Network / IP security - Expert commentary

To reduce costs, many organisations are switching to converge IP networks to transport both data and voice. Some early adopters are now adding CCTV feeds to these converged networks but are running into problems. Mike Lewis, UK & Eire Country Manager for MOBOTIX believes that a move to an "intelligent" distributed CCTV architecture will help solve the growing network bandwidth  An intelligent distributed CCTV solution provides a low network load bottleneck. Network...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...