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Engineering Excellence
The driving force behind Extreme CCTV’s success is an unshakable commitment to engineering. Founder, President and CEO of Extreme CCTV Jack Gin, who is an engineer by training, endowed the company with a rich tradition of engineering from its very beginnings. From the very first employee he hired, who was an engineer, to the recently appointed Managing Director of European Operations, also an engineer, one clearly senses the spirit of engineering permeate almost every aspect of Extreme’s operations today.
Engineering excellence is written all over the corridors as one enters Extreme’s headquarters in Vancouver, Canada. The halls are decorated by awards from some of the most prominent security organizations in the world, including the Security Industry Association in the U.S.A. and the British Security Industry Association in the U.K. Most recently, Extreme won a coveted ‘Product Achievement Award’ for Best New Video Device at ISC West 2007 in Las Vegas.
However, Extreme does not innovate for the sake of winning awards. Its products solve some of the most difficult technical challenges in the world of surveillance imaging. Pitch black darkness, subzero temperatures, superheated lavabombs, gunfire, blinding sunlight glare, vehicles speeding in excess of 150mph, high resolution long range imaging... the list of imaging challenges continues to read like a “Most Wanted” list of surveillance villains.
An illustrative example is that of Extreme’s REGTM cameras, the current industry benchmark f
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Extreme CCTV’s President and CEO Jack Gin and Managing Director of European Operations Peter Beare accept Extreme’s latest award, a Product Achievement Award for ‘Best New Video Device’ from the Security Industry Association at ISC West. (Photo by Extreme CCTV) |
or effective license plate capture. License plate imaging is a minefield of technical challenges caused by a number of factors. First and foremost, license plates are typically made of retro-reflective material, which is notorious for being rendered as an overexposured area in an image. Secondly, license plates are flanked by headlights or taillights, further fooling cameras into using the wrong exposure. And finally, license plates are attached to vehicles capable of moving very quickly. Reflectivity, glare and speed... combined together, these three factors make effective license plate capture a technical game of surveillance chess.
Yet, in accordance with its traditions, Extreme was able to triumph in the face of serious technical challenges. In doing so, it brought a new level of imaging capability to the world. Today, license plate capture is one of Extreme’s fastest growing product families. The leading consultants and integrators in Europe and North America have specified REG for thousands of successful installations around the world.
Centers of Excellence
To make products like REG, Extreme has established three Centers of Excellence to house its extensive pool of engineering expertise. Each with a distinct mandate, the three Centers of Excellence strive to be the global undisputed leader in its field, delivering innovative technologies to meet the needs of a rapidly converging, IT-integrated world.
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Extreme’s Moondance is designed to provide absolute performance under the most difficult environmental conditions, such as at this coastal application. (Photo by Extreme CCTV) |
In North America, Extreme CCTV serves as a Center of Excellence for extreme environment active-infrared products. Building on its origins as the company that developed cameras for the explosion protected markets, Extreme engineers have delivered products that fit into environments where it was believed that cameras could never survive. For example, Extreme has developed ruggedized electro-optics that have peered into active volcanoes, stared down the deluge of a firehose, taken bullets, and operated underwater. In one memorable incident, an inmate attacked Extreme’s EX36 corner mounted No-Grip camera in a violent fit of rage. The camera, specifically designed for tough prison environments, caught the entire episode on tape, including how the inmate badly bloodied his fist in his unsuccessful attempts to destroy the camera. Incorporating active-infrared illumination into these super-tough cameras, Extreme creates 24/7 surveillance solutions that can survive the worst environments imaginable.
Derwent Systems, based in Newcastle, U.K., is the Center of Excellence specializing as the world’s premier active-infrared night vision laboratory. Within the laboratory walls, Derwent engineers spend many hours in the dark studying, testing and perfecting active-infrared illumination for CCTV. A rich tradition of innovation in infrared is part of the Derwent identity. In fact, the company is so revered as an authority in infrared that major camera manufacturers routinely request testing from Derwent for sensitivity to active-infrared illumination. From early in its history when it patented ‘Even Illumination” to its most recent win in Las Vegas for its Black Diamond technology, Derwent has been an innovator in infrared. Having solved the spatial challenges of three dimensions through its Even Illumination and High Fidelity products (patented and patent pending), Derwent Engineers are in the final stages of releasing a product that addresses the 4th dimension of time. Another industry first developed in its Night Vision Labs, Derwent is in final development of “Constant Light” technology which corrects the problem of degraded performance over time.
