Category: National

BCD International, the global video data infrastructure manufacturer composed of the BCDVideo, Video Storage Solutions, and BCDOEM brands, announced recently the grand opening of the BCD International Inc. India Build Centre. This engineering and manufacturing facility reinforces its partnership with Dell EMC and strategically positions BCD in the market to expand its OEM and security customer base. As Dell’s number one OEM partner for surveillance and Internet of Things (IoT), BCD is expanding its product availability, operations, service and support in two key regions for their customers – Middle East, Turkey, Africa (META), and Asia Pacific (APAC). The India Build Centre empowers BCD to be an extension of the regional Dell sales teams and enables the in-region build, certification, delivery and deployment of purpose-built solutions for video surveillance, analytics, computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI). “The expansion of BCD into India is another step toward our joint partnership of addressing customers’ needs globally. BCD not only has the ability to ship orders in a matter of days, but we have also worked out the inter-company logistics between Dell and BCD to ensure the direct Dell sales teams within the META and APAC regions get compensated directly from their company and are engaged in critical deals,” said Kelly Carlberg, Global Alliance Manager for Dell Technologies at BCD, “This helps both companies maintain a singular view to the customer. It brings the power of Dell and the expertise of BCD together to jointly address our mutual customer’s needs.” “The opening of BCD International’s India Build Centre is a game changer for the safety/ security and computer vision market in APAC. We are the first company focused entirely in this fast-growth industry, offering value-added video surveillance infrastructure consultation, OEM, design, sales, implementation and support,” said Andrew Hubble, Managing Director for APAC at BCD, “I’m really looking forward to replicating the success that BCD has enjoyed in the Americas and Europe with our global partners, the dynamic APAC partners, and channel that I’ve worked with over the last 25 years.” “I am overjoyed to see BCDVideo extend their unparalleled customer service and industry proven solutions to India,” said Kaivalyamurti ‘KV’ Swami, who serves as a technology overseer for BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha®. BAPS temples have deployed BCD solutions for over a decade, with their international headquarters also located in Ahmedabad, “I have been privileged to experience firsthand the highest level of customer support one could expect. It brings extra comfort to know that the same service and solutions will now be available to our organization locally in India.” Located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the India Build Centre spans 1,524 metres (5,000 square feet) and features meeting rooms and a technology lab capable of building 75 systems simultaneously. The facility is federated with the BCD USA Innovation and OEM Build Centres, enabling the BCD technology team to do quality assurance (QA) checks to ensure the highest level of product integrity. Monitoring the India Build Centre are high-definition cameras and video management software, provided by key BCD vendor partners. The core IT technology within the centre is built on Intel-infused newest-generation BCD server equipment, an Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise video network infrastructure, and Seagate Technology enterprise and surveillance AI hard drives. All 75 station monitors are Dell-branded, along with administrative equipment using OptiPlex workstations and Latitude notebooks. The India Build Centre is the first of multiple BCD will launch in 2021. Later this month, BCD will open centres in Mexico City and the Netherlands, servicing the Latin America and Europe regions, respectively. In quarter two, BCD anticipates opening additional build centres within the APAC region, as well as business sales offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.  

