Notes from Norstrom

In his previous article, Matt Gilmartin of Concept Smoke Screen introduced the... well... concept... of artificial smoke as a defense against burglars.  Here he explores the practicalities of the technology and introduces us to a few of its many applications. Originally, security fog systems were exclusively a means of preventing loss through burglary, and were utilised only in the manner described in my previous article.  But advancements in technology (partly fueled by ever-growing...

Milestone Systems, the world leader for open platform IP video surveillance management software, has achieved a benchmark this summer: over 1,000 security professionals worldwide have now been certified through special training in the top-of-the-line XProtectTM solutions.Since November 2004, when Milestone Systems introduced its Partner Program for authorized Milestone Value-Added Resellers (VARs) and Systems Integrators (SIs), the business channel and number of partners has grown significantly....

  Axis network cameras  installed in the Durant, Broken Bow and Pocola casino locationsAxis Communications recently announced that more than 300 of the company's network cameras have been installed in three casinos owned by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.  The Axis network cameras will be used in conjunction with the Universal Video Management System (UVMS) solution from Petards, Inc., a developer of advanced video surveillance systems and one of the leading security supplier...

Industry veteran leads development of secure identity products and servicesHID Global, the trusted leader in providing solutions for the delivery of secure identity, recently announced that Dr. Scott Guthery has joined the company in the role of System Architect, in charge of leading the formulation and development of secure identity-based products and services.  In this newly created position, he will report to Dr. Tam Hulusi, executive vice president, HID Global. Dr. Guthery's hi...

Pelco is pleased to announce that Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has awarded Pelco the 2007 Company of the Year Award in the North American video surveillance market.  Each year, this award is presented to the company that has demonstrated excellence within its industry. According to Frost & Sullivan, Pelco was chosen for this award due to its status as the premier manufacturer in the video surveillance market and its ability to increase revenues at a very str...

LEGIC Identsystems Ltd, the leading manufacturer of contactless smart card technology for personal identification applications, and AZS System AG, one of the major companies supplying comprehensive and complex solutions in the fields of personnel management, time recording, access control and safety technology, have recently signed a licence partnership.  AZS already has experience of LEGIC all-in-one card technology, and the deal means that it now has direct access to the technical ex...

IdentiSys, Inc. recently announced that it has acquired the assets and ongoing business operations of 4Site Systems, Inc., a provider of efficient workflow solutions for both standard and custom digital scanning, variable printing, finishing and mailing applications.  Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.Founded in 2000, 4Site Systems, Inc. is a Minneapolis-based company that specialises in the sale and integration of software, hardware and equipment used for the storage and delive...

Open Options, a provider of access control solutions, has integrated Milestone open platform IP video management software for a total security offering that is scalable to any size installation.The security industry is waking up to the many advantages of IT technology, and open architecture allows integration of once-disparate systems into efficient and effective solutions.  Open Options is on the forefront of this trend with an integration between their NPower DNA™ access control and...

Bewator has announced availability of a new catalogue, which provides details of all Bewator and Siemens branded security products. The combination of access control, CCTV and intruder products makes this the most comprehensive security catalogue available on the UK market.As well as pricing details, the catalogue includes technical product specifications, which will be invaluable to installers and specifiers alike.   According to Alistair Enser, sales and marketing director for B...

In large public sports venues where emotionally charged crowds gather, there can be civil disorder, especially with intoxicated people and over-zealous fans.  The Charles Koch Arena at Wichita State University has more than 10,000 seats, and regularly draws full capacity crowds from both the university and the surrounding community.  The mix of campus and urban area also has the potential to involve more risk of assaults or theft.  The campus police wanted to ensure the best safet...

Brivo Systems, LLC, the leader in web applications for access control and security systems, recently announced that it has hired William Savage as the new Vice President of Operations.William Savage comes to Brivo from AMAG Technology/Group4, where he was Vice President of Technical Operations, overseeing all technical services for the security management systems manufacturer.  Prior to that, Mr. Savage was with Pelco, where he held the position of Global Manager, Technical Services, o...

Group 4 Technology (G4Tec) remains committed to protecting people, property and information with top-quality solutions as they announce a technology update to its Symmetry Security Management System (SMS).  Symmetry SMS combines all of the requirements needed for building security including access control, video management, alarm management, identity management, visitor management, and command and control into a single deeply integrated security management system for any size organization....

Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver is a public transportation district that provides transit services to 8 counties and 44 municipalities, with 85 million annual passenger trips aboard light rail, bus, access-a-Ride and call-n-Ride services.  With 1300 buses, 16 miles of light rail and another 19 miles to be added within a year, the RTD's Treasury handles millions of dollars in collected transit fees per year.The Treasury is secured by a "man-trap" with a Lenel c...

IndigoVision's IP Video technology is helping local residents in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, USA, fight violent crime through an innovative CCTV solution.  The area around the WCCNPAC Community Center and Adams 4 Shopping Center is benefiting from a remote surveillance solution that has been implemented using standard Internet communications.  Video feeds from the remote cameras are digitally compressed and transmitted via cable modems across the Internet to the security control...

The Jewish Museum in Frankfurt is one of the three major Jewish museums in Germany.  It traces the interrelationship between Jews in Germany and their environment based on the example of Frankfurt.  Prior to World War II the city of Frankfurt had the highest percentage of Jewish inhabitants with over 26,000 Jewish citizens.  The building is secured today by 360° video surveillance.  Its open character was intentionally selected, as the changing exhibitions are to be acces...

FreedomPay, Inc., the leader in contactless transactions and settlements to the nation's largest hospitality foodservice providers, healthcare systems, Fortune 1000 corporations, and educational institutions, today announced that its online hosted network integrates fully with the read/write capability of HID's iCLASS 13.56 MHz contactless smart card technology.  "The FreedomPay cashless application, when coupled with the iCLASS card, allows employees and students to link funds...

