Jammy DeSousa

The security industry remains interested in capturing actionable data from video analytics and this year we saw increasing interest from non-security industries. While still a relatively young industry for our market—think of where Google was with collecting metadata 10 years ago—video security works with similar algorithms for capturing various scenarios. The data this provides is becoming more valuable not only for security purposes, but also for business operations, such as determining staffing needs in retail and healthcare settings or managing lines at various events. Video’s tie-in with other systems, such as access control, will continue to provide critical information for managing situations as they unfold. Video Analytics Predictions In the year ahead, a resurgence in analytics is expected, especially in AI and deep learning, extending to security robot and drone technology. The next step in video analytics is to dive deeper to gain very specific insights into video content, including analyzing human behavior through the use of neural network video analysis. Video will not only be used to track the usual movement of cars and people or detect items left behind, but will also be relied on more frequently to bring behaviors of interest to the attention of security personnel. Like self-driving cars, analytics allow systems to make decisions on their own, which can increasingly be applied in a security setting as well -- including the triggering of robots and drones to respond to specific security events. Cloud And Smart Codecs The other big area of interest is still the cloud. Although there is more talk about cloud applications than actual movement toward cloud usage, smart codecs, which most security camera manufacturers are developing and marketing as a solution that goes beyond H.264 and H.265, lend themselves to future cloud applications. The ongoing need to better manage network bandwidth usage and to maximize video storage is further turning the emphasis toward smart codecs. This now allows extremely high-resolution video to be moved around in a fraction of the time and solves the issue of transporting many cameras over constrained WAN connections. With the elastic computing power available in the cloud, we can now envision a time where cloud computing costs could be low enough for the masses of video security solution use cases to be solved.

Johnson Controls, a global pioneer in smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings and architect of the Open Blue digital platforms, has released the latest version of Tyco American Dynamics victor and VideoEdge video management systems, offering accelerated deployment, more powerful analytics, and optimized video management and control. Robust cybersecurity The powerful victor and Video Edge 5.7 solutions deliver on Johnson Controls' commitment to empowering customers with technology to maintain safe building environments, healthy business operations, and seamless occupant experiences. Offering more powerful camera features, enhanced analytic capabilities, and new configuration tools and workflows for faster deployment and reduced operator fatigue, the victor and VideoEdge 5.7 offer more intuitive camera management, simplified site management, and more robust cybersecurity features in a modernized interface. Victor and VideoEdge 5.7 offer intuitive camera management, simplified site management, and robust cybersecurity  Improved video management “Enterprise customers need powerful and purpose-built video management that can be customized to meet the changing dynamics of today’s workplaces, regardless of industry or vertical market,” said Jammy DeSousa, director of Product Management, Video Solutions, Johnson Controls. “This latest version of the victor and VideoEdge platform enhances our current tools for improved user experience and further strengthens our existing cyber resiliency measures that are core to our offerings at Johnson Controls.” Powerful camera support More robust support for powerful camera features, including enhanced object and person detection and H.265+ compression, enable victor and VideoEdge users to leverage additional processing power from the cameras, resulting in deeper analytics with Illustra cameras. Cyber resiliency is also enhanced with encrypted video streaming from Illustra cameras directly into VideoEdge and Illustra Auto Configuration, which automatically configures Illustra camera security settings and adds the settings into the VideoEdge NVRs. Deeper analytics To support health and safety protocols, temperature readings from the Tyco Illustra Pro Thermal EST (elevated skin temperature) cameras can be stored and displayed within victor. If an elevated skin temperature is not detected, a face detection feature will ensure adherence with face-covering policies, triggering a mask missing alarm if no mask is detected. Intuitive controls and a host of productivity enhancements provide operators with simplified and optimized site management tools in victor and/ VideoEdge. With enhanced timeline control, operators can adjust playback speeds and scrub through video playback to more easily find specific sections of recorded video. Deployment times and the operator learning curve is reduced with intuitive wizards and workflows that provide better control of key video operational areas. Key highlights Victor and VideoEdge 5.7 also offer the following features: “Shake n Dry” – allows operators to literally shake off excess water or debris from PTZ cameras Configurable sensitivity settings for Intelligent Search for people on a per camera basis Support for new Illustra Pro Gen 4 cameras

The topic of video analytics has been talked and written about for decades, and yet is still one of the cutting-edge themes in the physical security industry. Some say yesterday’s analytics systems tended to overpromise and underdeliver, and there are still some skeptics. However, newer technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are reinvigorating the sector and enabling it to finally live up to its promise. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What new technologies and trends will shape video analytics in 2021?

