Learning What Drives the Security Industry Forward at GSX

Security providers large and small are exploring how they can make cloud-based systems functional and secure at the same time.

• By Haley Samsel
• Sep 10, 2019

Since it’s my first time attending GSX, I have made it my mission to pay close attention to common characteristics among the companies exhibiting in Chicago’s McCormick Center. I consistently ask myself: What challenges are security companies responding to? How can they (or can’t they) overcome those issues with the latest technology?

One trend on display at GSX is the growing popularity of cloud-based systems, which aim to offer customers the ability to access video surveillance footage, camera configurations and more from their devices at any time. Security providers large and small are exploring how they can make cloud-based systems functional and secure at the same time -- which, as we know, is easier said than done.

ABP Technology, a Dallas-based company, is a key example of how the security industry is changing to meet consumer demands without sacrificing its values of protecting cybersecurity. Robert Messer, the founder and CEO of ABP Tech, told me that his company’s AlarmReady system is the first video verification alarm system that works with any alarm system to provide an immediate video stream to a user’s device of choice as soon as an alarm is detected.

Messer sees ABP’s newly announced distribution of the system in the U.S., starting with MOBOTIX IP Cameras, as a game changer in how consumers and security integrators respond to alarms within their facilities. The AlarmReady system has been in the works for the better part of a decade and will soon be compatible with other camera systems, he said.

Messer’s key point to me was this: As Ring home surveillance systems become commonplace and homeowners become accustomed to having video footage at their fingertips, they will want the same functionality in the workplace. Business leaders will want to easily respond to alarms from home, and without having to connect to an office system through a VPN.

It sounds simple enough, but so far companies have been reluctant to tackle the issue because of cybersecurity concerns. Messer says that part of ABP’s job is to provide cybersecurity protection for their customers as part of the service, not as an afterthought.

Listening to Messer talk about ABP’s latest release made me realize how close the industry is to truly becoming cloud-based, and what that could potentially mean for consumers and businesses alike. AlarmReady may be the first of its kind in cloud-based video verification, but it doesn’t look like it will be the last.