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Cathexis moves forward with the past

With more than 18 years in the surveillance industry South African surveillance solutions developer and manufacturer, Cathexis, knows a thing or two about re-inventing oneself to keep pace with technology and market requirements.

A pioneer in the early days of digital video, Cathexis quickly established itself as a company that could differentiate itself from the pack by creating innovative features, and integrated solutions that ensured its clients could get the maximum return on investment.

Cathexis has been successful in the local, and international, arenas. It has been supplying solutions into the UK, USA, Europe, Middle East, Africa, India and Australia, for over 12 years.

Cathexis has been through the shift from time lapse VCR recording systems, to digital video recorders, and now to IP network video solutions. The local development team has delivered admirably against stiff opposition from the East at the lower end, and European and American companies at the higher end of the market. “We are extremely proud of the fact that, right now, only a handful of companies worldwide can deliver the level of solutions that we can from a functionality and performance perspective,” says Gus Brecher, Cathexis Africa MD.

Features

Over the years Cathexis has integrated most of the popular brands of IP and its CatVision software includes support for multiple camera streams, multicast, network storage, off-site monitoring, map interface, events and alarm manager, video analytics and has mobile access via IPhone and Android applications.

Cathexis is also a leader when it comes to the integration of third-party systems like access control, alarm and fire panels, point-of-sale, weighbridges, weighing scales etc.

Ease of use

The new CatVision Video Management Software embraces the latest technology and has also made the system much easier to use, despite the feature rich nature of the product. Setup wizards, plug-and-play camera addition, easy IP camera set-up, duplication and simple event configuration all mean that commissioning time is kept to a minimum.

“Our major objective right now is to provide feature rich, reliable, integrated solutions that are easy to use,” says Brecher. Enabling legacy clients to embrace the IP technology

One of the major challenges that Cathexis has had to address in its development process has been enabling its very large legacy base to migrate seamlessly towards the latest trends in IP, especially megapixel technology. “We are please to say that we have not let our clients down in this regard, and right now, we have clients who have nine-year-old DVRs and state-of-the-art megapixel technology being monitored seamlessly from the same CatVision Video Management Software Suite. I do not think there are many companies that can offer this level of continuity to their clients,” says Brecher.

On retail

Cathexis is one of the major suppliers of surveillance solutions to the retail industry in the UK, with companies like Tescos, Sainsbury, Dixons, Debenhams, HMV, PC World, TkMaxx, and several others all successfully using Cathexis solutions. In the USA, there are several companies using Cathexis technology. On a more local note, companies like Woolworths, Checkers, SPAR and others have all successfully used Cathexis technology.

The flexibility of the Cathexis solution is what draws retailers to Cathexis, particularly in the UK, where an holistic approach to the use of technology is prevalent. “We find that installers and their clients in the UK look at features and functionality, as well as integrated solutions as a way to maximise their return on investment.” If you use the systems for multiple disciplines, like security, health and safety, training, marketing and operational processes, you can quickly maximise your ROI.

One of the major differentiating factors that Cathexis provides is the ability to integrate third-party systems quickly and with a user friendly interface. For example, the new CatVision software has made adding integrated point-of-sale devices so simple that CatVision will automatically populate the tills list using the data received from the tills. All the installer then needs to do is to choose which camera to associate with which till.

The future

“We are extremely excited about the future of our product. The CatVision solution has opened doors for us through new distribution channels worldwide, which we will be addressing over the next three years. We will be exhibiting at IFSEC in the UK and South Africa this year, and have already had major interest form new global distribution players.”

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