Audio and communications technologies may not be the solutions that typically come to mind when people envision a security system, however; they are among the most important tools a business can have when it comes to responding to an emergency. After all, providing clear and concise messaging in the event of a manmade or natural catastrophe can mean the difference between life and death in many situations.
Much like their counterparts in video surveillance and access control, audio products have historically been an analog solution, but as with everything else, speakers are now making their way onto the network and thus unlocking an entirely new range of features and capabilities for end-users. In fact, the market for audio products is so lucrative that manufacturers from other industry product segments have decided to introduce their own lines of connected speakers and other communication solutions.
However, most of the companies that specialize in security and life safety communications have a background in working with technology that stretches back decades. Such is the case with AtlasIED, which traces its roots back to the 1930s when the company, originally known as Atlas Sound, was founded in Brooklyn, N.Y. In the 2000s, the family-owned business would acquire a firm known as Innovative Electronic Designs that specialized in providing messaging and mass notification products for private and public sector applications and subsequently merge the two companies to form AtlasIED.
In this “Exhibitor Q&A,” Gina Sansivero, VP of Marketing and Corporate Communications at AtlasIED, discusses what sets their technology apart, the impact of supply chain challenges on the market, and other industry trends.
SIW: What would you say really differentiates your solutions from others on the market?
Sansivero: First and foremost, we did leverage our audio background, so intelligibility is going to be key with a lot of our security-focused products. If you have ever walked through an airport trying to find the right gate and you hear something that sounds like the Peanuts teacher talking somewhere and you say to yourself, “I have no idea what that person just said, and I hope it doesn't mean that I'm supposed to evacuate right now.” That is exactly what we work to overcome. An airport is a lot of stone, glass and metal – an acoustical nightmare. Our products have been engineered to work in those challenging acoustical environments.
The second differentiator is that for some of our products, particularly the IPX which are IP endpoints, we are platform or head-end agnostic. So, while you can use our software from the transportation sector, that might be overkill for K-12 installation and so we can work with other VoIP or similar type technologies like InformaCast from Singlewire. If you're in, for example, a band room or you're out on the playground and you're trying to get messages to instructors or students - how do you do that? Our endpoints not only have that high intelligibility but also built-in displays or flashers that offer ADA-compliant visual communications as well.
SIW: What are some of the biggest trends impacting your segment of the market currently and how are they evolving?
Sansivero: The biggest trend that we have seen in the past few years is increased funding for security, specifically within the K-12 environment. Schools are finding that funding for emergency preparedness and mass communications is there and they're upgrading their PA and intercom system at the same time. Because we do routine and emergency alerts, and because we can cover an entire campus, that PA intercom system is not lost. It is actually enhanced and expanded with the use of our system. But the PA system is not generally funded well. We've all been to a school where their PA system is still in the front office where someone picks up the phone and says, “Little Johnny, please come to the main office, your mom is here with your lunch that you forgot at home.”
Because it's 20 years old, that is completely overhauled when you're actually putting in a funded AtlasIED mass communication system. You're utilizing the head end of the school, whether that's Singlewire or Avaya, so you also have the reach and the capabilities of two-way talkback within the classroom through our endpoints. You have the capabilities of hooking up to a panic button or other speakers within the classroom. If you have a larger auditorium type of space and you have one IP endpoint at the front of the room, but you also have coverage for analog speakers in the back, we have the ability to speak to both digital and analog devices. That funding allows for new mass communication solutions and systems, while also having the added benefit of upgrading PA and intercoms in schools, which is often forgotten or not funded.
SIW: What kind of impact has Covid-19 had on mass notification and emergency communications technology in organizations today?
Sansivero: For sure, we've seen a lot of that hybrid movement. One of the things that we did when Covid started was we partnered with Singlewire specifically to talk to them about their on- and off-prem capabilities. We can cover the entire building, the entire campus or the entire district with audio and visual communications, but we can't get you at home. Singlewire does, so when a message is deployed through the Singlewire software, it not only hits our endpoints for communication to those within the school, but if you're on a “B” day, meaning that you're taking classes from home rather than on-premise at the school, you're getting those same notifications either through email or through text message to your mobile devices so that you're aware of what's happening on campus. Should they need to shut down early, the community or the parents are able to receive those notifications as well.
SIW: How are you handling the challenges presented by the current supply chain bottlenecks?
Sansivero: Being a family-owned business, we were able to really minimize the impact of supply chain challenges right now. Our company was able to maintain $20 million to $25 million of inventory in our various warehouses to make sure that when our integrator partners called we didn't have to say, “No, not now. Over the past year and a half, we've slowly kind of lost some of that inventory status, but we don't say, “No, not now,” we say, “Maybe next week,” rather than “maybe eight months from now.”
Sixty percent of our products are manufactured in the U.S., but I believe it's something like 80% of our final assembly in the U.S., so we are able to really increase production within our own manufacturing facilities in the U.S. as needed. That has been really helpful to be able to support our integrator partners and it's only possible because we are a family-owned company.
Joel Griffin is the Editor of SecurityInfoWatch.com and a veteran security journalist. You can reach him at [email protected].
