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BMS integration

Companies are being challenged to manage their buildings and work environments better. With isolated, disparate and sometimes legacy systems in place – from CCTV cameras to fire detection solutions and utilities – all of which need individual attention, cost and complexity is mounting.

The smart answer is to integrate these disparate components to create an intelligent eco-system that delivers cost, time and energy efficiencies. Multivid, a specialist electronic security systems integrator, offers some insight into how this can be achieved, and the resulting benefits.

Says Marius Maré, CEO of Multivid, a Jasco Group company: “Companies end up with non-integrated building management components for a number of reasons. Systems may have been added progressively through the lifetime of the building with responsibility for their management given to different departments within the organisation. There may have been limited awareness of the benefits of an integrated solution, or the installation may have been basic, delivering only the requested functionality rather than being fully integrated to leverage additional benefits. Going forward, however, businesses can invert this situation to their advantage.”

Marius Maré

Organisations need to ask themselves three questions, he suggests:

* What can be done to integrate existing systems.

* Where are the biggest wins for the business in terms of integration.

* What policies do we need to put in place to manage this challenge going forward?

30% cost saving

Says Maré: “To address existing challenges, a few items can be noted: many basic or older systems, such as air conditioning and lighting solutions, make use of low level controllers that can quite easily be integrated into an intelligent building management solution or configurable systems like access control solutions which enable central management. Best of breed solutions built on standard or open platforms can also usually be accommodated in an integrated solution. Other systems, if they are proprietary or in-house built, may require some additional interfacing. The costs of development work can be assessed against possible returns on the investment – and this can be considerable.”

While there are any number of benefits to integration, including lowered maintenance and licensing costs, an important issue in South Africa given massive ongoing utility price hikes is better management of energy consumption. “By integrating utilities systems with access controls, usage can be intelligently cut. For example, when the last person leaves the office, or a specific department within the building, the access control system communicates with the lighting and air conditioning systems, powering them down or putting them into night mode. This can result in huge savings – 10% to 30% – every month.”

Do not forklift – redeploy

Systems integration skills can be difficult to come by but be wary of the forklift recommendation from solution providers who do not have the requisite skills. Notes Maré: “When you do not have the benefit of a Greenfields site, systems that are incompatible will need to be integrated.

“This takes skill and experience. Very few companies offer such capability and this becomes a tremendous value add for specialised companies that have taken care to build these capabilities. For customers it is a considerable value add – as they can redeploy legacy systems, extending their existing investments at a fraction of the cost of installing new systems, and can upgrade their systems as budget becomes available.”

Looking forward, there are other benefits to be had. Says Maré: “As technologies converge, organisations need to be more aware of what services can be bundled. A recent Multivid project offers a good example. Not only did we do a CCTV installation, but we installed a PABX as well as the network infrastructure for the organisation, building a communications backbone for the company’s multiple sites. It makes no difference to us if we pull in one cable or three – if we are installing a cable for CCTV, we can just as well install a cable for the network. And while we are at it, we can install one for the PABX as well. The labour is about the same, so the customer sees real financial benefit immediately.”

In the unlikely event of a problem arising down the line, the customer also only has one contractor to contact, not three. Say Maré: “It eliminates that familiar scenario where one contractor blames another for things not working.”

Integration is a journey

In selecting a solution provider, Maré suggests organisations check credentials carefully. “Be sure the company has the support of the industry – ie, has the necessary technology partnerships in place – and that they have the right skills on board. Also check their track record; have they been in business for a while and can they provide references to successful projects?”

As technologies continue to advance, they are not only becoming more user friendly, but more capable of integration, with the resulting hybrid capabilities making them more effective and efficient. Central management and simplified configuration, along with hands-off one-button control is what users want. Organisations need to partner with a solution provider that understands their business needs and budget constraints, recognises opportunities as they arise and can assist the organisation on that journey, reaping the various benefits of system integration as they become accessible – and the organisation’s budget allows.”

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