Chinese aluminum product maker monitors production with IP eyes

Editor / Provider: VIVOTEK | Updated: 6/10/2013 | Article type: Commercial Markets

Located in China's Fuzhou Province, aluminum manufacturer Chalco Ruimin, recently deployed an IP-based video surveillance system consisting of 170 VIVOTEK cameras and VMS to monitor the factory and generate footage for operator training. The project was implemented by system integrator KTInfo. Chalco is part of the state-owned enterprise Aluminum Corporation of China, which is the world's second-largest alumina producer.

The camera models installed include PTZ network cameras, network bullet camera  and 7000-series speed domes. Most of the cameras are used to monitor the production process inside plants. Real-time monitoring of the video feeds using the VMS' streaming server allows for quick responses to incidents and equipment failures. Video is also recorded via VMS, archived for review and the aforementioned training purposes. The VMS was chosen for its centralized administration and extensible architecture

As for the specific camera models used, the PTZ network cameras is a D1-resolution box camera, sold mostly in China. According to Wu Ben Chen, Account Manager of KTInfo, this model was chosen for its Sony HAD CCD sensor, which provides superior light sensitivity. "That's important because Chalco Ruimin wanted to capture very clear video, especially for their training purposes, but the lighting was not always the best," said Chen. Dual streaming also gave the manufacturer the flexibility to use one high-resolution stream for recording, and another lower-resolution stream for routine real-time monitoring.

For particularly sensitive locations such as entry and exit points, the 2-megapixel network bullet camera was used. The camera also offers outdoor-specific features like concealed wiring to thwart tampering, weather-proofing, and D/N recording. The 7000 series speed domes, a variety of different models of which have been deployed in a range of different locations, also provide high-resolution video monitoring D/N, along with continuous 360 degree pan and 90 degree tilt, easily controlled manually via a mouse or a joystick, or configurable with presets for patrolling.

Chalco Ruimin is taking advantage of the VMS matrix server, adopting six server machines, each with a four video-out ports for connection to a TV wall, allowing for real-time monitoring at a central control room. The solution enables the security staff to respond to emergency promptly and effectively.

 The VIVOTEK solution-based monitoring system has already proved its worth, providing 24-hour surveillance that was able to pinpoint the cause of an incident in which a vehicle crashed into a loading gate. High-quality archived footage is providing ideal as training videos for new equipment operators as well. Chalco Ruimin plans to continue using VIVOTEK cameras in newly built plants.

Security innovations to be driven by compliance

Editor / Provider: Memoori Business Intelligence | Updated: 6/7/2013 | Article type: Hot Topics

Memoori Business Intelligence recently interviewed Adlan Hussain, Global Head of Marketing at CNL Software, to discuss innovations in security in the next five years.

1. Where will the major innovations in security come from in the next 5 years? Let us start by stating the speed of innovation in this internet era makes it difficult to predict innovation for five years forward. There are trends such as processors and storage for computers that will get substantially smarter and cost less, but when we talk about innovation, we are thinking about game changing technologies that will disrupt the industry. We think two things will drive key changes in security: technology and compliance;

Compliance: Large-scale solutions are becoming ever larger and with a mix of private and public applications and devices, there is an even stronger need for truly intelligent front-end software solutions managing authentication as well as compliance to pre-determined memorandums of understanding. Armed with logical capabilities to use public systems in the event of an emergency, we are seeing safe city projects embracing the idea of connecting security systems from all the schools in their district for example, but this is dependent on the ability to manage and enforce compliance through strong software technology.

Evidence trail, audit trails, hardened data retrieval and export, authentication, potentially through logical gateways will all be the norm within the next few years as system owners recognize that software solutions can quickly, consistently and cost effectively process the huge amounts of data generated from their security systems. With the real estates growing to hundreds of thousands of devices and operators, technology is fundamental to managing and ensuring the compliance to all laws and procedures.

Technology: The two main technologies that will drive innovation are highly linked. Firstly, hardware will continue to evolve radically with more and more networked devices delivering ever-increasing capability. Secondly, the advancement of integration and management software needed to manage all these intelligent devices on the network.

