Videofied makes 'mainstream' move

VADNAIS HEIGHTS, Minn.—Videofied has made what President Keith Jentoft calls “a big move” to bring indoor video verification into the mainstream, partnering with an independent distributor for the first time to expand the company's reach in the United States and Canada.

Videofied, based here, previously only sold directly to its dealers, Jentoft said. An agreement with TRI-ED will change that, with the distributor offering Videofied's new line of indoor video intrusion alarms.

Jentoft said the relationship “represents a huge evolution on how we go to market. We will be partnering with TRI-ED and our authorized third-party central stations to move indoor video verification into the mainstream alarm business."

The distribution agreement is limited to Videofied's new indoor line, which is based on its wireless MotionViewer. The monitored alarms deliver a video clip of an intrusion directly to a central station for immediate review and dispatch.

"This is our first move into distribution because it's really the first time we've had a product that's so simple that anybody can do it," Jentoft told Security Systems News. "The outdoor stuff is hard. The indoor stuff is easy. … If you know how to put up a PIR [passive infrared sensor], you can put up one of ours."

Jentoft said the new MotionViewer is about the same price as a standard wireless PIR. At 3 inches tall—“about the size of a restaurant salt shaker”—it has no power cords and operates for four years on two AA batteries instead of three like the previous version. New features include an interactive "dealer-branded" mobile app that allows property owners to access the cameras remotely.

"It offers full-color VGA [video graphics array] in the daytime, monochrome at night, and it gives you a look-in to a smartphone," he said. "It's way smaller, way more aesthetic, it has much better performance and it's almost half the price [of the previous MotionViewer]."

Jentoft said Videofied will have upgrade kits to allow dealers "to piggyback on the top of a Vista-20 or a 2GIG or a Simon or a DSC." He said the cost of the kit, which includes two MotionViewers, is well under $300.

The new line has begun to ship and will be formally launched April 10 at ISC West in Las Vegas. “People who have been buying from us direct are beginning to get some now,” Jentoft said.