The winners of this year’s Detektor International Award 2014 were presented with their uniquely designed trophies yesterday during the Skydd security show taking place in Stockholm. The winners for the Best Product in each of the three categories were Axis Communications in the Access Control category, Xtralis in the Alarm & Detection category and Arecont Vision within the CCTV category.
Winners of the Detektor International Awards 2014!
Published by Security World Hotel
The first prize winners at the Detektor International Award 2014 prize ceremony. Ivo Drent, from Arecont Vision, for Best CCTV Product. Ola Jönsson, Axis Communication, for the Best best Access Control Product and Martin Norris from Xtralis received the trophy for Best Alarm and Detection product.
Twelve products had been carefully shortlisted as finalists on the basis of both technological innovation and customer orientation. These products were then considered and assessed by the Detektor International editorial panel of judges, resulting in the Best Product awards being finally presented to Axis, Xtralis and Arecont Vision.
The Detektor International Award, now in its 15th year, still stands by its original values as it was introduced to reward manufacturers for outstanding commitment to technological innovation and their valuable contribution to the continual advancement of the security industry.
The Detektor International Award is an independent prize. The nominations are selected by the editorial board of the security trade magazine Detektor. This independency is certainly a contributing factor towards making these awards some of the most prestigious awards in the global security market.
The jury consists of eight members from three continents: Europe, Asia, and America. The criteria for a product to be nominated for a Detektor International Award encompasses not only the technical solution but also the ease of use, the cost and the overall presentation of the product, which actually could equally as well be a service. The three product categories for the awards are Access Control, Alarm and Detection, and CCTV. The overall winner in each category receives the Best Product award, the second-place winner receives the Highly Commended Product award, the runners up each receive a certificate for Innovative Achievement.
Access Control winners
The winner of the Best Access Control Product 2014 is Axis Communications from Sweden - for the network door controller –the Axis 1001. The motivation for this choice, expressed by the panel of judges: "With the very first non-proprietary open IP-based access controller on the market Axis have become the driving force for open technology in a cross-section of markets. As a result, the Axis A1001 is undoubtedly the access control product of the year!”.
The Highly Commended Access Control Product Award was presented to Milestone Systems from Denmark – for the Milestone Xprotect Access Control Module. The judges commented. ”Milestone Systems aims to unite access control and video in this innovative purpose-designed integration interface allowing for global third-party interoperability. A great contribution towards a more open access control market.”
Finally, the Innovative Achievement Award for the access control category is shared by Zwipe from Norway – for the contactless smartcard with on-card fingerprint enrollment and authentication – Zwipe Access, and Assa Abloyfrom Sweden - for the wireless access control product – the Aperio Premium Escutcheon.
Alarm & Detection winners
The overall winner in the Alarm & Detection category and the receiver of the Best Alarm Product 2014 is Xtralis from Ireland – for the aspirating smoke detection solution – VESDA Laser Quantum. The justification for the prize was affirmed once again by the panel of judges.”With the introduction of the VLQ, aspirating smoke detection is brought to a new level as it enables a highly affordable solution for very early fire warning – even in compact areas. Brilliant.”
The Highly Commended Alarm & Detection Product Award was awarded to FLIR Systems from the USA – for the thermal camera – FC Series R "With Intelligent on-board analytics and impressive temperature gauging , the FC Series R offers an excellent yet affordable detection solution for perimeter protection, which confirms Flir’s undisputed ability to serve the market with outstanding thermal camera products.”
The runners up in this category, and so awarded with the Innovative Achievement Award were, DSC, Tyco Fire & Security from Canada – for the hybrid intrusion alarm system – PowerSeries Neo and RCO Security from Sweden – for the alarm control panel with touch screen - R-Touch 50.
CCTV Winners
The ultimate winner in the CCTV Category and the receiver of the Best CCTV Product 2014 is Arecont Vision from the USA – for the Panoramic 360 degree network camera – the Arecont AV12366DN. The judges were hugely impressed by this great new design and commented. ”Arecont Vision's panoramic 12-megapixel Surroundvideo 360-degree network camera is a stunning example of the company's commitment to innovation and quality – it is genuinely an undisputed winner!”
In this category the Highly Commended CCTV Product Award has been presented to Axis Communications from Sweden – for the network camera with WDR – the Axis Q1615. The panel concluded that ”this powerful WDR Forensic Capture concept ensures that every minute detail is captured with exceptional clarity irrespective of the lighting conditions making this another World-class innovation from Axis."
The Innovative Achievement Award, in the CCTV category, is shared equally by Bosch Security Systems from Germany – for the IT infrastructure solution for video surveillance services – the Bosch Security Cloud Service, and Samsung Techwin from Korea – for the 32x 2-megapixel PTZ indoor camera – the Samsung SNP-6320 Dome.
Lennart Alexandrie, publisher of Detektor International and CEO at AR Media International said, "This year was particularly exciting and yet at the same time decisions were tough, as so many interesting and innovative products have been introduced to the market. However, Axis, Xtralis and Arecont Vision were certainly deserving first prize winners this year. It will be thrilling to see what next year brings as technology is moving so fast. The only thing that we can say for certain about future Detektor International Awards, is that in the end, it is innovative technology products and concepts that will always be the winners”
An interesting thing about this year's edition of the DIA was that many of the nominated manufacturers were listed in the "wrong category". Axis and Milestone would usually be categorized as CCTV finalists, but this time they were nominated in the Access Control section. RCO Security, a successful access control manufacturer was represented in the Alarm & Detection category, where we also had Flir Systems, normally belonging to the CCTV category. It seems to be that the different product categories are getting closer to each other each year.
"Add to this that the outcome of this year's DIA included Axis as the winner of the access control category followed by Milestone Systems, in both cases the motivations from the jury were that they represent open platform technology, which can be regarded as a clear statement from the DIA panel of judges. Proprietary systems are after all dominating the access control market of today, but things are slowly changing towards more open technology, even in the access control field," concluded Lennart Alexandrie.
