Vigitron Fiber Optic Transmitters & Telemetry Receivers  (1)

Video surveillance across the world is growing exponentially and its major application is in both public safety and law enforcement. Traditionally, it has been fixed surveillance where cameras provide live streams from fixed cameras situated in what is considered strategic locations. But they are limited in what they can see given by their very definition of being “fixed”. The future of video surveillance includes the deployment of more mobile video surveillance with the benefits it offers. Instead of fixed cameras, this is the ability to live stream from mobile devices on the move such as body-worn cams, drones, motorbikes, cars, helicopters and in some cases, even dogs!Sending drones into the air, for example for missing people or rescue missions, is much more cost-effective than deploying helicopters Advantages Of Mobile Surveillance The advantage of mobile surveillance is that the camera can go to where the action is, rather than relying on the action going to where the camera is. Also, sending drones into the air, for example for missing people or rescue missions, is much more cost-effective than deploying helicopters. The ability to live stream video from cars and helicopters in high-speed pursuits can be used to take some of the operational issues from the first responders on the ground and share that “life and death” responsibility with the operational team leaders back in the command center. This allows the first responders in the pursuit vehicle to focus on minimizing risk while staying in close proximity of the fleeing vehicle, with direction from a higher authority who can see for themselves in real time the issues that are being experienced, and direct accordingly. In addition to showing video live stream from a pursuit car or motorcycle, by using inbuilt GPS tracking, the video can be displayed on a map in real time, allowing a command chief to better utilize additional resource and where to deploy them, through the use of displaying mapping information with real time video feed. It allows police chiefs to make better informed decisions in highly-charged environments. The 4G phone network can now be used with compressed video to live stream cost effectively Application in emergency situations The same is true of first responders in many different emergency situations. Mobile surveillance opens up a new area of efficiencies that previously was impossible to achieve. For example, special operations can wear action body-worn cameras when doing raids, fire departments can live stream from emergency situations with both thermal and daylight cameras, and paramedics can send video streams back to hospitals allowing doctors to remotely diagnose and prepare themselves for when patients arrive at the hospital. How can special operations and emergency first responders live stream video from a mobile camera with the issues of weight, reliability and picture-quality being considered? H265 Mobile Video Compression Law enforcement insists on secure transmissions, and it is possible to encrypt video to the highest level of security available in the public domain The 4G phone network can now be used with compressed video to live stream cost effectively. The issue of course is that 4G is not always reliable. Soliton Systems has mitigated this risk of low mobile quality in certain areas, by building an H265 mobile video compression device that can use multiple SIM cards from different cellular providers simultaneously. H265 is the latest compression technique for video, that is 50% more effective than conventional H264, and coupling this with using multiple “bonded” SIM cards provides a highly reliable connection for live-streaming high-quality HD video. The 400-gram device with an internal battery can be connected to a small action cam, and can live-stream simultaneously over at least three different cellular providers, back to a command center. Latency is typically less than a second, and new advance improvements are looking to reduce that latency further. Encrypted Video Transmission What about security? Law enforcement insists on secure transmissions, and it is possible to encrypt video to the highest level of security available in the public domain, i.e. AES256.What about integration into existing video infrastructure at the command center? It is not untypical for a police force to have an existing video management system (VMS) at their command center such as Milestone System’s Xprotect. The Soliton range of products are ONVIF-compliant, a standard used by video surveillance cameras for interoperability, allowing cameras and video devices that are ONVIF-compliant to simply “plug&play” into existing video management systems. These mobile transmitters are deployed with law enforcement and first responders across the globe. Their ability to provide secure, full HD quality and highly-reliable video streaming within a small unit, and to enable it to be integrated into the current eco-system that is already installed at the receiving end, has made them a favorite choice with many companies and government agencies.

