Video analytics - Round table discussions

Six months can go by in the blink of an eye. In 2022, it almost seems as if it has. Here we are already at mid-year after what has been an eventful six months for the security marketplace. There is still a lot ahead in 2022 for the industry, and our Expert Panel Roundtable has been considering what the coming months might hold in terms of technology change. We asked this week’s panelists: What will likely be the most important technology development in the security marketplace in the secon...

The Internet of Things (IoT) is driving innovation in the security marketplace, just as it is in almost every other market. IoT devices, also known as ‘edge devices’, provide sensing, processing ability, software, and other technologies to connect and exchange data. The most common edge devices in the world of IP security are video cameras, which are becoming more intelligent and capable of processing the data they collect. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How are...

The buzzwords in security provide a decent parallel to the technology advancements in our industry. Over the years, our language has evolved to encompass new concepts that have transformed our business. Buzzwords can sometimes be dismissed as overblown compared to the current state of the technology, or even as marketing hype. But the language we use to describe the industry’s technologies often reflect our changing marketplace. Sometimes the challenge is keeping up with the latest buzz. W...

Technologies and trends in the security marketplace come and go with some regularity. But how can you tell which trends are gaining traction and which amount to ‘the flavour of the month.’ For guidance, we asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: Which new security trend do you think is here to stay?

Any marketplace tends to emphasise the newest technologies and products. Confirming the trend is the perpetual rush to buy the latest iPhone. But some legacy products are so good and perform the required functions so well that users may stick with the “tried-and-true.” But does staying with yesterday’s technology suggest a missed opportunity to leverage new product features and benefits? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the security market’s app...

The last regularly scheduled spring ISC West trade show was held in 2019. The show returned last year with a rescheduled event in the summer, and attendees were largely pleased with the offerings. However, the ‘real’ ISC West, in the spring in Las Vegas, Nevada, will resume a decades-old tradition in 2022 that has been a major driver of industry market growth and innovation. The show is also an annual reunion of sorts for the security industry, and we are all ready for a reunion! We...

Early in the pandemic, before the mechanisms of COVID spread were clearly understood, there was talk about the disease being transmitted through contact with surfaces. Such concerns created a windfall for manufacturers of hand sanitizer, and broadly changed the perceived risks of touching surfaces, perhaps forever. Touching the same surface as hundreds of other people suddenly became less desirable, thus boosting the fortunes of “touchless” access control and security devices. But wi...

We appreciate the variety of opinionated discussions offered throughout the year by our Expert Panel Roundtable. Looking back at 2021, we found some random and uncategorised Expert Panel responses that were not previously published. We have rescued these responses from our cutting-room floor and present them here in the interest of generating even more discussion.

Environmental concerns and ‘green’ initiatives have been gaining steam recently with increasing attention to issues, such as climate change and the drive to ‘net zero’ emissions. Sustainability has not historically been a big concern in the physical security market, but the times are changing. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How can the security industry be more environmentally friendly and contribute to sustainability?

Traditionally, security has been seen as a cost centre rather than as a profit centre or a source of revenue in an organisation. Therefore, end-user security managers have struggled to cost-justify their purchases of security systems: How can you assign value to preventing a catastrophic loss unless or until such a loss happens (which you’re trying to avoid!). Even so, security’s return on investment (ROI) picture is changing, with expanded system capabilities and technologies that p...

Here’s a news flash: 2022 will be a pivotal year for the security industry. As we enter the new year, continuing change is a safe prediction for any fast-moving, technology-driven marketplace. Recent history confirms the ability of the security industry to shift and adapt to changing conditions and to provide an ever-expanding menu of technology solutions to make the world a safer place. Given that the new year will bring change, what will that change encompass? More to the point, what sho...

Sadly, active shooter incidents have become so common that they no longer grab big headlines or dominate the news cycle. A near-constant cascade of active shooter events persists in the background of our collective consciousness, a familiar drumbeat that is no less tragic because it is continuous. As more active shooter incidents occur, the security marketplace continues to implement solutions to minimise the impact, including gunshot detection. We asked this week's Expert Panel Roundtable: What...

A new generation of security professional is waiting in the wings. They will be faced with unprecedented challenges, as they seek to transform the security marketplace to the ‘next level’. Technology changes ensure the market will be very different 10 years from now and the fresh labour pool will need to be able to meet the host of new challenges. We asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: What exciting career opportunities in the security industry await the next generation?

Crime prevention is a basic goal of security, even if a security system merely convinces a criminal to seek out a different target. However, many of today’s security technologies are most useful after the fact, to provide forensic information about a crime that has already taken place. Solving a crime presents a whole new level of challenge. Surely, prevention is the best approach. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How successful is the security industry in crime preventi...

