PSIJanuary2019

INTERVIEW
“We have recently
launched the dual
Blast and Ballistic
(BBX) protection block
system at the 2018
Expo exhibition at
London in partnership
with Tarmac, which
caused quite a stir”
22
(continued from previous page)
Security is a continuous evolving industry which
keeps it exciting, and understanding what
products and systems are available, helps us to
provide the client with the best system choice to
suit their individual needs and requirements.
Do you install the security systems
yourselves?
We manufacture and install windows and doors
from our factory, which is where RWS originated
its core skills. From there we moved into blast
and ballistic and the business evolved from
there over the years growing and developing
into the security market. We find ourselves now
as a systems integrator for all of the other
products that we offer, working with teams of
independent installers that we have had longstanding
relationships with that we use for the
work. They have all of the required high security
clearances needed to carry out the work, as
obviously much of what we do is very sensitive.
How do you decide on which technology
to specify?
It depends on a number of factors. For example
the company may already have a system in
place so it might be a case of finding out
whether what they have is suitable for their new
business requirements, and if not we may need
to replace it or network it with other tech. It
comes down to what the client is looking for,
sometimes they have a good understanding of
what they need, others look for us to provide
the options available to them. With access
control there are so many different options,
probably more than for any other security
discipline, so determining what
best suits the application
depends on what the
customer wants
to control
and what level of security they require. Then we
can look at how to improve what is already in
place and with our integrator hat on, fine-tune
their security needs. Integration is the buzzword
of the moment but not everyone wants (or
needs) their systems to be connected,
standalone technology suits plenty of
installations. However where we can use a
platform to integrate the technology so it all
'speaks' to each other allows us to develop
amazing solutions for the customer. We
recommend a range of solutions and talk them
through with the customer - we don't try and fit
a particular product or brand to the application,
we use the customer requirements to determine
the best system, not the other way around. We
have many strengths, one of them is that we are
very good at listening and hearing what the
client is looking to achieve, and that is what we
deliver, it’s simple.
Do legacy systems present any
problems?
Whether or not we keep a legacy system in a
building again depends on what end result the
customer is looking for, but nine times out of
ten, when the premises are upgraded with a
network the security technology upgrade
follows suit. This could be as simple as fitting a
biometric system in addition to a card system,
thus adding another layer of identification for
access control. Of course in high security
applications you would not use wireless security
technology for obvious reasons.
Where do you stand on the thinking that
AI-driven CCTV is the future?
It may be good for some applications away from
what we do, but for us and the high security
contracts we are involved with, you simply
couldn't rely on one system to do everything; a
single point of failure is too much of a risk. Our
business would not be comfortable
recommending one solution to provide all the
defence measures at a site. To protect a building
properly, you have to look at security in terms of
layers, like an onion, starting at the outer
perimeter and working inwards. The best
protection comes from using a range of
technologies, which can be linked together if
required. For us, having access, fire and intruder
etc all being monitored by one AI system, we
would not be comfortable with this as a
business. Layering your security means that
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