Across the world, consumers are becoming more educated about what security and fire systems can achieve. Expectations are high, especially as natural disasters, industrial accidents, and homeland security remain priority concerns. In 2017 the industry will continue to focus on addressing these concerns and, where possible, make monitoring for these incidents seamless.
Across the world, consumers are becoming more educated about what security and fire systems can achieve. Expectations are high, especially as natural disasters, industrial accidents, and homeland security remain priority concerns. In 2017 the industry will continue to focus on addressing these concerns and, where possible, make monitoring for these incidents seamless.
Although consumers want more from their building systems, they do not want to trouble themselves with setting up the technology themselves. To help end users choose the right approach for the new year, security and fire professionals still have an important role to play in advising on these key trends:
Integration
The biggest opportunity for the security and fire market in 2017 will be integration. As a first step, all businesses will want to combine their security and fire systems in order to have a complete view over the various alarm systems. Any triggered alarm can then be cross-checked and verified against other systems, improving response times. For example, if a fire alarm is triggered in one part of the building, the security team can use the same interface to access video surveillance of the target area, and therefore easily confirm if a false activation has occurred.
Moving into the new year, we expect to see integration expand to include broader business and building systems. In large enterprises especially, a connected infrastructure makes it easier to track staff, contractors, and visitors. Integrating security with HR, for example, means an employee's access rights can be automatically suspended when they leave the company. Freeing up staff from this tedious administration allows them to focus on pressing actions instead.
Manufacturers like Honeywell are well placed to offer a competitive integrated solution. Honeywell already manufactures the products and systems needed to completely manage a building, ensuring they are fully compatible and responsive to each other.
Mass Notification (MNS)
Europe's mass notification systems market is expected to reach $2,178 million by 2019. This impressive growth will continue over the next few years, driven in part by the move to leverage fire systems as a platform for MNS.
Fire systems are a safe, reliable backbone for integration, especially mass notification, due to their built-in functionality and scalability. With stringent international safety requirements, as well as constant monitoring to ensure issues are proactively fixed, fire systems are an ideal platform for mass notification in public spaces. We expect more sites to adopt MNS and fire integration in the coming years.
Plug & Play
Consumer products today often set themselves up automatically, making it simple for any consumer to set up technology without technical knowledge. This 'Plug & Play' philosophy is now an essential design factor for the technology industry – including the business world. End users expect their enterprise-grade technology to be as easy to set up as their smartphone, and the technology that allows this will be increasingly successful in the coming year.
Honeywell is especially invested in this trend. The Honeywell User Experience team focuses entirely on design and usability of new products, delivering an intuitive and enjoyable experience to customers.
Mobile Technology
Businesses are already using mobile devices to access live video feeds, which has been a considerable advantage for security teams looking to spend more time being visible on site. For both security and fire industries, mobile apps will become a crucial way to access information going into 2017. They ensure annual inspections and maintenance can be carried out as efficiently as possible, so less time is spent on repeat trips by technicians.
The road ahead
The security and fire industries are always under pressure to deliver the right solution, at the best budget. An experienced security professional is still essential to ensuring the end user has the best system for their needs. The industry has a responsibility to stay aware of how the market is shifting, and design systems accordingly.