WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 5, 2026--
Backstreet Surveillance, a leading provider of commercial security and surveillance solutions, today announced the launch of “Beyond the Demo: The Ground Truth,” a new video podcast built for facility managers, security integrators, guard-company operators, and end users who are tired of glossy product demos and want to know how security technology actually performs once it’s installed.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260805480345/en/
Hosted by the team at Backstreet Surveillance, each weekly episode brings together installers, consultants, manufacturers, and working security professionals for candid conversations about deployments that succeeded, deployments that failed, and the lessons in between. The show goes beyond spec sheets to examine real-world performance, edge cases, and the operational realities that determine whether a security system actually protects people, property, and revenue.
Why the industry needs “Ground Truth”
Commercial security buyers are being sold a wave of new technology — AI video analytics, cloud VMS, license plate recognition, radar, thermal imaging, autonomous monitoring — often on the strength of a controlled demo. In the field, results vary widely based on lighting, environment, integration, and human workflow.
“Every buyer has watched a demo that looked flawless and then watched the same product struggle in the parking lot at 2 a.m.,” said Scott McQuarrie, CEO of Backstreet Surveillance. “Beyond the Demo exists to close that gap. We invite the people who install, service, and live with these systems every day to tell the truth about what works, what doesn’t, and what buyers should ask before they sign.”
What listeners get
Episodes now streaming
The first episodes of Beyond the Demo are available on the Backstreet Surveillance YouTube channel:
New episodes release weekly.
Meet the creators
Scott McQuarrie — Creator & Executive Producer | LinkedIn
Scott McQuarrie is the founder and CEO of Backstreet Surveillance and a 36-year veteran of the electronic security industry. He began his career at Honeywell in 1990 and has since served as technician, system designer, installation manager, sales leader, and chief executive of three security companies. In 2004 he pioneered an online model for marketing custom-designed commercial security systems nationwide, and across three companies. Under his leadership, Backstreet Surveillance has designed and deployed security solutions for airports, universities, ports, Fortune 500 corporate chains, and federal, state, and local government facilities. His companies have been recognized with Best of State honors and named among Industry Era’s “10 Best Security System Providers.” Scott created Beyond the Demo to give buyers the unfiltered field perspective he has spent three decades delivering to end users.
Rob Oldham — Host | LinkedIn
Rob Oldham is a physical security and integrated-solutions leader with more than two decades of experience across sales, systems design, and mission-critical protection. He currently serves as Vice President of Sales at Stone Security and previously spent nearly nine years at Axis Communications as a Regional Sales Manager and Key Account Manager. Earlier in his career he led business development at SimplexGrinnell, where he specified and designed CCTV, access control, intrusion, and fire alarm solutions for nuclear power plants, refineries, airports, transit systems, military bases, mines, and other critical infrastructure. Rob is a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who served eight years with the Department of Defense in security police, personnel security, and force-protection roles. He holds an MBA and a master’s degree in Homeland Security, along with ASIS International’s CPP, PSP, and PCI credentials plus CPTED certification, and currently serves as President and Chair of the ASIS Utah Chapter. Rob brings that operator’s perspective to every episode of Beyond the Demo, pressing guests on the questions buyers actually need answered.
About Backstreet Surveillance
Backstreet Surveillance — The Security Experts — designs, supplies, and deploys commercial video surveillance, mobile surveillance trailers, remote monitoring, and AI-powered security solutions for organizations across North America. The company is known for practical, field-tested guidance that helps businesses improve safety, reduce theft, and lower liability. Learn more at www.backstreet-surveillance.com or call 800-431-3056.
For editors and producers
Backstreet Surveillance welcomes republication of this release and can provide:
To request assets or schedule an interview, contact 800-431-3056 or visit www.backstreet-surveillance.com.
Beyond the Demo | The Ground Truth Studio - Created by Scott McQuarrie, hosted by Rob Oldham, and supported by the team at Backstreet Surveillance, each episode brings together industry veterans, installers, consultants, manufacturers, and security professionals to share lessons learned from decades of real-world experience. From successful deployments and challenging installations to emerging technologies and evolving industry trends, we go beyond product specifications and discuss how security solutions actually perform in the environments they were built to protect. www.backstreet-surveillance.com
BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military-backed government arrived in Thailand on Thursday for an official visit that could serve as a major steppingstone in his effort to win political legitimacy more than five years after seizing power from an elected civilian government.
