Equinox. CAD system for security specialists

SaaS planner web application for sale

Project Highlights

Providing full-cycle software development services for a security SaaS startup
Creating a SaaS for sale that can be monetized via a vendor lock scheme
Automating the planning process of installing the alarm and closed-circuit television surveillance systems

Industry:: Proptech
Location:: Australia
Duration:: 2019-2020

Tech Stack

PHP
Symfony
Vue.js
Docker
Amazon S3
CloudFront
Amazon ECS

Offered Services

Solution Architecture Consulting
Backend Development
Frontend Development
DevOps Implementation
Project Management

Platforms

Client overview

The Project

Equinox is a software-as-a-service startup aimed at providing help for security specialists in planning the alarm and closed-circuit television surveillance systems. Its mission is to develop the security industry with an innovative solution that is useful for all parties.

The Challenge

Burglar alarm systems are an essential part of home and business office safety these days. Currently, there is too much manual work performed to implement these preventive measures. This sphere is an open field for innovations. Those security specialists who have an open mind and see a vast amount of possibilities can impressively improve the processes and make them beneficial for themselves.

This is the case of our client who came with an idea that is potentially able to revolutionize the security sphere. Being the expert in the niche, our client has realized the absence of the software that can fasten the planning stage of installing the security systems and decided to launch a startup.

When someone orders to install the security system the first stage lies in the fact that security specialists come to the place, define the necessary setting, the positioning of video cameras, and other security devices, and draw up a plan of the whole necessary equipment manually. There are so many things to consider at this point including the costs of all the wires, devices, and installation works. All of it is performed manually which takes too much time. If the setting should be re-designed due to some circumstances, the process gets delayed.

The main challenge that our client needed to resolve is to create software that will be able to automate the planning stage. The Uinno team was challenged to create a computer-aided design (CAD) software that is able to replace manual drafting. It should be an automated process of creating a building plan and computer models of the security devices that can be located in a particular place.

Provided by Uinno

Core solutions

We have managed to create a CAD system from scratch till the final project delivery. Now the process goes like this. After the initial order, security specialists define the best possible positioning of the security devices. For example, one camera can be put in front of the entrance and the other one - near the exit. The goal is to make sure that all building's cameras can monitor the whole visitor route along with the place.

Then the security specialist creates a plan in the CAD system, defines the characteristics of cameras: the long-focused and narrow-angled ones can capture the face well, whereas wide-angled cameras are able to capture the whole space territory. Similarly, all the wires, sensors, and other devices’ characteristics are included in the plan and the tool calculates the final estimation. If it doesn't fit the end-users budget, the system may form an optimal solution for the specified budget.

The tool allows printing out the specification of the plan and the device features necessary for the project. Installers act according to the spec documentation.

So the core functionality delivered by Uinno is as follows:

Planning the security items

Security specialists can load the floor plan within the solution and add security items such as sensors, cameras, locks, doors, and other things to the floor plan. As a result, the system counts the number of materials and wires necessary for the installers to assemble on the end-customer territory.

Implementing the variety of options

Users can choose security devices with different parameters such as resolution, frame rate, white balance, etc. Depending on the quality of each parameter, the platform algorithm can offer specific items, e. g. cameras of the highest resolution or the cheapest ones.

Establishing the visual part

The system can accommodate the items on the defined territory by snapping them according to specific coordinates for each item. Once there is a need for scaling, the functionality will adjust each computer model adequately.

In general, the Uinno team has provided the full cycle of software development services using cutting-edge technologies. It included the solution architecture design, frontend development using the Vue.js framework, and backend development with PHP and Symphony technologies. The final solution was deployed using a range of cloud-supported technologies such as Docker, Amazon S3, CloudFront, ECS.

Polished management

Daily Meetings

Retrospectives

We are dedicated to delivering software solutions on time and within the highest quality. To make the development process transparent and beneficial for both our development team and the client we stick to the time and material contract.

Within each development stage, we adjust our proceedings according to necessity. Scram methodology allows being flexible and productive at the same time. We've discussed what we're gonna do in the next two weeks and performed the actions accordingly. Then our team has made the sprint retrospective and after evaluating the preliminary results we have made the required improvement.

What's in the outcome?

Uinno has provided a full cycle of software development services from solution architecture implementation to frontend/backend development and final web product deployment of the CAD tool for security professionals. It is a planning automation solution that enables security specialists to architect floor plans for CCTV and alarm systems within the specified end-clients budget. Being a startup, its owners get through the various stages of fundraising negotiations with investors in order to create a SaaS for sale with the purpose to monetize it via a vendor lock scheme.

The final product holds benefits for all the parties of the security systems installation process.

For Manufacturers

The vendor lock approach implies selling the software on the manufacturer's website, which is beneficial for the manufacturers as they can offer their equipment exclusively.

For Security Specialists

Automated drafting using the CAD solution is way more easy, convenient, and extremely faster compared to manual planning.

For End-Customers

The final product allows the customization of planning depending on their special requirements and available budget.

The final product allows the customization of planning depending on their special requirements and available budget. Being a novel product in the security sphere, the solution opens up new horizons for the startup owners and the market itself contributing to its vast further development with the implementation of innovative technologies.

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