A good example would be surveillance cameras. The growing capacity to store footage locally means that soon terabytes of storage at the edge will be an affordable option. With advances in analytics, the camera will have its own recording “rules” managed by a main suite of programs deciding: what recordings stay at the edge, what goes to a central library and what is deleted. This will not be a man managed video real estate, but a computer program that uses risk and probability analytics to determine what stays and what goes.

While this sounds a radical step, it is not at all and quite a few former NVR suppliers are already moving their systems from centralized recording to recording at the edge or on a managed set of SCSI disk libraries that take recording directly from the camera. This increases performance, reduces the bottleneck created at centralized servers and decreases the overall cost of a solution, while simultaneously reducing bandwidth requirement. Now that cameras are moving towards extreme high image densities, intelligent management of locally held video data will emerge as one of the newest and most important innovations that will eradicate the current DVR and NVR mentality.

Looking at access control and winding forward to when all the ironmongery needed for access control for example is network attached, powered by network connection and will probably include a mass of new devices managed by the access control system. We see that it is no longer a card presented to a door but can be a phone, tablet, RFID, biometric, VPN; in fact, the whole real estate of authentication ought to move to a self-managed model, reducing costs and need for security guards or personnel staff.

While it is difficult to look beyond the next twelve months to see what is going to happen in hardware. VMS and ACS systems as we know them are already being surpassed by smarter technologies, solving bigger problems on a wider scale. It is easy to forecast that existing suites of VMS or ACS applications will either get smarter or die a death as standalone applications.

Just like in the IT world, siloed applications died when users realized they could manage their businesses much better with integrated suites that improved company efficiencies and reduced costs. In a world where the demand to do more for less is increasing, the only fact we can be sure of is that this is a perfect environment for technology. Reducing cost has to be based on reduction of overheads, but without increasing the risk.

What we can say is it is unlikely to be the traditional installer equipment manufacturer who creates these innovations. The innovators will be those forward thinking manufacturers who are prepared to defy the past and provide new, smarter and cheaper hardware, which will require new software solutions to harness their intelligence.

2. Is the security industries' resistance to change creating opportunities for Startup businesses? For other industries, a reluctance to invest in innovation may only affect operational efficiency offered to clients, but in the security space, it means those intent on causing harm are able to catch up; and this is not good for any of us.

As we have seen in the last decade, the majority of this disruptive innovation will continue to come from smaller, agile and entrepreneurial companies. This is especially true in the electronic security industry, where the larger companies are often very cautious to adopt anything new.

Typically, these large organizations prefer to acquire technology rather than to risk the development process. This is good news for bright minds, as it leaves the door open for them to create game changing innovations that can help to secure each and every one of us. As we have seen ourselves, once a technology is proven and is seen to be commercially viable, there are plenty of companies who like to follow genuine innovators.

If you want to prove this, the next time you attend a tradeshow, walk down the back of the hall and look at the small shell scheme stands, I can assure you that you will find far more innovation there than you will on the manufacturer islands at the front of the hall. We are also seeing large companies offering these small start-ups money to invest into their innovation; the value to them is an early opportunity to look for the next new thing with less risk.

3. As platforms for sensing and analyzing data, video cameras, security sensors, biometrics etc has enormous potential. How will they fit into the ‘Internet of Things'? Firstly, as with the internet the security industry is finding that the real value lies not in the hardware or the device you are using, but in the software that is pulling everything together. Analytics or biometrics on their own will provide part of the picture, but pull them together with other systems, apply some intelligence and suddenly you have a stronger, tighter defense and improved security system.

Secondly, the move to the cloud will see a lot of change within the electronic security industry and will provide opportunities for new ideas and companies to grow, who offer a better service for less. How these two tends will meet will be interesting and PSIM will play a role here. Limited bandwidth, edge storage, coupled with rich data will mean an intelligent engine will be needed to ensure only the most relevant data is pushed to a reducing number of security operators.

Milestone tops EMEA market share

Editor / Provider: Milestone Systems | Updated: 6/7/2013 | Article type: Security 50

Milestone Systems has been ranked as the number one vendor in the EMEA regions and shared the number one position globally for the VMS market in the latest surveillance industry report conducted by IMS Research, now part of IHS.

IHS has published the tenth edition of the IMS Research report called World Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment, with results based on financial data from 2012. It contains information on suppliers who provide analog and digital video surveillance components such as cameras, recording solutions and video encoders.

