Exclusive: Celebrating 20 years of VIVOTEK
James Thorpe
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Meng Chhun, VIVOTEK USA Marketing Manager discusses the evolution of the company over the last two decades and what the future holds.
What makes VIVOTEK stand out in such a competitive marketplace?
Founded in 2000, VIVOTEK has deep history in the IP surveillance market, building on trust as the foundation of our success. During the past 20 years, we have been sharing a high standard of culture and moral norms with the companies that work with us in addition to the end users that are protected by our security systems.
While others offer just network cameras, VIVOTEK is also a technology-driven company; we provide a comprehensive solution that includes IP cameras, network video recorders (NVR) and application and VMS software in our VAST 2 solution. In addition to our hardware systems, we invest R&D resources in smart video analytics powered by AI and deep learning technologies. Furthermore, we carry products that are compliant to government regulatory and industry standards such as TAA, NDAA and ONVIF.
How has the company evolved over its 20 years in existence?
From a humble beginning with limited resources in 2000, our Founder, Owen Chen, foresaw the emergence of broadband and wireless services in the global market and turned that into a successful business 20 years later, focusing at the start with IP cameras to now offering full solution surveillance products. Today, VIVOTEK is a public traded company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and ranked as Taiwan’s top IP surveillance company. It has grown into a global organisation of more than 1,000 employees around the world. Recently, VIVOTEK has been recognised with an honourable mention in the Best Taiwan Global Brands 2020 and Top 16 of the Security 50 ranking in the global security market.
How are you celebrating such a significant milestone?
We were hoping to make a big splash for our 20-year celebration at ISC West and other significant security trade shows this year, but due to COVID-19, we had to re-shift our priority for the safety of our valuable employees, our customers and strategic partners. However, we hope to celebrate our milestone next year. For now, seeing the pride displayed in our employees is a celebration in itself already.
What have been the major achievements for VIVOTEK over the last 20 years?
Since inception in 2000, our rapid growth led us to open an office in the USA in San Jose, California in 2008, followed by more offices opened globally in Europe (Netherlands), India (Delhi), Middle East (Dubai), Latin America (Mexico) and Asia (Japan) in the following ten-year span. Under the leadership of Mr. Chen during the past two decades, VIVOTEK held its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, expanded its global footprint into more than 116 countries and established brand offices in six countries. With deep roots in Taiwan, VIVOTEK has grown into a global company of over 1,000 employees. The company has ranked as Taiwan’s top IP surveillance company and is the only Taiwanese company among the top 20 in the global security market.
What have been the key changes in the surveillance industry as a whole since VIVOTEK was formed?
One of the key changes is the replacement of analogue cameras with network cameras now that higher speed broadbands are widely available at lower cost. Another area is in the availability of AI-enabled video analytics embedded into the cameras. Going beyond security applications, AI-enabled video analytics can further reduce false alarms and enhance business or operational intelligence. We believe AI creates new opportunity and has transformed the security industry.
How important will facial recognition technology be from a security perspective in the coming years?
As a leading security solution provider, we try our best to make people feel secure with AI by creating solutions that can fulfil the users’ real demands and also protect individual privacy. As we mentioned earlier, trust is one of the fundamental assets of VIVOTEK.
We know facial recognition technology is even more important now during this pandemic. The technology not only provides physical security but also helps control crowd occupancy. This technology is something the market expects and we are proud to provide this facial recognition technology in addition to our recently launched Crowd Control Solution.
What does the roadmap look like for VIVOTEK over the next 12 months?
We will provide AI-based solutions in our fight against COVID-19. In terms of accelerating our manufacturing efficiency, we will not only concentrate on the Made in Taiwan policy now but also establish a new manufacturing automation product line that is targeted in the first quarter of 2021. Moreover, we will continue technological advancement in AI video analytics and open platform products which is driven by the Open Security & Safety Alliance (OSSA).
