Security Journal Americas sits down with Phillip Antoniou, Vice President of Sales for the Americas, MOBOTIX to learn how he ensures customers are kept up-to-date with the latest innovations.

Can you tell me about yourself and your role at MOBOTIX?

I’ve been with MOBOTIX for ten years, having previously held roles here as the VP of EMEA and VP of APAC.

My previous experience has been in networking and security, where I worked for multinational manufacturers in different regions. I’ve also worked in distribution, where I actually ran the MOBOTIX business prior to joining the company fully. It allowed me to dip my toe in before I went swimming the full way.

I have always looked at the technology more than the actual box, so I get excited about selling the technology by thinking about what it can do. One of the main things that motivates me is the delivering of solutions in a different, more efficient or more reliable way, so that there is a better return on investment and a way of making a difference.

What solutions does MOBOTIX offer?

MOBOTIX has transitioned over the last few years to increase its portfolio. We are no longer just a camera manufacturer – we’re a technology company and solution provider.

With our software, analytics, apps and hardware offering, we’ve focused our strengths and ourselves to deliver solutions in a multitude of applications.

One example is thermal radiometry and what we can do with thermal cameras, whether it’s asset management, asset protection or preventive fire detection – it’s not just about perimeter monitoring.

We look at whether the solution delivers the information needed and improves the application. For example, using analytics to increase efficiency and automate, or for health and safety applications.

It’s always about looking at what the pain point might be. Do we have the technology to improve what’s being done right now? If so, how can we deliver that in a cost-effective, return on investment (ROI) version to the channel and end-user and can we do it better than anyone else?

There is not a single application that MOBOTIX cannot take part in and that’s how we’ve structured ourselves and our strategy.

In the Americas, we see a huge potential and we are creating more awareness about how we solve the challenges in the market. Whether in the private or public sector, we can deliver.

How is MOBOTIX leading the way?

MOBOTIX has more than 12 industry firsts. From hemispheric, lip-synced audio, to decentralized, the list goes on.

We are focused on cybersecurity in all our platforms as we see this as being even more important when analytics and apps are used.

One project right now we are undertaking is using our edge capabilities on our P7 platform where you can onboard your own analytics as well. You can design them, use our SDK or we have other apps where you can pick and choose which ones make more sense for the desired result.

This gives a robust, reliable device without a single point of failure. You don’t need huge infrastructure to achieve the same results.

We were the first company in the world to use a hemispherical lens sensor for capturing video data and the first western company to put a white light illumination on a hemispheric. We’re the first in market to do that, but there’s a method to the madness.

We’re not just doing this to be different – you want to be able to give color video at night for increased visibility and more information, especially when you’re using video as a data source and when apps come into play.

So, you can use the camera for security, perimeter monitoring or whatever the case may be, but you can also upload analytics into it, so you’re doing double duty. This is how we’re looking at it from an innovation standpoint; innovation is not just a product. It’s introducing something new to achieve better results and that is what MOBOTIX does.

How do you make sure your customers keep up-to-date with the latest developments?

There are many ways that we keep our customers informed. We do national and international events, webinars and roadshows not only in the Americas but across the world. We are a global, yet local, company.

We always want to give our customers a face – not just a brand – and that’s why it’s crucial for us to be in different states. We run our product trainings on a monthly basis to ensure that our partners understand how to get the most out of our solutions and we utilize social media platforms for our awareness campaigns. On a yearly basis, MOBOTIX holds its own partner conference to educate about its strategy for the upcoming year as well as the latest product launches. Our next conference is in April 2023.

MOBOTIX tries to ensure that we target multiple levels through a variety of marketing strategies and when combined with our face-to-face trainings and informative sessions, we can connect with all our customer base.

As a company, we inform you, to help you understand what the actual benefit is and communicate how MOBOTIX can assist with any requirements you have or might have in the future.

What do you think the next five to ten years holds?

No matter who you speak to, whatever answer they give you now could change in six months. However, we do see the trend; there’s been an evolution that went from needing cameras to see something to needing information more and more.

The next step is to think about how to convey this information and I think that over COVID we saw a huge transition in technology, but especially video technology, to think differently about the ways it is being used. This includes supporting people in their daily jobs and improving resource capabilities, as well as providing data faster than ever before.

We will see the need for data increasing to a point where video is the main driver. It’s not going to be binary data, it will be actual visual information used for analysis and action. It will be everywhere.

We will continue to see an increase in the analytics, apps and information that needs to be provided, so that companies can make more educated decisions and use assets in a more efficient manner. At the end of the day, video will be used by companies to manage their day-to-day activities, for optimization and be an ever-increasing part of digitization. This is the key driver that I see.

What are you personally excited to see?

I personally look at artificial intelligence (AI), which is on everyone’s minds. It is still a bit of a buzzword, but it’s not going away.

Learning algorithms and learning analytics are what I’m excited about within this. The fact we have gone from machine learning to deep learning already a few years ago is what’s really interesting me right now.

I’ve also seen the transition from thermal cameras, being mainly used for government facilities or government departments to the mainstream, where we even have warehouses and schools using thermal cameras, not for body temperature solutions but because of the other data they can provide, such as privacy without compromising security.

Thermal cameras, especially in the last few years, have gone from identifying movement to people counting. This to me is innovation, using that technology and to achieve new things. That’s what excites me because it’s creative.

Now, there is no “security industry” – it’s not standalone. Now, it’s the video industry, IoT industry, etc. MOBOTIX has always been the one that’s played in all the parts. The solutions we deliver are IoT. We have never been just security company.

So, seeing converged solutions means we are well placed to take the best of breed elements and put them together. In my opinion, I can’t wait for that to accelerate even more.

This article was originally published in the February edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.