Expert commentary

A lot has changed since VHS tapes were the universal medium for CCTV recording, with digital systems now starting to predominate. But what's the current state of the art in digital recording - and what new developments are just around the corner? Siemens Building Technologies, Security Products Jon Hill has the answers.Today, there would be very few, if any, CCTV Preference for digital recording systems is significantly increasing specifiers who would choose anything other th...

Milestone Systems' Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Eric Fullerton, outlines clear advantages of choosing an open platform IP video solution to deliver a video surveillance system that has room to grow and expand in any direction with the lowest cost of ownership. Choosing surveillance camera management solutions It is no surprise that  A camera management application limited to one camera vendor is high in risks, low in rewards   security camera vend...

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...

Jeremy Kimber, Honeywell's EMEA Marketing Leader, analyses the rising phenomenon of video analytics in the security industry. Like the pharmaceutical industry, CCTV is always unveiling a new wonder cure.  Given the rapid pace of technology development, it is inevitable that new  Rapid growth predicted for analytic software market within the next two to three years solutions are constantly being brought to market.  However, in many cases these new solu...

SourceSecurity.com recently caught up with Jonas Andersson, business development director at Axis Communications, to talk in more detail about Axis' ground-breaking co-operative agreement to work collectively with Bosch and Sony on the development of a standard network interface for network video products.  The resulting collaboration, now called Open Network Video Interface Forum (ONVIF), will strive to develop an open industry standard and is inviting would-be participants to register via...

FLIR Systems' Christiaan Maras highlights the benefits between cooled and uncooled thermal imaging systems. The demand for thermal imaging to enhance the CCTV environment is increasing markedly.  Thermal imaging provides 24-hour, all-year-round, long-range asset and personnel protection.  Unlike other cameras thermal imaging cameras require no lighting that may draw unwanted attention to a facility or site.  They provide vivid, high-contrast images of intruders even whe...

Biometric technology has been with us for over two decades, but how will it evolve over the next ten years?  John Davies, Managing Director of access control specialist TDSi, looks at the impact of biometrics and considers how future developments might shape the security industry. Biometrics is quite rightly viewed to be at the cutting edge of security technology.  From the very first commercial application of a finger print reader in 1984, we have seen new systems and applications in...

When it comes to the application of sophisticated security techniques in the banking environment - to keep assets, staff and customers safe and secure - financial institutions are looking carefully at how they can seamlessly integrate advances, such as High Definition CCTV and the monitoring of their cash machines, into their existing infrastructure.  Pauline Norstrom, Director of Worldwide Marketing at Dedicated Micros, discusses the challenges. A key issue for banks is to ensure that the...

D-Tec's MD, Ian Moore, explains the importance of smoke detection systems in the early detection of tunnel fires. Fire in the context of tunnels has been brought into sharp relief in recent years, as a result of a number of high profile tragedies.  Most notably the Mont Blanc Tunnel in 1999, which claimed the lives of 39 people.  As a result, there has been increasing interest in the application of CCTV cameras in conjunction with video analytics technology, specifically Video Smoke D...

Security analysts IMS Research have charted a 65% annual compound growth in the video analytics market since 2004 and predict that the sector will be worth £215 million in 2009.  Here, Chris Gomersall, Chief Executive Officer of London-based analytics provider Ipsotek, outlines the technology, describes on-site challenges and considers likely developments. Referred to variously as "intelligent video surveillance" or "intelligent scene analysis", video analytics employs algorithm...

Casino operators are among the most pro-active and demanding users of CCTV surveillance. IP Video systems are an ideal solution for this industry, but it's important to specify a well-designed system warns Oliver Vellacott, IndigoVision's CEO. A quality casino surveillance system is an essential business tool used to resolve gaming disputes, monitor public safety and detect fraud, cheating and theft.  The very nature of the gaming environment where patrons and staff intermingle and handle...

Security is now part of the mainstream in day-to-day life at most further education facilities with access control rapidly becoming the fastest growing technology as older, more basic systems are replaced.  Marc Handels, Marketing & Sales Director for SALTO Systems Ltd, looks at how security on campus is changing and how access control manufacturers are responding to develop systems to keep pace with their education customers ever more complex requirements.When it comes to security, acc...

Edward Troha, Director of Marketing for ObjectVideo, questions the actual intelligence of some video analytics packages. While roaming the halls of the seemingly endless stream of security and surveillance trade shows, have you ever asked yourself if all of the devices and software and solutions that claim to be "intelligent" really are?  No way.  Perhaps the more important question is "what can you do today to most effectively educate yourself on the fact and fict...

Nicolas Richter, Head of Security Products for Siemens Building Technologies, looks at the increasing importance of interoperability in the security market. In trying to identify the greatest driver in the security market at the moment, I would have to say interoperability.  If you look at intrusion, for example, it is no longer just intrusion, particularly in the commercial sector.  The access control system operates during office hours but then out of hours, yes, you have the i...

SourceSecurity.com took the time to catch up with the CEO and President of the company that invented the network camera more than 10 years ago, Axis Communications, to ask him whether the era of IP-based surveillance had arrived and what obstacles remain in the way of more widespread adoption. SourceSecurity.com: Do you think IP-Surveillance has finally come of age? Ray Mauritsson: Yes and it is not just Axis saying this.  You only need to look at the growth of sales of the network...

