Oprema - Experts & Thought Leaders

Multi-brand distributor, Oprema, are proud to announce the appointment of Natasha Owens as their new HR Director. Oprema are delighted to promote Natasha and welcome her to the Board of Directors in her new role. Natasha is the first female to join the Board, providing new angles to discussions. The decision to give HR a place at board level within Oprema reflects the value the company places on its people. Commenting on her appointment. Natasha said “At Oprema we pride ourselves on our excellent customer service and technical support. In order to deliver this level of service, you need the right people in your team. As HR Director it’s my responsibility to ensure we attract and retain the right people; people who have the drive and enthusiasm to go the extra mile.” Receive regular feedback Oprema support their employees to develop themselves both professionally and personally and where possible, offer opportunities for progression and career development. It’s part of Natasha’s remit to ensure team members receive regular feedback on performance and that Oprema’s rewards and benefits package is both competitive and fair. We are very proud to have achieved both Investors in People (IIP) and Real Living Wage accreditations in 2019" Natasha said, “We are very proud to have achieved both Investors in People (IIP) and Real Living Wage accreditations in 2019, demonstrating our commitment to our people and to paying a fair wage. As HR Director it’s my responsibility to ensure employee well-being is taken seriously and that we offer the appropriate support in response to the myriad of challenges that life can throw at us." Reviewing internal procedures "As well as reviewing our own internal procedures and support structures, we work with national and local partners, in order to offer professional support to our staff where it’s needed. It’s part of my remit to keep up to date with relevant legislation and guidance in relation to employment law, and in more recent days in relation to the global pandemic that is COVID-19." "It’s been an incredibly challenging year for us all, both personally and professionally, but the team at Oprema has come together to ensure we continue to deliver an excellent service to our customers, and we are stronger for it.” Continued development Matt Epps, Managing Director commented “Natasha has been as asset to the team at Oprema since the day she joined, 7 years ago. Always forward thinking and taking steps to develop our employee relations, it’s a pleasure to see her progress. Thanks to Natasha, we were proudly awarded Investors in People accreditation in 2019 and shortlisted for IIP Awards in 2019 and 2020. We congratulate Natasha on her new appointment and look forward to the continued development she brings for the company.”

Oprema are delighted to announce a new partnership with Camect. Camect is a Silicon Valley company creating the simplest and most useful security solutions from ordinary camera installations in homes and businesses. Artificial Intelligence Camect’s state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) understands the objects that cameras see and raises alerts for only the interesting and relevant events, thereby eliminating false alarms. Furthermore, it doesn’t eat up bandwidth, it records continuously, and works even when the internet is down. A system to monitor high value assets takes only minutes to configure and comes complete with accurate alert notifications delivered in real-time. It offers universal secure remote access and can integrate cameras of many different brands. Strategic partnership Dave Small, EMEA Sales Manager at Camect commented on the partnership, stating “Working with Oprema is a great opportunity. Oprema’s first-class service and expert knowledge complement Camect’s values. We look forward to showcasing our best-in-class product range to their customers.” Gareth Williams, Sales Director at Oprema said, “We are excited to have Camect on board with us at Oprema, bringing the latest technology in the industry to our customers. The product portfolio at Camect provides a unique end user experience. We’re excited for what the future holds, Camect, welcome to the team!”

It has become increasingly important to control the spread of Coronavirus through monitoring key symptoms, such as a fever. To reduce the risk to the key workers and patients of University Hospital Llandough from doing this manually, Oprema, the renowned Cardiff-based multi-brand distributor of security equipment, and its partner, Dahua Technology, the globally-renowned solutions provider in the global video surveillance industry, has donated a thermal imaging solution to the facility. Thermal imaging solution This high-tech thermal imaging solution can automatically detect a person’s temperature in less than a second without the need for personal contact, providing the hospital with an accurate primary screening solution. The process currently being used by many hospitals largely involves frontline health and other key workers using a handheld infrared thermometer to measure peoples’ temperatures as they enter and exit a facility. Temperature monitoring The Dahua Thermal Solution has an accuracy of ±0.3℃ and removes the need for handheld thermometers For this method to work, the individual conducting the temperature monitoring of people has to get very close to the potentially infected person, thereby increasing the risk of the virus being transmitted. These manual checks are also very time-consuming in an environment where no-one wants to wait longer than necessary, considering the threat of the infection. The Dahua Thermal Solution has an accuracy of ±0.3℃ and removes the need for handheld thermometers, so as to reduce the risk to staff and speeding up the patient entry process. Dahua Thermal Solution By combining the latest CCTV and thermal temperature measurement technology, the donated solution is capable of automatically detecting if a person has a higher-than-normal body temperature, and can screen individuals or larger groups simultaneously. As a comparison, using a handheld forehead thermometer to measure the temperatures of 5,000 people would take over four hours roughly. With the Dahua Thermal Solution, which is capable of measuring three people per second, checking the temperature of 5,000 people takes just approx. 30 minutes. Alarm indicators for high risk individuals The donated thermal solution has been installed in the Trauma & Orthopaedics Department at University Hospital Llandough. Should someone enter the space with a high temperature, an alarm sounds as an indication that they are potentially carrying a virus and should be checked by a medical professional. Chris Wilson, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Trauma & Orthopaedics at University Hospital Llandough, commented, “We need to keep our clinic going during the current crisis, now for trauma patients and also later on for patients suffering with pain and disability waiting for urgent assessment.” Secure thermal screening solution The donated thermal solution will be a huge help to our team in screening patients quickly and effectively" He adds, “The donated thermal solution will be a huge help to our team in screening patients quickly and effectively, without putting those doing the measuring at unnecessary risk of infection themselves. Thank you to Oprema and Dahua for donating this great solution, it is really helpful in this current climate and very much appreciated by our team.” Matthew Epps, Managing Director at Oprema, added, “Being our local hospital, we wanted to donate the Dahua Thermal Solution to University Hospital Llandough to help in the fight against COVID-19, reducing the risk to our community’s frontline keyworkers and freeing up time for them to perform other critical functions”. Easy installation and operation Matthew further stated, “The same solution has been implemented in other environments requiring the screening of a high volume of people since the beginning of the pandemic, including airports and NHS Nightingale. We’re really pleased to be doing our bit locally by donating one of these systems to University Hospital Llandough.” Installation of this rapidly deployable solution requires very little disruption to general operations and can be up and running in as little as 24 hours from point of order.

Even the most effective technologies usually require some level of human involvement. What new technologies do, generally speaking, is change the nature of a human’s role. Most jobs in today’s world are vastly different than 50 years ago, in many cases because of the changing role of technology. In the physical security world, what specific impact does technology have on the human element of systems? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Have recent developments in security systems made manpower more, or less, important to the equation? Explain.

There’s a huge cloud hanging over the physical security market, but in a good way. Cloud-based systems, whether for video, access control or another category, are on the verge of taking the industry by storm. The benefits of that mythical “cloud” are well-known, or certainly well-touted, in the market. It’s almost as if the word “cloud” has become a buzzword that can mean different things, or at least whatever the customer wants it to mean (as long as they buy!). We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable to define the term more specifically, and to comment on the industry’s understanding of the terminology. Specifically, we asked: Define what we mean by “the cloud.” Is the definition universally understood in the market?