New products in Baltimore 25 releases for this year’s show SEE PAGE 30
General Dyn. to buy Axsys for $643m
■ Insite grows in Greenwich PAGE 15 ■ ASG continues to buy in the Mid-
Atlantic region PAGE 15
■ Will a fire guy be the next RI governor? PAGE 24
■ NH statehouse gets monitored extinguisher system PAGE 24
By L. Samuel Pfeifle, editor
FAIRFAX, Va., and ROCKY HILL, Conn.— General Dynamics announced in early June it has agreed to acquire high-end camera maker Axsys Technologies for $643 million, or $54 per share. The boards of both companies have approved the acquisition, but it needs to be approved by Axsys shareholders and is subject to regulatory approval, so it is expected to
had close this fall.
This announcement comes just a few months after Axsys told shareholders it was exploring a sale of the company and had hired investment firm Jefferies & Company to investigate options. The stock price had fallen from roughly $70 in late 2008 (and a high near $80 last summer) to a low of $25 in March. The stock been hovering around $40 per share after news of the potential sale broke.
Wall Street analysts have been proven right in their predictions at the time that a government contractor was likely to buy the company eventually, as Axsys’s camera technology focuses on high performance electro-optical and infrared sensors and systems and multi-axis stabilized cameras typically sold to the military. However, said Jeff Nestel-Patt, Axsys director of corporate marketing, part of the company’s recent growth and success is attributable to
AXSYS see page 35
■ Monitronics teams for Canadian monitoring solution PAGE 26
■ KY puts the onus on the central station for compliance PAGE 26
■ Gun show gets leads for S&W dealers PAGE 28
■ APX upgrades software for efficiency PAGE 28
■ Schneider Electric makes another video investment PAGE 35
■ GVI makes a VMS buy to prepare for IP cameras PAGE 34
A roundtable on
video analytics
Here’s how seven of the major analytics vendors answer some of the industry’s most pressing questions By L. Samuel Pfeifle, editor CYBERSPACE—There continue to be more questions than answers regarding video analytics. It has still yet to be determined how this technology will be best brought to market, where it will be best employed, how it will be best made profitable. At ISC West and in the weeks following, this reporter had the opportunity to ask seven of the leading companies the same basic questions, so
20 UNDER 40
we thought we’d share with you some of their answers.
Participating in this virtual roundtable are David McGuinness, CEO of ObjectVideo; Scott Schnell, CEO of VideoIQ; Zeev Farkarsh, CEO of ioimage; Steve Russell, chairman and founder of 3VR; Craig Chambers, CEO of Cernium; Elan Moriah, Americas president for Verint; and Eric Eaton, CTO at BRS Labs.
ANALYTICS see page 36
Profiles of the industry’s future
SEE OUR FULL COVERAGE STARTING ON PAGE 20
The Yes! attitude
STATS........................................ 2
NEWS ........................................ 6
EDITORIAL .............................. 14
COMMEN TARY ........................ 14
MARKE T TRENDS ................... 17
QUO TED .................................. 36
AD INDEX................................ 37
DATABANK .............................. 38
Mace’s CSSS plans
Shopping for new wholesale central; integrating DVRs with CS platform
By Daniel Gelinas, associate editor
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.—Mace Security International is ready to expand the role of what a security company can do for its dealers. According to Mace CEO
Dennis Raefield, three new hires, the acquisition of the manufacturer’s own central station, and the development of a new dealer program will position Mace well for the future of the industry, a future based on next-generation services like remote video and access control.
While recently hired Mace CSSS management staff is working on a definitive dealer program and software/hardware innovations, such as DVRs that automatically configure and integrate with the
INDIANAPOLIS—What’s the secret to becoming the country’s largest ADT dealer? It just might be Defender
Direct’s investment of $16,000 in training for each of its employees during the first four years of employment. At
The game of life: All new hires are trained in life skills as proscribed by the above.
1,500 employees and counting, that’s a major outlay, but management said it’s paid off in the long run.
succes
and develop healthy habits.
“The unique thing is that no job
training is involved in any of the
training programs. We
believe that businesses
don’t grow, people do,”
said Marcia Raab, chief
marketing officer and
a partner at Defender
Direct.
Surprisingly, the Defender Leadership Advantage training program does not focus on technical or job-based training. It’s focused instead on helping employees do things like manage their personal finances, set goals
The company believes that if employees are happy and successful in their personal and home lives, “this will lead to s in business and in their communities,” she said. Defender is convinced that support at home is crucial, so it spends part of the $16,000 to pay for employees to bring a guest to different training programs, including a volunteer trip to Mexico.
References:
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