LIVE from IFSEC 2005

May 19, 2005
From across the pond, Security Dealer’s publisher Peter Harlick reports in on the UK’s biggest security show

The Annual IFSEC show (May 16-19, 2005) is in full swing and early numbers indicate that the attendance and exhibitor numbers are larger than last year. Upon pulling into the campus-like grounds of the NEC facilities, you immediately get the feeling that this show means business. Traffic entering the maze of parking lots was backed up for miles and was slow going right up until the Bobbies wave you in.

Seven pounds for parking and a quick shuttle ride will take you to the exhibit center, which houses not only IFSEC, but also the International Fire Expo, ACPO - the International Police Conference & Exhibition, Safety & Health Expo and the Facilities Show. IFSEC is actually several shows within a show, and includes the Network Advantage, a show created in 2004; this Network Advantage section focuses on IP-based solution providers. Other areas of interest are the CCTV Village, Intruder Alarm Village and the Security Solutions area, which targets end-users.

According to Jon Squire, communications manager for show organizer CMP, pre-registered attendance was up 9 percent over last year and the number of exhibitors was up by 50 booths to just over 600. At press time, final attendance numbers had yet to be tallied, but the feeling is very good that expectations have been surpassed. Additionally, strong support was mounted by the following associations BSIA (British Security Industry Association), SITO (Security Industry Training Organisation), SSAIB (Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board), the Security Industry Authority, IPSA (International Professional Security Association) and the NSI (National Security Inspectorate). All of these groups pitched in to ensure that the European security community attended IFSEC.

According to Vedrana Medic of Blancom, a Croatian based high-performance surveillance solutions manufacturer that provides custom and specialized digital video/audio recording servers, the first two days of the show have been very solid in terms of attendance, and she added that the attendance has helped them garner several hundred leads.

Robert Gailing of Cogent Systems, a California-based provider of fingerprint identification systems and AFIS, said that this was the first time the European market had seen Cogent's products, and he added that the company's products were being well received by attendees. Gailing also mentioned a recent partnership between Pay by Touch, Verifone and Cogent in which consumers could register their credit card and thumb print with a local retailer and shop there in the future without a credit card, ID or signature.

Another new product on show floor was from Rokonet Ltd., an Israel-based provider of comprehensive security solutions for institutional, commercial & residential installations. According to Shlomit Hersko, the new "WatchOUT" Detector hinges on selective event recognition. This new product allows it to differentiate between false alarms and real intrusion events. With the creation of WatchOUT, Rokonet is using two PIR channels and two microwave channels.

Like almost every U.S. tradeshow, IFSEC holds a product awards presentation. The overall winner for the product awards was Bosch for their Easy Series; it’s a simple, cost effective, ergonomically designed intrusion control panel. This product uses symbols instead of text for ease of understanding. The voice module makes installation simple because of the voice prompts, and the status display turns itself on if a presence is detected within 30 centimeters.

I’ve seen some friendly and familiar faces here on the other side of the Atlantic, including Kim Loy of Group 4, Ron Rothman and David Gottlieb of Honeywell, William Geller of Rosslare, Julia Webb and Jordan benShea of Bioscrypt, Ann Johnson of Indala, Guy Apple of NVT, and Ron Reddick of Senstar Stellar.

Aside from the standard product booths, the most intriguing area of the floor for me was the IFSEC Apprentice Challenge, sponsored by BT Redcare. The apprentices compete with other teams to complete an intruder alarm installation with sequential confirmation and police response. Teams of two are required to cable the installation, wire up the control equipment and warning devices, plus mount and connect the detection devices. They are then expected to program the system to connect to BT Redcare home monitoring. Contestants are allowed 1-1/2 hours to complete the task, including the associated documentation. A team of independent judges from NSI, SITO and the SSAIB judges the heats. These apprentices are fast.

About the author: Peter Harlick is publisher of Security Dealer magazine, and often serves as SecurityInfoWatch.com’s roving reporter at industry events across the globe.