Unify Physical Security Without Vendor Lock-In.
Mid-market and enterprise security teams stitch Verkada / Avigilon for cameras + Lenel / Software House for access + DSC / Honeywell for alarms + Envoy for visitors + custom central station integrations — paying $500K-2M/year for hardware lock-in + per-camera cloud fees. Aeion Sentinel + Smart-Spaces + Helpdesk + Bridge unifies all of it on one platform with ONVIF camera support, existing alarm-panel integration, badge-vendor flexibility, AI threat detection, and cross-module emergency response.
What Aeion Ships for Physical Security
Multi-Vendor Camera Support
Point Aeion at the camera fleet you already own — Axis, Hikvision, Hanwha, Dahua, Bosch, Avigilon, even Verkada hardware mid-replacement — over standard ONVIF and RTSP discovery, so you're never locked into one hardware vendor again. And because there's no per-camera cloud fee, adding cameras never chips away at your budget at renewal. Read Sentinel →
Existing Alarm Panel Integration
Bridge connects to your alarm panel over its existing serial interface — DSC PowerSeries, Honeywell Vista, Bosch B-Series, Ademco — so your UL-listed panel stays exactly as installed, with Aeion added as a parallel controller. No fire or security inspector recertification, no rip-and-replace.
Access Control Flexibility
Works with the reader hardware already in your doors — Wiegand 26-bit, 34-bit, or standard, plus OSDP and BACnet — and adds mobile credentials through HID Origo and Apple Wallet. Set per-door schedules, anti-passback rules, and mantrap interlocks without swapping a single reader.
AI Threat Detection
Every camera feed gets object recognition — person, vehicle, weapon, package — plus zone-level behavior analysis that flags loitering, tailgating, and wrong-direction movement before it turns into an incident. License-plate recognition covers parking and delivery, and inference can run on edge GPU hardware for HIPAA and classified sites that can't send video off-premises. Read Claw →
Visitor Management
Visitors pre-register online, sign NDAs digitally, get a photo badge printed on arrival, and their host is notified the moment they check in — with full escort tracking for sensitive areas. Workflow customization per visitor type means contractors, VIPs, and interviewees each get the right process automatically.
Central Station Dispatch
Speaks SIA-DC09 and Contact ID — the two protocols UL-listed monitoring centers already use — so your existing central station contract keeps working without renegotiation.
Cross-Module Emergency Response
A security incident doesn't stay siloed in the camera system. One alert triggers a coordinated response: Smart Spaces locks down HVAC, elevators, and lighting, Helpdesk opens a P1 ticket, Executive gets notified, and signage displays the emergency message — all from a single event instead of separate teams reacting in isolation.
Compliance Reporting
SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR evidence for physical-security controls builds automatically, with a full audit trail per incident and an automated report generated every quarter — so you're never scrambling to assemble evidence before an audit.
Physical Security Economics
Typical enterprise stack (5-building campus, 500 cameras, 100 doors):
- Verkada cloud subscription: $500K-1M/year (200 cameras × $200/year + storage)
- Avigilon Command Station: $250K-500K/year + per-seat licenses
- Lenel OnGuard access: $100K-300K/year
- Envoy visitor: $50-100K/year
- Central station monitoring: $20K-100K/year
- Vendor support contracts: $80-150K/year
- Total: $1M-2.1M/year
Aeion replacement (same campus):
- Aeion platform tier (Sentinel Enterprise): $50K-150K/year
- Bridge hardware (edge GPU per building): $40K-80K one-time
- Camera replacement (only Verkada cameras → Hanwha ONVIF, phased over 12 months): $100-200K one-time
- Central station: existing contract retained
- Total Year-1: $190-430K + amortized hardware
- Year-2+ steady state: $50-150K/year
Year-1 savings: $600K-1.7M Year-2+ steady-state savings: $850K-1.95M/year
The biggest savings come from killing per-camera cloud fees + per-seat command-station licenses.
