With so many companies offering access control solutions we spoke to Non Executive Director Ian Henderson of Integrated Control Technology (ICT) who told us more about who ICT are and what they plan to achieve in an already crowded market.
Who are ICT
ICT is a world leading manufacturer of unified and intelligent electronic access control and security solutions that enable organizations to protect their people, operations and information.
Based in Auckland, New Zealand, we have a global presence and an international reach. We have offices located in Denver (Colorado USA), Amersham (United Kingdom), Sydney (Australia), Toronto (Canada) to provide full local sales, support and service to our clients and partners around the world.
ICT was founded in 2003 with the primary vision of providing innovative and superior electronic access control and security solutions. Company founders Hayden and Rachael Burr used the experience they had gained in the Canadian market to create a business based entirely on end user needs.
Now, more than ten years later and with ICT products and systems used every day by tens of thousands of companies worldwide, our vision remains the same – to develop innovative products that are easy to use, that integrate with existing systems to leverage investments already made, and that are manufactured to the highest of standards.
Still privately owned, the business continues to grow and develop new products through an unwavering commitment to Research & Development. Ongoing investment in state of the art production facilities in Auckland, New Zealand, ensures consistent quality with products manufactured to ISO9000 standards. With 35% of the workforce in R&D and 100% of all products tested prior to shipment
ICT Europe limited in the UK was established in Oct 2017 with offices / warehouse infrastructure to complete the ICT Global 24/7/365 support capability and develop the presence of ICT in the EMEA territory.
What challenges do you face in the UK
The UK is a mature market for Access Control with many well-known established manufactures from both the UK and the USA and a loyal customer base who are typically unwilling to review new solutions from companies that are not known in the market.
Despite ICT have a range of solutions that smash the competition in terms of features and capability the market is reluctant to move away from the comfort of a product that performs well and is unwilling to take the time investigating new technologies.
The challenges are getting customers to think outside the box in specifying solutions that will benefit themselves and the end user in both the short and long term. The adage that “an installer would rather get divorced than change his panel supplier runs true”.
The other challenge is that the typical box shifting distributor is not focussed on selling products but just supplies the product the installer asks for, consequently the newer more exciting solutions will not get the attention that is required as the distributors expectations are now the manufacturer should have sales teams doing the selling and promotion activities and hence are not interested to review an unknown brand even though it may have significant features and benefits over the more established solutions available
What are your goals for entering the UK market
Initially we had thought we would appoint a number of distributors in the UK and work together to develop the market but as a result of the market reaction we have decided to focus our efforts with the leading Systems Integrators and work with one master distributor. So far the response from the larger Systems Integrators is very good as they can see the benefits of one manufacture providing the complete truly integrated security solution that has the flexibility to adapt to a wide range of customer requirements. As we supply Access Control, Intruder, Door Entry Systems, CCTV solutions, IP Remote Monitoring, Wireless Solutions and Movement sensors as well as wide range of integrations. We are a very attractive proposition to these guys and as such our goal is to be a leading supplier in the UK for the larger integrated security projects with a wide range of members of our IDN (ICT Dealer Network)
Why would someone consider switching to ICT
Traditionally, access control systems, intruder detection and building automation systems have worked independently of each other. Our products work together to provide a single cohesive and unified solution that helps you keep unwanted visitors outside, while enabling you to monitor and control access inside.
At ICT we do electronic access control, intrusion detection and automation with a twist. Our Protégé range of systems offer all-in-one solutions that are simple to use, feature rich and effortless to integrate and extend. A fundamental part of our philosophy is focused on the ability to integrate. For this we support open, non-proprietary standards, protocols and hardware using the latest available technologies. Our open standards make our physical security systems very friendly towards the new emerging ICT / IoT markets.
Protege WX is an out-of-the-box, all-in-one system that is quick to setup and intuitive to use. Simply unpack the box, connect the Controller and Power Supply, and launch your web browser. The wizard-driven interface guides you through the process to configure your system, giving you a fully functional access control and intrusion detection solution within a fraction of the time of conventional software
Protege GX is a complete enterprise level integrated access control, intrusion detection, and building automation solution with a feature set that is easy to operate, simple to integrate, and effortless to extend. With a wide range of integrations for CCTV-VMS, Wireless Locking, Biometrics, Elevator Control, Intercom Systems, Safe/ATM Locking, Building management systems , Key safes, etc
Some of our integrations include the likes of: Milestone, HikVision, Pelco, Exacq, Avigilon, Optex, Inovonics, Salto, Otis, Kone, Suprema, Keywatcher, Cencon to name a few
How do you support the UK market
At ICT Europe based in Amersham, in the UK we have full commercial and system design / technical support capability. We hold at our warehouse in the UK a large stock holding that supports the EMEA region including the UK. We have both On-Line and session product training / certification capability and encourage our partners to become an IDN (ICT Dealer Network) Member that will entitle them to a wide range of privileges as an ICT Partner. We also have a centralized ICT global ticketing system that provides 24hr support capability around the world
To fine out more about ICT visit https://www.ict.co/Solutions or contact Ian Henderson on 07501 535532
