Axis Communications, the global leader in the network video market, teamed up with wireless applications market leader Proxim Wireless Corporation, on a joint stand at the Transport Innovations exhibition held at the NEC in Birmingham (10 -11 October). Both companies were attracting interest from the transport sector to the benefits of network video.
The Transport Innovations exhibition is a showcase of the latest technological innovations within the passenger transport sector, bringing together over 40 leading exhibitors. Axis partnered with Proxim to demonstrate innovative surveillance and communication solutions for transport operators. For the first time at this event, Axis was demonstrating the AXIS 209FD-R, a network camera specifically designed for use in buses and trains. This camera offers a flat design, only measuring 4cms high, and is built to withstand vibration, dust and even tampering - conditions typically associated with transport installations.
Reaction from transport technology integrators visiting the stand to the AXIS 209FD-R was very favourable, especially with regards to its picture quality and ease of installation. Network cameras such as the AXIS 209FD-R require just one cable for both power and network connection through use of Power over Ethernet (PoE), thereby simplifying installation and maintenance.
Network video also has numerous benefits for transport operators, such as enhanced picture quality, easy scalability and integration plus compatibility with the market's widest range of third-party video management software available from Axis Application Development Partners.
Representatives from Axis and Proxim remarked on the level of interest from transport operators to integrated solutions using network video wirelessly linked to a wide area network (WAN) to rapidly download images from vehicles returning back to depot. Both companies also highlighted a recent surveillance application installed on a motorway in Greece managed by Egnatia Motorway. The 9km stretch of motorway is in difficult terrain and has six tunnels and two bridges. In this application 14 Axis network cameras and a Proxim outdoor wireless solution deliver high quality images of moving vehicles where no fixed line broadband connection is available.
Anthony Fulgoni, vice president, strategic sales, Proxim Wireless, commented, "The transport sector offers great potential for Proxim; wireless applications such as video and data transfer and network connection being so well suited for buses and trains. As the Egnatia Motorway installation shows, wireless enables connectivity in remote areas that don't have wired connections available but also in developed areas where wired cabling costs are prohibitive."
Steve Gorski, managing director, Axis Communications (UK) Ltd, commented, "We are very encouraged by the level of interest shown by visitors to our joint stand at the Transport Innovations exhibition. Many of the visitors were aware of the potential of network video for transport and the power of using wireless solutions such as offered by Proxim. There is a growing understanding of the importance of moving surveillance onto an IP network."
