Brickcom: Solid Bricks to build Wireless IP surveillance solutions

While the Asian market is growing very fast, a lot of companies from that region do not concentrate only on their home market but expand their distribution into the EMEA region. One company that has ambitious plans to expand in Europe is Brickcom from Taiwan and the company has a very interesting background making it different from many other Asian vendors. At Security Essen we had the opportunity to talk to Ebony Huang, Brickcom's President and CEO about his approach to the market.

Mr. Huang, Brickcom is quite new on the EMEA market but offers a broad range of products for IP video surveillance. Can you give us an impression what background enables Brickcom to offer IP video solutions?

E. Huang: Unlike other companies with a background in producing analog cameras and equipment, Brickcom has a strong foundation for engineering quality network video equipment due to our twenty years of experience in producing broadband networking equipment.  We are a subsidiary of Gemtek Techonology, one of the world's largest independent suppliers of WLAN products and a well known OEM manufacturer and partner of companies such as Cisco, Motorola, Dell, Netgear, AT&T and Dutch Telekom.  Gemtek has a prior experience in the video surveillance industry when their engineering team developed a high definition IP camera for Cisco.

Since 2008, we have used this background and profound technical knowledge of video streaming, optical image processing, and networking technology in the development of our own products for the IP video surveillance.  Our research and development department comes with twenty years of experience in producing wireless broadband networking equipment and we have incorporated this experience into our software engineering and manufacturing processes.

How about Brickcom's product offering? Like many other companies you aim to provide not only single products but security solutions. How do you want to achieve this?

E. Huang: We are focused on becoming the world's leading provider of network surveillance solutions. We aim to do this by providing a "One Stop Shop" for all network video security needs and all the equipment needed to build a complete IP surveillance solution for any application. The base of our product portfolio is a complete suite of products which includes a full range of megapixel IP network cameras equipped with H.264 compression and PoE, camera accessories, embedded and PC-based Network Video Recorders, and central management system software.  We take our product offerings a step further and offer the networking equipment necessary for installing an IP surveillance system, such as wireless AP/Routers, 3G, WiFi, and WiMAX devices.  Megapixel technology is currently at the pinnacle of camera resolution systems so Brickcom ensures that our IP cameras are equipped with megapixel sensors to deliver high quality surveillance.

A good range of products is only the base of our product portfolio. The ease of use for the customer, installer and integrator is the key design for all our product developments. Power-over-Ethernet according to the IEEE 802.3af standard allows for easy camera deployment. Our cameras and NVRS are embedded with H.264 video compression to reduce bandwidth and storage requirements. Our user-friendly web interface configuration allows the complete web-based user and administrator control over video streaming and analysis. We do everything to make installation of our camera equipment as easy as possible as we know that our customers do not want to waste time with difficult IT installations, software problems, the search for IP addresses or installation of interfaces.

How important is the EMEA market for you and how is your distribution organized in these countries?

E. Huang: The EMEA market is very important for us and, as I said, we can rely on the Gemtek infrastructure in logistics and distribution in the EMEA countries. Our distribution hub enables us to deliver products quickly into all EMEA countries and the key markets where we have already formed distribution partnerships.

What is the challenge for Brickcom in 2010 and how do you see the development of the market for video surveillance?

E. Huang: For 2010, our main challenge will be to increase awareness of our new approach to the security market.  I believe the market is migrating more and more away from analog and towards IP based solutions.  We aim to continue educating customers that traditional views and misconceptions towards IP solutions are no longer true.  IP technology does not need to be complicated.  High performance IP video surveillance solutions are possible without complicated installations and using reliable wireless technologies is not rocket science anymore.

What are your product highlights here at Security Essen?

E. Huang: At Security Essen, Brickcom's highlights are our wireless transmission solutions and the 3 megapixel camera. We have incorporated the latest wireless technology into our IP cameras to offer multiple wireless transmission options. These wireless solutions include dual band WiFi IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n and 3G SIM module which allows data transmission over 3G networks. WiMAX is another option we offer for surveillance systems which needs to span large areas.

We have also unveiled several new products, including our new CB-102A Cube camera and the 3 megapixel Fixed Box camera. The CB-102A adopts a PIR sensor, and a DI/DO terminal for external alarm and sensor devices, PoE for simplified installation and an interchangeable CS mount to provide an economic indoor surveillance solution for the home security market and small business operations. With a 3 megapixel sensor, our new Fixed Box camera offers detailed and clear video surveillance for all applications.  We are able to offer this camera at the same price of many 1.3 megapixel cameras.