Y3K - Experts & Thought Leaders

Since its establishment in February 2000, Y3K has been at the forefront of technological advancements in the CCTV and Telematics markets in both the UK and the USA. This journey reached a pinnacle in 2021 with the sale of its former Video Telematics division to Sensata Technologies Plc for $200 million. Following this significant milestone, Y3K's founder, Paul Singh, returned to the UK from the USA in 2022 to lead the company once again. New website Under Paul Singh's guidance, the Surrey and Northamptonshire-based business has launched its new website, showcasing an expanded range of products and services that reflect the wealth of expertise accumulated over the past two decades. "It's truly fantastic to be back in the business on a daily basis, and the team and I have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to bring new products and services to the market," remarked Paul Singh. Comprehensive offerings The industries are undergoing transformative changes with the advent of AI and cloud services" The Y3K website prominently presents the company's comprehensive offerings, encompassing CCTV, Smart Home systems, Intruder Alarms, Heating Control, Vehicle Security, Tracking, Telematics, and IoT software solutions. Paul Singh further explained, "The security market and its related industries are undergoing transformative changes with the advent of AI and cloud services. The lines between these markets are blurring, and it is no longer sufficient for us to be a 2D supplier in this new 3D world. That's why our future focus is on Asset Protection, not just Security." AI and IoT software solutions Paul Singh adds, "By combining this approach with our AI and IoT software solutions, we open up truly exciting opportunities for both our longstanding and new customers." In addition to their in-house brands, IQ CCTV, XVISION, and SMART-I, Y3K also offers MILESIGHT and DAHUA product ranges, establishing itself as a one-stop shop for resellers and installers throughout the UK.

H.265 compression, apps and the inherent security of security systems were some of the themes to be gleaned on the first day of IFSEC International. Almost every video exhibitor I saw on day one of the show mentioned that many of their products use H.265 compression in these days of high definition, bandwidth-hungry cameras. Over at Vivotek’s stand, for example, Emilio Sanchez, project consultant, spoke of the company’s H.265 Smart Stream compression algorithm. He said this saves anything between 70 and 90 percent bandwidth, depending on the amount of movement in the images, compared to H.264. People are asking for higher resolution video, which requires greater recording capacity to accommodate, hence the need for H.265. 360-Degree Surveillance Vivotek also displayed its 360-degree fisheye camera with built-in infra-red illumination, and a 180-degree camera fitted with four image sensors designed to provide a single, seamless image on the monitor. The company also emphasised its products being tailored to various vertical markets, such as a people-counting camera for retail applications (which also measured the heights of people in a scene) and city surveillance products. Another exhibitor with a focus on vertical markets is manufacturer and distributor Genie CCTV. John Boorman, sales director, explains that various verticals have different requirements, as examples, fingerprint recognition, gait recognition or face recognition. The company believes in communicating with end-users as well as installers and integrators, and this approach is helped by having a full-scale demonstration facility at their headquarters. When I asked him about cutting the number of cameras or decommissioning entire public space CCTV networks by various UK local councils because of squeezed budgets, he said he is not surprised as no thought was given to maintenance budgets when the schemes were first set up. At the Y3K stand, all of its Smart-I range can be accessed through apps to control products such as PIRs, contacts and the wireless power control socket and repeater Apps Are A Major Theme At IFSEC Apps are all over the place at the show this year. One instance is the Y3K stand where all of its Smart-I range can be accessed through apps to control products such as PIRs, contacts and the wireless power control socket and repeater. Using the app, the user can control cause and effect settings and can be emailed or can receive a text alert when certain events occur. Mike Barrett, national sales manager, explains that other consumer markets drive the development of the home security market, such as camera modules used in mobile phones. “The theme is that everything is app-driven. It has existed for a long time but was expensive – now it’s much less expensive and more readily available.” Other features of Smart-I cameras include easy setup – such as using a QR code instead of having to enter a load of IP information – and easy pairing to Wi-Fi. And over at key management specialists Morse Watchmans, mobile apps as well as ease of use, integration and better technology are said to improve systems. Cyber And Physical Security What secures the security systems is another theme at the show. Bosch Security Systems, for example, has a mission to encrypt its range of cameras and recording platforms. The idea is to safely store all certificates and keys for authentication and encryption – which is part of ensuring secure communications in a network – to avoid "flashing" of firmware by hackers. Meanwhile at video management system company Genetec, Andrew Elvish, vice president of marketing and product management, was almost evangelical about the need for good cybersecurity on physical security products, especially where cybersecurity and physical security meet. “Cybersecurity has to be approached at a very fundamental level of the network. We have very unique cybersecurity features that are demanded by our enterprise customers.” After a quiet start on the first day, the aisles at the Excel exhibition centre in London became busy and the noise level rose by quite a few decibels. Tomorrow I’ll be reporting on day 2 of IFSEC, and I expect it will be busier still!