Subscriber Discussion

Has Anyone Had Any Experience With Bluewave?

JM
Jeff Minor
Sep 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

BlueWave Security

I'm going to see a pitch from them later on this week and can't seem to find anything on this trusty site related to them, which worries me a bit. Thanks.

MC
Marty Calhoun
Sep 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

I have used the product with MUCH success. I re engineered a private school in Nashville, Tennessee. It had a competitor POE access system, terrible. I talked with the guys at Blue Wave and was swayed when I found out their products are in all Macy's Nationwide. I dont think a poor product would have made it that widely accepted.

Not a ton of frills, I did not need a ton of frills either. I would most definitely use it again if I had the need for that type of modular system. I installed the controllers inside a nice Altronix power supply can with 120v to each one, we had a Cat-5 in place from the older system at every door so I stuck with that and it turned out very well.

(1)
Avatar
Brian Rhodes
Sep 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

How does it compare pricewise to other small systems?

MC
Marty Calhoun
Sep 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

It seemed a little higher at the time, I was replacing Infinias before Pelco took them over, that product was horrible, software was second class. I felt it was a little pricey for what it was but I replaced a 40 door rig and talked with hose folks last year (been 7 years ago) and it is still running fine.

(1)
JH
John Honovich
Sep 20, 2016
IPVM

They are a bit of a mystery and, from their website, poor at marketing.

LinkedIn results show employees listing both BlueWave and Clark Security Group (now owned by Anixter) as being somehow related in the past.

Also, their website blocks archive.org which is both weird and handicaps figuring out their background.

Their founder is Mance Harmon who left the company 5 years ago. His LinkedIn profile says "Company acquired by JST Partners". I can't figure out who JST partners is but around that same time is the LinkedIn employee profiles that mention Clark Security Group. Also, found a 2007 post that says BlueWave was sold then exclusively through Clark.

Marty, have you kept in touch with them? Any idea where they are at today?

MC
Marty Calhoun
Sep 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

John- No idea along those lines, I did purchase the Clark at the time. They were a SMALL company 3-5 employees maybe. Hey I when on the Macy's credential, I did due diligence I talked to someone at Macy's and it worked. I had questions regarding the software, it was limited at the time, but I did not require much so it worked fine. Sometimes you dont need all the frills, agree?

Its not DSX or Software house, its basic and they were friendly to speak with that all I have.

(1)
JM
Jeff Minor
Sep 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Thanks a lot for the info and research guys. A couple of things I'm worried about is scaling to manage many doors. We're a fairly large school district (43 schools) and scaling has always been a problem for solutions we look at across multiple systems we put in (not just access/security).

I also need it to integrate with our VMS, which is Onssi. I'm betting it doesn't integrate very well or at all. I don't see much about camera integration period from their site.

MC
Marty Calhoun
Sep 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Forget Integration with anything, its not or should I say, was not about that at all. Just DO NOT get hung in a licensed access control product that ropes you into things you dont need or heavy fees for things you dont want. There are plenty of good companies that DO NOT charge licensing fees.

(1)
New discussion

Ask questions and get answers to your physical security questions from IPVM team members and fellow subscribers.

Newest discussions