EDIT Interview psimar22_PSI_mar15 28/02/2022 15:40 Page 2
INTERVIEW
Discussing external detection This month we talk about external detection and the importance of choosing the right product for the job with Mike Burgess of Takex t is fair to say that external detection systems haven’t always had a fair reputation in the market. With wildlife affecting the performance of the early systems on the market in terms of unwanted triggering it is no surprise that in recent times some have opted for external CCTV rather than detectors. However those days are gone and systems on the market today reliably offer early warning detection and alerts for external security purposes and can supplement and improve upon installations that rely solely on CCTV for protection. We caught up with Mike Burgess, EMEA Sales Manager at Takex Europe, to find out more about the use of external detection and how combining it with CCTV is an option that installers should be considering.
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How has business been over the last few years? Since we founded the business over 20 years ago we have grown year on year, but in 2020 when Covid came along, that was a massive kick in the teeth. We saw maybe 50% of our business reduce over that period, however we have been able to claw some of that back and last year, in 2021, we put ourselves back on the route we were on before all of this started.
much as some of the other industries and we're still here. We are now seeing projects come back online that we were talking about 18 months ago. When it comes to security, CCTV is often the first port of call. Do you have any concerns about that? Fifteen years ago, I was told that my job would be redundant within five years because video analytics were going to take over the world! I was told that my product, which is very much what I would consider the bread and butter of the security industry, would be obsolete yet only last week, I had a meeting with a company that specialises in rapid deployment CCTV coming to me looking for triggers. Even though they are at the top of their game, they realise and recognise the need for my type of product to actually fill in the gaps where their products are being used. What we have seen in the market is a huge influx of home CCTV and if you walk down the average road you see that about 20% of houses have got cameras. CCTV is an everyday sight now - if you went back ten years and had
“Fifteen years ago, I was told that my job would be redundant within five years because video analytics were going to take over the world!”
Why do you think there was that downturn? Initially when the pandemic first started, I thought that there were going to be lots of buildings left empty, which would all need securing because they no longer have the footfall and the businesses would be in a state of dormancy that would need protecting. However to protect those buildings, you need the people on the ground to actually install the systems and you need the distributors open to be able to buy the product – and due to the lockdown the whole infrastructure stalled. When we first went into lockdown, we all looked at it and thought it will be over in two to three months, but when it dragged over the year and over the Christmas period people were finding other ways of dealing with the situation, but most businesses suffered. I think that we along with everybody else, suffered but not as
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