Intersec's editor Gary Wright in conversation with our exhibitor - Digifort's Managing Director Tooma Chong who discusses the challenges the industry faces in 2022, reveals how ‘increasing fragmentation’ of technology threatens efficiency and how sales growth in 2021 has been ‘a pleasant surprise’ despite the pandemic.
Digifort is one of the world’s leading video monitoring software manufacturers.
Digifort is well-know across the world providing video monitoring software that incorporates the very best hardware. Managing director Tooma Chong took time out of his busy schedule to talk with Gary Wright in the run up to Intersec 2022 in Dubai on 16-18 January.
Digifort celebrates its 20th anniversary next year and for more than half its life Tooma has been part of the story. He joined in 2009 and now oversees its global reach from the head office in Sydney. Australia.
He has a clear philosophy on why the company has become a world leader: “The key reason why we have been successful in the tough competitive region is that we only promote a deliverable solution,” he says. “This requires absolute best product knowledge both hardware and software and remain independent of any brand loyalty as we are truly open.”
He is looking forward to Intersec 2022 and sees the Dubai exhibition as a great opportunity to demonstrate its new developments.
He says: “Our R&D team in Brazil & Australia of extremely talented professionals have been attentive to market demands, analyzing customer operational requirements and developing new features and products to meet the constant changes and evolution of the security market. Intersec 2022 is our golden opportunity to show off our hard work and one of the highlight is our Smart Connect wholly developed in Australia.
"The development of new versions of the software and the improvement of existing features are part of our daily lives. The software is constantly evolving to offer quality to our customer. To give you an idea, from version 7.3.0 to version 7.3.2 in operation, more than 200 new features and facilities were released and all customers who have this version upgraded for free. At Intersec 2022, we will be releasing version 7.4 with over 50 new features and all version 7.3 customers will be able to upgrade it for free as well.”
The pandemic has changed business practice across the world since the start of 2020 but as the world finds new ways to work, there remain two key issues faced by business leaders seeking security solutions.
“The industry faces fragmentation of hard-wares systems, leading to in-efficiencies in technology use due to lack of interaction between them,” he says. “We focus our work on building bridges with the best specialized algorithms in this market & we integrate those like no one else does.” Digifort enables users to create a “single pane of glass view” for monitoring all IP connected devices.
And of course the cyber dangers are foremost in his mind and those of Digifort’s clients.
“This is a concern in all segments of society and is no different in our area,” he says. “Thousands of cyber-attack attempts are registered every day globally. The more connected we are, the greater the likelihood of intrusion attempts by hackers or malicious software.”
Tooma explains that clients and users must also be proactive in ensuring their system is protected.
“The Covid-19 pandemic contributed even more to the threat of intrusion, as it made employees work remotely, creating more vulnerability in operations. In our case, the CCTV system and its intelligence modules work in the same way as a CRM, ERP or other system related to the company process. That must be protected by reliable networks and intrusion protection systems, whose responsibility is the responsibility of the client.
“IT administrators must always be aware in order to deploy the best system against possible cyber-attacks, not leaving their cameras and servers open on the internet. It is also up to the system user to be aware of not opening unknown files that may cause discomfort to the organization.”
The pandemic has changed the world but Digifort has been remarkably robust says Tooma. “For us, the year 2021 so far has been a pleasant surprise. Despite the pandemic, we registered excellent growth in Brazil and abroad. We believe that this is due to the fact that we have introduced new products related to the pandemic to the market and the great marketing work.”
In the countdown to Intersec 2022 Tooma reveals how important the region has been for Digifort and why experience there has benefited customers in other regions.
He says: “The Middle East is a very tough market. You need to meet the tough industry standards with proven track record. The success and the experience we have gained in the Middle East is helping us penetrate other markets. We are fully committed to making our brand as one of the most respected and trusted brand.”
Moving forward from he has identified five growth areas on which Digifort will concentrate:
- Traffic Monitoring
- Retail
- Hospitality
- Transport Hub
- Infrastructure
- Healthcare
“With proven success references in the last five years, and our valuable first hand experiences in complex projects, we expect to go from strength to strength as intelligent solution for increasing operational efficiency and safety across many industries,” he says.
Tooma remains extremely positive about Digifort’s continued success. “Unlike the software solutions offered by camera manufacturers, the Digifort system is a completely open platform, allowing the customer to integrate with any existing system,” he says.
“Thus, there is a guarantee that the user will never be held hostage by a certain manufacturer, having the complete freedom to choose any hardware on the market, which will be compatible with our system, partly thanks to our Smart Connect. In addition to the already integrated conventional systems, such as alarms and automation.”
Digifort has developed an application that allows integration with any access control system on the market, SMART CONNECT, developed in Sydney Australia, offering several resources for the management of any event arising from these solutions, allowing quick, manual actions or automatic, and generating evidence through images and various reports. “According to our customers, it is fantastic and very different from when the integration is done by the access control manufacturer,” says Tooma.
In conclusion the managing director had a straightforward message for clients both existing and new: “I want our customers know that since our foundation, our motto has always been to listen to the customer's needs and give full support to projects and technical support.
“A good part of the functionalities that currently exist in Digifort came from the suggestions of our customers and this made a big difference in the market, as we now have many more differentiated features applied to the market reality than any competitors. In addition to knowing how to listen to the customer in their operational needs, we also invest a lot in after-sales service, in our technical support, which is also considered the best in the world.”
Discover more about Digifort and its video monitoring solutions HERE and come and meet the team in Dubai at Intersec 2022 from 16-18 January 2022.
October 2021
With picture of MD Tooma Chong
By Gary Wright – Intersec Editor