Milestone Systems is estimated to have had the highest revenues for VMS software in EMEA in 2012 and equal highest revenues in the world, according to IHS. "This is the first time that two companies have shared the leading position in the global VMS market," said Jon Cropley, Principal Analyst at IHS.

Today in its 15th year of business, Milestone Systems has continually demonstrated solid growth in many regions, evolving in the international arena. IMS Research (now owned by IHS) in earlier reports on surveillance software revenues has consistently ranked Milestone globally as either number one or number two, in a group of about half a dozen top competitors. The world market for surveillance software has been notably fragmented, especially by local presence where languages and currencies play a determining role. Some percentage changes in standings can also be attributed to variances in exchange rates.

The 2013 edition of this highly acclaimed report from IHS analyzes the current state of the video surveillance market and forecasts its future direction. It highlights the varied nature of regional markets around the world. It also discusses both political and financial influences and analyzes the impact of technology trends such as the transition from analog CCTV to network video surveillance, the transition to HD network security cameras, and open interoperability standards. According to the new report, the world market for video surveillance equipment is forecast to almost double in size between 2012 and 2017.

"Competition is healthy, spurring continued commitments to improvements that benefit the customers and the providers themselves. Look at what this means for the industry: the top players have all grown their revenue, which shows that user demand for IP solutions is very strong," says Lars Thinggaard, President and CEO at Milestone Systems. "Leadership is about being a consistently strong organization that continues to deliver top products and support relationships - how a company carries out its business is very important for long-term success. Milestone is a company built on the core concept of openness, to encourage more contributions and more choices."

Besides over 100,000 customer installations of Milestone XProtect software offerings for both complex and simple surveillance needs, Milestone Systems has achieved an impressive ecosphere of partners: 7,000 channel partners and 750 solution partners are mobilized around the open platform, which creates more value and innovation for everyone. Working with more than 100 camera manufacturers, Milestone currently supports over 2,000 models of network video hardware. The XProtect Software Development Kit (SDK) and Application Program Interfaces (APIs) have currently enabled hundreds of innovative integrations with third-party solution providers, and many more are on the way.

Lars Thinggaard states: "Milestone's vision is to drive the convergence of video surveillance and IP-based business systems. To achieve this, our open platform embraces the expertise of our many partners and empowers more innovation. This adds value for the entire industry and customers alike. That is the leadership we aim to demonstrate."

Indigovision expands sales team in Germany

Editor / Provider: IndigoVision | Updated: 6/7/2013 | Article type: Security 50

IndigoVision is continuing investment in Germany with a major expansion of the sales team serving Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH).

Frank Mutzmann joins IndigoVision as Business Development Manager for Bavaria and Austria. Mutzmann was previously MD at Ippi, an IndigoVision partner based in Munich, where he had many successes with IndigoVision including project installations for the S-Bahn Munich and nine casinos in Bavaria. Previously Mutzmann was with JVC in Berlin.

Udo Riederle joins IndigoVision as Business Development Manager adding to the already successful team in Germany. Riederle will be serving accounts in Germany but will focus on accounts and business development in Switzerland. Udo, brings 15 years' experience in the DACH security industry, and was previously Sales Manager for DACH at Nice Systems.

"Germany and the DACH region are the key territory for IndigoVision in Europe," stated Jurgen Klijn, IndigoVision EMEA Regional Director. "These markets demand technical excellence and impeccable video quality. IndigoVision has been a leader in deploying networked video technology to the DACH market for several years. For many end users IndigoVision solutions are the preferred choice with excellent reference sites in cities, police, prisons, and commercial industries including prestige automotive brands."

UK child care facility puts trust in networked surveillance

Editor / Provider: Samsung Techwin | Updated: 6/5/2013 | Article type: Education

One of UK's oldest child care centers, Gingerbread Corner, established in 1976 in Croydon, Surrey, recently replaced its outdated analog video surveillance system with an IP-based video surveillance system consisting of 21 Samsung Techwin network cameras and two NVRs to improve protection of the 160 children between ages of 3 months to 11 years on its premises. Coulsdon based video surveillance and public address specialists Postfield Systems recommended the installation of the IP system.

