Chen Porat

Qognify, a trusted advisor and technology solution provider for enterprise operations and safety, announces it has joined NVIDIA Metropolis, a program designed to nurture and bring to market a new generation of applications and solutions that make the world’s most important spaces and operations safer and more efficient with advancements in AI vision. Qognify offers various video management IoT solutions that help customers safeguard people and assets. Efficient deployment platforms The rise of IP camera deployments and the increasing number of video streams per installation, has made it more essential than ever to add an automated perception layer to the image stream through video analytics, to better understand how an enterprise’s space is being used. This is where NVIDIA with their Metropolis platform comes into play, because the system helps Qognify reliably detect and classify important objects in the video stream. The rise of IP camera deployments and the increasing number of video streams per installation NVIDIA Metropolis makes it easier and more cost-effective for enterprises, governments, and integration partners to leverage world-class AI-enabled solutions to improve critical operational efficiency and safety problems. The NVIDIA Metropolis ecosystem contains a large and growing breadth of partners who are investing in the most advanced AI techniques, most efficient deployment platforms and use an enterprise-class approach to their solutions. Physical security solutions Partners have the opportunity to gain early access to NVIDIA platform updates to further enhance and accelerate their AI application development efforts. Further, the program offers the opportunity for partners to collaborate with experts and other AI-driven organizations. Chen Porat, Vice President of R&D at Qognify, is excited: “The NVIDIA solution does all the heavy lifting for video analytics in combination with our Qognify Video Analytics platform we are planning to roll out to all of our VMS products in the future. It moves resource-intensive calculations to the GPU and thus gives back bandwidth to the CPU to manage other tasks needed by our physical security solutions.”

Qognify announces the launch of VisionHub 6.0, a VMS+ that enables organizations in critical and highly regulated environments to effectively and efficiently respond to security threats and mitigate the impact of incidents. VisionHub is built around the core of a high-performance video management system (VMS). It centralizes, integrates, and organizes core physical security systems and sensors into a single video-centric interface, providing control room operators with heightened situational awareness and powerful incident response management capabilities. Real-Time data streams Many operators find themselves overwhelmed and pressurized by the sheer volume of information they are expected to utilize in the control room. A single incident can require an operator to toggle between real-time data streams from the VMS, access control, video analytics, third party platforms, radio systems, and mapping data. With each data source stored in disparate silos, it is the job of the operator to put the pieces of the puzzle together, in order to understand the unfolding situation and take the required action – all of this at a time when every second counts and decision need to be made fast and acted upon quickly. Physical security systems Operators have immediate access to the information they need to make the right decisions Steve Shine, CEO of Qognify states: “In recent years, investment in physical security technology has centered around providing control rooms with more and more sources of data, including greater numbers of cameras, systems, and sensors. What has been missing is the integration that enables operators to ingest, interpret and act upon these sources of information, to improve how security incidents are dealt with.” Shine adds: “This is exactly where VisionHub comes in. It breaks down the data silos, providing the control room with a centralized management of its core physical security systems based on a powerful VMS+ platform.” With core security systems tightly integrated through VisionHub, operators have immediate access to the information they need to make the right decisions, and take the right course of action at the right time, all from a single user interface. Delivering optimal performance This is achieved through a combination of pre-defined workflows that guide operators to manage every incident in-line with best practice and regulatory requirements, and a powerful bi-directional integration that enables operators to take action e.g. open or close an access point directly through VisionHub. Chen Porat, Vice President of Research & Development at Qognify, explains: “For most organizations, video surveillance is at the heart of their physical security ecosystem, so the logical next step in the evolution of the VMS is to be a video-centric management platform, that peels away the layers of complexity for both operator and administrator. VisionHub is a next-generation VMS+ that enables control rooms to realize the true potential of their technology investments and the skills of their operators, to deliver optimal performance for the organization, when it matters most.” VisionHub 6.0 is available now from Qognify and its global channel partner network.

Qognify has announced that it has received LenelS2 factory certification and joined the LenelS2 OpenAccess Alliance Program (OAAP). All of Qognify’s products (Situator, VisionHub, Cayuga, Ocularis and NiceVision) now interface with the OnGuard access control system enabling customers to evaluate situations based on a synopsis of event and video data, allowing a faster and more targeted response to critical incidents. LenelS2 factory certification The newly certified interface allows Qognify software to receive and display events from the OnGuard platform The newly certified interface allows Qognify software to receive and display events from the OnGuard platform, for instance ‘access granted’ or ‘door opened’. In return, live and archive videos from cameras operated with one of Qognify’s Video Management Systems (VMS) or its Enterprise Incident Management System, Situator can be displayed in the OnGuard system. Qognify products and OnGuard access control integration “Qognify has completed required factory testing at LenelS2 to validate the functionality of its interfaces to the OnGuard system. These interfaces provide great options for end users who prefer expanded integrated security solutions,” said John Marchioli, OAAP Product Management, LenelS2, adding "We look forward to Qognify’s continued involvement in the LenelS2 OpenAccess Alliance Program." “Being able to offer an interface to the OnGuard access control system is an important step for us, especially because the interface is available across Qognify’s entire product range,” said Chen Porat, Vice President of Research & Development at Qognify. Chen adds, “It reflects our strategy to offer our customers an overall security solution based on their individual needs and is another example of our cross-product initiatives.”

Qognify – the technology solution provider for physical security and enterprise incident management solutions – has launched Umbrella. The new web-based management platform leverages significant cost savings by managing large distributed video surveillance systems centrally in the cloud. In recent years, video surveillance projects have become larger and more complex, demanding more resources and increasing operational costs. Altering the configuration of multiple sites is time-consuming and monitoring the health status of all servers and cameras across every location is a challenge. As a consequence, organizations frequently over-spend on technical expertise and unnecessary licenses, as well as potentially exposing themselves to regulatory risk. Organizations frequently over-spend on technical expertise and unnecessary licenses Qognify new product is aimed at solving these challenges and is fully integrated with Qognify’s video management software (VMS) Cayuga. The web-based Umbrella can be hosted in the cloud (including Microsoft Azure and AWS) as well as on premise. Remote configuration Once installed, Umbrella provides a consolidated view of all servers and cameras across every connected installation, highlighting those, which require attention. Furthermore, if any company-wide changes are required to be made to how the video system operates (e.g. caused by changes in regulations such as GDPR), they can be configured and rolled-out remotely and immediately. Umbrella is well-suited for organizations in the banking, retail, logistics and transportation industry, which operate large-scale branch networks with hundreds of sites and thousands of cameras to be managed and place a premium on their physical security strategy. Umbrella was unveiled at Qognify’s EMEA launch event in Germany on May 9 in Karlsruhe, giving key partners and end customers of Qognify the opportunity to learn more about the new combined company after the acquisition of OnSSI and SeeTec at the end of 2018. Enterprise-Class video solutions Umbrella is born out of our commitment to delivery truly enterprise-class video solutions" Vice President of Research & Development at Qognify, Chen Porat, comments on value the new technology delivers: “Centralizing system monitoring, administration and license management through Umbrella, enables organizations to be more proactive and effective in the way they operate and maintain their surveillance camera networks, regardless of scale or complexity.” Steve Shine, CEO of Qognify, adds: “Qognify is one of the leading solution providers for video surveillance and Umbrella is born out of our commitment to delivery truly enterprise-class video solutions. Launching Umbrella, we want to fundamentally change the way organizations deploy, use and manage technology to protect people, customers, assets and infrastructure.” Umbrella is now available to organizations using Qognify’s Cayuga video management system.