ISC West 2026 Part Two: The Brands, the Buzz, and the Big Questions Shaping Security’s Future

By David Strickland, COO of Kenton Brothers

This is Part Two of our coverage of ISC West 2026. If you missed Part One, be sure to start there.

LVT (LiveView Technologies): Taking Over the Market, One Site at a Time

A few years ago, LVT was best known for mobile surveillance trailers. Today, they’re redefining what intelligent site management looks like; and ISC West 2026 was their most aggressive statement of intent yet.

The big debut was Live Unit Surround, a wall- or roof-mounted camera and deterrence system that delivers full-site coverage for locations where deploying multiple mobile units isn’t practical or cost-effective. Surround supports between two and four camera heads per system, integrates AI deterrence features, and mounts without roof penetration; enabling rapid installation without structural modification. It’s a direct answer to one of the most consistent client complaints in physical security: “We have blind spots we can’t afford to eliminate.”

“Security shouldn’t be limited by budget or square footage,” said LVT CPO George Bentinck. “We developed LVT Surround for buildings and unique sites where deploying multiple mobile units is simply too expensive or space-prohibitive.” Coming in Q2 2026, Surround is designed to work seamlessly alongside LVT’s other recent launches: GuardGate (a portable barrier solution for access control) and LPR capabilities powered by Insight for license plate recognition.

The broader LVT story is one of rapid platform maturation. What began as a clever deployable camera on a trailer has become a comprehensive intelligent site management ecosystem, with agentic AI that can detect, deter, and gather evidence; shifting the security posture from reactive to proactive. Industry publication Security Today noted that the surveillance trailer concept “is a huge new market that is spreading coast to coast,” and LVT’s platform is increasingly the category leader.

Their AI features; including personalized voice deterrents, real-time threat identification, and forensic search; are optional, meaning clients retain control of their data and implementation pace. That’s a meaningful design choice in an era when AI adoption anxiety is real.

What this means for KB clients:
LVT is becoming an essential tool in the integrator’s toolkit for large outdoor environments ;  parking structures, retail lots, construction sites, utility facilities, and similar spaces. If you’ve accepted blind spots as a necessary budget compromise, it’s worth having a new conversation.

Axis Communications: The Cellular Box That Changes the Wire Conversation

We’ve talked a lot about Axis products over the years. One of their new products is really interesting: the AXIS TP3604-E Private Cellular Back Box. Launching in the U.S. in August 2026, this device allows IP cameras to connect directly to enterprise private cellular networks; no traditional wired infrastructure required.

This isn’t a Wi-Fi solution with all the range limitations that implies. It’s SIM-based, enterprise-grade cellular connectivity with encryption and authentication built in. The implications for retrofit and new-construction projects are significant: locations where running conduit is cost-prohibitive, logistically complex, or simply not possible now have a viable path to IP camera coverage.

Combined with Axis’s new AXIS P1486-LE Global Shutter Camera; which captures distortion-free images of fast-moving objects using CMOS global shutter technology, powered by their ARTPEC-9 SoC; Axis demonstrated that they’re still pushing the technical envelope on image quality while simultaneously removing deployment barriers.

The expansion of their IP and OSDP door reader portfolio, supporting encrypted communication and multiple authentication methods, rounds out an Axis showing that was about convergence: bringing security and IT infrastructure together in a way that simplifies deployment rather than complicating it.

SIA New Products & Solutions Awards: Where the Industry Sets the Bar

The SIA NPS Awards have been the industry’s innovation benchmark since 1979, and this year’s winners told a compelling story about where the industry is heading.

Best New Product: Ones Technology took top honors for its BioAffix Secure I/O Distributor, a wired access control hardware device that impressed the 38-member judging panel for its technical innovation. Biometric access at the hardware level; moving beyond software-layer authentication; is a significant step toward higher-assurance deployments in environments where credential sharing is a real risk.

Judges’ Choice: EyePop.ai earned this honor for its developer platform enabling custom computer vision solutions deployable on images or video, in the cloud or on-premises. The judges recognized the efficiency with which EyePop.ai makes cutting-edge AI capability accessible to organizations without deep AI development resources.

Robotics & AI: Robotic Assistance Devices (RAD) earned a second consecutive SIA award for their SARA platform, specifically recognizing the integration with Immix; a monitoring platform widely used by security operations centers. SARA’s agentic AI running inside existing SOC software is an elegant example of new intelligence layering onto established infrastructure without requiring replacement.

Merit Award: Honeywell received the SIA NPS Merit Award, recognizing their sustained commitment to advancing the program and the broader security industry.

The overall theme of the 2026 NPS Awards was AI that delivers practical, measurable value rather than theoretical capability; a healthy calibration for an industry flooded with AI marketing.