The Migration Playbook
Phase 1 — Discovery + Camera Audit (Weeks 1-3):
- ONVIF discovery across subnets
- Per-camera + per-door + per-alarm inventory
- Bridge edge-node sizing per building
- Existing UL-listed alarm panel inventory (kept)
- Central station contract review
- Per-vendor lock-in identification (Verkada specifically)
Phase 2 — Bridge + Camera Integration (Weeks 4-8):
- Bridge nodes deployed (per-building)
- ONVIF-compliant cameras ingested
- RTSP stream verification
- AI inference deployed on edge GPU
- Per-camera AI rules configured
Phase 3 — Access Control + Alarm Integration (Weeks 9-12):
- Lenel / Software House controllers bridged via OSDP
- Per-door rules migrated
- Badge population imported
- DSC / Honeywell / Bosch panels bridged via serial
- Per-alarm partitions configured
- Central station dispatch tested
Phase 4 — Visitor + Cross-Module (Weeks 13-15):
- Envoy → Sentinel visitor management cutover
- Pre-registration portal branded
- Cross-module reactions configured (security → smart-spaces + helpdesk + executive)
Phase 5 — Verkada Replacement (Months 4-15):
- 30 cameras/month replacement schedule (Verkada → Hanwha)
- Per-camera blackout windows minimized
- Existing footage migrated to BYOB S3
- Verkada subscription cancelled at next renewal
Typical timeline: 12-15 weeks to cutover + 12-month phased Verkada replacement.
Why Replace Per-Camera Cloud Vendors
Verkada's pricing model: $200-400/camera/year × your camera count. 200 cameras = $40-80K/year. 500 cameras = $100-200K/year. 2000 cameras = $400-800K/year. Forever. Plus storage, plus AI, plus advanced features.
Aeion's pricing model: Flat per-module rate regardless of camera count. Camera count scaling doesn't change your bill. The cost shifts to your storage (BYOB S3 typically $0.005-0.023/GB/month for hot data, $0.001/GB for cold).
Per-1000-cameras 5-year TCO:
- Verkada: ~$1.5-2M
- Aeion (Sentinel Enterprise + storage + LLM): ~$300-600K
- 5-year savings: $900K-1.7M per 1000 cameras
Beyond cost — vendor lock-in:
- Verkada blocks ONVIF on their hardware (deliberate vendor lock)
- Cameras unusable if you stop paying subscription
- Cannot mix camera vendors easily
- Cannot self-host
- Cannot extract historical footage without re-paying
Aeion's posture:
- ONVIF + RTSP standard support
- Footage in BYOB S3 (your bucket, your IAM)
- Per-camera-vendor flexibility
- Self-host the entire stack if needed
- Migrate away any time (your data is exportable)
Why Unify Physical Security on Aeion
$600K-1.7M Year-1 savings
Realized on a 5-building campus after replacing a $1M-2.1M/year multi-vendor stack — driven mostly by killing per-camera cloud fees and per-seat command-station licenses.
Multi-vendor camera support
ONVIF and RTSP discovery mean no Verkada-style lock-in — mix or swap camera brands freely.
Existing alarm panel preserved
DSC, Honeywell, and Bosch panels stay in place and UL-listed, with Aeion added as a parallel controller — no recertification.
Existing access controller preserved
Lenel and Software House controllers bridge in over OSDP, so your door-hardware investment isn't wasted.
AI threat detection at the edge
Object and behavior recognition run on-site GPU hardware, keeping video processing HIPAA- and classified-site compatible.
Cross-module emergency response
One security event cascades automatically across buildings, tickets, and executive notifications instead of separate teams reacting in isolation.
Existing central station contract kept
SIA-DC09 and Contact ID support means your UL-listed dispatch relationship doesn't change.
One unified audit log
Physical, cyber, and operational events land in a single trail instead of three separate systems.