Security Sales & Integration

September2013

SSI serves security installing contractors providing systems and services; surveillance, access control, biometrics, fire alarm and home control/automation. Coverage in commercial and residential product applications, designs, techniques, operations.

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BOSCH SECURITY RETOOLS Hockham: Sure, and every one of those requires detailed analysis and consideration of what is the transition path for the customer. Tere isn't a single rule for that. I think one has to look at it product by product and solution by solution. You have to ask if there is a viable transition path for the customers or otherwise how do we deal with that? It's really about being very closely in touch with your customers' needs and understanding what's required of them. of the companies we've acquired to build the footprint we have today, we have a lot of legacy out there. It clearly adds a degree of complexity. But it also adds something to the amount of money we need to spend on R&D.; As a security business, we spend in the order of 10%-11% of our revenues on R&D.; And some of that is clearly to support the legacy systems. In particular parts of our business, particularly intrusion, backwards compatibility is an absolute must in the commercial space we operate in. But some of that, frankly, is about being smart, and if you understand the needs of the customer then you can come up with smart solutions. Let me give you a specifc example. As we were developing the new hardware platform for our GV4 commercial intrusion, with the way in which technology had moved on, we actually only needed a circuit board probably about a third the size of the one we had in the predecessor product. So we could easily have developed a new product in a smaller packaging and launched it. However, because of the backward compatibility issue, we actually placed these components on a circuit board exactly the same size as its predecessor, with all the terminal connection points in exactly the same place. So if a customer needs a historical installation, he can quickly undo the connections, put the new board in the wall, and connect up the existing system. Tat doesn't cost you anything. It just requires you to be smart and think about how the marketplace operates and what's important to our customers. Tere must be tough decisions that have to be made, whether you obsolesce something or upgrade and keep it going. FIND IT ON THE WEB Analyst Perspective on Bosch Security Find out what top industry observers Bill Bozeman, Sandy Jones and others have to say about Bosch Security and its leadership in an exclusive Under Surveillance post at securtysales.com/blog. 56 / SECURITYSALES.COM / SEPTEMBER 2013 Bosch Security Systems has outftted a special big-rig truck (right) that travels the country serving as a mobile demo showcase of its latest product offerings. Recently overhauled and upgraded, the truck's interior can be seen above. ers are very thrilled with what we're doing now with the commercial intrusion detection space and how we're strengthening our ofer there. Bosch has brought a safe home for that legacy and then also the platform to take the business forward. We have added user experiences to that as well. If you open up a Bosch sensor, all the electronics are closed. We experimented with the product to make sure it could be easily mounted on the wall. We brought what appear on the face of it very simple enhancements to the legacy, which really strengthened the user experience. We've invested in our control panels and intelligent detectors. We show that legacy is in safe hands. We're launching a new range of wireless detectors and it's no PHOTOS: THOM BELL OF BOSCH Bosch Security Systems drew much attention at ISC West 2013 by launching 110 new video surveillance and intrusion detection products. Here, Jeremy Hockham provides details on the company's latest offerings during a press conference held at Bosch's booth. Bosch Security formed following the acquisition of Detection Systems and Radionics, then Philips CSI and more recently Extreme CCTV were acquired. DS and Radionics are two of the all-time most lauded intrusion detection manufacturers; how do these acquired companies and brands translate into marketplace advantages for Bosch? Hockham: It's very interesting because over the past fve years or so, every few months I do dealer focus group meetings, meet dealers in one city and then go to another city and talk to other dealers. What's always fascinating to me is how passionate and how afectionately people refer to Radionics. Tat gives us a very strong heritage. A lot of the key dealers and users are standardized on our products from very much the Radionics days. From recent discussions, those custom-

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