NW Systems Group has partnered with Swedish-based integrated solutions provider Kentima, as both companies eye up the opportunities for integration of IP video with Building Management Systems (BMS) in the UK.
NW Systems has been deploying IP video monitoring systems in UK-based schools, retail outlets, factories, warehouses and large office complexes for some years. It has been looking for a specialist open platform software provider to partner with to help expand its offering in the BMS market.
Kentima offers highly visual solutions based on HMI/SCADA (Human Machine Interface/Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) and compatibility with a powerful interoperability standard called OPC, which together enables rapid and inexpensive inter-connectivity between systems even if they are using non-IP based communications protocols.
For NW Systems’ founder Frank Crouwel the real power of IP video can only be fully realised in intelligent buildings if cameras are fully integrated with other systems supporting centralised Building Management Systems. BMSs now need to take in real-time data feeds and alarms from ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), asset tracking (within buildings), cabling services, access control, fire prevention, intruder detection, perimeter detection, HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning), energy efficient lighting systems and more.
Smart buildings are about bringing the wealth of disparate control and security systems which proliferate across a site, into one single BMS which enables facilities and security teams to see threats and take action proactively, thereby reducing and managing risks to systems, property and people.
Frank Crouwel, managing director, NW Systems Limited, explained:
“The highly visual, OPC-based solutions Kentima has in its arsenal make light work of pulling data from numerous control systems and displaying this data meaningfully for building management staff. We believe that the combination of our IP video expertise and Kentima’s interoperability capability will make centralisation of numerous systems possible for many more UK building and facilities managers.”
Mads Bo Frederiksen, area sales manager, Kentima, added:
“NW Systems is a great integration partner for us in the UK. They can add value to our BMS deployments because of their IP video monitoring expertise and prior experience in the sector.”
