SIA New Member Profile: Essence

Tell us the story of your company.

Essence was founded in 1994 by Chairman and CEO, Dr. Haim Amir.  Dr. Amir believed that the security industry needed innovation and he sought to bring a new way of thinking to the industry.  Beginning with PIR sensors utilizing a new lens design, and continuing with breakthrough RF protocols, a business was built that consistently brought impactful contributions to the security industry. The company is now one of the top global suppliers of technology to innovative security services companies.  With a recognized leadership position the goal was refined with the focus of giving Essence a single purpose of solving real-life problems that make customers’ lives better.  This allows the company to leverage its technologies across business possibilities, thereby further enriching people’s lives.  Today, with so many new challenges more than ever, the security business needs significant innovation.

Generally, Essence partners with forward-thinking security services providers by providing technology and quality products that enrich their services offering. These are long-term partnerships based upon a common commitment to innovation and addressing end-customer needs.  For the past 20 years, Essence has partnered with Verisure, the leading security services company in Europe, as well as many other providers committed to offering stellar services.

Tell us where your business is located (and please tell us about your geographic footprint, especially if you have multiple locations).

We are an Israeli company based in Herzliya just north of Tel Aviv.  We also have offices in the US, Spain, France, Germany and Australia giving us global coverage.  We have customers around the world.  Our state-of-the art manufacturing is based in Israel and Eastern Europe.

What solutions/services does your business offer in the security industry? And what makes your offerings/company unique?

Essence is a multi-disciplinary group of companies including Essence Security, covering security and the connected home, and Essence SmartCare offering PERS and healthcare technologies.  Our offerings are truly end-to-end covering peripherals, sensors, controllers/hubs, user interfaces and cloud platforms. We address both professional installed and DIY markets. This breadth of skills over a number of domains is what differentiates us and creates value for our partners.

We are unique because we truly start with our partners’ and their customers’ user experience in mind.  From pre-integrated platforms that simplify operations to build in software layers that evolve organically as a customer’s business model changes, we know that businesses and their relationship will evolve and we seek to make it easy for that to happen through collaborative partnership and flexibility.  Our question at all times how do current and new products, systems and technologies make life better.

The key is we do not view our relationships with customers as transactional; they long-term and strategic.  As such they evolve over time.

What’s something we might not know about your company – or something new you’re doing in security?

Let’s go back to innovation in the security business.  We do not believe that detecting an intruder is enough, we must verify and then intercede.  Law Enforcement is overwhelmed with challenges and we must add layers of protection beyond merely knowing that has been an intrusion.  To this end, we have worked with some of our largest partners on new technologies that intercede before and when an intrusion is underway.  In one case, after an attack is verified, we release a smoke-like substance that fills a room and disables the intruder if they choose not to leave.  That gives the owner the comfort to know that while law enforcement is making their way to respond that action is already underway. 

What is your company’s vision, and what are your goals for the security industry?

Quite simply, our vision is to help build a future where technology is a seamless extension of people’s lives, enriching, enabling and shaping life’s possibilities.  We do this through partnerships with like-minded businesses.

What do you think are the biggest opportunities in the security industry right now?

With the COVID-19 pandemic in progress and growing concerns about law and order, there are new challenges and possibilities for us in the business. These are on top of the growing mobilization of people and threats to our identity.  Combatting this could involve systems that secure not just the perimeter and the devices but help ensure that the home is healthy.   These will be extended to the individual as well whether at home, at work, or out and about.  We believe that gateways in the home will evolve to be much more inclusive thereby allowing services companies to extend the range of their options.  The same will be the case with mobile devices that link seamlessly with the home, work and other stakeholders. The real question is who will drive this innovation?  We clearly want to be a partner offering our hardware, software and other technologies to help develop systems that address these possibilities.

What are the biggest challenges facing your company and/or others in the security industry?

The biggest threat is short-term thinking.  Technology and meaningful solutions take time to develop.   As a privately-owned company, we have the patience and desire to see long-term relationships and invest for the long-term in technology.  For example, we are investing in the development of radar devices that can provide passive protection both on the perimeter and indoors.  We just launched a radar device that can detect falls without the need for wearables for use in independent living or senior facilities.   This offers better protection while reducing the requirement to wear a device.  We have a roadmap for this technology that includes applying it to intrusion deterrence, vital signs monitoring and more.

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company? And what do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

Our membership in SIA is based upon a belief that partnering with SIA we can help sustain and grow the security business and improve people’s lives.  We are relatively new to the US security market and expect to be a big player. To that end, we are looking for partners like SIA who know the market and equally want to facilitate growth.   We need to able to learn more about market possibilities, meet leaders in the business and join SIA in promoting the industry.  We also want to help address the collective needs of industry like supporting the need for verification and reducing false alarms.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association.