Zyxel and its innovative product lines have been recognized at the Taiwan Excellence Awards, with its next-generation Wi-Fi 6 and 5G routers earning the company three separate honors – more than any other networking brand. The awards, presented at a ceremony in Taipei on 25 November, marked the 16th consecutive year Zyxel has been honored at the event and increased its total prize haul to 95 awards. This year’s success comes as the result of Zyxel’s forward-looking R&D in innovative technologies. In the past 12 months, the company has rolled out new lines of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G products, which have already been deployed in offices, factories, schools, hotels, and homes worldwide. And the winners are… Zyxel’s first award-winning product was the Armor G5 multi-gigabit router, which unleashes unprecedented data rates by utilizing Wi-Fi 6. The new standard in connectivity is complemented by a 64-bit 2.2 GHz quad-core processor with 13 high-gain antennas, allowing the Armor G5 to handle more than 30 simultaneous connections without compromising on speed. The router also fully supports Open VPN, allowing users to protect every connection and device on their network – even those that don’t normally allow VPN protection, like smart TVs and gaming consoles. Similarly, Zyxel was awarded for its NR5101 5G NR indoor router – one of the first solutions on the market for 5G new radio (NR) fixed wireless access (FWA). The router delivers robust bandwidth and low latency even to areas that fixed broadband cannot reach. By leveraging the latest 5G and Wi-Fi 6 technology, it creates an ultra-high speed, dead zone-free Wi-Fi experience for users. Gary Chen, Managing Director, Zyxel India said, “We at Zxyel are happy to receive the prestigious award from Taiwan Excellence, this award further adds to the global expertise and acceptance for the Zyxel as a brand. It conveys the innovation Zyxel brings to the market for our global satisfied customers. I thank Zyxel team for their continuous efforts in bringing these awards home again and again. Lastly, thanks to Taiwan Excellence jury for nominating Zyxel and awarding us with this award.” Zyxel’s final honor was for a router in the same ground-breaking product line: the NR7101 5G NR outdoor router. It features the same lightning-fast 5G-powered speeds as the NR5101 but comes specially built for toughness, with a hardened IP68-certified enclosure with industrial-grade components that can withstand even the harshest environment and weather conditions. The Taiwan Excellence Awards were established by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1993 and recognize products that offer innovative value. Entries are judged on their achievements in R&D, design, quality, and marketing.  

ASIS New Delhi Chapter 207 has hosted the first ASIS India Chapters meet of 2021 along with ASIS Mumbai Chapter on Friday, 22 January 2021. The theme of the meeting was ‘Return to Workplace – Strategy and Roadmap.’ To give thrust and momentum to the theme, a panel of elite and eminent leaders with domain area expertise was invited. The panelists covered the functional areas such as HR, legal, public policy, IT, CRES-workplace solutions and BCM – business resiliency in the discussion. The chapter meet started with a welcome note by Manish Datta, Chapter Chair along with chapter updates. Mr. Datta reiterated on the chapter members to renew their membership in 2021 and remain connected. This was followed by an address by Sanjay Kaushik, ARVP North Region, 13A. Sanjay emphasized on the ASIS New Delhi Chapter feedback survey which was launched on 30 December 2020 and requested all members to provide their feedback. Diwakar Nath Pandey, Chapter Vice-Chair introduced Karan Chawla as the moderator for the panel discussion. Karan is currently working as Public Policy Manager, Strategic Response, Central and South Asia, Facebook. Karan set the tone for a very interesting panel discussion by introducing the panelists Nidhi Lahoti, Senior Assistant VP – HR, EXL; Sameer Bhagwat, Ex-head of Corporate Services, TIAA Global Business Services; Parveen Gogia, Executive Director, India IT COO, Nomura Services India Private Limited; Manishi Pathak, Partner, Anhad Law; and Man Singh Yadav, Director, Global Enterprises Security, APAC, BlackRock. The panellists provided very valuable, relevant and apt insights on the theme. Their camaraderie was excellent – thus enabling the best and very relevant information which was disseminated to the participants. The chapter meet concluded with the felicitation of all speakers and a vote of thanks by Harvindra Singh, Chapter Secretary.  

