"“Ask Me Anything” - Deploying outdoor security and power for your grow can be faster than ordering a pizza with Nilesh Murali from V5 Systems!
Who: Nilesh Murali from V5 Systems
What: Deploying efficient security and power for cultivation sites
Where: Right Here
When: Wednesday, December 5th a 11 AM PST
Contact info:
Website: http://v5systems.us/
Phone: 844.604.7350
Email: ryan.watts@V5systems.us
Facebook: Redirecting...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/v5systems/
Welcome to our AMA. Please ask us (almost) anything!
Hey there, @nilesh.murali. Thanks for being with us today! Can you share a little bit about your background and how you and V5 came to be?
Great question! Our AMA team here consists of Loyd, James and myself. V5 Systems’ founding mission was to deliver a security solution that could be deployed in any outdoor environment without having to tap into fixed power or modify existing land or structures to access the necessary power and connectivity. What its founders ended up developing in the process, however, was so much more.
Today, we take power and security to the outdoors, where vulnerabilities exist.
James and Loyd have over 50 years of combined law enforcement experience, and they’ve witness the transition to legalization. They have a lot of great insights as they’ve seen the legal climate change. They also know that security is critical with high value product.
Welcome, team! Thanks for taking time out of your busy days to be here with us!
@memberdirectory, we are just getting this AMA off and running, please help us make it a memorable one!
Our pleasure; we are happy to be here and excited to take questions! Our technology really spans the gamut from solar power to edge computing to acoustic event detection.
I have personally witnessed some of the infrastructure and security vulnerabilities that can lend to attacks on cultivation facilities. Many owners don’t give enough attention to the high value nature of their commodity until AFTER the theft occurs. Have you also found this to be true during the acquisition phase with your clients?
Absolutely, our most motivated clients have faced theft and vandalism. However, it’s not just about protection of product. We’d argue it’s even more critical for protection of your employees and customers.
Can you explain some of the options your customers have to power your systems? Having spend a season with a diesel generator I can assure you I wouldn’t wish that process on my worst enemies! How do your systems get their power?
We have several ways to power our units, starting with the V5 OnPower product line which consists of our proprietary solar technology coupled with our battery management system. Connectivity is available via 5V, 12V, 24 V and POE. We are able to connect to fixed power via our proprietary power mixer, offering redundancy with our self-power.
What does this eliminate? The need to go out and charge your equipment or fill fuel every few days.
What are your thoughts on solar-powered indoor grows, versus hybrid lighting designs, versus greenhouses? Is one inherently more secure? Is one inherently more environmentally-sustainable?
Haha! That sure beats smelling like diesel and weed for 6 months
Hybrid lighting designs are energy-intensive, and while we are not subject matter experts, we suspect that this approach is on its face less environmentally friendly if it’s not coupled to renewable power.
Each has their vulnerabilities since each has its own limitations based on design. It’s a case by case basis, and that’s actually something we do with our customers when we assess security vulnerabilities to recommend solutions.
Yes it does!
I’ve seen a lot of growers depend on security through obscurity (IE Facilities that are generic or nondescript, not appearing like a cannabis company). Would you say this approach works, or should growers focus more on make themselves a hard target?
When a client first makes the decision to implement one of your systems, what can he or she expect the process to be like?
Security is a combination approach. We would argue that if you are trying to attract customers, it’s probably a better bet to go on the security offensive. Creating the harder target is ALWAYS better; criminals like soft, easy targets. The less attractive you are via your vulnerabilities, the less likely your business will be targeted.
So, we titled this AMA ‘faster than ordering a pizza’ because deploying one of our units really does take 30 minutes or less. In fact, I’ve been on deployments that have taken ten minutes, your average chatty coffee break. The units come preconfigured and are turnkey, so you can be accessing your units right away.
For process, it starts with an assessment by our sales engineering team. They look at your challenges and they recommend a solution based on your constraints. From there, it’s really as simple as determining a pricing structure that works for you. In fact, we had a Police Department that did a short-term rental with us for an emergency; from the first touch to deployment, it took less than a week.
I also wanted to add that we are rolling out a neat subscription service for both security and powering equipment. My favorite part about this is that now you can add renewable energy easily to your grows. Keeping it green and green 
