The 2008 Product Focus feature spotlights the most representative technology available. For 2008, instead of selecting a single product to cover, we invited security providers to submit their most innovative products, along with their best-selling ones.
The 2008 Product Focus feature spotlights the most representative technology available. For 2008, instead of selecting a single product to cover, we invited security providers to submit their most innovative products, along with their best-selling ones.
Alarms
No single product nabbed top scores out of the eight submissions in this category. Tied for best marks were Bosch and Fermax.
The Bosch Security Systems Professional Series intrusion detectors with antimask technology deploy Bosch's Sensor Data Fusion (SDF) technology, which processes data from up five different sensors to reduce false alarms.
The Fermax HALO Panel is a video entry system and access control panel, with a user-friendly interface.
John and Thompson both gave their highest scores to the Siemens Building Technologies Intrunet SI Series (SAK94) multipartition keypad as well. The intrusion control system features a built-in speaker/microphone for alarm verification, helping to distinguish between alarms and keys. It sports "innovative features packaged in an intrusion keypad interface," Thompson said.
Others
This category was for products not belonging to the traditional categories of surveillance, access control, alarms or management software. As this was an unusual assortment, no single product received the highest overall score from all judges.
Thompson gave his highest score to the Delta Scientific Plug-and-Play High Security Vehicle Access Control barricade, capable of stopping and destroying a 6,800-kilogram (15,000-pound) truck traveling at 48 kilometers per hour (30 miles per hour).
Another product Thompson scored favorably was the RoboWatch Technologies CHRYSOR Autonomous Vehicle, a mobile robot that detects moving objects or hazardous substances. Should a deadly gas or explosive be detected, CHRYSOR will move the source away from crowds.
John gave his highest score to the ICx Technologies Fido Portable Explosives Detector. The handheld device features amplifying fluorescent polymers, providing a detectable response to explosive materials at levels as low as a few femtograms (parts per quadrillion), comparable to bomb-sniffing dogs.