ACT, the manufacturers of access control and video management software, have launched their latest cloud-based product ACT365. The Irish firm sought to convey the benefits of ACT365, as a cloud-based integrated access control and video management solution that can be accessed from anywhere, using a web browser or the ACT365 smart phone App. ACT365 suits applications that require remote access, need to manage multiple sites across the country or even the planet and of course those sites that demand cloud-based security. So what better way to launch ACT365 than by launching it into space?!
David Moran, Marketing Director of ACT, said: “ACT365 provides our installers with the benefit of remote diagnostics and servicing while the end-user benefits through remote management and monitoring of their security system. We thought we would send it somewhere pretty remote and really show it to the world. It’s a cloud product of course but ACT always likes to go one level higher so we’ve sent it 34 kilometres into the upper atmosphere!
“ACT is celebrating its twenty-first year in 2016 so it’s important for us to launch a product that represents the future of the security industry. Cloud-based, integrated solutions with native mobile Apps are all technology trends that are here to stay and we believe we have brought this technology to new levels with ACT365.”
An ACT reader and a mini-dome camera mounted to a board were launched from a site in Sheffield tethered to a weather balloon which travelled 34km up and drifted for about 80 km. Moran added: “It eventually landed five hours later near Leicester in the back garden of a champion show jumper who kindly allowed us to retrieve it.”
The footage shows the board from launch to reaching its peak altitude. Look carefully and you will see ice build up inside the mini dome camera with the weather balloon reflected in the glass. On the ascent the curvature of the earth and its thin blue atmosphere are visible above a carpet of cloud. This comes to an end with the balloon exploding and the payload free-falling back towards earth before the parachute is deployed. See launch video here:
https://youtu.be/ydcyS78FJyE.
