VIP Security first Kiwi partners to grab MOBOTIX Innovation Award
Kiwi security integrator and SnapperNet partner, VIP Security, has received the top innovation award for 2018 at the annual MOBOTIX Asia Pacific Partner Conference in Malaysia.
This is the first time a New Zealand company has received this award.
The Christchurch company beat out all other MOBOTIX partners from around Asia Pacific to take the award with an in-vehicle surveillance system developed specifically for a New Zealand bus company.
The system, currently in use in more than 110 buses, enables the bus company to access high-quality video, wirelessly, in the event of any incidents.
VIP Security managing director David Proud says that the win was especially pleasing as it recognises the skills and expertise of the staff at VIP Security, which he describes as "a quite bespoke, niche integrator" that was up against much larger multinational companies with $100 million turnovers.
"Our award recognises the innovation and design aspects of something quite complex," Proud says.
"The project scoping, design and implementation were undertaken by VIP's engineers and technicians, with the assistance of SnapperNet and MOBOTIX, who provided additional support and expertise as the need arose.
The surveillance system required extensive technical design on the part of VIP Security.
Previous bus systems required footage to be physically removed from buses by taking hard drives or memory sticks off the bus while the new solution, which has been in use since last year, sends data wirelessly and is exceeding the 95% recoding reliability KPI set by the client.
"We had to work out rules and parameters to ensure a stable wireless connection and overcome issues like dropping voltages when the bus engines turned on," Proud adds.
"We also created our own software to monitor the cameras and provide email reports and video snapshots of all the buses and cameras as they log in, with exception reports and status updates to ensure everything is ok.
SnapperNet director Richard Paul adds, "VIP Security have been able to do something no other company has been able to do with in-vehicle surveillance. They have set a high benchmark as far as good quality video and - most importantly - getting access to that video easily and quickly on demand.
The system enables the bus company to quickly and accurately check any incidents reported by both internal staff and the public, while also ensuring drivers are adhering to compliance requirements.
MOBOTIX APAC sales director Ryan Fairclough says that this is an excellent showcase of an integrated, collaborative approach to solving a customer's problems.
"They didn't just go to the bus company and say, 'we can give you high-resolution images', which is what everyone does, they offered to solve problems for them.
