Security camera systems - Expert commentary

Drone is a toy with a bright future—until it causes a catastrophe  Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, are today’s gizmo du jour. A recent Bloomberg article reported that Amazon alone is selling more than 10,000 a month, and with prices as low as $50, it’s a toy with a bright future—until it causes a catastrophe. Consider the January incident at the White House when a drunken National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency employee lost control of a quad...

Any part of a transmission infrastructure has a dramatic impact on system performance We often view network switches as transparent transmission products. What goes in comes out. In reality, nothing is further from the truth. In this article, Neil Heller - Vice President, Vigitron, Inc. highlights that any part of a transmission infrastructure has a dramatic impact on transmission and, therefore, on system performance. At the very least a network switch can be viewed as a piec...

Research report from ASIS Foundation and University of Phoenix declared that cyber-security would rank as top security risk for next five years Check out the research available from the ASIS Foundation. It is proving to be right on the button.When the Guardians of Peace hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment late in 2014, they crashed the studio’s email, leaked films and scattered personnel data across the Internet.  By mid-December, four class-action lawsuits had hit...

Unscrupulous companies reversing positive steps made by security industry to remove stigma of being known as "trunk slammers" ABC news report reaffirms need for industry action For the businesses that make up the electronic security industry, it’s an issue that undermines all the progress we have made to date. It’s deceptive door-to-door sales tactics, and it’s still having an impact on the alarm industry. It affects the entire industry – from large na...

Security cameras can earn a return on investment (ROI) that goes beyond security Today’s security camera technology can help speed entrance screening and provide video under very low light conditions. In each case, security cameras can earn a return on investment (ROI) that goes beyond security. One difference between today’s security cameras and older generations of camera technology is something called wide dynamic range or WDR. It is a feature that enables a ca...

The solutions offered today in the field of server virtualization seem to be a natural fit for the evolution of security systems from analog to IP The video surveillance industry has been transitioning from analog to IP-based systems over the last several years, and it is clear that this trend will continue. In light of this, it is apparent that taking advantage of the advancements in the IT world for use in security system design is the next logical step. In this article, Guy...

Observers say improved analytic technology and better support technologies are making video analytics effective Video analytics and biometrics entered the security technology market some years ago accompanied by great expectations. Both generally disappointed security directors and end users. Manufacturers oversold video analytics as a tool that could monitor video for hours on end without losing concentration — something human security officers couldn’t do. Analy...

Companies embracing new cloud-based technologies will be among the winners, those with legacy business models will struggle Vision Security Technologies 2014/2015 Review & ForecastThe year 2014 was somewhat flat due to a still recovering economy and building industry in our Southern region of the United States. We saw a greater expectation for higher quality video surveillance throughout the mid-market sector. Vision Security Technologies also saw an increase in campus...

Time will tell regarding how fast public cloud applications will be fully adopted in the security space Sureview 2014/2015 Review and Forecast:  The continued movement to “cloud” or “distributed” applications will further impact how security manufacturers and integrators market and position their solutions and offerings. To the traditional security organization, this brings an entirely new go-to-market and pricing strategy as well as a completely...

Over the next year end users will push to get more value out of their investments  Frontier 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: One of the big trends we see playing out over the next year is a push to get more value out of the investments that end users make in their solutions. Certainly the solutions must meet the core needs of customers, but more focus is being applied towards how those solutions can improve processes, increase efficiency and provide better visibility...

With the entry of more manufacturers and mergers and acquisitions in the security industry, the competition is undoubtedly getting fiercer VIVOTEK will seek to add value and increase return on investment for customers VIVOTEK 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: Total solutions have become more important than individual products in the industry. Security brands are starting to turn themselves into solution providers instead of product manufacturers. Moreover, with...

The decriminalisation of marijuana has left the security industry apprehensive to collaborate with the industry If ever there was a market tailor-made for security companies, it’s the growing cannabis industry. Although only two states – Colorado and Washington – currently allow the sale of recreational marijuana and 22 other states permit limited medical use, many within the industry believe the tide has turned in favor of legalisation. [After the recent ele...

There is convergence of both the video and access control technologies, and of the companies themselves Milestone Systems 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: Milestone Systems is always in touch with our vast ecosystem of partners around the globe as we support them in their customer projects and needs. We partake in hundreds of industry events, road shows, and meetings, also holding our own partner conferences in every region to ensure face time with our stakeholders. We do...

