Innovare Security Distribution (ISD) has been appointed ANZ distributor for Cathexis VMS and integrators, including Lakes Security in WA, have already had wins with this flexible and powerful solution.
ISD’s Mark Timmins said the company was delighted to be carrying the product.
“We wanted a VMS that was new to the ANZ region and not become another VMS distributor in a very cluttered market,” Timmins said. “This is an exciting time for both ISD and Cathexis.”
According to Timmins, the process of winning distribution was a team effort.
“There was a lot of hard work by all our team,” he explained. “ISD has a great relationship with Cathexis, which bent over backwards with supplying information on the Cathexis product. Cathexis wanted a distributor with strong customer focus with an outcome for a solid solution and that is exactly what ISD offers to our partners.
“The Cathexis VMS is robust and reliable and offers all the attributes of other VMS’s but at a very reasonable cost. Everyone both client and integrator will benefit as the software can be easily customised to suit different client requirements.”
According to Timmins, ISD is committed to customer support.
“We invested to have the Cathexis trainer come to Australia and train up 3 of our technical team who are now certified on the Cathexis platform so our partners will have full 24/7 support and integrators now have an alternative with a Cathexis a VMS with all the features but at a reasonable price. The ISD team is quick to get back to answer questions – ISD commit to a 20-minute turnaround.
Cathexis Technologies’ global business development director, Gus Brecher, said the company was looking for someone with a solutions mindset, rather than a distributor that just fulfils business transactions.
“We wanted a team with the capability to assess a customer’s needs and then design and deliver a solution that adds real value and has the customer’s best interests at heart,” Brecher said. “Of course, we are always there to back them up if required.”
According to Brecher, the hardest thing about supporting VMS as a supplier is that the eco-system is extensive.
“If you look at even the simplest system, there are multiple components like cameras, network infrastructure, recording servers, operator workstations etc., so being able to have systems knowledge and provide the tools to analyse these components is key to a successful VMS solution,” he explained. “It gets even more complex when you start adding things like integration with access control, intrusion, fire, etc.
There are a 5 features Brecher argues set Cathexis apart from the major VMS manufacturers.
- Stability/reliability: the software is really super stable which guarantees up-time for the client
- Video analytics: we have an extensive video analytics suite, including object classification using neural networks
- Integration with 3rd party systems: (access control, fire, intrusion, weighbridges, POS, scales, perimeter fence systems etc.). We are pretty agile when it comes to integrating new products.
- Control room efficiency/effectiveness: We have placed a lot of emphasis on improving the control room environment by improving ease-of-use and using the software to make decisions to assist operators. For example, our adjacent camera mapping, which allows operators to easily follow people across multiple cameras and our smart search features to enable users to find footage associated with incidents very quickly.
- Low total cost of ownership. A low hardware requirement and reasonable license costs will ensure a low TCC for customers
According to Brecher there are a number of new things Cathexis engineers are working on.
“You will see a lot of new things coming from Cathexis in the next couple of years,” Brecher said. “Right now, and for the past year or so, we have been working on our new enterprise architecture, which will improve our management of centralised, multi-site environments. This fundamental architecture will also give us the ability to provide a cloud solution in the future, with IoT in mind, and ultimately, VSaaS services.
“We are also continuously working on adding value to our analytics/AI platform to enable us to add real-world value. In the mix is a new map-editor and a new mobile device interface. We believe we can really add value to the customers, by improving the effectiveness and efficiency or their operation, and they can be assured of our ongoing commitment and support.”
Meanwhile, Integrator Lakes Security has hit the ground running with Cathexis, according to operations manager, Jason Brown.
“We chose to go with Cathexis thanks to a combination of feature set and pricing,” Brown said. “We were using another VMS and the cost to upgrade these systems to a level that gave us the functionality we needed was quite high. When we investigated other products for better Mobotix support, the only products that cut the mustard were more expensive than our upgrade price for the existing VMS.
“We had previously seen Cathexis at an IPC and when an Australian supplier was appointed, we decided to give it a shot. We were pleasantly surprised that Cathexis did a very good job supporting Mobotix and a slew of other brands we use, and the competitive price sealed the deal. Basically, for the price to upgrade the existing product Cathexis was able to supply a whole new solution.”
Brown said working with the new VMS was confidence-inspiring.
“Installing Cathexis VMS is a piece of cake – you install the software, activate it, add the cameras and go,” he said. “When it comes to licensing, it’s all about price vs functionality. We’ve found Cathexis offers a great range of features at an unbeatable price point. It might be missing a couple of the really top end functions of the 2 big boys in ANZ, but you could install multiple VMS systems from Cathexis for the price of one of these other systems.”
Was training a complex process or did the Lakes Security team – and its clients – pick up the system quickly?
“To be honest, although ISD offered us training, we steamed ahead on our own and called for support on some of the tricky stuff – we were up and running in no time,” Brown said. “We do plan on doing all the training courses because that’s where you pick up all the little tips and tricks you never find in a manual, but we had no trouble teaching ourselves the system.
“The support from ISD has been brilliant and without fault, and we’ve just completed an integrated solution for one of the largest mining equipment suppliers in WA covering 6 large buildings and we’ve had no trouble at all.”