Meanwhile, Extreme’s third Center of Excellence is busily perfecting the art and science of mechanical positioning for CCTV. Forward Vision, based in the South of England, is the Center of Excellence responsible for “All things moving” Its flagship Moondance camera has been a staple of the British security landscape for years, providing absolute performance in the worst of conditions. During a time when pan-tilt-zoom cameras were limited in performance, appearance and functionality, Forward Vision’s three founders -- all engineers by training -- released a new kind of camera that eliminated all the shortcomings of conventional PTZs. The Moondance camera earned a loyal following among British security consultants and integrators, fulfilling important security needs at some of Great Britain’s most prestigious projects including the London Underground. As the engineers at Forward Vision imagine their next innovations, they are reminded of the importance of their work by the London bombings that occurred two years ago. Moondance -- or Metal Mickey as it is known in the U.K. -- was able to deliver some of the evidence that authorities used to help identify and eventually arrest the plotters.
Innovating for Absolute Performance
The result of such overarching focus on engineering is a rich and versatile product line marked by an affinity for what Extreme refers to as absolute performance. Extreme believes that every product it makes should provide mission critical performance for equally critical applications. At such critical applications, the security systems need to operate at a high level 24/7/365 with no down time.
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Extreme’s active-infrared illuminators have earned a reputation for being a global technical standard for active-infrared night vision. Around the world, Extreme’s illuminators allow cameras to deliver outstanding night vision images. (Photo by Extreme CCTV) |
“Extreme is a company of engineers and absolute performance is our mission,” says Jack Gin, President and CEO. “In the final analysis, the true test of a product is its performance. Whether or not the product works, whether it lives up to its stated specifications, and whether or not it can deliver performance not only on its first day, but also several years into its operational lifetime. Extreme strives to ensure that every product we make delivers performance that exceeds the expectations of our customers.”
The philosophy of absolute performance is a part of the Extreme brand name. On a daily basis, Extreme is relied upon by some of the world’s most prestigious end-users to deliver absolute results. These are the end-users where results are expected in the face of seemingly impossible conditions: extreme darkness, hurricanes, gunfire, extreme cold, extreme heat, gunfire, explosion protected, blackouts... the intense nature of their performance demands normally destroy other cameras. And that is precisely the time when they contact Extreme.
A more recent example of Extreme’s passion for absolute performance is its Moondance camera, the toughest pan-tilt-zoom powerdome camera available in the security industry today. Moondance was developed by the three founding engineers at Forward Vision, all of whom are with the company today. At a time when speed domes were hugely popular in the security world, the three gentlemen were already several steps ahead of the curve. They conceived of a new pan-tilt-zoom camera design truly worthy of the term “evolutionary” While most end-users of speed domes complained of their poor construction, limited viewing angles and tendency for the plastic dome to distort the optics, the three forward engineers were perfecting a design that would eliminate all these shortcomings. Constructed of super-tough materials like stainless steel, equipped with a small flat optical window with wiper and capable of capturing video from both above and below the camera, the “metal Mickey” (as it was later to be affectionately named in the Great Britain) was designed to provide important benefits over conventional speed domes while eliminating all functional shortcomings. And it was designed to do this in some of the worst conditions possible.
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A US Marine fires at Extreme’s ZX20 housing during ballistic testing at US Marine Corps Base, Quantico in Virginia. Extreme regularly tests its products to ensure absolute performance. (Photo by Extreme CCTV) |
The three forward engineers definitely struck a cord in the security marketplace. In a short time, the Metal Mickey became the camera of choice for the most difficult of environmental conditions where conventional speed dome cameras were being routinely destroyed. Such applications included coastlines, mining, vandal-prone town centers, prison grounds and heavy industrial sites.
“We innovate for absolute performance for the worst case environments,”says Jack Gin. “It’s what we’ve known for in the security industry.”
Taking Care of Customers
A couple of years ago, the local office of the Department of Homeland Security called upon Extreme CCTV for help on a technical problem. Extreme’s response was quick and decisive. Sensing that this was an important issue, Extreme put engineer technicians on a plane with the mission to solve the problem. The trip, which was a courtesy call at heart, ended successfully with all cameras operating to specification.
