Expert commentary

Lost or damaged keys cost authorities thousands of dollars to replace Keys are a common element in any transportation department, and an automated key control system is a valuable tool. Key management systems offer multi-site transportation facilities increased security and control to help prevent authorised key access as well as reducing the number of lost or misplaced keys. As an example, road repair is often done at night and requires equipment, vehicles, lights, gene...

Improvements in the technology have lowered – but not eliminated – concerns about false alarms False alarms have plagued the video analytics market since the beginning. Improvements in the technology have lowered – but not eliminated – concerns about false alarms. Companies providing video analytics systems say the question isn’t whether false alarms can be eliminated, but rather how they can be managed. “We’re still very far away fro...

It’s important for everyone in a high school to wear an ID Handwritten check in and check out books fail to alert the security risks posed by individuals on school campuses. Installing visitor management systems is imperative to screen and manage visitors and thereby enhance the level of safety in schools.  However, it takes training and practice to use school visitor management technologies effectively. Security technologies can go a long way toward making K-12 sc...

The security industry continues to move away from closed, proprietary systems and instead is fine-focused on open solutions that assist the move to total integration. The benefits of achieving this feat belong to both installing company and end user. Benefits of open security solutions Open, interoperable systems make it easier to integrate a wide array of sensors, devices and communication technologies across the enterprise. That means quicker installations, lower labour costs and heightened...

According to research firm IHS Technology, the residential intrusion alarm market is expected to grow by 9.4 percent in 2015 For years, the industry’s penetration rate for security alarm systems has hovered from a conservative 18 percent of households to a more liberal 22 percent or so. According to research firm IHS, the residential intrusion alarm market is expected to grow by 9.4 percent in 2015. Perhaps this increase is due in part to the rise of interactive ser...

Supply chain risk management involves identifying and dealing with supply chain uncertainties that pose a threat to business continuity Today’s complex world needs risk managers, business people that think about the bad things that might happen and lay plans to eliminate or at least mitigate those risks. This article explains the need to identify and respond to risks involved in a supply chain. Manufacturers should make efforts and develop strategies to enhance supply ch...

Combining thermal imaging with analytics provides a robust system Prices are dropping for thermal cameras. Now they are much more affordable for non-military customers – and more likely to be used in combination with video analytics. Combining thermal imaging with analytics provides a robust system; the technologies work well together. Thermal cameras make it easier to detect motion because you are eliminating much of the detail and only emphasising temperature “c...

The era of IoT - the Internet of Things - is upon us. A deluge of urban sensory data is flowing into data centers every minute, putting pressure on data-centre resources and accumulating at a rate faster than anyone can process. Is the proliferation of sensory data simply evidence of an increasingly intrusive world, or can IoT be used for the improvement and development of intelligence-equipped cities? We believe that with the right steps the convergence of city operations with IoT...

Milestone Interconnect provides a cost-efficient and flexible way to have central surveillance operation across geographically dispersed sites The transportation vertical is embracing the open platform for video systems. In the past, manufacturers required transportation end users to purchase the camera, the recorders and the software all from one manufacturer. Now, with IP, organisations in the transportation vertical can use off-the-shelf cameras, servers (recorders) and sof...

Analytics at the edge provide the ability to process what is happening in a field of view and discern if a relevant alert is triggered There are multiple benefits to using video analytics at the edge (i.e., near or inside the camera). For one thing, analytics at the edge provides the ability to process what is happening in a field of view and discern if a relevant alert is triggered. This can be faster and less expensive than the original video analytics model of using a separ...

Standards are like a warm blanket on a cold winter night. They make us feel safe and warm. A standard tells us the devices we use within our systems will interact with each other regardless of manufacturer. For IP-powered PoE devices, we depend on standards such as 802.3af for devices requiring up to 15.4 watts and 802.3at for devices powered up to 30 watts. We depend on the devices generating the power to be able to be read by devices receiving the power. Our dependence is not al...

Compliance with regulatory requirements are not enough to protect the US electric grid  Many companies use compliance and best practices to assist in their fight to protect the U.S. electric grid. They rely primarily on what three groups say – FERC (Federal Energy and Regulatory Committee), CERT (U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team) and NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation). These groups issue advisories, standards and guidelines for the industr...

Video analytics isn’t just for security. In general, the ability to leverage data from video provides a new wealth of information and “intelligence” about all aspects of the business. The retail vertical is leading the way in reaping the benefits of video analytics beyond the security function.   There are two reasons retailers have taken advantage of video analytics far more than other vertical markets. First, retailers generally face more theft than a...

Veterans are able to use their skills from the military to help develop strategies Ex-army officers/ military veterans bring considerable skills and invaluable experience to security companies. Not only do they play an important role in frontline positions, but also their exposure to a diverse array of security challenges make them increasingly valuable in formulating security management strategies. At the same time, such companies also offer the veterans an alternative and re...

The ability to clearly see facial features and other identifying characteristics on each passenger greatly enhances security Some of the video technology used in the transportation vertical is purpose-built, but the wide range of applications and environments is conducive to a variety of general-purpose technology, too. Leading IP camera makers like Axis, Sony and Panasonic have introduced new products to enhance safety and security of travel in  trains, buses or oth...