The term “smart city” gets thrown around a lot nowadays, but as different technologies that strive to be defined in this way are adopted by different countries globally, the meaning of this phrase gets lost in translation. The simplest way to define a “smart city” is that it is an urban area that uses different types of data collecting sensors to manage assets and resources efficiently. One of the most obvious types of “data collecting sensor” is the video camera, whether that camera is part of a city’s existing CCTV infrastructure, a camera in a shopping mall or even a police car’s dash camera. The information gathered by video cameras can be used with two purposes in mind, firstly: making people’s lives more efficient, for example by managing traffic, and secondly (and arguably more importantly): making people’s lives safer. Live Streaming Video All The Time, Everywhere In the smart and safe city, traditional record-only video cameras are of limited use. Yes, they can be used to collect video which can be used for evidence after a crime has taken place, but there is no way that this technology could help divert cars away from an accident to avoid traffic building up, or prevent a crime from taking place in the first place. However, streaming live video from a camera that isn’t connected to an infrastructure via costly fiber optic cabling has proven challenging for security professionals, law enforcement and city planners alike. This is because it isn’t viable to transmit video reliably over cellular networks, in contrast to simply receiving it. Video Transmission Challenges Transmitting video normally results in freezing and buffering issues which can hinder efforts to fight crime and enable flow within a city, as these services require real-time, zero latency video without delays. Therefore, special technology is required that copes with poor and varying bandwidths to allow a real-time view of any scene where cameras are present to support immediate decision making and smart city processes. The information gatheredby video cameras can beused to make people’s lives more efficient, and to make people’s lives safer There are many approaches to transmitting video over cellular. We’ve developed a specialist codec (encoding and decoding algorithm) that can provide secure and reliable video over ultra-low bandwidths and can therefore cope when networks become constrained. Another technique, which is particularly useful if streaming video from police body worn cameras or dash cams that move around, is to create a local wireless “bubble” at the scene, using Wi-Fi or mesh radio systems to provide local high-bandwidth communications that can communicate with a central location via cellular or even satellite communications. Enhanced City Surveillance Live video streaming within the smart and safe city’s infrastructure means that video’s capabilities can go beyond simple evidence recording and evolve into a tool that allows operations teams to monitor and remediate against incidents as they are happening. This can be taken one step further with the deployment of facial recognition via live streaming video. Facial recognition technology can be added on to any video surveillance camera that is recording at a high enough quality to identify faces. The technology works by capturing video, streaming the live video back to a control center and matching faces against any watch lists that the control center owns. Importantly, the data of people who aren’t on watch lists is not stored by the technology. Identifying Known Criminals This technology can work to make the city safer in a number of ways. For example, facial recognition could spot a known drug dealer in a city center where they weren’t supposed to be, or facial recognition could identify if a group of known terror suspects were visiting the same location at the same time, and this would send an alert to the police. Facial recognition technology captures and streams live back to a controll center, matching faces against any watch lists that the control center owns In an ideal world where the police had an automated, electronic workflow, the police officer nearest to the location of the incident would be identified by GPS and would be told by the control room where to go and what to do. Most police forces aren’t quite at this technological level yet, and would probably rely on communicating via radio in order to send the nearest response team to the scene. As well as this, shopping malls could create a database from analog records of known shoplifters to identify criminals as soon as they entered the building. This would be even more effective if run co-operatively between all shopping malls and local businesses in an area, and would not only catch any known shoplifters acting suspiciously, but would act as a deterrent from shoplifting in the first place. Live Streaming For Law Enforcement As mentioned above, live streaming video from CCTV cameras can help the police fight crime more proactively rather than reactively. This can be enhanced even further if combined with live streaming video from police car dash cams and police body worn cameras. If video was streamed from all of these sources to a central HQ, such as a police operations center, the force would be able to have full situational awareness throughout an incident. This would mean that, if need be, officers could be advised on the best course of action, and additional police or other emergency services could be deployed instantly if needed. Incorporated with facial recognition, this would also mean that police could instantly identify if they were dealing with known criminals or terrorists. While they would still have to confirm the identity of the person with questioning or by checking their identification, this is still more streamlined than describing what a person looks like over a radio and then ops trying to manually identify if the person is on a watch list. The smart, safe city is possible today – for one, if live video streaming capabilities are deployed they can enable new levels of flow in the city. With the addition of facial recognition, cities will be safer than ever before and law enforcement and security teams will be able to proactively stop crime before it happens by deterring criminal activity from taking place at all.

In 2017, DITEK saw how power surges from the many natural disasters that took place damaged many businesses. In a natural disaster, or even everyday business operations, a facility’s entire investment in security, life safety and surveillance systems technology can be disabled or rendered useless in a few seconds. Surge protection solutions can mitigate those risks and protect security investments. Proactive Approach To Risk Mitigation Throughout 2017, we also witnessed a change in how enterprises view surge protection, which included how investments are being made in surge protection to protect valuable security, life safety and surveillance systems, while also reducing downtime, manpower costs, liability vulnerabilities, and possibly compliance issues that can force businesses to actually cease operations. Effective security management is about mitigating risks. But risks cannot be mitigated without a proactive approach. Enterprises and integrators, who take the time to assess risk and to develop a strategy to incorporate effective detection, deter and response criteria to protect physical assets will be successful in 2018. 2018 And Beyond That strategy includes designing surge protection into new security systems, while also adding surge protection to existing systems. Enterprises and security integrators who implement a surge protection strategy during security planning processes – or after – will be exercising prevention and mitigation, and they will be successful in 2018 and beyond.  Surge protection devices have an untapped potential for enterprise surveillance and security systems In 2017, Ditek continued to offer security end users a solid surge protection solution. We also successfully educated system integrators, who are seeking value-added products or services to incorporate into their portfolios, on the importance of surge protection devices. Educating Security Integrators We believe that surge protection devices have an untapped potential for enterprise video surveillance and security systems, because they can and do meet safety and security challenges that have been rarely identified in the past. We are looking forward to 2018, when we will continue to develop new surge protection products – including a new product engineered to protect up to twelve individual fuel dispensers, which is critical to the financial operation of convenience stores. We will also continue to educate security integrators about the importance of including surge protection in the design/build RFP, to not only secure an enterprise’s valuable security equipment, but also to help integrators to differentiate their capabilities and knowledge from the competition.