In his previous article, Matt Gilmartin of Concept Smoke Screen introduced the... well... concept... of artificial smoke as a defence 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 fuelled by ever-growin...

In this article, Oliver Vellacott, CEO of IndigoVision, warns against setting too high an expectation for what video analytics can deliver. Analytics will detect 'suspicious movement' from people walking along a street.  Analytics will detect terrorists walking round a hillside a mile away.  Analytics will pick an offender out from a sea of faces.  These are just some of the misconceptions about analytics today.  Was there ever a technology that was so 'over-promised and und...

"You, in the black jumper.  Put that traffic cone back where you found it." A reasonable statement.  But slightly unnerving if spoken from the heavens at a great volume.  Just as John Reid would like it. "Talking CCTV" - a system allowing control room operators to speak directly to those being watched - is the new black, the must have for the latest season of surveillance.  Making its way to a council near you. The system, Reid says, is a sensible means of dispelling such...

In this article, SourceSecurity.com speaks to newly appointed MD of HID Global, EMEA, Anthony Ball, about trends and developments in the access control industry.SourceSecurity.com:  What are the key factors influencing the security industry, and particularly access control, in the near and medium term?Anthony Ball:  I believe security will need to be more ‘customer-aware' than ‘technology-aware.'  The development of products will need to be very...

In the first of two articles, Matt Gilmartin of Concept Smoke Screen introduces the idea of using artificial smoke as a final - and telling - barrier against burglary, and explains the basics behind this wildly under-reported technology. Around twenty years ago, a dramatic increase in the amount of smash-and-grab and "ram-raid" style burglaries made it apparent that for a lot of premises, the three layers of "conventional" security measures were no longer enough: Physical security...

In this article, Mike Bluestone considers the challenges facing internal auditors in light of the recent scourges of terrorism, binge drinking and drug use, and proposes eight principles of security. Internal auditors are inevitably engaged in an ongoing challenge to uncover intellectual wrongdoing of varying kinds.  The 'fail-safe' measures practised and implemented by them frequently reveal failings and intentional wrong doing - by employees and others - in both the public...

Simon Hall examines the problems of retrospectiveness and poor observation inherent in CCTV systems with manned control rooms.  Artificial intelligence (AI), he contends, could be the answer. We are living in a time in human history where the words ‘security' and ‘prevention' are becoming synonymous.  There exist a new wave of criminals, expert in new forms of weaponry and destructive technologies and more insidious and more ingenious in their designs.  This frig...

Dr Oliver Vellacott, CEO of IndigoVision, outlines how investment in existing CCTV systems can be safeguarded when migrating to an IP Video solution. The IP Video market is growing rapidly, having been accepted as a mature technology with a field proven record.  IP networking of CCTV, access control and intruder alarms will eventually penetrate the majority of the market - it has too many cost and performance advantages not to do so.  But what does this mean for legacy systems? How ca...

Martin Roberts of NICE Systems discusses current and future security challenges of processes, people and technology. The political, social, business and technological environment is changing the mandate of the modern Security Manager.  Recent events have placed security firmly in the spotlight and are forcing everyone from the board down to ask the following questions: Do we have the security processes, people and technology in place to meet current and future challenges?  A...

Oliver Vellacott, CEO of IndigoVision and Ronan Smith, CEO of Wavesight discuss the many advantages that wireless technology brings to IP Video Solutions In the last decade there has been a massive growth in the use of license-exempt radio technology to carry data, voice and video across networks, moving away from the traditional cable route. Inside many organisations, wireless technology is being deployed as extensions to traditional wired infrastructures - e.g. wireless access points connect...

A new non-profit business organisation, recently launched in Brussels, will develop international standards for intermodal freight container security to counter the threat to the circa €7 trillion international trade in goods, from terrorism and organised crime, including smuggling and theft. The International Container Security Organisation (ICSO), which will develop and publish global standards for container security devices (CSDs) and related systems, has been founded by leading bu...

Each day, as you go about your life, it's likely you'll make a guest appearance on at least 300 different CCTV screens.  Britain now has more security cameras than any other country, yet their impact on crime rates is negligible, while our fear of crime is still rising.  So have these screen saviours been a flop?  Jay Rayner of The Observer goes behind the cameras to meet the men who watch our every move. I am walking through London Bridge Underground station when a pub...

Ulrich Wydler of Kaba discusses how recent technological developments along with increasing demand for compatible components and total solutions, have led to the development of total channel management, which challenges the traditional supplier and distribution channels.The markets for mechanical locks, electronic access control and data collection solutions have historically developed separately.  This applies to suppliers as well as their distribution channels.  Locking systems made...

Jon Hill, Video Product Specialist for security manufacturer Bewator, a Siemens business, discusses the issue of security for British firms operating in hostile environments abroad, and looks at what companies in these situations can do to improve security.  In an age of war, terrorism and unequal distribution of wealth, British firms operating in sectors, such as the petrochemical, aerospace and offshore industries need to ensure they secure their businesses and provide a safe working envi...

Jeff Kitching, ADPRO Sales Director, encourages the security industry to give Video Motion Detection another look. Video Motion Detection (VMD), three words that arrived on the scene in the late 1980s to herald the start of a detection revolution.  Only the hype did not quite match the reality. Much was written at the time and subsequently about the potential for VMD.  It was, we were told, not just an alternative to PIRs, fence vibration systems and other detection technologies, but...