Matthias Rebellius has led as CEO the Fire Safety & Security Products Business Unit at Siemens Building Technologies for the past three years. During a visit to the international company headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, Heiko Baumgartner talked with Matthias Rebellius for GIT-SECURITY.com about the trends in building security and fire protection technology and the Siemens products for this industry.

GIT-SECURITY.com: The Siemens One concept assigns one point of contact for your customers. Can you explain the set-up of Siemens One?

Matthias Rebellius: Siemens One is not an independent business unit but a sales organization that works across all sectors. It is supported by our CEO, Peter Löscher, and the head of the Industry sector, Siegfried Russwurm. Our business units are represented within this structure by Siemens Corporate Account Managers who are highly familiar with the whole business. The Corporate Account Managers ensure that our customers have a central contact person for the entire Siemens product range, across all divisions and sectors. Their contact persons are all at management level.

How are Corporate Account Managers assigned to the projects?

Matthias Rebellius: Which expert from the Siemens One organization will be assigned to the project organization is decided during new customer project meetings. The Account Managers must work as an integrated team and also look left and right, whereby the proximity to the customer has priority over technology and solutions.

Can you say something about vertical markets?

Matthias Rebellius: One example of a vertical market that we manage in the Fire Safety Business Unit is the hotel market, for which I have the business lead. As we have a deep understanding of the processes of our hotel customers, we are able to deliver solutions to our Corporate Account Managers that are tailored to the needs of hotels. The security and safety of hotel guests is a very important subject, not least because of legal requirements.

Meeting legal obligations alone, however, does not necessarily provide advantages for the business processes of hotel operators. Benefits can be optimized through an effective combination of the security and fire protection systems with an integrated building automation system. This is what we call "Total Building Solutions". Take, for example, the current information devices in hotel rooms, such as the TV screen which already performs a variety of functions like greeting guests and providing TV and radio programs as well as internet access. This device could also be integrated into the overall system so that it displays important messages in the event of a mass evacuation. This way there is no need to look for the evacuation plan in an emergency. Intelligent escape route control with lights also helps the evacuation process.

How is business developing in the residential market?

Matthias Rebellius: Changes in the standards mean that both new and older buildings now have to be fitted with smoke detectors. In most cases this is simple technology that has not been in our focus so far.

Could you tell us something about the role of voice alarms for building security?

Matthias Rebellius: Voice alarms will form an even more important element of security systems in the future. The characteristics depend on the type of building and its particular usage. A general voice alarm, for example, is not suitable for a hospital; hospitals require intelligent evacuation systems, which apply a staged evacuation concept that clears floors or rooms. The evacuation is initiated at various information levels via a local ‘Command & Control Solution‘ and is continuously tracked. This way the evacuation procedure is clearly tracked in case liability issues arise later. The US market is at the forefront of liability questions. It is particularly important, for example, to provide active support to the crisis team on large university campuses in the US. Good mass voice alarm systems are key where threats of fire or guns exist. These are important components of ‚Intelligent Response‘ solutions for intelligent emergency situations.

Is ‘Intelligent Response‘ used for all vertical markets?

Matthias Rebellius: Yes, it can be incorporated into virtually all security concepts. Our portfolio provides the necessary functionality. We combine this functionality of intelligent response solutions with our solution and application competence for our end-customers. .

Siemens supports the ‘best-of-breed‘ approach. How does this affect integrated solutions?

Matthias Rebellius: Tenders often take multiple suppliers into account. Our aim is always to find the best possible combination of all components, which is why we apply the BACNet standards and Ethernet. The security solutions also feature open interfaces and integration ability. Of course, we are happiest when our own products are used to the fullest extent.