About one year later, while Jack was watching TV at home one evening, he saw the District Attorney for Philadelphia Lynn Abraham giving a press conference to announce the arrest of suspected murderer Juan Convington. “Great detective work. Great surveillance cameras. That’s what made it happen,”said Ms. Abraham, referring to the DHS-operated cameras near the transit stop that captured actual footage of the murder as it happened in the early morning darkness. Jack later learned that the camera that caught the footage was in fact an Extreme CCTV EX82 Integrated Day-Night camera.
“The Covington case was a sobering reminder of how important our cameras are, how many times it has provided hard evidence for what otherwise have been unsolved crimes and how many people rely on our cameras everyday to help them protect people and property,” says Jack. The Convington case was later featured on an episode of ABC’s 20/20, where the cameras were again acknowledged for providing critical video evidence in solving the crime.
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The ARGC2400 is a range-gated active-imager that produces high resolution imaging at long range. Using gated laser technology, the ARGC2400 provides high-resolution long-range night vision up to 10km through airborne obscurities such as rain, snow and fog. (Photo by Extreme CCTV) |
“We went the extra mile to make sure we took care of our customer,” says Jack. It’s a philosophy that has served Extreme well. Extreme offers technical support from both its U.K. and North American offices. The company also provides direct access to its engineering team for project consultation, a service often used by some of the world’s foremost system integrators when designing CCTV systems.
“We go beyond the call of simply being a supplier,” says Jack. “Essentially, we become part of our customer’s engineering staff. They rely on us as the experts in the design of active-infrared systems.”
Whether it’s answering questions over the phone for a dealer calling from atop a ladder, or doing a security assessment with a major defense contractor who requires design assistance during initial planning stages, technical support and engineering support will always be a strength for Extreme CCTV.
Perhaps Jack says it best when he talks about his commitment to his customers: “We are Extreme. And we are here.”
The Future
Extreme shows all the signs that “The best is yet to come.” Although following the act of its first ten years of continuous revenue growth might seem difficult for some, Gin has assembled superb management team to help. “Our management team is world class,” says Gin. “We have to be. To thrive in today’s global market, you have to be the absolute best at what you do.” Today’s Extreme has a management team with extensive global experience in business development, senior management and engineering excellence, showing a consistent ability to manage well on a global basis. They have delivered positive top and bottom line results year after year while maintaining and steadily enhancing profitability despite dramatic currency fluctuations.
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Extreme’s equipment is providing irrefutable evidence at prestigious security installations worldwide. Here, REG license plate capture delivers effective vehicle surveillance at the United Nations headquarters in New York, U.S.A. (Photo by Extreme CCTV) |
Extreme’s research and development at the outer limit of opto-electronic engineering continues to yield new products that will continue to make Extreme invaluable to systems integrators. For applications that require higher levels of technical surveillance that is beyond what even Extreme provides on a day-to-day basis, Extreme (in cooperation with strategic investment partner Obzerv technologies) provides the ARGC-2400 Range-Gated Active-Imager, a pulsed-laser device designed for defense applications. The ARGC2400 provides high-resolution long-range night vision through airborne obscurities such as rain, snow and fog, reading license plates at 1.5km, recognizing human beings at 5km, classifying vehicles at 10km and pinpointing people in search and rescue at distances greater than 10km. Although currently available on a controlled basis to government and defense end-users only, Extreme is commercializing the core range-gated technology for broader application in Homeland Security markets.
Extreme will continue to build on its growing portfolio of proprietary and patented designs, backed by intellectual property laws. Today’s security world demands performance optics. In this world, Extreme delivers.
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Jack Gin, President & CEO, Extreme CCTV |
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Extreme CCTV works extremely hard at strengthening our leadership position through technology innovation. |
Delivering extreme cameras and illuminators to critical locations around the globe, Extreme CCTV has gained a strong foothold in the CCTV world with its accumulated engineering expertise. Through developing strong relationships with its strategic customers, Extreme CCTV has anticipated customers’ needs and identified trends very quickly, thus successfully differentiating itself from its rivals. To keep pace with the growing attention around the world to video surveillance, Sunny Kim, Editor of SecurityWorld INT’L, has met with Jack Gin, President & CEO of Extreme CCTV, who in the interview talks about his biggest challenge and the company’s vision.
Can you give us a short history of Extreme CCTV?
For over a decade, Extreme has designed, developed and manufactured advanced infrared illuminators and precision engineered surveillance solutions for critical infrastructure, defense, homeland security, transportation and national heritage sites. Our team of engineers is dedicated to the constant advancement of opto-electronic night vision technology. Today, Extreme cameras and illuminators are being delivered to critical locations on every continent.
