Industry News: Surveillance Upgrade Supports Crime Prevention at Bristol’s Temple Quay and Glass Wharf
Bristol City Center Selects IDIS Video Technology to Support Safety and Crime Prevention
The mixed-use areas of Temple Quay and Glass Wharf in Bristol, England, are zoned for commercial, leisure, and residential development. So, while property owners wanted the public areas to be secure, they also needed them to be a welcoming environment.
The area is busy night and day because thousands of commuters wind their way through to the neighboring Temple Meads train station. The property’s security monitoring and patrol units were previously relying on a 20-year-old video system that was increasingly unreliable with poor-quality images and a clumsy video management system (VMS).
Ultimately, an end-to-end IDIS video system was selected, which included a VMS, 8MP pan-tit-zoom cameras, vandal-resistant 5MP infrared dome cameras, recorders supporting ultra-high definition (UHD) display, and all necessary accessories. The solution gives the security team complete coverage of the area, including visibility along and across the site’s waterway.
Within days of the installation, the site’s security team was able to respond to incidents more effectively with public agencies and law enforcement. The system enabled rapid response when first aid was required and when bad actors tried to steal e-scooters.
Mergers & Moves
Milestone Systems // Brighter AI
Milestone is adding anonymization technology for video data to its line-up with the acquisition of Brighter AI. The technology can help protect data and privacy.
Motorola Solutions // Invisit
Motorola entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Invisit, a cloud-based visitor management solution provider. The purchase will expand Motorola’s cloud-native security suite for enterprise customers.
Mobile Communications America, Inc. // Physical Security Integration
The purchase of Presidio, Inc.’s physical security entity will reinforce Mobile Communications America’s efforts in providing its educational, healthcare, and industrial clients with customizable security solutions.
Pye-Barker Fire & Safety // Nebraska Safety & Fire
Pye-Barker’s latest acquisition adds three Nebraska locations under its umbrella and further expands Pye-Barker’s presence in the U.S. Midwest.
Performance Systems Integration (PSI) // FirePro LLC, Fire Protection Specialists
PSI bought FirePro as an add-on to its fire and life safety platform, expanding its service coverage in Oregon.
Five Bays Capital // Firezat
The acquisition of Firezat, a provider of wildfire structure protection, will result in additional investment in the technology for and scale of the products, such as Wildfire Ember Shields and Wildfire Fire Shields, which have been used by the U.S. Forest Service and other firefighting agencies.
Awards
Global blockchain system Binance received an appreciation award from the Singapore Police Force for the company’s contribution in fighting against cyber threats.
EcoVadis awarded Crisis24, a GardaWorld company, with a gold medal in its 2024 Business Sustainability Rating, placing the company among the top 5 percent of evaluated businesses globally. More than 150,000 companies were evaluated for the categories of environment, ethics, labor and human rights, and sustainable procurement.
Contracts
The University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, awarded a security contract to Gallagher Security. Gallagher will replace the university’s existing access control system with its site management platform, Command Centre.
Unifi secured its first business aviation ground handling contract, and as of 15 April the company is in charge of ramp handling operations and fueling services at London Oxford Airport. The contract is also Unifi’s third fixed-base operation/security contract in the United Kingdom, providing around-the-clock support, including ID center management, access control, visitor and delivery coordination, and NASP passenger screening services.
The Federal Protective Services selected Constellis subsidiary Triple Canopy for a $95 million contract to provide security officers, supervisors, and management services for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
V2X, Inc., secured a new $100 million contract to provide support for the U.S. Navy’s Aegis Ashore facilities in Poland, which are part of NATO’s missile defense system.
Partnerships
Audio deepfakes. Deepfake detection platform Reality Defender and voice AI platform PlayAI announced a strategic data partnership to assist in the development of audio deepfake detection models.
Healthcare. Kuwait’s Ministry of Health partnered with Intalio to implement a solution to address challenges like limited accessibility, security risks during collaboration, disorganized workflows, and scalability issues due to a high volume of users. The partnership is meant to improve operational efficiency and ensure document security when collaborating with other departments, hospitals, and medical entities.
Threat detection. Smiths Detection is collaborating with Bigbear.ai, integrating Bigbear.ai’s threat detection products with X-ray screening equipment in borders, ports, airports, defense, and urban environments.
Access control. Verkada and Simonsvoss Smartintego entered into an integration agreement, allowing Verkada to expand its existing network of wireless lock integrations.
Road safety. Acceptance Insurance has partnered with NASCAR’s Ross Chastain to promote safe driving through Protect Your Melon and Use Your Melon highway safety campaigns, raising awareness about the importance of seatbelts, sober driving, and making smart choices when behind the wheel.
Alarms. Trackforce and Immix announced a new partnership that will integrate TrackTik (a Trackforce office suite) into the Immix platform to support enhanced remote guarding and security operations.
Risk management. Operational resilience platform Restrata has partnered with MAX Security to integrate MAX’s intel portal into Restrata’s end-to-end platform.
Wildfires. In collaboration with Flir, Convergint’s utilities team is using thermal detection solutions to help organizations spot heat anomalies sooner, allowing for more awareness of climate-related risks like wildfires.
Drones. Talkaphone and Sunflower Labs have partnered to introduce enhanced blue-light emergency phones that deploy a drone to surveil the area or escort the caller until help arrives.
