameras in which one system will manage both from the same user and space.”

Cloud NVR Solution. This product accounts for the variety that exists among video security users by offering fail-safe architecture that can be managed seamlessly through a single user interface. It can also be replicated at multiple locations on a property, campus or estate. Ideally designed for use in multi-site or multi-floor buildings, the Cloud NVR Solution includes lower maintenance budgets, flexibility, the option for remote hosting and more.

“The Cloud NVR Solution uses the closed IP system, which enables IP cameras to be configured and secure lines to be set up with very little programming,” said Norstrom. “The cameras are configured from a remote location, so it is very easy to actually deploy a multiple camera system.”

The system, according to Norstrom, also allows the user to deploy in a secure, private cloud security system that gives them complete trust in the secureness of the IP cameras being used.

Multi-mode Recording

Dedicated Micros has developed multimode recording over the last few years. During the time when users primarily used analog video, a major problem was an abundance of tapes that did not contain relevant footage. Multi-mode recording eliminates this problem by using video cameras that only use high-res capturing when action occurs on the video.

“Multi-mode recording was invented to help analog systems reduce their number of tapes,” said Norstrom. “When hard drives came out, they were very small and it wasn’t possible to store a lot of data on them, so we solved this problem by creating a way of recording video such that you can have a very low resolution for background recording when nothing’s happening. And, based on event triggers and analytics, we can up the resolution record rate to ensure the critical aspects of the event—the face shot, the identifying shot—are actually captured.”

Multi-mode recording has been a technology used in Dedicated Micros’ portfolio for quite some time. When HD video became mainstream, many users did not fully understand the storage problem they were going to face, and multi-mode recording helped them deal with this storage problem.

Implementations

Though Dedicated Micros can be seen in retail, small business, education, finance and hospitality sectors, they have recently diversified into other sectors.

“We’re very strong in the transportation sector because we have a ruggedized recording solution for buses and trains which is combined with a powerful video management system,” said Norstrom. “It’s probably a little known fact, but we’re very strong in this sector because it doesn’t go anywhere near the traditional installer base. It involves specialized sizes and typically working with the actual bus manufacturers.”

Dedicated Micros has diversified into the transportation sector in the UK and the political sector in the United States. Though the company’s highprofile clients cannot be publicized, Norstrom said that the installations are in areas that secure high-profile politicians, and the feedback from these clients has been pronounced.

A Look to the Future

What makes Dedicated Micros unique, according to Norstrom, is that the company has a completely harmonized video system in which all the products work in the same way. The interface works with all products—including the older, legacy products—which ensure that cost of ownership remains constant.

“In terms of cost of ownership and the upgrade of an estate, there is a significant benefit in choosing Dedicated Micros because we commit long-term to our customers and ensure that we provide support not just through our people, but also for the legacy estate of the product,” said Norstrom. “And that solution is provided free of licenses, so if you choose our product, you don’t have to pay any license fees.”

In the coming months, Dedicated Micros plans on bringing a new version of its FireVu products to market. They have redeveloped the products to make them more sophisticated and better at detecting false alarms, the main barrier to sales for a video-based detection product.

“We’ve put such sophisticated processes in our product that the false alarm rate in many circumstances is down to zero, which is very important to high-risk environments,” said Norstrom. “This positions the product as the leader in the market and that’s an area we’ll be focusing on over the next 12 months.”

Another goal for Dedicated Micros is to get their products out there. The company’s traditional marketing route was through the security distributors, but that is no longer effective. The company’s new business model doesn’t align with the security distributor’s business model because they are selling a single solution. Norstrom sees this change in marketing as a benefit.

“What we are saying is we are far more consultative now. We help installers design systems, and we help the user get the best out of the product, which means there’s far greater direct interaction with ourselves and also the ability to buy all these solutions directly from Dedicated Micros.”

This article originally appeared in the June 2014 issue of Security Today.

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