PSIJanuary2018

significant security-related concerns. The
familiar world order appears to be being
rewritten, often in 140 characters or less. A
dramatic and seemingly relentless global
upsurge in terrorist activity has coincided with
deteriorating political situations across much of
the Middle East and Asia. 2018 will begin in
similar vein, with western societies braced for
fallout from the US recognition of Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel, but amid apparent tension
between Five Eyes members and vagueness over
future interactions between this group and EU
counter-terror organisations.
“But every cloud….”as some cynics might
say. So-called “entrepreneurs” amongst us will
no doubt be regarding such chaos with glee,
whilst reciting the archaic misquotation that
“crisis and opportunity are the same word in
Chinese”. They’re not, and in this festive season
it seems unconscionable to view growing social
fragmentation as just a P&L account entry.
Laurence Kenny -
Pyronix
As we move forward into 2018
there will be a continued
development of home
automation integration within
security systems. We have
already seen a mass shift of
security to lifestyle function, as we continue to
distance ourselves from the traditional grudge
purchase. This is a trend that will continue.
Security devices and solutions will remain
the priority, but along with security, there will be
more automation devices developed into
ranges. This will provide installers with more
options and more selling points to remain
competitive with converging markets, while
providing end users with more functionality. It is
this added value that has begun to lift the
grudge purchase reputation.
An example of this is how in some countries,
TELCOs and insurance providers are making
significant steps to get a piece of the IoT pie.
With increasing customer churn in these
sectors, they are starting to provide connected
devices as a way of retaining customers with
added value service offerings, alongside their
traditional product lines.
Another expectation for 2018 will be the
development of voice.
Looking at converging markets, we see voice
controls are widespread, from smartphones to
www.psimagazine.co.uk
smart speakers; voice is the latest evolution of
the user interface. Following keypads and
touchscreens, voice is now being used as an
effective way to control automation, ask general
knowledge questions, set up calendars, set up
reminders or even text or call people.
It is a natural step that security will follow
and this will become the next interface for
security solutions. However, with the
opportunities this presents, there are several
considerations that we can expect to be worked
through. This will primarily be standards, as
they will need to be formulated so that voice is
integrated appropriately and effectively, with
the highest regard for the integrity of security.
Tim Northwood -
Inner Range Europe
As the ‘internet of things’
gathers more momentum and
it becomes generally accepted
to access your security system
remotely, we’ll see
manufacturers producing
more cloud-based connectivity and monitoring.
Going hand in hand with this will be a lot more
encryption and firewalling too, as manufacturers
ensure systems can’t be hacked.
The rise and rise of the internet is also likely
to make the old PSTN phone lines pretty much
(continued over)
“We have already
seen a mass shift of
security to lifestyle
function as we
continue to distance
ourselves from the
traditional grudge
purchase. This is a
trend that will
continue”
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