Arecont makes major headway

ALTADENA, Calif.--Arecont Vision, manufacturer of IP megapixel cameras, has announced in past months a slew of agreements with command and control software manufacturers whereby its cameras can be integrated into their operating systems. Milestone has added the camera to its XProtect IP software, Genetec now supports Arecont cameras with its Omnicast system, DVTel has added Arecont to its Latitude Video Management System, and Exacq now supports Arecont with all of its ExacqVision NVR products. Why the sudden rush to integrate with Arecont? "They have spectacular image quality," said Roger Shuman, vice president of marketing at Exacq. Plus, "one of our reps had a potentially significant deal on the table that required Arecont cameras. They were already on our list, so that moved them to the top of the list." Dragnet is another manufacturer partnering with Arecont. The company focuses on solutions for the banking community, utilizing facial recognition technology and databases of known criminals. "Arecont Vision is a good partner of ours," said Dragnet president and chief executive officer Gary Root. "We can cover three teller stations with one camera thanks to Arecont." Steven Sarfati, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Arecont, said his business isn't hurt by the fact that he's offering "HDTV at an analog price. We're bringing megapixel cameras to the mainstream." Also, he said, common problems with bandwidth and storage are going by the wayside as technology advances. "Bandwidth? Hard disk space? I can buy half a terabyte for 250 bucks," he said. "Or half a gigabit from Cisco for $500. It's not a problem anymore." Currently, Arecont employs 22 in the United States and an additional four in Russia. However, "all of our cameras are manufactured in the United States," emphasized Sarfati, something the company is proud of. Going forward, "our focus is a bulls-eye on the analog CCTV marketplace," he said. "If you're going to transition from analog to IP, why not to megapixel IP cameras?" The market is expanding rapidly, Sarfati said. "This year we're finally seeing the barrier break over 1,000 cameras in an installation."