When Is a Security Camera Not a Security Camera?

Panasonic opened their new business solutions centre at their European Headquarters in Bracknell today, the latest big-money investment by a tech company positioning themselves as a fully-integrated business solutions provider.

The new business solutions centre showcases the latest technology that Panasonic can offer their business customers. Think Apple Store for a senior buyer from McDonalds or DHL, and you start to get the idea of what’s on offer.

Click here to view Figure 1.

Despite the seemingly vast size of Panasonic’s consumer business (for which they are undoubtedly better known), Panasonic’s 7.3 billion Yen turnover is mostly made up of business-to-business revenue: 72 percent of their turnover is in the B2B market, in fact. This seems surprising, but when you stop and look at some of the projects that they’re capable of delivering — last summer’s London 2012 Olympics still being their best case study — it starts to make sense.

From the Lumix cameras used by newspaper photographers, to the 4,000 broadcast cameras recording Olympic events in 3D for the first time, right through to the 45 giant screens and (more relevantly) 2,500 video surveillance camera systems, as official technology supplier, Panasonic took care of almost all of the technology solutions at London 2012.

So, what has all this got to do with security technology? Well, at IFSEC International, the most noticeable trend was the trend towards the biggest manufacturers positioning themselves as solutions providers — not simply product manufacturers. Panasonic’s London 2012 case study is the ultimate example of a complete project management solution. And the business solutions centre is a place where customers can go and devise new strategies and new ideas that Panasonic will happily go away and produce.

Crucially, they don’t simply provide their customers with the latest products from their 15,000-strong product lineup, they also focus on integration support with third party products and services. A facilities manager can go to Panasonic and ask for a fully-integrated fire and security system all based on an IP network, and Panasonic will not only engineer and design the system, but will continually project manage that solution, completing the circle between product and service delivery.

One technological solution
IP is also a crucial piece of the Panasonic jigsaw. The managing director of Panasonic Europe explained that the philosophy of the business is for all of their products to be designed, developed, and delivered with “the same core IP technology. One company, one technological solution.” So, while Panasonic’s business solutions department may seem to be ratcheted into separate business units — with security cameras sitting alongside industrial medical vision, broadcast products in the professional camera solutions section, and visual and communications solutions and computer products sitting alongside that — there is a centralized IP philosophy sitting across all of the products and solutions.

The goal is to create an environment where all products are internet-enabled for the cloud era and connected to customers.

This might sound like your typical marketing spiel, but the solutions-based approach that Panasonic and its competitors are taking is signalling a real shift in security technology. When is a security camera not a security camera? When it’s synced with a point of sale system in a McDonalds restaurant to link fraudulent transactions to a customer’s image. Or, when it’s recognizing a person standing in front of a touch screen as a woman, and displaying a different set of advertising than if it was a man. Or, how about when it’s tracking a package in a logistics centre?

The possibilities of video surveillance as more than just video surveillance have been bubbling around for some time now, but as the technology of video management systems has improved, and the functionality has become more customizable and useful in the real world beyond security, we are now really beginning to see security technology coming of age, and proving its value to the business that invests in it.

Many people tire of marketing from major manufacturers, but what makes this new business solutions centre valuable is that it’s a space where people can come to talk about the possibilities of technology, and come up with new ideas. I spoke to Salman Jawaid from Panasonic’s POS technology department, and he told me how one customer said, “I want to see what Panasonic can do, but I don’t want to see a powerpoint.”

The end of death-by-powerpoint? I think that’s something we can all raise a glass to.