Eagle Eye Networks, the leading global provider of smart cloud video security, recently shared the trends that will have the biggest impact on video surveillance, security, and use of analytics to drive business intelligence and improvement in 2021. Customers are asking for cloud – advanced analytics will transform video surveillance systems into even more valuable business solutions, compliance requirements are constantly evolving, IT departments are engaging with, and in many cases owning video surveillance, and customers are expecting systems to be open and connected. “A number of factors are driving the video surveillance trends in 2021,” said Hans Kahler, Vice President of Operations at Eagle Eye Networks, “Innovation from companies like Eagle Eye Networks and our partners is leading and meeting the demands of customers for their video surveillance systems to provide business insights in addition to security. Combine the promise of AI and cloud video surveillance with the volatility, instability, and remote work environment of 2020 and we have an environment where people are looking for their video surveillance and security systems to deliver more business value than ever before. The acceleration of cloud adoption and use of analytics to provide improved security and drive business improvement will make 2021 a transformative year for the industry.” Video Surveillance and Security Trends for 2021 Customers are asking for cloud: The shift to the benefits of cloud in the video surveillance space are powerful and undeniable, including major cost savings, heightened data security, remote access and maintenance, flexible storage and retention, scalability, increased stability, and disaster recovery. Analytics and AI turn security systems into business solutions: Video surveillance systems are not just for security anymore, they’re also a valuable tool for business intelligence (BI). While AI has been talked about for several years, its deployment has lagged. This year, we’ll see AI move from the lab to practical adoption. Compliance requirements are constantly evolving: As video surveillance becomes a more widely adopted tool across industries and continents and more industries are using video for compliance purposes, regulating its use is becoming more prevalent. IT departments more engaged and owning video surveillance: IT leaders have not only gotten involved in the video management system, they’re actually owning it. As part of their IT strategy, corporations are leveraging video for business process improvement while reducing unnecessary operational overhead. Demand for open, integrated systems: An open and connected ecosystem makes it possible for businesses and developers to integrate any number of applications on a single video management system (VMS) platform. The platform handles all the heavy lifting of interfacing with the cameras, recording video, securely transmitting and storing video to the cloud, and making video available for use in the integrated applications. The days of vendors ‘locking’ users into their cameras or touting ‘hybrid’ systems (which require upgrades to vendor hardware to get new features) will not be accepted.  

In spite of a highly unusual 2020, the security industry’s constant transformation has not stopped. Several significant shifts in the use of technology are even accelerating – for example the increasing applications of multi-perception technologies, the convergence of security systems, the popularity of artificial intelligence, and the rise of cloud solutions. These changes are expanding and reshaping the scope of the security industry, from keeping people and assets safe to creating more secure, efficient and intelligent environments. Looking ahead at 2021, we have high hopes, and Hikvision would like to share some encouraging ideas and thoughts here regarding key trends that may affect the security industry in both the short- and long-term. Intelligent video technology helping during the pandemic In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are prioritizing finding ways to resume operations safely. Intelligent video technology has shown great potential to help companies keep their employees and customers safe while getting back to work. Powered by AI, security cameras monitor densely populated locations to ensure employees follow vital safety precautions – including social distancing, mask wearing and flow control – and provide initial temperature screenings. Employees are avoiding unnecessary physical contact with shared hardware in this tense era, accelerating the touchless access control system trend we have seen in the market. Numerous modes of touchless verification – face recognition, palmprint recognition, NFC and QR codes – are being heavily promoted. Multi-dimensional perception For a long time, capturing visual images was the core and only perception capability for video security systems. But with the development and application of sensing technologies, more powerful edge computing and intelligent algorithms, integrated security devices and systems that employ multiple sensors are becoming possible. Now, more perception capabilities such as radar detection, multispectral imagery, humidity and temperature measurement, and gas pressure detection, are being integrated with video cameras and systems. This integration extends perception capabilities of these video cameras and systems, and widens their applications by enabling the collection and use of multi-dimensional information. For example, a promising approach right now integrates cameras with centimeter- and millimeter-wave radar technology, which can extend perception beyond the visual range to object detection and movement tracking up to and over 100 meters in the distance. Multispectral imagery is another good approach for cameras to perceive information from the non-visible light spectrum. For instance, innovative ultraviolet (UV) detection boosts the perception capabilities of cameras as far as even capturing invisible electric arc phenomena; this technology finds a key application in safety-checks at aging power grids. Multi-dimensional perception capabilities will play a fundamental role in taking the video security industry to the next level, and we constantly see growing numbers of integrated security devices and systems with multiple sensors. Visibility – Any time, any condition Users have come to expect uninterrupted performance from their video cameras, regardless of season, the weather, and certainly the time of day. It’s vital to have cameras that can respond effectively to capture clear images, no matter what time of day or night or how bad the weather is. Nowadays, low light imaging technology that provides colorful images in dark environments and at night is becoming popular in the security industry, and customers have shown a preference toward cameras with color imaging 24/7. More front-end cameras are now equipped with low light imaging technology to make sure they can ‘see’ and reproduce image color both day and night. And in other extreme conditions such as heavy rain, snow, fog or smog, how do cameras ensure visibility? Industry professionals are tending to choose thermal imaging that measures heat – or thermal radiation – to generate images from their field of view. With thermal imaging, the rendered image is far less affected by even the most light-obscuring of these conditions. 