Earlier today, the Security Industry Association (SIA), along with ISC West, presented the 2020 New Product Showcase (NPS) Awards in an online meeting. The awards are typically presented at the in-person ISC West event, but since that was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, organizers started planning this virtual event.

“I don’t think any of us realized a couple months ago how much work it would take to do this virtually,” said Mary Beth Shaughneesy, event director of ISC Events, at the beginning of the presentation. “We know it’s been a tough few months, but we are looking forward to seeing everyone at ISC West 2021.”

Besides transitioning to an online format, there were other changes made to the awards this year. There were 34 product categories, with some categories being combined, others done away with, and some added, such as the Emerging Tech category, which was supposed to align with a new show floor section planned for the live ISC West event in 2020.

The judging process also had to change to comply with social distancing guidelines. Thirty volunteer judges reviewed virtual product demonstrations over a two-week period, when typically the judging is done in-person over a course of just two days.

“I really want to thank the technology providers, manufacturers — the people who invest in our industry’s future,” said Pierre Trapanese, chair of SIA’s board of directors, before the winners were announced. “Whether they get an award today or they don’t, we all owe them a great amount of appreciation for that investment.”

Winning the first NPS Award for Best Emerging Technology was BioConnect for its Unified Mobile Access Solution. Swiftlane received the award for best wired access control software, hardware, devices and peripheral. Alarm.com and Building36’s Smart Water Valve + Meter received the award for best smart home solution, and Site Owl was voted the best of the hosted solutions and managed services. Other product categories included commercial monitoring solutions, anti-terrorism/force protection, fire/life safety and biometrics.

John Spooner, executive vice president at Alarm Detection Systems, received the prestigious NPS Merit Award for his contribution to the success of the NPS. Spooner has been an active volunteer judge for the past 17 years.

“This year we’re happy to say the Merit Award went to an individual who was really deserving,” said Chris Grniet, chair of the SIA New Product Showcase Committee and regional vice president of the security and technology consulting division at Guidepost Solutions. “My involvement with John has shown he has a high level of integrity, and he’s willing to jump in anywhere.”

The 2020 Show Awards were saved for the end of the presentation. Receiving the 2020 Judge’s Choice Award was Suprema Inc. for its Airfob Patch. 

Leica Geosystems’ 3D Surveillance with Leica BLK247 received the award for best new product.

“Leica is a recognized leader of geospatial capture, measurement and analysis,” one judge said of the new product winner. “They have brought their expertise in these areas together to solve problems faced with traditional 2D image analysis in the security industry. The product combines multiple sensors and multiple sensor technologies . . . to provide a previously unavailable set of operands to a powerful edge computing platform.”

“Undoubtedly, this is a completely new level of technology brought to the marketplace,” said another judge about Leica.

The 2021 NPS Awards will hopefully be held in-person at ISC West 2021 in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 24.