Johnson Controls announces the release of the newest version of Tyco victor video management and VideoEdge NVR systems designed to provide users with mission-critical, enterprise-level solutions, while also furthering the solution’s cyber position and evolving the unification between victor/VideoEdge and Tyco Software House C•CURE 9000 security and event management platform. The release of version 5.4 offers dynamic features to flexibly support hundreds of cameras, empower facial biometrics, provide video media encryption, and improve management and organization of live and recorded video, including in C•CURE Unified environments. Strengthens cybersecurity measures “By leveraging the enhanced feature set in the latest version of the victor and VideoEdge solution, users can take an even more proactive approach to security, and easily grow the system as their video, facial biometric and analytics needs increase,” said Jammy DeSousa, senior product manager, American Dynamics, Building Technologies & Solutions, Johnson Controls. v5.4 of victor and VideoEdge strengthens cybersecurity measures to address the issue of file tamperingVersion 5.4 of victor and VideoEdge further strengthens existing cybersecurity measures to address the issue of file tampering and remote and local sabotage by encrypting the media stored on the NVRs. Other new functionalities include enhanced device addition, which adds flexibility and cuts down on time spent adding or editing cameras connected to the NVRs; integrity reports and audits for missing or modified media; and parallel recording of two video streams, providing a lower resolution option for fast download. Streamlines important monitoring functions For victor and C•CURE Unified systems, improved event configuration and robustness, area controls support, and C•CURE event editing help streamline important monitoring functions. Area controls are now unified, adding in the ability for valuable video context for remote visibility of area management. With updated facial biometrics, this release offers better runtime performance, accuracy, and the ability to simplify maintenance and bulk enrollment across the VMS with the addition of victor Identity Manager and the facial biometric engine update. Finally, organizing clips, video, and events across the enterprise has never been easier with video enhancements to master application server capabilities.

Johnson Controls announces the latest version of the victor and VideoEdge flagship video management solution (VMS). This release features an array of tools to improve analytic reporting and streamline device and user management across multi-location installations. The victor client on VideoEdge hardware platforms allows users to leverage high-performance video streaming, audio, video intelligence and an expansive feature set for improved real-time command and management. victor And VideoEdge VMS “This is a major step forward for our VMS platform in its ability to better suit system owners and stakeholders that appreciate the benefits of regular updates and other proactive maintenance,” said Jammy DeSousa, senior product manager, American Dynamics, Building Technologies & Solutions, Johnson Controls. “In the past, keeping up with the latest and greatest firmware and cyber practices, such as rotating passwords on an array of devices, like cameras and NVRs, could be a hugely cumbersome process. With version 5.3 we've greatly reduced that workload while adding capabilities for cyber security and policy compliance.” This latest release presents firmware and software management with enterprise bulk configuration that reduces the time and complexity associated with managing updates across enterprise deployments of Illustra cameras and VideoEdge recorders. Also included is the ability to efficiently manage camera and NVR passwords to adhere to cyber security policies, enriched by the new enhanced security mode which removes default accounts and requires the creation of new accounts and roles. Video Analytics Metadata Visualization  Analytic functionality has been optimized with a new dashboard that displays important operational business intelligence from search results and visuals Analytic functionality has been optimized with a new dashboard that displays important operational business intelligence from search results and visuals for average occupancy, conversion rates, engagement rates and more. Analytic overlay and live people counter allow built-in tools for video analytics metadata visualization by creating people counting areas and tallying entry and exit to those areas. VideoEdge NVRs VideoEdge NVRs now support H.265 streaming for efficient encoding in constrained environments, saving network bandwidth and storage costs. Further, NVR camera access permissions simplify the user interface by restricting camera access, effectively hiding cameras from operators who don’t need to see them. victor and VideoEdge offer powerful command and control to seamlessly synchronize video surveillance with access control, fire, intrusion and other systems into one powerful, intuitive interface and recording platform, allowing customers to manage their business more safely and intelligently.