Intelligent searches of video archives provide investigators faster access to any needed video clip That video analytics can be immensely useful in forensics is relatively less known. However, forensic search capabilities offered by some modern video analytics solutions can not only save investigators significant amounts of time but also help them find results more accurately. These solutions leverage facial recognition and advanced object tracking, demographic analytics, lice...

Various vertical markets such as retail, airports, and transportation have benefited from video analytics Video analytics systems have progressed far beyond the theoretical and are now being used effectively in a range of applications. Let’s look at some of the real-world scenarios that have taken advantage of the latest video analytics systems. Video analytics aren’t just for security. For a traffic application, Agent Vi provides business intelligence on the ave...

The better the sensors, the better the analytics Garbage in, garbage out. The familiar cliché is just as applicable to the area of video analytics as any other field of computing. You simply must have a high-quality image in order to achieve a high-functioning analytics system. The good news is that video cameras, which are the sensors in video analytics systems, are providing images that are better than ever, offering higher quality – and more data – for us...

Many security company employees say they first learned about opportunities in the field through other employees The nation’s security companies are increasingly turning to U.S. military veterans to fill the ranks of both uniformed guards and management personnel. Getting the best former soldiers, airmen and sailors into the civilian workforce requires recruiting, and some of the best recruiters are other veterans. A wide variety of current security company employees say...

Forty-one percent of cyber incidents involved the energy sector The Bipartisan Policy Center, the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reports responding to 198 cyber incidents in fiscal year 2012 across all critical infrastructure sectors. Forty-one percent of these incidents involved the energy sector, particularly electricity, according to a February 2014 report. Considering the enormity of the...

The action of a voltage applied to a resistance element, draws power from the switch’s PoE port We often think about a power supply operating in a single format. A power source provides power to a device. You plug it into a wall outlet and that’s all that happens. PoE power is a far more complex. There is interaction between the source providing power and the device receiving power. This interaction is governed under the 802.3 AF and AT standards. These differences...

Local surveillance companies often struggle when deciding between distributing third-party brands or selling their own branded surveillance products, especially when the company has already achieved some level of recognition among their customers and/or other key players. Distributing a famous third-party brand is a way to “play it safe” in an environment where there is little budget to spend on marketing, public relationships and other expenses related to produc...

Recent news of Canon’s $2.83 billion cash bid for network surveillance leader Axis Communications came as a surprise to some, but many could easily digest the move as more consolidation of the marketplace, especially the crowded video surveillance space. Systems integrators weighed in on what they expect and the long-term outlook for IP camera leader Axis and Canon, a Japanese firm predominate in broadcast, optics and consumer electronics. Joe Liguori, a partner at Access Co...

Regular upgrading ensures all systems communicate correctly  In the IT world, innovation moves quickly. New versions of software are launched every day to keep business processes running smoothly. So frequent upgrading isn’t even a choice anymore – it’s a must to avoid losing valuable time and data. In this article, Dirk Kappert, IT specialist and CEO of the German company ACEA, explains about the relevance of upgrade assurance and how it applies to phys...

Many purpose-focused stand-alone systemsaddress business goals aside from security Transportation gets passengers and goods to their destination safely and in a timely manner. Making transportation possible are purpose-focused stand-alone systems – many that address business goals and others that achieve safety/security goals. Some systems can impact both business and security goals. For example, access control can eliminate the expense and maintenance of locks and keys...

Organisational resilience takes all appropriate actions to help ensure the organisation’s continued viability In this day and age, the traditional components of security officers, cameras, access control and alarm systems aren’t enough to protect a company or organisation. No matter how good your preparations, security sometimes breaks down, and bad things happen. That can take a toll on a business. Today, security’s role extends to organisational resilience...

Coming of age: storage devices have evolved to better record, manage and play back high-quality images Video surveillance and security technology continues to come of age. The sophistication of cameras that have moved to high-definition, high-resolution, megapixel imagery has transformed what users see on playback and greatly enhanced the usability of recorded video feeds. As the evolution continues, from the early days of grainy footage and barely recognisable images to HD, F...

Transmission of video and PoE power for IP security cameras over infrastructures can be confusing. Network infrastructures are designed using twisted pair cabling that we refer to as CAT (short for Category) cable, also referred to as UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair). Security systems, coming from an analogue environment, have historically transmitted over coax cable, and with the use adaptors can transmit over CAT cabling, which can be further broken down into single pair twist...

The number-one cause of most power outages in the U.S. is bad weather What does the industry consider to be its most severe threats the U.S. electric grid? There is no shortage of nightmare scenarios. According to the Department of Energy, the number-one cause of most power outages in the U.S. is bad weather, which costs the economy between $18 billion and $33 billion every year in lost output and wages, spoiled inventory, delayed production and damage to grid infrastructure....

CPTED focuses on designing crime prevention into buildings and campuses In recent years, jurisdictions across the United States have enacted ordinances or codes requiring the use of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). Enforcement of these measures arises through required jurisdictional review and approval of CPTED measures in the design drawings. CPTED has emerged in recent years as an effective crime prevention and security technique that focuses on design...