Extreme is managed by a world-class management team. Extreme CCTV has three distinct business divisions that operate independently from each other. In order to have all of our operations running smoothly, we needed outstanding managers to execute on our strategic plans. Several of the senior managers are engineers by training, giving Extreme a very strong technical position. The engineering background is refined by many years of business development and leadership roles and a powerful understanding of the security industry and the markets that it serves. Our most recent addition is Peter Beare, who was appointed Managing Director of our European Operations. Peter brings over 15 years of executive management experience and is well known in both the U.K. and Europe for his key role as Managing Director of Baxall Ltd., the UK’s premier manufacturer of CCTV surveillance cameras.
Why do you think Extreme CCTV has succeeded when a number of other companies in the industry have failed?
Extreme has built its business around a strong tradition of engineering expertise and innovation. We have three “Centers of Excellence”, one at our North American headquarters and two at our manufacturing facilities at Derwent Systems and Forward Vision CCTV, both in the United Kingdom. In all cases, we have developed strong relationships with our strategic customers that enable us to anticipate their needs and identify trends very quickly. These relationships allow us to be the first to market with innovative new product categories, ranging from our “Even Illumination” infrared technology nearly ten years ago to our REG license plate capture technology today.
Throughout our ten-year history, we have refined our technical mastery in electro-optics, infrared illumination and PTZ mechanical positioners. Today, our products are known for “Absolute Performance” and are routinely specified by the world’s leading security consultants for important security projects internationally. Extreme CCTV is the most recognized brand in active-infrared night vision and extreme environment surveillance and an acknowledged technical leader in electro-optics. People know us. People trust us. Our customers know that when they specify Extreme products, they are getting quality that is among the highest standards in the security industry. And they know that the products will do what we say they will do.
On the non-technical side, Extreme places very high importance on being there for our customers. We provide a very high standard of technical support and make our engineers available to our customers for project design and consultation. Delivering this level of service has given Extreme a very high reputation for reliability and service. Our customers come back to us time again because they know they can trust us and rely on us for their most important projects.
Where do you see the current security threats your products are guarding against in 5 years from now? What kind of evolution do you expect?
The role of todays surveillance systems is deterring and preventing crime, detecting suspicious behavior, verifying potential threats, assessing risk, identifying the people involved and providing court evidence. For homeland security and defense, the biggest threats are terrorist attacks. Security agencies have the mandate of preventing terrorist attacks. To achieve this aim, security is by necessity a long term project, gathering intelligence and evidence on an ongoing basis.
Surveillance is a critical piece of the puzzle. Authorities are in the process of making surveillance more strategic, more intelligent and more prevalent. Operational anytime, anywhere and under any conditions. And it will all work in the context of a larger IT-based system.
What has been your biggest challenge as President & CEO?
Extreme CCTV works extremely hard at strengthening our leadership position through technology innovation. I am constantly working to protect our intellectual property through US and international patents and trademarks. We will protect our intellectual property using legal means as necessary.
Another challenge has been maintaining our speed to market. We have a constant stream of innovative ideas worthy of patent filings. However, it takes longer to productize an idea then it does to come up with the ideas. And we have a proven-history of our ideas “innovating the market”.
Please tell us if there have been any technical breakthroughs your company has made recently and thus contributed to the security industry.
We are the world-leader in license plate imaging and our REG camera is now in successful operation at thousands of locations across the globe. The patented technology in REG enables high-resolution, high-contrast images of license plates to be taken under any lighting conditions and at speeds exceeding 100mph. REG delivers irrefutable plate images at important applications such as the United Nations Headquarters in New York, US Naval Bases and Hong Kong border control.
As the CCTV industry marches on in its conversion to IP, Extreme CCTV’s Black Diamond technology delivers the High-Fidelity infrared illumination necessary for effective night time performance. Megapixel cameras are typically larger than traditional CCD sensors and therefore produce a wider field of view at any given distance. Black Diamond technology is the world’s first infrared illuminator designed specifically for megapixel surveillance. Additionally, Black Diamond is an excellent enabling technology that allows video analytics -- often found working with megapixel cameras -- to function at night.
Last but not least, please comment on the mid- and long-term visions Extreme CCTV has now.
We will continue to innovate from our foundation of electro-optics expertise and we will expand to new vertical markets that require the solutions made possible through high performance imaging.
For more information, please send your e-mails to swm@infothe.com.
ⓒ2007 www.SecurityWorldMag.com. All rights reserved.
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