The old analog system consisted of four cameras which only allowed the monitoring of entrances and exits, the quality of the images captured and recorded were not sufficient for practical use if an incident needed to be investigated. As a registered charity, Gingerbread Corner relies heavily on its fund-raising activities to maintain and improve its facilities, as well as employing 40 members of staff. Despite concerns over significant funding gaps following the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, Gingerbread Corner's management were determined to allocate sufficient capital for the installation of the replacement video surveillance system.

“There are so many potential situations where access to high quality video evidence can help protect the children in our care and also verify that our staff has at all times professionally carried out their duties,” said Ben Dzendzera, Operations Manager, Gingerbread Corner. “For example, with so many children living in single parent environments, we can avoid any disputes by being able to monitor, and if necessary verify, who has collected a child from our premises.” The center can also quickly resolve bullying issues on its premises, and protect staff from any false accusations.

"It was clear that we immediately needed approximately 20 cameras in order to be able to monitor all activity throughout the site, but we also wanted to ensure that the system we invested in could continue to be expanded if and when our requirements changed,” said Dzendzera. An analog system would have provided Gingerbread Corner with a slightly lower cost option, but the justification for allocating the extra capital for an IP network based system, due to the system's flexibility and how it can be monitored. “Live or recorded images can be viewed by any authorized member of staff who has access to the Internet,” said Dzendzera. “I personally use the VMS on my laptop to view the video of any incidents, whilst senior management can access the system via smartphone when they are off site.”

Sixteen D/N domes were installed. These utilize WDR technology making them ideal for locations where there may be strong contrasting lighting conditions. This has resulted in costs being kept to a minimum as there wasn't a need for coaxial cable to be run to each of the 21 cameras. The five other cameras are IR weatherproof cameras, which is part of a range of cameras which was designed to provide a cost effective network video surveillance solution for small to medium size applications. Both models offer multiple streaming with a choice of compression methods, providing the option to simultaneously transmit images to multiple locations at various frame rates and at different resolutions. This allows different authorized users to monitor live images at one location, whilst recording video evidence at another. The images from all of the cameras are recorded on one of two NVRs.

Major US clothing retailer phasing out old surveillance system across 350 stores

Editor / Provider: Wavestore | Updated: 6/4/2013 | Article type: Commercial Markets

With more than 500 stores and with sales approaching US$4 billion, Burlington Coat Factory, one of the largest clothing retailers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, recently upgraded from an analog video surveillance system to an IP-based  system consisting of Wavestore VMS, 15 to 25 VIVOTEK 360 degree cameras, and 5-10 Axis Communications IP fixed mini-domes at each of its 200 stores. “The company has also upgraded its electronic article surveillance systems and expanded in store burglar alarm coverage,” said James Connolly, Senior VP, Asset Protection, Burlington. The project was implemented by system integrator, American Integrated Security Group (AISG). The contract to supply the video recording and management solution for Burlington's upgrade program was awarded to Wavestore before it opened a US office.

The company decided to make a substantial investment to improve and standardize the video surveillance at its stores by replacing equipment which had been sourced during the last 20 years from a number of different manufacturers. “The decision to upgrade video surveillance capabilities is one of several significant measures the company has employed to address shortage issues in stores and provide a platform for additional use focused on marketing, operations and safety,” said Connolly.

The ONVIF profile S conformant VMS is able to simultaneously record images captured by combinations of analog, IP, megapixel, HD and 360 degree cameras. “Every retailer has some kind of analog system that still works,” said Levy Acs, President and CTO of retailing solutions specialist AISG. “The biggest challenge is to save as much as possible from the existing system and investments while upgrading to an IP platform.” The integrator designed a modular system so when the retailer moves to a completely IP system, the infrastructure is ready and the video recording solution can switch automatically without hardware change or licensing fees.

“The option of relocating and expanding the system was a key requirement from the customer due to the constantly changing landscape in a retail store,” said Acs. “The ability to achieve this was enhanced by implementation of a flexible IP-based camera system.”

The VMS de-warping feature is supporting the VIVOTEK 360 degree cameras that have been installed by AISG to replace eight analog cameras that previously covered the store's check-outs. Burlington's management's satisfaction with the success of phase one of the upgrade program, which has seen shrinkage being reduced in some stores by as much as 90 percent, has resulted in AISG being tasked to progress with phase two, which will see another 150 stores equipped with Wavestore during 2013, and there are also plans to equip three of the company's distribution centers and a proposed new corporate headquarters in Florence, New Jersey.

