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Arecont energises South African presence

Megapixel surveillance manufacturer Arecont Vision is targeting South and southern Africa as growth markets. To achieve its goal in the region, the company is improving its current channel strategy by appointing a strong value-added reseller channel base.

Sanjit Bardhan

In the past, Arecont Vision has been available via local distribution partners. The brand has slowly gained recognition and popularity over the past several years, but is poised for its greatest growth and exposure yet. Sanjit Bardhan, Arecont Vision’s director for the Middle East, India and Africa says the changes implemented will allow Arecont to take advantage of the many opportunities he sees for the company’s technology in the region.

The new structure sees Forbatt (SA) as the brand’s master distributor in the region. Forbatt will ensure Arecont Vision’s channel and users have a ready supply of cameras in stock to shorten delivery times, as well as manage the logistics and administration associated with importing and distributing international brands. It will also take responsibility for marketing the brand to educate end users and create awareness via Arecont Vision’s training and education programmes. For instance, the Channel Partner Certification Program (CPCP) will be a key training programme that the company will drive in the South African market.

“Distributors and installers will automatically benefit from a broader awareness of the Arecont Vision brand and the resulting sales and installation work, while users will benefit by being able to do more with less,” says Bardhan.

Forbatt will also handle product returns (RMAs) in accordance with Arecont Vision’s in-warranty-advance-replacement programme. With Forbatt’s advantage of holding local inventory, this process will be very quick and a definite value-add to the industry. This will also ensure that customers experience the minimum amount of downtime and won’t have to wait while their technology is shipped overseas for repairs.

“In the unlikely event that an Arecont Vision camera fails, we want our customers to be secure in the knowledge that Forbatt and Arecont Vision are working together to make sure their security needs are being met while the faulty model is replaced,” says Bardhan. “Our hope is that this offering will not only create more demand for Arecont Vision solutions, but will also add value to our supply chain.”

Megapixel benefits

Arecont Vision’s IP surveillance cameras allow users to install fewer cameras to cover larger areas while improving image clarity. Arecont Vision’s new SurroundVideo Omni cameras, for example, are omni-directional cameras with four multi-megapixel sensors that can be individually adjusted to capture different fields of view within a 360° range. This flexibility allows a single camera to provide the same detailed coverage as four multi-megapixel cameras with the ability to use different lenses for each sensor.

One possible configuration of the SurroundVideo Omni cameras include 270° panoramic coverage using three image sensors with the fourth image sensor pointed straight down. This configuration is ideal for placement on the corners of buildings. Hallway intersections are another popular configuration as four telephoto lenses can be used to obtain full coverage looking down separate long hallways.

This eliminates the need for multiple cameras, reducing overall system costs. The new cameras are available in 12-megapixel (MP) WDR and 20 MP configurations. For added versatility, the low-profile camera systems offer multiple lens options from 2.8 mm up to 16 mm.

Johnson Fang, MD of Forbatt (SA) says the company is already in the process of importing stock and appointing new channel partners. An announcement on the brand’s channel strategy is imminent.

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