Johnson Controls introduces the newest version of its victor Video Management System and VideoEdge Network Video Recorders (NVRs) from American Dynamics, version 5.2, a powerful video management system that provides enhanced video intelligence and analytics to greatly improve the efficiency of security personnel and daily business operations. The victor client on VideoEdge hardware platforms allows users to leverage high-performance video streaming, audio, motion metadata and an expansive feature set for improved real-time command and management. “Active surveillance and security environments require immediate and streamlined access to critical event information and system health status to make the right decisions for incident response and conduct efficient investigations,” said Jammy DeSousa, senior product manager, American Dynamics, Building Technologies & Solutions, Johnson Controls. “With its powerful event assessment, the victor and VideoEdge platform is designed to enhance operator productivity, improve our customer’s visibility of their entire environment and provide greater business insight to their overall enterprise.”The victor client on VideoEdge hardware platforms allows users to leverage high-performance video streaming, audio and motion metadata  Smart Business Security Management The combination of victor and VideoEdge maximizes smart streaming resources to optimize operation of high-resolution cameras and robust analytics while providing more efficient bandwidth management. In addition to the transcoding options, by accepting triple video streams from the camera to the NVR, victor and VideoEdge allow for more effective video management software operation in this bandwidth intensive environment. Operators can both listen and speak to individuals near a camera for improved situational response and control with new bi-directional audio support. The victor VMS streamlines user creation and privilege assignment with the union of roles between victor and the C•CURE 9000 security and event management platform from Software House. A single log/journal for both access control and video events saves investigation time by providing a single point of information for accessing alarm-related video and tools in intuitive, pre-defined layouts. Key system status indicators are clearly and visually displayed in a single graph form ensuring that operators have instant access to the most important system health information. victor and VideoEdge also offers powerful command and control to seamlessly synchronize video surveillance with access control, fire, intrusion and other systems into one powerful, intuitive interface and recording platform, allowing customers to manage their business more safely and intelligently.

Johnson Controls’ newest version of its victor Unified Video Management Systems and VideoEdge Network Video Recorders from American Dynamics, provides a transformed, contemporary user interface and new detection and analytics features for increased visibility of the security environment. With victor/VideoEdge 5.0, the updated feature set includes license plate-recognition, perimeter detection, edge-based SD-card failover redundancy and several other advanced surveillance features, delivering greater and faster command and control capabilities. victor VideoEdge 5.0 The newly enhanced user interface of the victor video management system (VMS), simplifies day-to-day activities for security operators with both dark and light theme options well-suited for dimly-lit command center environments. The interface offers a reimagined “home” view that remembers frequently-used features, simplifying forensic investigating and live viewing. Workflow functions have also been redesigned to be more intuitive and a new navigation bar and a variety of menu filters puts usability at the center of the victor VMS experience. “victor’s transformed graphical user interface makes the security operator’s experience more comfortable and efficient, significantly reducing the number of clicks, while uniquely leveraging Illustra cameras for an additional level of seamless system redundancy,” said Jammy DeSousa, Senior Product Manager, Building Technologies & Solutions, Johnson Controls. “The newest version of victor/VideoEdge enables new levels of awareness with sophisticated video analytic capabilities for vehicle license plate recognition as well as perimeter detection with increased visibility for both exterior and interior environments.” The newly enhanced user interface of the victor video management system (VMS) simplifies day-to-day activities for security operators VideoEdge New TrickleStor Feature VideoEdge’s new TrickleStor feature has select Illustra cameras and VideoEdge working together to form a cost-effective redundancy and seamless failover solution. If communications between the NVR and cameras are interrupted or stop, the camera automatically detects the anomaly and begins recording video to its SD card. With VideoEdge TrickleStor, once connections are restored, the recorded video is then transferred back to the NVR’s hard drive. When the video is viewed later, operators will not be able to sense there was any outage, thereby capturing line of sight activity and providing a seamless experience. Detecting Blacklisted Vehicles Powerful LicensePlate Recognition (LPR) technology sends security operators real-time alarm notifications for arriving VIPs or when blacklisted vehicles are detected. Operators utilize “fuzzy match” with Smart Search, victor/VideoEdge’s forensic search engine, to identify commonly confused characters, such as 8 and B, to generate a list of possible matches. Smart Search can also place asterisks (*) and question marks (?) to correlate recorded video and searches when only a portion of a license plate number is known.

