Zenitel - Experts & Thought Leaders

Omdia market share data for 2025 continues to show Milestone as the market pioneer across the EMEA region, with a 19 per cent share of a market now worth USD 573 million. Milestone Systems is the largest single provider of video management software (VMS) and Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), according to 2025 market share data from technology research and advisory group, Omdia. Milestone has nearly one-fifth (19.1 per cent) of the overall EMEA market, which includes the UK and Ireland – a market-pioneer position that hasn’t altered since 2021. More informed decisions Across the EMEA region, the VMS and video surveillance as a service (VSaaS) market grew 10 per cent in 2025 to USD 573 million, and the Middle East and Eastern Europe saw particular growth. Omdia’s figures come at a time when organisations across EMEA are increasingly using video to support operational decision-making alongside security. Across traffic management, transportation, retail and manufacturing, video data is helping organisations better understand how sites and services perform and make more informed decisions. Morten Illum, Chief Revenue Officer, Milestone Systems, said: “This ranking reflects what customers across EMEA continue to look for: open, flexible video technology that gives them choice today and room to evolve tomorrow. Together with our partner community, we help customers design systems around their specific needs, while future-proofing their investment as AI and cloud technologies transform the value of video beyond security.” Strategically important markets Milestone’s leading position is built on three key offerings: Milestone XProtect® video management software, Milestone BriefCam® AI-powered analytics and Milestone Arcules® cloud VSaaS. Together, they give organisations the flexibility to deploy video on premises, in the cloud or across hybrid environments, while adding analytics without replacing existing systems. The UK and Ireland remain strategically important markets for Milestone. Earlier this year, the company opened its London Concept Centre, an interactive space where end users, integrators and partners can explore Milestone technology alongside solutions from partners including Axis, Bosch, Gallagher, Hanwha, Honeywell, i-PRO, ADI, Oprema, Zenitel and 2N before designing a system. AI anonymisation technology Martin McGrath, Sales Director for UK and Ireland at Milestone Systems, said: “The UK is a demanding market, and rightly so. Organisations increasingly expect their video systems to support business decisions as well as security needs, while continuing to adapt as their operations evolve. Our leading position across EMEA gives customers confidence that the platform they choose today will remain open, supported and continuously developed in the years ahead.” Milestone is also investing in the data foundations behind video AI through Project Hafnia, its regulatory-compliant video data library, and brighter AI anonymisation technology. Together, these initiatives are designed to give customers greater transparency into how AI models are trained.

Zenitel, a pioneer in Unified Critical Communication solutions, announces the launch of the Indoor IP Speaker Kit (ZIPS-K) and Outdoor IP Speaker Kit (ZIPS-KOE), giving partners greater flexibility to develop customised IP speaker solutions for specific applications and project requirements. Zenitel was an early pioneer of IP speaker technology, introducing its first IP speaker solution in 2010. Since then, the company has continuously expanded its IP speaker portfolio to address a growing range of public address, security, and operational communication requirements. Operational communication requirements With the introduction of the Zenitel IP Speaker Kits, Zenitel takes the next step by making its IP speaker technology available as a flexible building block for customised speaker designs. IP speakers can be integrated part of Zenitel Unified Critical Communication solutions such as Zenitel Connect. The Zenitel IP Speaker Kits enables partners to build and customise IP speakers around specific form factors, acoustic requirements, and project needs, while leveraging the proven audio, networking, and management capabilities behind Zenitel's own IP speaker portfolio. This allows Zenitel’s technology to be incorporated into applications where a standard speaker enclosure may not be the ideal fit, while maintaining the communication capabilities expected from a Zenitel IP audio solution. IP communication technology At the heart of the new kits is the same focus on audio performance that has characterised Zenitel's communication solutions for decades. By combining the speaker kits with an appropriate loudspeaker and enclosure, partners can develop solutions tailored to their application while benefiting from Zenitel's proven audio processing and IP communication technology. The result is greater freedom in speaker design without compromising the quality and reliability required for critical communications. IP speaker portfolio The new IP Speaker Kits are not only intended for customised partner solutions. They will also become the technology foundation for Zenitel's own IP speaker portfolio, replacing the existing IP module and further expanding the capabilities of Zenitel’s IP speakers. This common technology foundation enables Zenitel to continue developing its IP speaker portfolio while giving partners access to the same underlying technology for their individual and specialised applications. Operational requirements change Together, the new IP Speaker Kits and Zenitel’s IP speaker portfolio further strengthen the company’s Unified Critical Communication (UCC) offering, enabling organisations to bring public address and communication capabilities into a broader, unified communication environment. Combined with platforms such as Zenitel Connect and services such as Zenitel Cloud RMM, customers can deploy, manage, and evolve their critical communication solutions as operational requirements change. “With the Zenitel IP Speaker Kits, we are taking the technology behind our IP speakers and making it available in a much more flexible form,” says Mikkjell Rommetveit, Senior R&D Project Manager at Zenitel. Customised speaker built “Our partners increasingly need solutions adapted to specific environments and applications. Rather than limiting to a specific speaker design, the new kits give them the freedom to build any type of speakers while keeping Zenitel technology at the core.” “For us, this is also about extending the Zenitel ecosystem,” Rommetveit adds. “Whether customers choose a complete Zenitel IP speaker or a customised speaker built with Zenitel Inside, they can benefit from the same trusted foundation for critical communication.”