Adoption of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by the European Union in 2016 set a new standard for data privacy. But adherence to GDPR is only one element, among many privacy concerns sweeping the global security community and leaving almost no product category untouched, from access control to video to biometrics. Because privacy concerns are more prevalent than ever, we asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the impact on the physical security market?

Many of us take critical infrastructure for granted in our everyday lives. We turn on a tap, flip a switch, push a button, and water, light, and heat are all readily available. But it is important to remember that computerised systems manage critical infrastructure facilities, making them vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The recent ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline is an example of the new types of threats. In addition, any number of physical attacks is also possibilities. We asked this we...

Perimeter security is the first line of defence against intruders entering a business or premises. Traditionally associated with low-tech options such as fencing, the field of perimeter security has expanded in recent years and now encompasses a range of high-tech options. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the latest trends in perimeter security technology?

In the past few weeks, the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel has brightened, providing new levels of hope that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. Dare we now consider what life will be like after the pandemic is over? Considering the possible impact on our industry, we asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Which security technologies will be most useful in a post-pandemic world?

Security systems are vital to any company. Nowadays, however, they can also provide additional benefits to any enterprise beyond protecting people, assets and facilities. Specifically, systems that were previously focused on security can now be leveraged in new ways to benefit the broader enterprise. When this happens, the security department transitions from a ‘cost centre’ to a repository of data that can benefit the whole company, and even contribute to the bottom line. We asked t...

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 a...

When technology performs a required task effectively, there is little reason to upgrade to the ‘next big thing’. In this regard, the physical security market is notoriously slow to change. Much of yesterday’s most robust and dependable equipment is still in place at thousands of customer sites, still performing as well as the day it was installed. However, there comes a point when any technology becomes outdated. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Which securi...

Security technology has been a vibrant and successful market for decades now, but sometimes the public is not aware of those successes. Awareness in some cases is limited because security technologies work ‘behind the scenes’ to keep everyone safe. In other cases, the industry may be seen in a negative light, based on misinformation about topics such as surveillance and privacy. How can we get the word out about our industry’s successes? We asked this week’s Expert Panel...

The “Roaring Twenties” was a decade of economic growth and widespread prosperity, driven by recovery from devastation, a construction boom, and welcoming of new technologies such as automobiles and electricity. As we look ahead to the big picture of the 2020s, 100 years later, are there parallels that suggest a successful decade ahead? Might recovery from the devastation of COVID-19 help to drive even higher levels of economic growth and technical innovation? We asked this week&rsquo...

We are several weeks into 2021, and it is already shaping up to be an eventful year. The happenings and trends from 2020 will likely carry over into the new year, but in a fast-moving industry such as ours, there will also be additional trends to watch. Looking toward the year ahead, we asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What will be the biggest security trends in 2021?

As an industry, we often speak in buzzwords. In addition to being catchy and easy to remember, these new and trendy industry terms can also reflect the state of the security market’s technology. In short, the latest buzzwords provide a kind of shorthand description of where the industry is - and where it’s going. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What new buzzword(s) rose to prominence in the security industry in 2020? (And how do they reflect industry trends?)

Artificial intelligence is more than just the latest buzzword in the security marketplace. In some cases, smarter computer technologies like AI and machine learning (ML) are helping to transform how security operates. AI is also expanding the industry’s use cases, sometimes even beyond the historic province of the security realm. It turns out that AI is also a timely tool in the middle of a global pandemic. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How is artificial intelligence...

New software developments have dominated technology innovation in the physical security industry for years, making more things possible to the benefit of integrators and end users. However, hardware is another important piece of the puzzle. No matter how great your software, the system doesn’t perform unless the hardware works too. In our enthusiasm over software developments, let’s not overlook the latest in the hardware world. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How...

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have made a big splash in the physical security market, transforming video analytics to a new level of accuracy. In fact, the terms have become common buzzwords throughout the industry. However, the potential for AI and machine learning to impact the physical security industry goes far beyond their ability to improve video analytics. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Beyond better video analytics, how can artificial intelligence...

Retrofit projects provide new levels of physical security modernisation to existing facilities. However, retrofits come with their own set of challenges that can frustrate system designers and defy the efforts of equipment manufacturers. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the biggest challenges of retrofit projects, and how can they be overcome?

The first half of 2020 has been full of surprises, to say the least, and many of them directly impacted the physical security market. The COVID-19 pandemic created endless new challenges, and the physical security market has done our part to meet those challenges by adapting technology solutions such as thermal cameras and access control systems. In the second half of 2020, we can all hope for a return to normalcy, even if it is a “new normal.” In any case, technology will continue t...