WHY C4? PART 1
As more and more technologies are being deployed in building management and primarily in the area of building security, the requirements for simplifying their operation and management are also growing. Increasingly powerful security systems are collecting and providing enormous amount of data and information for users. Evaluating the importance of individual pieces of information and their mutual interconnections across different technologies places demands on the complexity of security processes. Of course, each manufacturer continuously innovates its products, often without ensuring backward compatibility with previous outdated products. These compatibility problems, whether between generations of equipment but also between manufacturers, are always causing the end user a fundamental dilemma - to prefer the most cost-effective solution with the consequent increased operating costs, or to use a prospective device that has the guarantee of long-term support from the manufacturer.
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Currently, the end users in Europe primarily use the following four technologies:
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The end user has several options how to address the challenges of processing the vast amount of information and effectively managing investments.
1. MANAGING EACH TECHNOLOGY SEPARATELY.
This strategy means increased demands on system maintenance. Each device has its own specific configuration and operating software, which usually requires quite demanding training. Along with the increasing number of deployed products, the complexity of training and the integration of information across technologies also increases.
Time synchronization of data between different systems, for example access control and CCTV, is a common problem. As a result, the operator spends an enormous amount of time in retrieving the relevant video related to an incident on the access system.
2. INTEGRATING THE DEPLOYED SYSTEMS INTO A UNIFIED ENVIRONMENT.
There are undeniably many benefits to integrating security systems into a single monitoring and controlling system. A unified user environment provides the customer with a comprehensive overview of the status of the individual systems and significantly reduces operating costs.
The cost reduction is particularly evident in the following areas:
- Simplification of staff training.
- Better overview of service needs and implementations.
- Simplifying the evaluation of security incidents.
The integration of security systems brings several challenges for the customer, which must be evaluated and decided upon at the beginning of the project design. The basic parameter is to resolve the question of how much the final solution will tight up the customer to one supplier. Currently, the customer has several options how to address this issue:
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Such a solution provides the customer with the possibility to obtain a comprehensive and interconnected system. In case of technical problems or requirements, the customer communicates only with one manufacturer.
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The disadvantages of such a solution are mainly:
- Limited flexibility to accommodate requests for new functionalities.
- Limited choice of variants for individual technologies. One manufacturer usually produces only a few products of a single technology. With such a solution, the customer is severely limited in terms of choice and therefore also in terms of price optimization.
- Financially inflexible solution due to the minimal possibilities of alternative solutions.
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Every technology has superior products and, naturally, substandard products as well. One manufacturer typically excels in one specific technology, while others are often average. If a customer requires a high-quality security solution across all technologies, the ideal solution is to combine devices from different manufacturers and use an independent integration system from an independent manufacturer.
The advantages of this concept are:
- Selection of the optimum equipment for each part of the project. A small technological building requires completely different equipment than a large office building.
- Price optimization. In the case of the possibility to choose between devices from several manufacturers, there is of course a competitive environment and therefore also significant savings on the purchase of individual equipment.
- Independent integration systems are very often designed to provide the end customer with the possibility of additional modifications and extensions according to their requirements. By being developed for different devices from different manufacturers, the security system programmers have implemented functionalities from different market segments, allowing the customer to use the integration system in the most demanding conditions.
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In the next edition of the C4 Newsletter, we will continue to get behind the reasoning why is the C4 System outstanding in the market considering the current situation.
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