President Min Aung Hlaing 's two-day official visit includes meetings with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other officials at Government House, where they are expected to sign several memorandums of understanding. Following the meetings, the two leaders will attend a Thailand-Myanmar Business Forum.
The visit has drawn criticism from activist groups such as Justice For Myanmar, which stated that the trip lends “false legitimacy” to Min Aung Hlaing and the ruling generals.
Min Aung Hlaing took a significant step toward would-be political rehabilitation in April when he was sworn in as president following an election held in phases in December and January. Critics dismissed the polls as a sham designed to consolidate the military’s grip on power while ostensibly restoring civilian rule.
The diplomatic outreach is the latest in a series of moves to reengage with countries in the region and the international community after relations became frayed or frosty following Min Aung Hlaing's ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February 2021 while serving as army chief.
Western governments have shunned and sanctioned Min Aung Hlaing and his associates for overthrowing Suu Kyi's government. Subsequent serious rights violations followed a deadly military crackdown on protests, which subsequently triggered a nationwide armed resistance movement and a bloody civil war.
The visit is among Min Aung Hlaing’s most significant diplomatic engagements and the latest in a series of trips to neighboring countries, including China, India and Laos, as he seeks to strengthen regional ties since assuming the presidency in April. Despite visits to those countries and close relations with Russia, he has remained largely isolated internationally.
While he attempts to refurbish his image, Myanmar's military continues to wage a brutal war across much of the country against pro-democracy resistance fighters and armed ethnic minority groups seeking greater autonomy.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent organization that keeps detailed tallies of arrests and casualties linked to the civil war, more than 8,200 civilians have been killed and 31,645 arrested by Myanmar's security forces as of Wednesday.
Chit Seng, a senior human rights specialist at Fortify Rights, argued last month that changing from a military uniform into a “presidential robe” after fake elections does not alter the fundamental nature of the military government. He described it as a “brutal regime” that kills its own people and should not be legitimized.
In another effort to placate critics, the regime allowed a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit 81-year-old Suu Kyi this week, the first known contact with an outside international independent humanitarian organization since her detention. The ICRC confirmed the visit but disclosed no details about her health or the contents of the meeting.
She was originally sentenced to 33 years in prison in late 2022, on what her supporters and rights groups said were bogus charges intended to prevent her return to politics.
On April 30, she was moved from prison to house arrest and her sentence was reduced to 18 years, with more than 13 years left to serve. The United Nations, Western governments and international human rights organizations have repeatedly called for her immediate release.
Min Aung Hlaing's visit to Thailand is part of a broader series of trips to neighboring countries as the 70-year-old Min Aung Hlaing seeks to restore his standing within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He faced years of diplomatic isolation following his 2021 takeover and was barred from top-level ASEAN meetings for failing to comply with a peace plan agreed upon in April 2021.
Bangkok has maintained close ties with Myanmar’s military leadership and has emerged as the strongest advocate within ASEAN for renewed engagement with Naypyitaw.
Although the visit officially concerns bilateral relations, Anutin declared during a visit to Indonesia on Tuesday that a peaceful and stable Myanmar is essential to ASEAN unity and regional stability. He acknowledged that Thailand has advocated for a “calibrated re-engagement approach” that keeps dialogue open and responds to “realities on the ground,” and suggested that the recent ICRC visit to Suu Kyi validated this position.
Thanida Piyachot, another human rights specialist at Fortify Rights, disagreed, saying that recognizing Min Aung Hlaing as a legitimate leader and “shaking the bloodied hands of a war criminal” sends the wrong message to civilians suffering under an “illegitimate military dictatorship.”
She urged Thailand and ASEAN to stop hiding behind non-interference policies and to take proactive roles in promoting human rights in Myanmar.
In this photo released by Myanmar President Office on Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, left, shakes hands with Arnaud de Baecque, resident representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, during their meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (Myanmar President Office via AP)
Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, and Myanmar's President Min Aung Hlaing review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