5G technology for UHD and wireless video security 5G technology may bring great changes to the security industry. 5G’s greater bandwidth and lower latency makes the regular transmission of high quality images possible, and, with the widespread adoption of ultra-high-definition (UHD) cameras, could bring new opportunities for video security. Furthermore, reliable wireless transmission over 5G technology will revolutionize the currently-wired video security market. In the forthcoming 5G networks, wireless cameras will proliferate, and more edge devices will be connected in remote locations. This will also facilitate wide and fast deployment of AI applications in edge devices. Convergence of multiple security systems We operate in an industry where users expect comprehensive solutions. The concept of systems working seamlessly together has long been desired by the vast majority of security professionals. The benefits of converging multiple security systems – including video, access control, alarm, fire prevent and emergency management – into a unified platform are manifold, with efficiency and cost-effectiveness the most obvious. For example, when an alarm goes off, an integrated system automatically links that alert to the output of the nearest camera, so the whole situation can be easily witnessed from the monitoring center. This translates to a considerable reduction in time and effort, and most importantly, costs. Savings in workforce, installer time, separate maintenance costs, separate software licenses etc., all add up to create an attractive package for customers. What’s more, convergence makes security solutions scale. Existing infrastructure will meet and manage future needs on the same central platform. Digital transformation of enterprises enabled by video security systems Aside from security and protection, the added value video security systems offer has expanded to assist enterprise-level businesses in their digital transformation process and gain insights into development opportunities. Empowered by AI analytics, today’s smart video security solutions are designed to improve automation and operational efficiency in various vertical markets including traffic, retail, manufacturing, building, education, and more. Retailers, for instance, better understand foot traffic in their stores and optimize their merchandising strategies with help of smart video solutions. These solutions have been designed with digital dashboards to display data and information that come from the integrated in-house enterprise information systems. Operators can use these systems to get real-time status updates to help them make the…

Times are changing fast and so is the need for using and combining technologies in new ways. With the new edition of Milestone Marketplace, buyers will not only find the complementary hardware and software functionality, but they will also explore solution services when building best-of-breed video management solutions. COVID19 has forced businesses, cities, and entire countries to operate in new ways and increased the demand for new technologies and digital solutions. A versatile use of video solutions that can be expanded with more functionalities helps companies thrive when the world changes, whether the need is to ensure public safety, secure access to buildings, or check adherence to social distancing rules. Milestone Marketplace is empowering businesses to explore the unmatched possibilities of video solutions, relevant to companies looking for a new video solution and for existing users of Milestone XProtect looking to enhance the solution’s functionality. In addition to verified hardware and software, the new release of Milestone Marketplace also holds solution services with a total of more than 500 options to choose from. The global digital platform includes powerful technologies, like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, video analytics, GIS and GPS along with combined solutions tailor made to meet several business challenges. The partners behind this are all part of the Milestone Community, ready to help businesses use video solutions to solve new challenges. “Marketplace is primarily a connection platform to help end-users make the most of their XProtect investment. Through it, our customers in India can now connect directly with Milestone partners and seek their advice and expertise on different challenges, use cases, and technology. Being an open ecosystem it helps our customers with flexibility and future proofing, and the collaborative nature of Milestone Marketplace means new use cases can be explored and deployed in partnership with Milestone and other members” Explore, connect, deploy Milestone Marketplace allows buyers access to a vast catalog of Milestone Systems XProtect compatible software, hardware and solution services, as well as recommendations and guidance on how to solve specific challenges. Moreover, buyers can filter through a network of trusted Milestone integration partners to find the best fit for their business across the globe. Customer cases, documentation, implementation guides and demos are just some of the elements made available by the partners using Milestone Marketplace to allow customers to explore solutions available to them. “Since we first introduced Milestone Marketplace in 2019, we’ve been working to extend the experience for both customers and partners when searching for and creating XProtect compatible solutions. With this version we’ve onboarded integrators as a new partner type, improved the search functionality, and added use categories to name but a few, all with the aim to offer a future-proof platform open to integrating with innovation from around the world,” said Kenneth Hune Petersen, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Milestone Systems.  

