Pelco Security Cameras Boost Safety Around the Globe

By Nicole Zaro Stahl, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Founded in 1957, Pelco by Schneider Electric has become a highly regarded and sought-after supplier in the video security arena. A world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of video security systems suitable for most industries, Pelco offers a broad product line-up: "discreet camera domes and enclosures, megapixel IP and HD cameras, video matrix systems, next generation digital video recorders, transmission, virtual matrix, software-only video management solutions and integrated cameras, positioning systems, and full HD LCD," according to the company website. As a major innovator in the market, Pelco also produces a large number of special equipment items, including explosion-proof and pressurized camera enclosures, high-security housings, and thermal imaging pan-tilt-zoom positioning systems.

Headquartered in Clovis, a suburb of Fresno, Pelco was acquired by Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy and security management, in 2007. Coming together as one, the two companies "offer a unique ability to provide customers with an unmatched combination of solutions for infrastructure and security."

Today, Pelco does business through resellers located in 130 countries around the globe, supported by an employee population of about 2,200 people worldwide. Roughly 15 of those employees work in Pelco's Hacienda office, at 4309 Hacienda Drive. In a move to tap the Bay Area's wealth of technology talent, Pelco opened the site in 2006, recruiting a staff of software engineers to fine-tune existing products and create new ones. Growth in the security arena has put the office in expansion mode.

"Like other building automation systems, physical security is migrating from an analog, centralized landscape to one that is network-based and IP-focused," explains Barry Lawson, Product Marketing Manager. "That means existing network infrastructures can be leveraged to deliver video security solutions in new and exciting ways that drive business and increase efficiency."

The latest innovations involve analytics, an area that goes far beyond passive video monitoring and recording to interpret, in real time, activities at locations under surveillance. For example, Pelco systems can be directed to find all the people in a building wearing specific colored clothing. They can monitor a parking lot so that any time a car enters or leaves, the system triggers an alarm.

"We have an application between China and Hong Kong that monitors the traffic across the border. If you wanted to identify the license plate of a particular vehicle, that information could be transmitted to the network," Lawson says.

The New York Port Authority is another high-profile customer. Just after the September 11th Twin Towers attack, Pelco donated several camera systems for use in the recovery effort. The company later built a California Memorial and Museum on its Clovis campus, a frequent focal point for visitors and the backdrop for a moving remembrance ceremony during the 10th anniversary observation. Recently, at the request of officials at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, the collection was donated to the national museum to "forever serve as an important piece of history."

Pelco has a strong reputation for corporate citizenship. Given parent Schneider Electric's role in energy management, the company is a strong supporter of the Bike to Work campaign. "Taking another car off the street is a perfect example of energy management, helping to make the world a cleaner place," Lawson notes.

For more information, go to www.pelco.com.

Photo: Pelco product manager Carl Steudle.

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