Vigitron, Inc, the manufacturer of complete networking solutions designed for security applications announces major new product releases for ISC West 2019. These products cover areas of PoE Midspans, Network Health Monitoring, Testing and Installation Tools, Building Infrastructure and Network Switching. Reliable And Cost-Effective Products “Vigitron continues to lead as a comprehensive source of networking solutions,” stated Neil Heller, Vigitron’s Vice President of Business Development. “Several years ago, we expanded our engineering team to include software and firmware developers in addition to our existing hardware engineers. We continue to work with major hardware providers in the areas of IP cameras, access control, and LED to develop products resulting in the most reliable and cost-effective performance. “In addition to our advanced engineering and product development, Vigitron continues to lead in the support areas with our Design Center team providing dealers with complete bills of materials designed for their specific applications.” Vigitron’s new products will be on display at ISC West booth # 8130, April 10-12, at the Sands Convention Center, Las Vegas.

GNM Hough Inc., a systems integrator and dealer in South Florida specializing in commercial electronic security systems, has selected Vigitron, Inc. as their network supplier. Gina Hough, GNM Hough Inc.’s President commented, “In the past, we’ve installed many different types of network equipment from different manufacturers, only to have on-going service and performance issues.” Cost-Effective Solutions “When we standardized our offering with the Vigitron product line, we began to see a significant drop off in service calls and an increase with customer satisfaction due to the performance and stability of the surveillance systems we’ve installed. As we move forward trying to capture more of the aging analog camera market, we know that we have the best total solution from our partners at Vigitron with their innovative products and solutions.” Neil Heller, Vigitron’s Vice President noted, “As the only full product supplier of network equipment, we value our relationship with GNM Hough Inc. Backed by extensive inter-operational testing of major camera, access control, and security lighting, we work with dealers to assure the most reliable and cost-effective solutions. Our main goal is to reduce the potential for expensive and time consuming after sales service calls and system down time. We are pleased to offer our Design Center Services, staffed by trained network engineers with no cost or obligation.”

The Vigitron Vi3202 provides up to 60W PoE with a built-in coax extender for up to 5,000 feet At ISC West 2017, Vigitron will introduce its Vi3004/Vi3004LV and Vi3202, designed for easy conversion of existing analog systems to IP.  Vigitron Vi3004LV The Vi3004LV is a 4-port Layer mini network switch providing two Fiber and two UTP ports. It can be used for either single cable runs of fiber or UTP. The Vi3004/Vi3004LV takes the place of network switches eliminating their costs with a direct connection to servers operating video management software or network video recorders. It can also be used in conjunction with network switches extending the capacity of individual ports. The Vi3004/Vi3004LV models can be powered by 24VAC or 120/240VAC and provide up to 90W of PoE when the UTP ports are used to power up to two cameras. “The Vi3004 series addresses the industry trend for installing both a spot and PTZ camera for parking lot and perimeter locations”, stated Neil Heller, Vigitron’s VP of Business Development. Heller went on to say: “almost every analog PTZ installation uses a 24VAC as its primary power. The Vi3004LV uses the same power source to provide up to 802.3at PoE 30W power for spot cameras and 60W for IP based PTZ cameras. The drop-and-insert functionality further reduces installation costs by eliminating the need to home run every single location.” Vigitron Vi3202 The Vi3202 provides up to 60W PoE with a built-in coax extender for up to 5,000 feet. “Analog PTZ have two features in common, they are powered by 24VAC and are transmitted over coax for distances usually between 750 to 1,000 feet. This is 2.5 to 3.5 times greater than standard Ethernet transmission of 328 feet.”, stated Heller. “The Vi3202 addresses all of these by providing a drop-and-insert solution that eliminates the need for new power sources and wiring providing transmission over coax over 5,000 feet. Furthermore, the size of Vi3202 easily fits in enclosures of many PTZ mounts, further reducing costs by eliminating the need for extra cost environmental housing.”