Milestone Systems, a leading provider of open platform video management, has announced the appointment of Sandesh Kaup as the new Country Manager for India and SAARC. Sandesh Kaup re-joins the Milestone family after four years in a highly successful leadership position at Allied Telesis – a network infrastructure/ telecommunications company, involved with secure IP/ Ethernet switching solutions. Sandesh Kaup comes with over two decades of experience and significant exposure handling multiple global companies. Milestone has been a part of his DNA since 2011, running the local business until 2016 and largely responsible for the incredible growth the organisation experienced in that time. In addition, he has developed expertise in building businesses for companies like Bosch Security, Ingram Micro, and Anixter during his early career. Sandesh comes with a Bachelor of Engineering in Instrumentation from Mumbai University. Jordan Cullis, Director for APAC at Milestone Systems said of the appointment, “Sandesh not only brings his exhaustive experience of two decades in the security industry, but has prior experience with Milestone where he has displayed illustrious leadership and yielded the company to great growth numbers. His experience, contacts in the Indian market and sales focused management style will be instrumental in recovering the region after such a difficult, covid-effected 2020.” “It is like coming back home. I am excited to be back with Milestone, especially at a time when India is presenting great opportunities for the VMS industry growth. I am sure that the global expertise which I have gained over the years will help me take Milestones’ businesses to newer highs.” said Sandesh Kaup, Country Manager at Milestone Systems, India and SAARC, “Also, with the most recent Marketplace 2.0 release, Milestone now has unmatched possibilities of video solutions for organizations looking for new video solutions and for the existing users of Milestone XProtect who are looking to enhance the present functionality. This opens up great opportunities for us to work with even more partner to take our solutions to major business accounts in India.” In his earlier tenure at Milestone, Sandesh had nurtured the sales growth in India, which saw a 40% YoY growth from 2011 to 2015. Apart from building important business accounts he also played an instrumental role in building synergies and creating an ecosystem (solution partner) across server storage, networking, access control manufacturer, and command control software and other third-party software. Sandesh has also earned industry accolades like the Milestone Leadership Compass Award in 2014 and was the winner of the President Club 2015 Award for the Best Growth year-on-year.  