Tyco Security Products has introduced the 4.8.1 version of American Dynamics victor Video Management System (VMS) and VideoEdge intelligent network video recorders (NVR), which includes new features to simplify administration and speed security investigations. Helps Improve Bandwidth Management The newest version of victor gives video management system operators the ability to schedule video clip retrieval for a later time during off-peak network usage hours to improve bandwidth management. Additionally, incident builder allows users to correlate video evidence for a complete event presentation. To reduce post-event investigation time, operators and guards now can create bookmarks along with notes when something of interest has been observed. Notes, images and other documents can be added to a single file along with clips that have been stitched together for succinct video evidence of an event. Further, users can check authenticity of the exported evidence presentation with the new digital authentication capability providing a simple way to prove secure evidence that can be upheld by law enforcement. With the new Unified version of victor, administrators now have the ability to update user roles and privileges for Software House C•CURE 9000 systems including the C•CURE 9000 monitoring station, administration workstation and C•CURE Go mobile app. This synchronization consolidates an operator’s setup, saving time and unifying video security and access control. This release also offers operators the option to import fully functional C•CURE 9000 maps into victor. Security operators can lock and unlock the door or open a door with a swipe and show interface directly from the victor map. Enhances Point-of-sales Display For retail settings, victor 4.8.1 enhances the point-of-sales display to show receipt data alongside the corresponding video for instant visual verification and simplified monitoring of fraud and theft. “The new features offer even greater speed and efficiency to improve the security user experience,” said Jammy DeSousa, Senior Product Manager, Tyco Security Products. “These latest enhancements to the powerful victor platform provide an industry-leading suite of enterprise-class investigation and productivity tools. The intuitive interface is designed to maximize operator time and resources in that mission-critical control room environment."

Tyco Security Products introduces facial biometrics within VideoEdge video surveillance systems for immediate detection and verification of individuals. Biometrics Can Be Added To VideoEdge NVR Facial biometrics can easily be added to a VideoEdge network video recorder (NVR). Users can quickly conduct a SmartSearch within VideoEdge to automatically find a matching face and view the associated corresponding video. This allows security operators to identify criminals, terminated employees, VIPs and other persons of interest, while also enrolling and saving known faces with video associated for faster future investigations. Users can save up to 1,000 faces per NVR enrollment database. For example, a retail store can add a photo of a shoplifter at one of its locations to the database so he/she can be seen across the enterprise of sites .If that person enters another store location, operators receive an instant alert to take action to aid in preventing costly shoplifting occurrences. “Facial biometrics within VideoEdge offers our customers real value in improving loss prevention and reducing investigation time,” said Jammy DeSousa, Product Manager, Tyco Security Products. “The technology used to match multiple points on a face against images stored in the database delivers a high matching success rate for superior performance.” Eliminates The Need For An Additional Server Each facial biometrics engine is built-in to the powerful VideoEdge NVR eliminating the need for an additional server. Housing this intelligent feature within the recorder reduces operational costs and improves efficiency. Additionally, VideoEdge users can utilize the facial verification feature with victor Unified and Software House C•CURE 9000 security and event management platform for a complete, unified solution. Access control card holders are immediately detected and verified. Therefore, if the system detects an unauthorized card use, operators receive instant visual notification.