Surveillance cameras News

It’s a challenging time for security integrators and installers. Equipment prices are going down (along with margins), and commoditization is wiping away what used to be the advantage of exclusively offering a top product brand. Integrators can continue to succeed by finding a way to move ahead of the pack – but how? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How should integrators/installers differentiate themselves or make themselves stand out in today’s market?

Drones can satisfy five commercial needs, today: surveillance, patrolling,incident response, mapping and site assessment The military uses drones. So do the police. Drones serve as weapons and surveillance tools.Today, businesses and institutions are applying drone technology to a variety of private security surveillance challenges. Private uses include patrolling facilities and installations such as pipelines from the sky. To be sure, private contractors sometimes weaponize d...

Automated CCTV lip reading is challenging due to low frames rates and smallimages, but the University of East Anglia is pushing the next stage of this technology Scientists at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, are working on the next stage of automated lip reading technology that could be used for deciphering speech from video surveillance footage. The visual speech recognition technology, created by Dr. Helen Bear and Professor Richard Harvey of UEA’s...

With innovation continuing in HD CCTV, analog video surveillancemay be around for some time What’s your stance on the analog-to-IP video migration? When will it happen? Will analog go away entirely? Talk to any security company and they’ll admit they love the simplicity of the installation and setup of analog cameras. They know how to deploy it quickly, saving labor costs and also, can use the familiar and ever-present coaxial cabling network. That’s the here...

Systems may be reliable and performing as originally intended, but can also beoutdated in comparison to current technology offerings Let’s start by defining what a legacy system is in the context of a security control system. Legacy refers to an installed and operating security control system made up of numerous components, both hardware and software, that have been eclipsed by newer technologies. A shortage of parts and pieces may be creeping in, and it’s also li...

Today’s video cameras are better than ever, now able to capture images despite low light and other impediments. But do the images always provide enough clarity for security applications and/or for video analytics? The ability to capture an image in a variety of environments isn’t the same as capturing the best possible image, says Eddie Reynolds, President and CEO of Iluminar Inc., a provider of LED white light and infrared illuminators to the video surveillance market. Better came...

Ensuring privacy is often a concern for video surveillance systems, especially in situations where a system intended for “public” surveillance could somehow, perhaps inadvertently, view private areas or situations. The classic example is an apartment building whose windows are within the range of a video surveillance camera. How can you provide video surveillance without invading the privacy of the apartment dwellers? Integrators and end users often turn to technology for a solution....

Joining Pelco in late 2015, Sharad Shekhar is responsible for the entire global video business and is leading the charge to reinvigorate the Pelco brand with system integrators Back in the day, you literally couldn’t speak with a security company about a video surveillance project without the Pelco name coming up. It had a loyal following and an extremely large installation base. Over the years, that changed and the fervour with which integrators referred to the brand se...

From a network performance perspective, adding higher megapixel camerasaffects bandwidth utilization The quest for higher megapixel, high-definition and high-resolution video imaging continues, only now, it has become a marathon of sorts. That’s because the migration will progress decidedly – extending into the foreseeable future and beyond – as technology advances and becomes increasingly affordable. Ultra-high-resolution video is finding its niche, even am...

The largest global event of 2016 – and the year’s biggest security challenge – will no doubt be the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Around 15,000 athletes from 206 countries are expected to compete at the Olympic games, August 5-21, 2016, and about 7.5 million tickets will be issued. In our age of terrorism, organizers of any event on the scale of the Rio Olympics must consider the possibility of an attack or other security breach during the more than two...

How mobile telephones have transformed into “smartphones” is one of the great technology stories of our time. What once was a single-function device now can do almost anything – display video, pay for groceries, monitor our health. The smartphones we carry in our pockets today have more computing power than the “super computers” of yesteryear, and that power has found many uses in a seemingly endless array of “apps.” Some of them are directly related to...

Wireless surveillance systems are attractive to customersas they are cost-effective and easy to install Various studies, market statistics and forecasts project growth for the surveillance market from 2016 to 2020. Besides needs ranging from traditional analog cameras to IP network cameras, more and more consumers also have a high interest in intelligent surveillance systems. Along with safety, these systems provide additional details for users in applications such as peo...

As the technology in omnidirectional cameras continues to improve, they are becoming increasingly more affordable to a wider segment of the video surveillance market Just a few years ago, omnidirectional cameras were a novelty. Today, however, this technology has taken the leap to the mainstream. Think about how ubiquitous Google’s Street View is, and you can gain a better idea of the power of omnidirectional cameras. Even consumers are starting to see many forms of omn...

Stringent security policies are necessary in an organization to prevent incidentsof misplaced trust leading to an attack from intruders Trust is a word closely associated with both physical and logical security, after all, knowing who to trust is a key part of any security policy. However, when trust is wrongly assumed it rapidly becomes a key problem and a significant weakness in the security regime. Often the weak link is human nature itself. This means that to begin...

As more security equipment categories become commoditized, a previously rich source of income for integrators and installers – markup – is becoming harder to come by. Less expensive products with little to no perceptible value differentiation leave integrators with few options, not to mention the growth of pricing transparency that comes courtesy of the Internet. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Given the increase in commoditized hardware (i.e., lower profit margin...

