Vizer embraces the high-tech

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - Less than three months after coming onto the security scene, systems integrator Vizer Group is setting itself apart from other newcomers by offering biometric-based access control systems and digital video surveillance systems. Already, the company is poised to hit the $500,000 sales mark by the end of the year, a feat company officials did not expect to accomplish so soon. "We originally had forecast about $250,000 by the end of the year and it looks like we could possibly double that," said Scott Sutton, owner and founder of Vizer Group. "We've got enough leads in the hopper and substantial jobs." One of those jobs included installing biometric hand-readers in three dormitories at Johnson & Wales University in Denver and integrating the readers with the elevator's control system. As a student enters a pin number and places his hand on the biometric reader, the elevator control tells the correct dormitory room door to open for the student. "The feedback that we're getting is (customers) had no idea that this is affordable technology," said Sutton. "The perception in the marketplace is fingerprint, retinal, facial and hand is high tech and extremely expensive." Sutton came up with the concept for the Vizer Group earlier this year. Instead of starting the company by offering basic security systems, Sutton embraced newer, more complicated technology now on the market, such as biometrics, access control and video surveillance systems. "We attended ISC West and really saw an opportunity to launch a company that really focused on technology," said Sutton. "The integrators that we saw really shied away from the latest and greatest technology." As part of the start up phase for the company, Vizer Group spent months researching products and taking courses before hitting the market to sell systems, said Michael Cox, integration director for Vizer Group. What made entering the security market and offering high-tech products easier for Sutton and Cox was that both came to this industry with software backgrounds. "In the world of software you have to make things talk together and that's been our mentality," said Cox. In a few short months, the company has grown to employ six people. That number is expected to grow to nine people this fall and the company could soon set its sights on adding another location either in Colorado or other geographic areas. "My initial forecast was to be a $3 to $4 million company in three years and then have an additional branch office possibly in the Mountain Territory in Colorado or another part of the United States," said Sutton. "My positive outlook would be that we could certainly surpass that much quicker than anticipated."