NICE Systems, the global provider of advanced solutions that enable organizations to extract Insight from Interactions™ to drive performance, recently announced that it won a major security project award, receiving an order at over US$5 million for the supply of its advanced IP-based digital video content analytics solutions for implementation at a major international city's police force.  NICE was selected to help the city's police forces deter city centre terror and cri...

March Networks™, a leading provider of IP-based video surveillance solutions, announced today that a major U.S. retailer has selected its digital video software and systems as the preferred solution for the company's new and retrofit store builds in the U.S.The retailer, whose operations include international locations and more than 5,000 sites across the U.S., is already using March Networks IP video systems in a number of its production facilities.  The March Networks solution w...

To monitor traffic conditions and maintain safety at distant locations, transfer of video images of exceptional quality is crucial.  A SISTORE CX video-over-IP solution from Siemens integrates analog cameras with an intelligent digital video codec, providing outstanding image quality of the Gotschna Tunnel at a superior cost/performance ratio.The Gotschna Tunnel, opened in Switzerland at the end of 2005 with a length of 4.2 km, and is part of the Klosters by-pass and the federal highway A28...

LILIN, one of the World's largest CCTV manufacturers, has today launched a new web site that provides customers with accurate, easy to access, useful information that will give them a greater understanding of LILIN products.The site, which features up to date product information is the most comprehensive and accurate source of CCTV information for LILIN customers.  It shows a wealth of information about LILIN, its history, products, technology and news and events.The new site is much mo...

March Networks™ (TSX:MN; AIM:MNW), a leading provider of IP-based video surveillance solutions, announced today that it has received orders totaling $6 million during the first quarter of its fiscal year 2008 to provide its IP video management systems to a U.S.-based big box retailer.  The company anticipates that the orders will be shipped prior to the end of the second quarter.March Networks' advanced solutions help big box, supermarket, convenience, general merchandise and othe...

Bosch Security Systems and Milestone Systems have strengthened their strategic alliance by extending the range of integrated hardware and software products. Bosch Security Systems is a global leader in IP cameras and encoders.  The IP cameras are based on the award-winning Dinion, FlexiDome and AutoDome Modular cameras.  Milestone's XProtect IP video management suite is one of the market-leading open platform IP video management system, with an extensive global presence. ...

Bosch Security Systems today announced that Frost & Sullivan, a global growth-consulting organization, has awarded the company its 2007 Video Surveillance Emerging Technology of the Year Award.  Bosch's Direct-to-iSCSI RAID recording solution received the award because of its value to customers and IT personnel and its competitiveness against the networked video recorder (NVR).  Bosch is a foremost pioneer in iSCSI-based recording technology, which uses the IP-based storage sta...

Privately funded CCTV systems in public areas are gaining increasing acceptance, with more and more neighborhood or special-interest groups pooling funds to install cameras.  Eureka (California), Zurich in Switzerland, the London Borough of Enfield, and Belfast in Northern Ireland have all seen surveillance equipment sponsored by businesses and neighborhood watchdogs.A current example is occurring in south side Milwaukee where a major thoroughfare, National Avenue, is benefiting from day-ni...

Mirasys Ltd, a leading provider of video surveillance software for the security industry is this year celebrating its ten year anniversary.Since its founding as a small IT startup in 1997, Mirasys Ltd has grown to become the Scandinavian market leader and a leading provider of surveillance software in Europe and North America.  Today, Mirasys software is used to monitor sites ranging from New York State school districts to holding cells in Queensland, Australia, and from diamond m...

The coastline of Dubai is rapidly changing as The Palm islands emerge from the sea.  Today, the city of Dubai, currently the fastest growing metropolis on earth, and holds approximately 1.5 million people.  By the year 2015 this number is expected to have increased to 3.0 million.  To promote tourism, three Palm islands are being built by Nakheel in the waters of the Arabian Gulf.  Construction on The Palm Jebel Ali will begin this year.  Reclamation of The Palm Deira...

Forward Vision's Mic1-400 was recently tested head-to-head against high pressure water spray from a fire hose.  The test was conducted to confirm the Mic1-400's performance under extreme conditions well beyond its stated environmental specifications.  Constructed of CNC-milled 6mm-thick aluminum or 316L stainless steel, Mic1-400 is IP68 sealed for total protection against ingress and periods of immersion under pressure, providing absolute performance in extreme conditions such...

Rainbow's bullet cameras are monitoring some of the finest racehorses in the world at stables in Kentucky, USA.  The cameras are allowing breeders to observe mares during the crucial days of foaling and have been installed at several leading breeders by local integrator Barney Miller's.   A notable site is Glen Ridge Farm, Lexington, where a prominent breeder is using the cameras in nine stalls and reviewing images at night from the comfort of their home on a hard-wired system wit...

Octavian Security Ltd, the security arm of the Octavian Group of Companies has announced the launch of its first Canadian office.  To be based in Downtown Vancouver, Octavian Security Inc is to offer manned security solutions to Canadian organizations and also provide high end security consultancy.The UK based, internationally operating security specialist is about to secure its first contracts in the city, which are expected to be in the construction and logistics sectors.  Octavian&#...

Honeywell (NYSE:HON) today announced it was voted Best Intruder Manufacturer at the PSI Premier Awards, which took place on 5th June at Moor Park Golf Club in Hertfordshire.Exclusively selected by security installers, the prestigious annual awards event and its honorees garner industry respect.  Honeywell was awarded the Intruder Manufacturer of the Year award based on the superior level of customer care and impressive sales performance achieved in the sector throughout the past year."...