Nationally from 2012 - 2015, there has been a decrease in the money spent on theinstallation, monitoring and maintenance of CCTV compared to the period 2009-2012 The UK has often been referred to as the world’s most watched country in terms of the scale of CCTV surveillance. But a new report claims that UK local authorities have reduced spending on the installation, maintenance and monitoring of public space CCTV systems, while the number of cameras being used is also do...

What effect will the attacks in Brussels have on aviation security? Screenings inpre-security airport areas have been uncommon, but may become standard practice Will the Brussels airport attack herald a new era of aviation security? Like the bombing of Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport in 2011, the Brussels attack took place “landside”, meaning that security precautions would have been low-key and limited to spot checks and the general watchfulness of police office...

Recently at a conference, one of my media colleagues asked an interesting, and basic, question: What exactly is an open system? Many of us think we know what an open system is, but the ensuing discussion provided several different answers, many of them centered on what an open system is NOT (rather than what it is). An open system does not limit a customer’s options. An open system provides maximum flexibility as a system evolves over time. In other words, an open system doesn’t l...

ISE’s research shows that healthcare facilities & hospitals security programsto ward off determined attackers going after specific targets A well-known security axiom posits that an effective security program can discourage would-be attackers, causing them to move on in search of softer targets. But it doesn’t always work that way. Take healthcare facilities such as hospitals, for example. Prospective attackers with no particular target in mind may see a w...

The security market in the United States has been in a collective state of exhilaration since ISC West. The (possibly) unprecedented success of the big trade show has left us all feeling optimistic about the year ahead. Members of our Expert Panel Roundtable are joining the chorus of compliments for the show as they answer this week’s question: How successful was ISC West 2016? Did it meet your expectations?

No doubt about it: ISC West 2016 was a hit. Every comment I heard during the show (and since) has highlighted how busy the show was. There was plenty of booth traffic, even on the (traditionally slow) final day of the show. Some say it was the best ISC West in the last several years. Others say it was the best show ever. Quite a contrast to some other recent industry shows, plagued by meager traffic and complaining exhibitors. Instead, there were people everywhere at ISC West, asking questio...

Coming into ISC West, many in the industry had expected a renewed push toward use of mobile credentials (contained on smartphones, for example) instead of cards for access control. HID Global didn’t disappoint. A highlight of the second day of the show was a press conference in which HID Global announced new elements of its initiative to lead the industry into use of mobile credentials. Uses Of Smart Phone Credentials For Identity Management HID already provides SEOS mobile credentials,...

IP hardware is enabling customers to break free from proprietary security systems,to embrace the system integration available on open platforms Proprietary, closed systems are the bane of security. Yet they still exist. Robert (Rob) G. Lydic, Global Vice President of Sales for ISONAS, Boulder, Colorado, addresses the importance of open platforms in access control and what it means to systems integration in this exclusive Q&A. Trends In Access Control Technology SourceSec...

Access control now includes a strong focus on the data integration sideof the business, as showcased at this year’s ISC West When the category of physical security emerged many decades ago, it was literally all about locks, hardware and creating barriers such as fences to keep people out. Fast forward to ISC West 2016 in Las Vegas this week, where the focus is on intelligent solutions, smart data, cloud-based access control and incorporating audio, video and a wide r...

Cloud-based video systems have been slow to take off, but a new offering being introduced at ISC West seeks to give the concept new life. Unveiling the new system is Ivideon, a provider of hosted Cloud-based video, which is joining forces with Global Innovations, manufacturer of the Oco line of smart cameras. New Oco Pro cameras are pre-configured to interface easily with the Ivideon Cloud system, and distributors and integrators who sell the cameras make money both on the camera and installat...

UK citizens will vote on June 23rd 2016 on whether to remain within the European Union A significant aspect of the four-month operation leading to the capture in March of Salah Abdeslam, Europe’s most wanted man, is that French and Belgian police worked alongside each other with minimal protocol complications since the countries are not only geographical neighbours but members of the European Union. Abdeslam was arrested for his alleged involvement in the Paris attacks o...

Cities are increasingly connected using information and communication technologies, a trend often referred to as “smart cities.” In much the same way, “safe cities” initiatives are uniting businesses, city officials, law enforcement and other stakeholders in an effort to maximize the safety of businesses and citizens and to minimize theft and crime. Safe cities programs seek to leverage a variety of resources, including public-private partnerships, to make urban communiti...

ISC West educational sessions bring into focus some of the challenges, issues and opportunities faced by systems integrators What will be the hot technology at ISC West 2016 this year? Devices to detect drones, more affordable biometrics, or cameras with 360 degrees of clear vision? You’ll probably see some of the above and much more if you’re attending the security industry’s largest trade show, scheduled for April 6 through 8 at the Sands Expo Center in Las...

ISC West is on the immediate horizon, and I asked several industry players what they expect new and different at the industry’s big show. The answers included buzz-worthy topics from Big Data to the Internet of Things, but also mention of a perennial industry theme – integration. Video Embracing Social Media? Tom Chamard, Executive Vice President of Sales, Salient Systems, expects social media to emerge as a larger topic of interest at ISC West, especially considering how social...

Women in Security will be a focus at this year's ISC West in Las Vegas, including targeted conference sessions and the Women in Security Forum Breakfast on Friday, April 12. As a preview of the upcoming events, let's revisit an Expert Panel Roundtable on this subject. We asked: How is the role of women in the physical security market changing and expanding?