Sentry View Systems: Solutions for Extreme Conditions

Imagine, for a moment, that you need to put a surveillance camera in a remote location, where weather conditions are severe. Though the camera is designed to be very durable, what happens when a computer has to be located with the camera, in say, the middle of a desert where temperatures can go from sweltering heat to freezing cold? Also, how do you power that surveillance camera computer and link it to a monitoring center when it is miles from the nearest power network?

Sentry View Systems in Melbourne has built a reputation for adaptive engineering and specialty manufacturing, creating solutions for these demanding and remote applications. Sentry View has designed, delivered and installed remote SATCOM communications systems in the U.S. and abroad, providing security for some of the most sensitive installations in the world. This includes being awarded repeat contracts to provide remote surveillance solutions for the USAF to monitor and protect Minuteman III ICBM launch facilities.

Consider another real-world scenario. You and a medical team arrive to a city following a major hurricane, like when Maria hit Puerto Rico. Maximum sustained winds reached 175 mph, not only taking lives and destroying buildings, but also devastating the island’s power grid. With you are medical supplies that require constant refrigeration.

Sentry View just introduced Solice, a portable refrigeration unit, coupled with a solar panel, battery backup and rechargeable lighting. Using Solice, critical food and medicines can be kept refrigerated. And the system has USB ports to charge cell phones and other devices you may require in times of emergency.

These are the types of innovative and rugged products Sentry View has developed a reputation for delivering.

New products, new markets
Kirk Hall, CEO of Sentry View, explained the legacy the company has in developing these customized applications, primarily for the military. However, this former CFO and corporate tax attorney, who took the helm in 2014, indicated the team is expanding into products that have a broader appeal and applications. “We are now developing products that can be included in a GSA (Government Services Administration) Catalogue,” Hall said. “That way, if a defense contractor is looking for a product and it is in the catalogue, they can purchase it without going through a bidding process.”

In addition to its connection to the military, Sentry View is targeting U.S. Border Patrol, FEMA, Homeland Security and local law enforcement as potential customers.

Sentry View began in 2000 as a telecom company for the overseas cellular market. When that sector plummeted, the company landed a contract with the Air Force to provide remote communications capabilities. The opportunity led to an invitation to compete, as a subcontractor, to developed equipment which enhanced security for nuclear missile sites.

Sentry View’s relationship with the Air Force carried the company through the ups and downs in the market. Now, the company is using its engineering and product development talent to take advantage of new opportunities. “One of our plusses is the engineers on our team like working for a firm our size,” Hall said. “They are able to be a part of the process from concept, to design, to final product. The opportunity to innovate is there every day. That creative flexibility has a lot of appeal, which creates a loyalty that is in some ways impervious to the enticements of large corporations.”

Currently, the company has just under 50 employees, but they are all essential to present operations. Sentry View’s new product lines would mean additional hires. The plan is to outsource its manufacturing and continue to grow as a design firm.

“Unfortunately, the world is not perceived as a safer place than it was, even five years ago,” Hall said. “The platforms that we are providing make it easier to protect against those threats, which gives us a strong position in the market moving forward.”