AlliedBarton actively seeks out and hires family members of veterans through employer assistance groups  AlliedBarton Security Services implemented its program to hire veterans five years ago. “Our CEO Bill (William C.) Whitmore announced one day that ‘we’re going to have a lot of American heroes coming home soon, and I want to give them jobs,’” said Jerold Ramos, Director, Strategic Recruiting and Military Liaison with AlliedBarton. &ldquo...

The Security Girl has become much more than a brand for American Fire & Security By Deborah O'Mara, SourceSecurity.com's dealer/integrator correspondent In the security industry, you want to be different, and what’s more memorable than a company avatar turned ambassador that sports some rockin’ pink hair? Only The Security Girl’s hairdresser knows for sure! Erica Wood, chief security officer and co-owner of American Fire & Security (AF&S) i...

Integrators are embracing the many ways the cloud helps smaller companies succeed Hosted and managed security services aren’t for large enterprises only. SMBs (small-to-medium businesses) are taking advantage of the inherent operational and cost efficiencies of deploying managed services. Web-based or cloud services like access control and video provide convenience, ease of use and lower total cost of ownership. Cloud services are accessed without downloading and mainta...

Security standardization reduces operational requirements Controlling identified risks at all of your sites, anywhere in the world, can be difficult. Especially when taking budget constraints into account. How can you ensure all of your people have a secure working environment? And that all employees, everywhere, adhere to your security policy? Nancy Wanders, Business Development Manager Asia/Pacific at Nedap, states that standardising security gives this assurance and more. I...

A video security system's quality can be measured with mean time before failure figures and failure rate data When comparing specifications among a range of similarly featured video surveillance cameras, NVRs or monitors, it can be difficult to ascertain which of the devices truly has the best performance and/or quality. John Grabowski, National Sales and Marketing Manager of JVC Security Division, poses some questions for consideration: Can the human eye actually see a differ...

New security technologies have dramatically changed the security landscape over the last decade The security landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade with the introduction of numerous new security technologies to detect crime and deter criminal activity. With a long list of new tools, professionals now need to process vast amounts of information within seconds from many different security systems and then make important decisions about how to respond to an inc...

Low-light imaging has historically been a problem for megapixel cameras. Arecont Vision, like other megapixel camera manufacturers, has struggled to solve the dilemma of low-light images, which are plagued by noise, smearing of video, high bit rates (requiring additional storage) and loss of color. Arecont Vision says it now has the answer, dubbing it STELLAR technology. The “LL” in the middle of STELLAR stands for “low-light;” the entire acronym stan...

Thermal cameras provide images that reliably show the presence of people in any lighting situation FLIR Systems broke a historic threshold in thermal camera pricing when it announced a thermal camera for $499 at the ISC West show in April. Before that announcement, the lowest-price thermal camera was $2,000, which was itself much lower than the $10,000 price just a few years ago in 2005. The price decrease resulted from FLIR’s R&D efforts specifically aimed at loweri...

   XML, API and web server offer the ability for interoperability between proprietary software Today's facility executive wants to purchase systems and components from various manufacturers and have those components work together as one system. They want "open systems" that allow the manufacturers to offer new features and add value without locking the owner into a single vendor's proprietary protocols. In short, they want Interoperability.Hirsch Electronics...

  Museums facing growing security challenge with rise of armed robbery  It only takes a shocking 58 seconds to steal a painting. Jonas Rehnberg, writer at Assa Abloy Future labs, speaks to former museum security chief Ton Cremers about the safe-keeping of precious artefacts in museums and art galleries. In 2004, armed, masked robbers stormed into the Munch Museum in Oslo and stole two masterpieces - "The Scream" and "Madonna" - before the eyes of shocked spectators....

Simon Nash, European Product Manager, Network Video Monitoring, Sony Europe, explains the key benefits and potential impact of the new generation of groundbreaking intelligent cameras. It has long been known that there are inherent weaknesses in the process of manually scrutinising security  Intelligent cameras offer proactive network video monitoring monitors hour after hour, in the hope of pinpointing all possible risks.  The challenge has been to find a robust te...