The control room market is booming both numerically and in terms of technological development. 3G Electronics have been active in this sector for some time, gradually becoming one of the main focuses.
The interviews continue with a more intricate commercial reality on the Italian scene: 3G Electronics, based in Milan but with operational capacity throughout the national territory and – in some cases – also externally. Moreover, it is difficult to talk about sales control in Italy without mentioning 3G Electronics, which speaks volumes about its experience in the sector.
We resume our dialogue with Maurizio Vacca, Commercial Manager of 3G Electronics.
Connessioni – How would you describe 3G activity in relation to Control Rooms?
MV – Well, for us it is one of the two large market areas to which we dedicate ourselves, the other is Digital Signage. It must always be kept in mind that control rooms are critical applications: a problem in a control room requires rapid and effective intervention. We have grown a lot in this sector thanks to the collaboration with our historical supplier, Matrox, active both in the hardware and software channel. Products like the Mura series have undoubtedly enabled the market to develop. Thanks to a product life cycle – from 7 to 10 years – and control over the entire production chain, it allows us to support all the requests of our customers.
C – A collaboration in both directions…
MV – Matrox does not sell complete systems, only the boards, so it is up to us to design and build customisations for individual customers. The collaboration, in short, goes in two ways: we collect inputs from the field and make our experience in the installation available, also in order to suggest improvements to the products. We are, in short, a kind of experimental laboratory on a national scale for Matrox.
C – What a beautiful image! But what is the Italian control room market like?
MV – The Italian market is quite demanding, with Control Rooms smaller on average than other European companies, but characterised by complex requests. On the one hand there is a quantity of laws and regulations that imply a high level of personalisation, on the other hand, we have received requests for very complex architectures, for example in the financial sector. ‘Control Room’, moreover, is a broad term: these are often hybrid installations, with crossings and overlaps in different markets.
C – What are the main types of control rooms on the Italian market?
MV – There are the ‘process control’ type for the management of the electricity grid, aqueducts, etc. – for us these are the ‘traditional’ markets, then there is the control of network points, security, etc.: an emerging market, certainly the most ‘new’ sphere in which we are adding ourselves. But we have many other applications, from the financial sector for the control of bank transactions and credit cards, to surveillance, a ‘mixed’ market where signals of various origins and types are mixed, where both the cameras and the location are located, for example with a tracker that displays the individual vans we are monitoring on a video wall. Other interesting applications are the control of car traffic, airport traffic, satellite control or large Live events etc.
C – In short, there is so much to do! What differentiates you from other realities?
MV – After many years of presence in the market I like to think that we have made ourselves known by now! I believe that our strength lies in the after-sales, which includes installation, training and maintenance, because customer support over the long life of the system is fundamental in the Control Room.