Zenitel, a pioneer in Unified Critical Communication solutions, announces the launch of the Indoor IP Speaker Kit (ZIPS-K) and Outdoor IP Speaker Kit (ZIPS-KOE), giving partners greater flexibility to develop customised IP speaker solutions for specific applications and project requirements. Zenitel was an early pioneer of IP speaker technology, introducing its first IP speaker solution in 2010. Since then, the company has continuously expanded its IP speaker portfolio to address a growing range of public address, security, and operational communication requirements. With the introduction of the Zenitel IP Speaker Kits, Zenitel takes the next step by making its IP speaker technology available as a flexible building block for customised speaker designs. IP speakers can be integrated part of Zenitel Unified Critical Communication solutions such as Zenitel Connect. Customise IP speakers The Zenitel IP Speaker Kits enable partners to build and customise IP speakers around specific form factors, acoustic requirements, and project needs, while leveraging the proven audio, networking, and management capabilities behind Zenitel's own IP speaker portfolio. This allows Zenitel’s technology to be incorporated into applications where a standard speaker enclosure may not be the ideal fit, while maintaining the communication capabilities expected from a Zenitel IP audio solution. IP communication technology At the heart of the new kits is the same focus on audio performance that has characterised Zenitel's communication solutions for decades. By combining the speaker kits with an appropriate loudspeaker and enclosure, partners can develop solutions tailored to their application while benefiting from Zenitel's proven audio processing and IP communication technology. The result is greater freedom in speaker design without compromising the quality and reliability required for critical communications. The new IP Speaker Kits are not only intended for customised partner solutions. They will also become the technology foundation for Zenitel's own IP speaker portfolio, replacing the existing IP module and further expanding the capabilities of Zenitel’s IP speakers. Common technology foundation This common technology foundation enables Zenitel to continue developing its IP speaker portfolio while giving partners access to the same underlying technology for their individual and specialised applications. Together, the new IP Speaker Kits and Zenitel’s IP speaker portfolio further strengthen the company’s Unified Critical Communication (UCC) offering, enabling organisations to bring public address and communication capabilities into a broader, unified communication environment. Combined with platforms such as Zenitel Connect and services such as Zenitel Cloud RMM, customers can deploy, manage, and evolve their critical communication solutions as operational requirements change. Operational requirements change “With the Zenitel IP Speaker Kits, we are taking the technology behind our IP speakers and making it available in a much more flexible form,” says Mikkjell Rommetveit, Senior R&D Project Manager at Zenitel. “Our partners increasingly need solutions adapted to specific environments and applications. Rather than limiting to a specific speaker design, the new kits give them the freedom to build any type of speakers while keeping Zenitel technology at the core.”  “For us, this is also about extending the Zenitel ecosystem,” Rommetveit adds. “Whether customers choose a complete Zenitel IP speaker or a customised speaker built with Zenitel inside, they can benefit from the same trusted foundation for critical communication.”

Here’s a news flash: 2022 will be a pivotal year for the security industry. As we enter the new year, continuing change is a safe prediction for any fast-moving, technology-driven marketplace. Recent history confirms the ability of the security industry to shift and adapt to changing conditions and to provide an ever-expanding menu of technology solutions to make the world a safer place. Given that the new year will bring change, what will that change encompass? More to the point, what should it encompass? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the biggest change you would like to see within the security industry in 2022?

