IFSEC Global catches up with Derrick Hall, Director of Sales at Kentec, to discuss the company’s Fire Hardware/Software Vendor of the Year Award win at the Security and Fire Excellence Awards 2021 for its innovation within the fire detection market.
Derrick Hall, Director of Sales, Kentec
After a successful 2021, Kentec rounded off the year by accepting the Fire Hardware/Software Vendor of the Year Award at the Security and Fire Excellence Awards, which took place in November.
Reflecting on Kentec’s achievements throughout 2021, Director of Sales, Kentec, Derrick Hall, says: “We’ve successfully achieved our goal of becoming a system, rather than a product manufacturer, and especially with our wireless detection offering, we can now offer our installers a one-stop shop for all of their fire detection requirements.”
Kentec Electronic’s award submission focused on its innovation within the fire and smoke detection and smoke analysis market; marketing commitment to communicate features and benefits to end users and installers; and commitment to high-fire prevention, smoke analytics and meeting industry standards.
It centred on its wireless detection system and EVAC-POINT range of panels that provide firefighters and emergency services with the means to activate fire alarm sounders and evacuate a building on a phased principle.
Speaking on the win, Derrick says: “It was a very pleasant surprise. It’s a very prestigious award to receive, which makes our whole staff feel as though their had hard work and effort has been rewarded, both externally as well as internally.”
In response to the Waking Watch situation, Kentec launched both EVAC-POINT, a range of panels that meet new BS 8629 technical requirements, and EKHO, a wireless based family of products which can be used with Kentec’s fire alarm panels.
Derrick comments: “The Waking Watch fund was put in place to provide fire detection systems that would mitigate the risks of unsafe cladding during the period before it could be removed, therefore negating the need for costly Waking Watch patrol services.
“EVAC-POINT and EKHO (now rebranded as K-Mesh), serves this need and also provides a future-proofed solution that, if the fire detection system was no longer needed following the removal of cladding, could easily be converted to an evacuation system.”
EVAC-POINT launched in October 2020, right at the beginning of the UK’s second lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking on the challenges Kentec faced in adapting their marketing methods to cater to the situation, Derrick says: “Launching a product during lockdown is certainly a marked change from pre-pandemic times, but we adapted quickly using online communication and file sharing technology, as well as webinars to ensure that we could share the information our installers needed.
“Our Kentec Installation Programme (KIP) came into its own as an established network with a platform well suited to virtual training. And, in fact, our membership grew more in 2021 than any other year.”
After a prosperous 2021, Kentec are keen to make this year even more successful than the last.
Derrick concludes: “K-Mesh is our first big news for 2022. Launched as Intersec 2022, K-Mesh is a new development and a new name for Kentec’s wireless system, providing our KIPs with a dedicated brand and a series of additional product features to give them further competitive advantage.
“We’ve got a great deal planned for the year, with exciting, enhanced features that will be unique in the wireless fire-world – so watch this space!”
Download the Fire Safety in 2023 eBook, keeping you up to date with the biggest news and prosecution stories from around the industry. Chapters include important updates such as the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and an overview of the new British Standard for the digital management of fire safety information.
Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.
