Q: Can you tell us exactly who is behind Central Security Distribution?

A: The people behind CSD are Vin Lopes, Doug Fraser and Mark Cunnington

Q: It could be argued the local electronic security distribution market is tight. What does Central Security Distribution bring to integrators and installers they won’t get elsewhere?

A: You could justifiably say the wholesale market is tight but we think it’s filled with ‘me too’ companies. What we are is a manufacturer bringing its own products to the market, as well as carrying related products from partners. I think at the moment as a distributor you need to do more than put boxes on shelves – the market is more complex. We think product needs to be offered with the same caliber of knowledge at point of sale as it took to engineer the product. Just look at the market – at the move to IP and networked solutions. What we hope to do is bring a manufacturer’s level of knowledge to the counter. That demands a better connection between engineers and service staff in order to provide customers with instant access to high levels of technical knowledge – this is needed because products are getting more complex.

Q: Would you argue that there’s a lack of quality service in the distribution market?

A: No, I wouldn’t say that. I think people are very good with service but not quality technical service. I would say that in many cases the point of sale does not have a handle on the product.

Q: Now the business is operational what’s your feel about how things are going? How has the market responded to the more hands-on approach?

A: We’ve really only just started out this week with the Inner Range products so it’s too early to say. We have our other products coming in every day and it’s a work in progress.

Q: Is CSD the only place installers can get their hands on Inner Range gear like Insight, Concept 4000 and Fratech products?

A: Inner Range products are now only available from CSD but Fratech has other resellers in the market.

Q: Is CSD’s operation national?

A: There are 5 CSD branches in the major state capitals.

Q: From Inner Range’s point of view, what will CSD give Inner Range that the product wasn’t getting before?

A: As well as giving the market deep knowledge of the Inner Range product, CSD will bring seamless market knowledge to Inner Range and that will give Inner Range a clearer insight into what the installer feels about the product. That will help us deliver the market what it needs. We’ll have a closer connection to the market. This will apply to the other products in our range, too. We’ll be working to develop interfaces between all the products in the CSD range and Inner Range products.

Q: A key driver of CSD is obviously going to be the high level of service for Inner Range product – what will this entail aside from product support – will there be training?

A: Inner Range and CSD will always train – it will be a key element of the business. We have 5 branches and each branch has a training room. Training is big for us. Inner Range will conduct training, CSD will conduct training and there will training in all the products in the CSD range.

Q: In a more general area, the CCTV industry is busy with the digital transition. While access control has long had a networked component, what do you think the future holds for access control? Could there ever be PoE readers and strikes or does the fundamental need for distributed architecture demand remote door control and the reliability of solid state electronics?

A: I think the latter. It’s not obvious just how much power you need at the lock and PoE will not deliver it. There’s so much going on between the lock, the door controller and the reader – you need solid state and remote processing. You need remote power. I don’t think doors incorporating readers and strikes can be managed using PoE – there are still too many questions to be answered. Maybe sometime in the future developments will allow it but not now.

Q: CSD has some brands onboard in the form of HID, FSH and Blue, the former of which is the clear leader in proximity readers and cards and the second of which is making a name for itself as offering affordable quality locks while Blue has some very neat niche products, as well as some low cost access control equipment. Will there be more partnerships soon and in which directions?

A: Yes, there will be quite a few more patrtnerships but I can’t announce them yet. What I can say is that there will be a focus on partnerships in the world of IT. Part of all our these partnerships will be development of high level interfaces between partner products and Inner Range products, including Inner Range’s Insight management software. Obviously with large integrated systems you can’t have multiple separate controls. We’ve written a lot of plug-ins that will allow Insight to handle additional products and there are many more to come.

Q: Is CSD carrying the entire Paradox range?

A: Yes, we’ll be carrying all the Paradox panels and sensors – the new range of panels looks great. Paradox is also interested in having its product integrate with ours. There is some overlap with the Paradox range but we’ve thought it through and we will stock that overlapping product as well. CSD is going to be faithful to all of its manufacturers and will be a genuine distributor, not just a portal for Inner Range.

Q: How serious is CSD about video surveillance? Will CSD go towards the high end and if so, would there be Insight integration?

A: Definitely. In terms of Inner Range, there will be an NVR incorporated into Insight next year. We’re certainly going to be including DVRs in the CSD range and DVTel and Verint are on the Inner Range integration list for this year. There will be an affordable C-Vision range of good quality CCTV cameras, and higher end cameras are on the way.

Q: Inner Range is one of a handful of manufacturers of access control products that can seriously engineer solutions for specific applications.  Is the fact this product is supported by a local engineering team is a big advantage for CSD?

A: This is one of the main drivers of CSD. We have 25 engineers and we think we’ve got the best and biggest engineering team in Australia. CSD will give customers an avenue to this engineering expertise and our team will be tailoring solutions directly for CSD customers.

Q: What about pricing – is CSD offering better pricing than installers have seen in the past?

A: There will be a bigger spread of prices – loyal customers will pay less and occasional customers will pay more. The idea is that our regular customers will buy better with the only qualification on these discounts relating to technical proficiency – the high you go in our training, the better your discount. The fact is that products are getting more powerful and they demand proficiency – in the end having installers who know how to use our product is just sensible business for us.

Q: What can we expect from CSD in the future?

A: Customers can expect a committed, capable distributor that takes ownership of its product range. And if all goes well, you can expect more branches.