Videonetics, world’s leading AI & DL powered Unified Video Computing Platform (UVCP™) development company, has recently launched its third generation of Intelligent VMS that delivers unified, next generation user interface, military-grade security, rugged with unprecedented levels of high availability and a future ready solution, for any size of deployment across various industry verticals such as smart & safe cities, critical infrastructure, industrial, mass transit, education, healthcare and retail to name a few. Building on more than a decade of R&D in the domain of video computing, computer vision, artificial intelligence and machine learning based technologies, Videonetics released its Intelligent VMS 3.0 that encompasses multiple video computing services in a unified, homogenous software architecture platform and goes beyond mere ‘capture-record-display’ generation of video management. Videonetics has been ranked #1 video management software provider in India, and among the top 5 in Asia (IHS/ Informa Tech Research). Some of the key differentiators of Videonetics Intelligent VMS 3.0 are as follows: Next generation user interface The Intelligent VMS 3.0 offers a modernized user experience with intuitive, responsive, adaptive, and friendly interface. The interface supports user-specific camera layouts, hierarchical camera groups to enable the user to multi-task and improve operational efficiency. Intelligent VMS supports all standard web browsers and provides mobile apps for both iOS and Android platforms. Highly secured The Intelligent VMS 3.0 is cyber security hardened to meet today’s evolving threat landscape, by ensuring data safety and accessibility only to the authorized personnel with security protection. It offers various security measures such as multi-factor authentication, SHA 256, RSA & AES encryptions, video watermarking, distributed storage management for critical data, and secured channel communication to name a few. Business continuity The DC-DR (data center – disaster recovery) architecture of Intelligent VMS 3.0 is built considering the complexities of vast amounts of video data generated from large number of cameras in the field, protecting the same from loss or corruption and transferring data to another location. The DC-DR framework addresses the challenges through a practical, flexible and service-oriented architecture. It ensures business continuity with minimum or no service disruption. Collaborative vigilance The Intelligent VMS 3.0 features collaborative surveillance platform for the operators to exchange messages and share observations. It offers features such as sharing camera views, importing operator screens and chat room for discussions. Geo-fence based situational awareness The Intelligent VMS 3.0 goes beyond conventional map-based viewing to geo-fence based situational awareness possibilities. User can easily draw a virtual fence with geo coordinates or simply using mouse to see relevant cameras within the fence with all the events of interest. The Intelligent VMS 3.0 also comes with a unique feature of ‘neighbourhood view’ in which a camera can be defined as a master camera which in turn can be associated with nearby camera to provide complete neighbourhood view in case of any even of interest. It has ready integrations with map services such as Google Map, OpenStreetMap etc., to provide drag-and-drop of the cameras for alerts, archived, and live video feeds. The in-built pencil tool helps in associating the cameras on the map for a quick geo-situational awareness. Scalable and Cloud-ready The scalability of Intelligent VMS 3.0 is unlimited by design of the architecture. The computing nodes can be provisioned as and when required, and they auto-register themselves to the system with minimum configuration which makes it extremely easy to deploy. Many of the large enterprises and in fact even government organizations are now adopting the ‘Cloud First’ policy and most of their business processes are already utilising the benefits of Cloud these days. Intelligent VMS 3.0 comes with built in readiness for deploying it over cloud be it a public, private or a hybrid cloud. It has been built on a cloud agnostic stack to ensure that it can be deployed on any cloud of customer’s choice to ensure full flexibility, openness, and therefore lowest cost of ownership. It comes with its own server resource orchestration technology, streaming service engine and intelligent storage technology to help customer take full advantage of the cloud setup. Intelligent VMS 3.0 also comes with ready integrations with popular cloud service providers. AI powered I n the series of another ‘firsts’ Intelligent VMS 3.0 comes with pre integrated artificial intelligence and deep learning framework called DeeperLook™ – an indigenously designed highly efficient AI framework which ensures quick and easy deployment of AI based video analytics use cases for various verticals. The framework offers over 100+ such AI based video analytics use cases for different industry segments.  

Global security manufacturer, Gallagher, has recently appointed Shamsher Singh as the Regional Manager for North India. Singh joined the team lead by Gautham NV to support Gallagher’s growing business opportunities in India – including a significant project currently underway with the Indian Air Force. Singh brings to the role over 11 years of sales and business development experience working with multinational companies. He holds an MBA in Marketing and International Business and an engineering degree in Electronics and Communication. “We’re thrilled to welcome Shamsher to the Gallagher India team,” said Ian Meadows, Sales Manager for India, the Middle East, and Africa, “With the skills and experience Shamsher brings to the table, he will play a key role in our North India growth.” Singh started in the role on 5 October 2020 and will work closely with Gallagher’s network of channel partners to bring the latest security technology to the region. A technology leader in integrated access control, intruder alarms management and perimeter protection, Gallagher’s security solutions are in use within the highest levels of national and local government, military, commercial, industrial, healthcare, transportation, and academic organisations in more than 130 countries.  