Every building starts with the entrance. A solid enterprise risk mitigation and security strategy include protecting that entrance. Often, risk mitigation strategies protecting the entrance have included high-resolution video surveillance cameras, video management systems, and access control solutions. But that strategy and set of security solutions only tells part of the story. Imagine a security guard who is protecting a facility after hours, when an individual approaches the entrance and seeks to gain access. The security guard can pull up the video surveillance feed and see the individual and his movements, which appear to be suspicious. But he also needs to hear him in order to decide the next decisions and actions. Does he escalate the situation, calling for backup and for first responders’ response, or does he allow the individual access to the building because he works there and is authorised to enter?   Meet high-definition voice What the security guard needs is to be able to hear and to communicate with that individual. All enterprise security systems need three primary components in order to successfully protect the entrance and to mitigate risk – access control, video surveillance, and the ability to hear and communicate. Each component plays an integral role in supporting a unified security system, and without all three, the security system is not complete. Access control can be thought of as the brains of a security system by holding data and permissions. It serves as the arms and hands of the system; it can either keep someone out or What a security guard needs is to be able to hear and to communicate with an individualinvite them in. IP video allows a security team to remotely position a set of eyes anywhere an IP camera can be placed on a network. With a video management system, security teams can see what is happening and decide how to respond. However, with remote viewing, the event may be over by the time security physically responds.  Audio adds interactivity That three-component enterprise security system – comprising IP video, access control, and high-definition voice working together mitigates risks and provides value. It also means that security is interactive. Security teams talk and listen to the person that’s seen on a video surveillance system, no matter where the location or how remote. If the person is lost or simply needs assistance, security personnel can talk to them and provide direction and reassurance. Even more, in an emergency, an interactive solution becomes a critical life-saving tool, as it provides data that can be shared between security, police, emergency services, and more. Audio can also detect voices, noises, breaking glass, or other sounds that are not within direct view of a video camera. An interactive security system creates an informed response, by providing real-time situation awareness management. Post-event, it supports forensics and investigations to mitigate future security incidents.  Audio and COVID-19 We are living in extraordinary times. As businesses begin to reopen and stay open, they are looking for any tools that can help them overcome the enormous That three-component enterprise security system – comprising IP video, access control, and high-definition voice working together mitigates risks and provides valuechallenges they face. In buildings and facilities, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a new security perimeter, one that demands contactless access with entry and exit, and that has also created a new duty of care for security professionals. Now more than ever is the need to interact and communicate with individuals moving in and out of doors and spaces without physical intervention. Intelligent communications, integrated with contactless access control, can help a business to comply with pandemic safety guidelines and ultimately, reopen for business and stay open.  COVID-19 has also increased the need for clean-room isolation and quarantine spaces, sometimes in areas not originally intended for that use, where risk of infection is high, and equipment must be easily disinfected between patients. Here, purpose-built cleanroom intercoms, providing clear touchless communications despite the noisy environment, have emerged as critical tools for enabling patient care while reducing the need to enter the contaminated space. For example, voice communication can enable hospital staff to verify identity and to communicate with patients without entering the isolated and infectious environment, which can save on personal protective equipment (PPE) and reduce the amount of exposure to the virus. In non-emergency healthcare facilities, such as medical centers, voice can effectively relay information to building occupants and visitors for screening purposes. Visitors can be seen and heard. For example, a patient who seeks access to a medical center for an appointment can hear important instructions from a nurse via the intercom solution. Seeing the person that you talk to is one thing but hearing them conveys a much better sense of closeness, making it possible to maintain a high level of security and customer service.  The whole story Today’s security systems should no longer simply involve video surveillance cameras generating feedback and images to a security guard. Instead, a new ecosystem for enterprise security and risk mitigation has emerged, and it’s one that involves video surveillance, access control, and high-definition voice. That ecosystem can ensure well-rounded and responsive information management and security platform, all communicating with each other and offering actionable insight into risks and potential physical breaches. Audio is the new value hub of the connected and intelligent school, campus, building, correctional facility, and more. Simply put, a silent security system cannot be an effective security system. In every situation, it is crucial for all security professionals to mitigate risk, no matter what they are protecting. This emphasizes the need to hear, be heard, and be understood in virtually any environment.  

During 2017, we witnessed as the end-user came to realise that an intercom can be a silo if not properly integrated in with access control, video management, and their existing VoIP-based systems as well as designing intelligibility into every device. We believe the next generation of communication in the Age of Voice has accelerated beyond anyone’s expectations, and we will begin to see more and more attention on highly intelligible, interoperable and scalable intelligent communications solutions protected by robust cyber-defensible shields. Clear and measurable tools Intelligent communications solutions will define a new standard for IP-based systems that are able to interoperate with existing and emerging systems Intelligent communications solutions will define a new standard for IP-based systems that are able to interoperate with existing and emerging systems such as access control, video, VoIP and messaging platforms. The winners in the commercial marketplace will design intelligibility into every device and provide clear and measurable tools for managing the performance of that device on IT’s network. We call these the “ilities”: Cyber Defensibility, High Availability, Maintainability, Reliability and Scalability. Zenitel continues to be seen by leading access control and video management companies as the preferred intelligent communications solutions provider that can interoperate within a 360-degree all-hazards risk and actionable response platform. Educating the end user When the end user or integrator is educated on how to evaluate communications solutions, or experienced the painful lessons around deploying less intelligible solutions, Zenitel becomes their solution of choice. In 2018, we hope to do the same for the VoIP channel, showing them not only how we interoperate with their current telephony solutions, but also how they can augment those solutions in new and compelling ways.