ISC East 2007 Photo Report

Sept. 13, 2007

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, opening morning at the Javits Center, where the jointly held ISC East and InfoSecurityNY were being held. Traffic was surprisingly good.

Inside the show, I ran into Clive Gillon of Transdyn, an integrator and engineering firm offering integrated traffic management and video systems.

I had a minute to visit with the crew at Watec, checking out some of their miniature CCD cameras and board cameras. Despite the small sizes of the cameras, the images were surprisingly good.

I popped over to the press office to meet the guys from CoviSec (Coastal Video Security), who were up from Florida to introduce its Alcatraz product line. Pictured above are two interesting products. On the right is a laptop-like DVR and LCD screen combo that's perfect for small businesses (convenience stores, perhaps) where space is at a premium. It can be optioned for either USB back-up or with a CD writer. On the left is the ALC-4825ON, with super-LEDs for infrared night vision extending over 300 feet. The camera includes a 25x optical zoom and will be priced around $900 for dealers, allowing for very affordable long-distance night vision. Also introduces was the D-series DVRs (again, very affordable) with JPEG200 and H.264 compression.

Ok, the "white trucks" that our industry uses don't tend to get much attention from the trade press, but I must say that I was impressed by Adrian Steel's design for the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon mid-size pick-up truck. They seem to be taking the 4-door version of the truck and adding custom metal work and a nice cap. Hot features include the slide-out tray option in the bed, two large flip-up access panels on the truck cap, use of the 4-door design to create an integrated storage compartment with dual side access and an integrated tool box. They also had the AstroBody system on display (AstroBody is a cooperative partner with Adrian) for those looking for the convenience of a mid-size pickup and the storage capacity of a full-size van.

 

There was nothing covert about these ladies from Brickhouse Security. The firm does GPS tracking, covert surveillance and counter-surveillance. It's used Teydo/FindWhere's GPS tracking solution.

Speaking of GPS tracking, I popped by the FindWhere booth (parent company is Teydo) to see their integrated web-based software system for tracking GPS devices that could be associated with people or assets. The system uses Microsoft's mapping system (very similar to Google maps, if you know that technology) and can give updates on a GPS device's location. It's great for executive protection or for private investigation. It's not applicable for fleet management, however.

Proving that ISC East isn't only an "alarm" show, Optellios was showcasing the Fiber Patrol solution that can detect fence intrusions thanks to a fiber optic wire threaded along with the fence material.

The "drool factor" award for ISC East should go to ADI which was promoting its BMW giveaway. 10 bonus points and an "attaboy" to the first blog reader who can tell me what model this is (post answers in the comments). If you want to win, give your ADI rep a call or check in at an ADI store for details.

Thirsty for a sip of wine or gin? You're going to have to pay for it. BottleLox has a bottle-top locking system combined with electronic article surveillance (EAS).

I thought you might like to see this 360 degree camera from Sentry 360 Security. It's a 3-megapixel analog camera (they also have an IP camera with 5 megapixels) with built in image processing, video analytics and preset tour capabilities.

No matter what kind of really hot technology is in the booths nearby, attendees to ISC East regularly flood the tables at Bad Dog Tools to watch the guys drill through glass, steel and maybe even kryptonite. By the end of the show, everything in the booth is guaranteed to have at least one fresh hole drilled through it. Best bet when visiting Bad Dog? Keep your hands behind you, like the gentleman with the red bag.

Eastern CCTV's booth: Mini dome cameras, DVR systems, and more.

You can tell this photo was taken on Wednesday due to the blue skies (Tuesday was wet for much of the day). I love the contrast of the image: Dozens of small steel-concrete bollards and concrete planter-barriers protecting what would seem to be massive vehicle-stopping concrete bollards. Actually, I'm told those are part of the convention center's heating system. There's a lesson here with the landscaping that anti-vehicle protection doesn't have to be particularly ugly. It's a reminder of the need for security to work with architects and landscapers when implementing vehicle-blocking devices.

A Wednesday morning highlight: the Emerging Markets panel discussion with (left to right) SIA's Richard Chace, Reed Exhibitions' Dean Russo, Lehman Brothers Jeff Kessler, and Joanne Thornton of the Stanford Washington Research Group. This session sifted through the numbers to help manufacturers and integrators pull together a game plan for China, Russia, Brazil and other top emerging markets.

The crew from Security Dealer and SecurityInfoWatch.com made it to Honeywell's booth to see a demonstration of the Total Connect system, which links Vista panels, GSM and iGSM communicators with a variety of sensors as well as video cameras for the "totally connected" home or small business.

Cell phones aren't just for games, music and text messaging any more. They're also good for video surveillance. The Honeywell Total Connect can send images and video for the purpose of verification or just to check on your child coming home from school.

Also in the Honeywell booth: Former NY Knicks guard John Starks was signing autographs. Apologies for the blurry photo, but tradeshow photography isn't a slam dunk.

What's a security show without the Pelco Mobile Product Showcase truck? Their location right outside Javits was a nice a place for CCTV installing integrators to escape the tradeshow noise and get a lock on hot video technologies.

iControl's web-based system and connection technology now links up with GE Security's Simon alarm panels, and will be offered through Monitronics (among others). President/CEO Reza Raji was on hand to showcase this technology for extending the reach of home security and monitoring.

Video surveillance without having to run the wires is the theme at VisualGate Systems, which uses powerline video transmission. Generally, this technology is considered for temporary security needs or for facilities where boring holes through walls to run cables isn't acceptable.

On Wednesday afternoon (second and final day of the show), the "bar" at Northern Video was a highly popular hangout for everyone worn out from carrying around bags of vendor handouts and product information DVDs.

--Geoff