Held from 18 to 20 November, the 2020 edition of InfoComm India, a fully-online experience hosted on the specially-tailored GoVIRTUAL platform, was attended by 3,410 unique visitors. While a scaled-down version of what would have been a conventional in-person exhibition, InfoComm India GoVIRTUAL was no less exciting, helmed by 92 exhibitors who collectively presented a total of 183 live product demos and 28 webinar sessions. This also marks the first time in organizer InfoCommAsia’s history that it has delivered a fully-digital event. Cutting-edge show walks its talk “ The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruption to businesses around the world. InfoComm India was not spared either, and we had to make the difficult decision of cancelling the in-person show earlier this year,” said Richard Tan, Executive Director, InfoCommAsia, “Yet in every crisis lies an opportunity. Knowing full well the value that InfoComm India has brought to technology innovators and industry end-users over the years, we quickly pivoted and committed to delivering a digital event. As a proponent of technology, InfoCommAsia has walked the talk, adopting cutting-edge innovations such as artificial intelligence and live streaming to achieve a first-of-its-kind event.” The unique and ground-breaking GoVIRTUAL platform is a culmination of over five months of intense development. The platform boasts a range of innovative yet easy-to-use features that helps deepen the business experience for both exhibitors and visitors. Designed to be highly intuitive, it allows both exhibitors and visitors to ensure business continuity, wherever they are in the world. The AI-powered algorithm matched exhibitors with relevant visitors, and vice versa. Through the user’s behaviour, interactions and searches performed on the platform, the algorithm learns and continuously refines its accuracy to provide highly-relevant business matches. At one glance, exhibitors can browse the profiles of sales leads they should be reaching out to while visitors can connect with shortlisted technology innovators whose solutions are transforming their industries. Real-time, live product demos allowed brand ambassadors to explain the salient features of their solutions to the viewers. Thanks to integrated video, audio and chat functions, both presenters and audience can engage in real-time conversations. Exhibitors’ virtual showcases mimic actual exploration experience on the show floor, allowing visitors to meet with exhibitors and see their technologies up close and in action. The integrated video, audio and chat functions here let visitors interact with exhibitors, just like visiting an exhibitor’s booth in person. InfoComm India Summit, the show’s learning platform, hosted a series of webinars. Topical sessions include discussions on a post-pandemic future, India’s smart urbanization journey, cybersecurity, digitalization of healthcare and education, and more. Platinum Partner Crestron Electronics (India) shared that the GoVIRTUAL platform has succeeded in functionally replicating the in-person show experience. “Initially when we were planning this event, we were not expecting ourselves to be so busy,” said Farhan Walele, National Product Manager (Sales), “However, from 10am to 6pm, we had to be at the booth, standing from morning to evening, similar to past InfoComm India events. The only difference is we are now doing this in the comfort of our office.” Echoing this sentiment Kirti Shetti, Director – Operations, Kramer Electronics India said, “InfoComm India GoVIRTUAL measured up to what would have been the physical InfoComm India event. It definitely did justice.” The live demos and webinars drew substantial interest from show visitors. In total, 2,148 visitors participated in the live demos while 3,082 delegates watched the webinars over a period of 3 days. GoVIRTUAL to be adopted across future InfoCommAsia shows With the successful roll out, GoVIRTUAL now serves as an effective proof of concept, and InfoCommAsia plans to adopt this powerful platform for all of its upcoming marquee shows in 2021 – InfoComm China slated for July, InfoComm India in September and InfoComm Southeast Asia in October. Each show will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual platforms. Additionally, InfoCommAsia will host regular one-day preview events on GoVIRTUAL leading up to the main hybrid event, with each one focusing on a different vertical and geographic markets and its business end-users. InfoComm India and InfoComm India GoVIRTUAL 2021 The next hybrid InfoComm India will take place 15- 17 September 2021 at the Bombay Exhibition Center, Mumbai.