LILIN IP video cameras and software

Established in 1980, Taiwain-headquartered Merit LI-LIN (or LILIN) began life manufacturing pan and tilt brackets for CCTV cameras before expanding into video switchers, monitors and finally CCD cameras in the early 1990s.

It has since extended its portfolio to provide end to end IP video solutions, making everything from IP cameras and housings to NVRs, DVRs, encoders/decoders and customised software for specific industry verticals.

Market positioning

LILIN has grown steadily to employ an estimated 600 people worldwide and now has offices in mainland China, France, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Most of company’s large scale implementations have been in Malaysia, China and Japan, primarily in urban surveillance, retail, banking and transportation environments. One UK customer is The Academy college in Selsey, East Sussex. The school recently worked with local installer Calibre Comms to deploy LILIN’s 1080P HD IP iMEGAPRO network cameras at four key locations, backed up by the Navigator server to provide a recording and monitoring solution.

The company has worked hard to develop customised solutions for those industries. Its retail proposition offering electronic point of sale (ePoS) management and audio recording alongside video configuration for example, while those aimed at hospitality include traffic management, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and people counting analytics tools.

Latest technology

LILIN’s mantra stresses creativity, progress and excellence – in short a focus on product innovation, continuous improvement and high standard services. One of its most recent products is a specially made marine camera built to withstand harsh outdoor environments on ships and boats.

Mobile access to CCTV footage plays a big part in LILIN’s product innovation. The LILINViewer is an Android/iOS app that allows a user to remotely view and control select LILIN cameras from their smartphone. The company also designed a door station with an integrated 1080p HD IR camera with speaker and microphone and remote entry control that allows home owners or office workers to open the door and see pictures of people attempting to gain entry using a smartphone app.

LILIN has also developed software for use by installers, introducing a camera specifying tool to help security them plan their projects by identifying the most suitable LILIN equipment for the particular environment, resolution and use case.

Installer activity

LILIN’s UK distributors include Network Webcams, Networks Centre, CMS, Genesis Technologies and Invision UK, each of which work with local installers and systems integrators to drive business and meet customer deployment requirements. LILIN has recently began to place more emphasis on security installations in smart homes, having developed a customised home automation scheme which counts Control4, Crestron, Fermax, Savant and RTI as members.

It also offers a partner program for video software companies that provides co-marketing tools, software development support and ONVIF-based IP camera testing and integration services.