The AI Ethics Question: The Conversation the Industry Had to Have

Perhaps the most important discussion at ISC West 2026 happened not on the show floor but in the education sessions and private conversations between manufacturers, integrators, and end users. The topic: AI ethics and data trust.

As AI-enabled security systems become the default rather than the exception, buyers are asking harder questions that many vendors haven’t been prepared to answer: Where does my surveillance data go? Is it being used to train AI models I didn’t consent to? Has the training data for this system been ethically collected? Can my employees’ biometric data be accessed or sold? If the AI makes a decision that results in harm, who is accountable?

Tim Palmquist, Vice President of the Americas at Milestone, articulated the challenge clearly in a conversation with Security Management magazine at the show: end users need to understand where their data is going and how the AI tools embedded in their security systems have been trained. The questions he outlined are ones every security buyer should be asking: Is your surveillance data staying within a private model for your organization, or is it being distributed more widely? Is sensitive department data anonymized before processing? Have users consented? Security manufacturers need to be clear about their ethical AI guardrails, Palmquist said; and they need to lead in a more balanced way.

The ISC West keynote series reflected this urgency. Haywood Talcove of LexisNexis Risk Solutions opened the show with a keynote on digital trust, making the case that identity is now the primary attack surface every adversary must pass through; and that trust failures, not technology failures, are usually what allow breaches to occur. Keith White, Chief Safety and Security Officer at Salesforce, followed with a day-two keynote on how AI agents and autonomous systems can be deployed responsibly at enterprise scale. Dr. Jessica Barker, cybersecurity expert and speaker, closed the keynote series with a deep dive into the human psychology of security; specifically how cognitive bias makes people and organizations vulnerable to manipulation in ways that technology alone cannot solve.

ISC West also introduced a brand-new education track for 2026: Digital Trust and Identity, acknowledging that the convergence of physical security and digital identity management has made data trust a foundational security issue rather than a peripheral concern.

At Kenton Brothers, this conversation resonates deeply. When we recommend a technology to a client, our name is attached to how that technology behaves ;  not just on day one, but over years of operation. We’re paying close attention to which manufacturers can answer these hard questions clearly, and which ones deflect. The distinction matters.

The Bigger Picture: What New Tech Is Doing to the Business of Security Integration

One of the quieter but more significant conversations at ISC West 2026 wasn’t about any specific product; it was about what the accelerating pace of technology adoption is doing to the business of being a security integrator.

The search for new technology is affecting every part of how we operate. Clients are arriving at conversations with more information than ever before, having watched demos on YouTube and read product announcements before the first site walk. Manufacturers are releasing new platforms and firmware updates on timelines that challenge even experienced technicians to stay current. The convergence of physical security and IT means that the skillset required to design, install, and maintain a modern security system looks fundamentally different than it did five years ago.

For integrators, this creates both pressure and opportunity. The pressure is real: staying technically current across access control, video, networking, cloud platforms, AI analytics, and cybersecurity is a full-time organizational commitment. The opportunity is equally real: clients who are navigating this complexity need trusted advisors, not just equipment suppliers. The integrators who thrive in this environment will be the ones who can translate the pace of innovation into clear, practical guidance; helping clients make confident decisions without requiring them to become technology experts themselves.

At Kenton Brothers, this is the work we’re investing in. Deeper manufacturer relationships. More rigorous technical evaluation before we recommend anything. Stronger post-installation support. And a commitment to being the kind of partner who tells you what you actually need rather than what’s easiest to sell.

The Kenton Brothers Takeaway

ISC West 2026 confirmed something we already believed: the security industry is in the middle of a genuine transformation, and the companies leading that transformation are the ones asking harder questions about how their technology actually performs in the real world; not just in a booth demo.

Gallagher is reimagining access control as a business intelligence platform. Hanwha is building an end-to-end ecosystem from chip to cloud. BCD is making the invisible infrastructure visible. Genetec is enabling cloud migration without forcing clients to start over. LVT is eliminating the blind spots that budget constraints used to make inevitable. Axis is removing the last great wiring obstacle. And the industry’s best thinkers are grappling seriously with the ethical dimensions of AI; because that conversation can’t wait.

We’ll be bringing the best of what we saw at ISC West 2026 to our clients across Kansas City and beyond. If you’d like to talk through what any of these technologies mean for your facility, we’re ready. That’s what we’ve been doing since 1897.

Kenton Brothers Systems for Security is a WBE-certified commercial security integrator headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Our services include video surveillance, access control, locking hardware, intrusion detection, mass notification, remote services, and specialty products including robotics, video analytics, and metal detection systems. To learn more, give us a call.