printer friendly version

Hikvision focuses on verticals

Hikvision has made a name for itself over the past couple of years as a fast growing surveillance manufacturer. The company has made inroads into most sectors of the surveillance market while also opening an office in South Africa in late 2015.

Hi-Tech Security Solutions spoke with Matthew Guo, technical director of Hikvision’s Johannesburg office about its new seminar programme and the products the company was promoting.

The local office is pushing the Hikvision brand in South Africa, not only the products available from the Chinese surveillance giant, but is also focusing on approaching the integrator market directly with solutions designed for specific verticals. The company has embarked on a range of seminars this year, focused on its thermal cameras and its Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) solutions.

The reason for Hikvision’s seminar programmes is to ensure the company is seen as a solutions provider and not only a technology provider. Guo says this is why the events were aimed at system integrators and their customers.

When it comes to thermal cameras, the seminar started out defining what thermal cameras were and how they worked, identifying the areas where they will deliver the best results. Hikvision’s second generation of thermals not only work on perimeters and discovering people in large areas, such as warehouses, the company has also developed thermals with the purpose of detecting fires. The new generation of thermals includes two-lens solutions that offer thermal as well as optical views in one system

Guo explains that the cameras are able to detect a difference in temperature of as little as 2 degrees Celsius. Not only will this raise the alarm when a fire starts, allowing quick reaction before it spreads, but it can also be used to monitor the temperature of machines in a factory to ensure they don’t overheat.

ANPR solution

One of the verticals Hikvision is focusing its efforts on is ANPR. With global car ownership at 1.2 billion in 2014 and the ANPR market expected to grow to over $850 million in 2018 according to IHS, it’s definitely a growing market. Trends in South Africa also show a steady increase in rollouts of ANPR systems in many locations, some of them in cooperation with the SAPS and even some Metro Police units.

Guo explains that Hikvision has two cameras designed for ANPR (the DS-2CD4A26FWD-IZS with different lenses). Different lens choices will determine where the cameras are best suited and the quality of the image captured. The number plate recognition software is embedded in the cameras, allowing for faster processing and less stress on servers or NVRs.

Its iVMS 5200 Professional management software is able to provide for various decision making and reporting features, such as white and black lists of number plates. A vehicle on a white list will be granted automatic access, depending on the location’s policy, while black listed vehicles will not be able to enter or will require human intervention before being allowed to enter. Many functions are built into the system waiting for users to configure them to their specific requirements.

While Hikvision has a complete solution, Guo says it realises it needs to cooperate with other sources of information and the system is designed to allow for easy integration to ensure the best solution available is delivered to the end user.

The company plans more seminars this year, the next to be hosted in Durban.

Share this article:

Further reading: