Interview – Richie McBride Edesix

Interview – Richie McBride Edesix

Body-worn camera specialist Edesix have already delivered their solutions to the Dubai Police. Now a growing interest in their products in the region as seen this fast-growing security tech company open a regional office and partner with leading VMS solution providers, Milestone and Genetec. We spoke to managing director, Richie McBride to find out more

Edesix has recently opened a new office in the region. Can you tell us a little more about this?

Having worked with customers in the Middle East for many years, we decided to recruit staff from the region to better support our current and growing customer-base. The decision to then open an Edesix office was a natural progression from our initial recruitment there, with the current office in Ajman Freezone Ajman. There were many factors influencing this decision, mostly relating to dedicated support and presence for our customers there, as well as someone relatable with a knowledge of the region and market.

Can you talk a bit about why you think body-worn cameras are of interest to the local market?

The initial reason for investing in body worn cameras by Dubai police was to provide a high quality of service to society for public-facing officers, with an emphasis on transparency, best practice and resolving disputes. There was a requirement to obtain cameras which were easy to use, could record for eight hours continuously, and were secure so that footage could not be deleted, tampered with or accessed illegally.

You are now working with Milestone as well selling the cameras as part of their VMS solution – how did this come about and how familiar were you with Milestone and the way they work?

We’ve been working with leading VMS companies such as Milestone and Genetec for around a year now. Their products are widely used and respected internationally within the security market, and we understood that there was a requirement in the market to access and review all security footage from one location. By integrating with VMSs you can view live and historic body worn camera footage alongside CCTV, which gives the end user a much more coherent view of their security landscape. We’re official partners of both Genetec and Milestone, and can work with most ONVIF compliant VMSs through our ONStream plug-in to VideoManager. Out VB-300 series and VideoTag cameras are all easily integrated.

Can you talk about the new product offerings Edesix and whether you are doing any pilot testing in the region with them?

Our newest camera range is the VideoTag – the product was developed to meet the needs of softer markets where police-style cameras were less of a requirement. VideoTags are small and lightweight, and were designed for people who are customer/public facing, but traditionally wouldn’t need to record as part of their job in the way a police officer or security guard might. VideoTags can remain on standby for up to six months, meaning they cause little disruption or inconvenience to those wearing them. They’re simple to use, are activated with one press of a button, and have the ability to life stream, send SMS messages to alert a colleague/manager/security guard that you’ve activated recording, and can integrate with a VMS. We see markets such as retail, airlines and hospitality as ideal for the VideoTag range of cameras, or as an addition to a larger Body Worn Camera roll-out. To date, VideoTags have been trialled and rolled out to some leading UK retailers, a leading US hotel chain, and an airline within the Middle East.

Tell me a bit about the customer base in the region and what sort of product solutions will you be offering?

Our traditional market within the Middle East has been police and security, however we are now extending our reach and working with airlines, sporting events and are now looking quite closely at the retail market. At present, we are working with companies such as Emirates Airlines, International Cricket Council, Transguard and both Abu Dhabi and Dubai Police. We’re keen to leverage our VMS partnerships in the region, to enable us to offer a supported and integrated solution to our customers. However, we will also be offering stand-alone Body Worn Camera solutions directly from Edesix. In relation to product-offering, our entire body worn range is available to the Middle East Market. The VB-300 is available for those looking for longer recording durations, VMS integration, robust camera casing and advanced software features. The VideoTag range is on offer for those looking to equip staff with an aggression-deterring, light-weight, easy to use camera for situations where immediate response and footage capture are required. All of our cameras are supported by our advanced, user-friendly software solution which can be purchased as a licence, managed and hosted by the customer, or we can supply a cloud-hosted solution which provides a fully managed software platform without the IT infrastructure normally required to deploy a body worn camera roll-out.

What’s the plan in the region for the next 12 months for Edesix?
Having opened an office in both the Middle East and the USA, we’re keen to focus on growing our business within those regions, whilst maintaining our market-leading status within the industries we current serve, such as Prison Services, Local Authorities, Police and Security companies in Europe.We’re investing time in our valued Channel Partnerships within the Middle East, and the new office there will certainly benefit those relationships, as well as our customers in the region.”