Brazilian dept store reduces loss with HD eyes

Editor / Provider: Avigilon | Updated: 6/4/2013 | Article type: Commercial Markets

Established in 1983, Grippon, a growing department store chain based in Brazil recently installed a HD surveillance system consisting of 40 Avigilon HD domes,VMS, and encoders to protect its 1997.41 square meters (21,500 square feet) retail store in Queimados from theft. With the assistance of TecnoComp, a leading provider of IT services in Brazil, and the supplier, Paris Cabos, Grippon chose to install the HD surveillance system at the three story shop that opened in 2011.

Domes deployed range from 1 to 2-megapixels to monitor the interior and exterior of the store. The company used HD panoramic IP domes with HD stream management, allowing four sensors to make a panoramic coverage from a camera (180 degrees or 360 degrees). With pre-focused lenses, the cameras are vandal, water and dust proof. The IT staff manages the surveillance system from their desktops using the VMS. The control center is remote and accessed via web. “Since there is no image loss or locking of the system, you can manage the system from home as if you were in the store,” said Alexsandro Ribeiro, IT Manager at Grippon.
 
The store used an Avigilon encoder to integrate the existing analog cameras into the VMS. “The use of the encoder, combined with the VMS, modernizes the existing analog installation without the need of total replacement, preserving part of the initial investment and incorporating these analog cameras to the digital management and recording system,” explained Claudinei Maia, Commercial Director at Paris Cabos.

Ribeiro also found the superior image quality and the user-friendly VMS platform to be valuable and efficient resources when dealing with shoplifters. Theft sometimes involved three to four people, under the previous system the department store often lost the ability to detect other shoplifters when focusing on one, explained Ribero. The new system, however, has overcome this issue.

The system has been cost-effective for Grippon. “We had a 50 percent reduction in the cost of infrastructure when we chose the high quality IP panoramic cameras of 180 degrees and 360 degrees, because they require less network points and infrastructure,” stated Ribeiro, who pointed out using less hardware will also reduce the cost of future maintenance. Ribeiro believes initial investments will be paid off in two years at the most with the savings generated. Grippon plans on implementing a similar system in other stores in the chain as well as future locations.

Canadian college upgrades to HD for multisite monitoring

Editor / Provider: Axis Communications | Updated: 6/3/2013 | Article type: Education

Conestoga College, a large and growing post-secondary institution that serves about 50,000 students and encompasses five main campuses and numerous satellite locations in Kitchener, Ontario, recently upgraded part of its outdated analog video surveillance system to an IP-based surveillance system consisting of 100 Axis Communications HD cameras and Exacq Technologies VMS to cover buildings, parking lots, grounds and outdoor areas. Axis' local partner Bulldog Fire and Security was the system integrator for the project. Bulldog Fire and Security designed a hybrid system, by digitizing existing analog cameras into custom-built hybrid Exacq servers, while new installations-such as at parking lots, new buildings and outdoor areas—employed IP cameras.

Keeping an eye on the campuses was a challenge for administrators, as the aged video surveillance infrastructure failed to keep up with the growing college. The college had relied on “old analog cameras dating back 15 to 20 years,” according to Don Willis, Director of Safety and Security Services, Conestoga. The quality of images was poor, and the university often did not have cameras in critical points. The university had acquired over the years a variety of DVRs that were stuck in the backrooms. One room had seven DVRs and was filled with cabling that obstructed passageway to the back of the room.

College campuses have vast areas to cover. Conestoga's Doon campus, for example, has more than 4,000 parking spots. “Getting coverage out there before was simply not possible, because it's too far for coaxial cable,” said Ron Landry, Co-owner of Bulldog Fire and Security. “But fiber doesn't have that distance limitation, and that allowed us to put high-resolution IP cameras out there.” Doon also has a large green space that “was always a safety concern,” said Willis. The college's previous service provider claimed cameras could not be installed due to the analog cabling and installation costs. However, with the campus's network infrastructure, two new IP cameras can be focused on the pathways.

The college's new video surveillance system uses all IP cameras and server-based storage for new installations and links older analog cameras to hybrid servers from Exacq. “For example, we replaced old DVRs at our Waterloo campus with a new Exacq hybrid server… At Cambridge, we have 67 IP cameras,” said Willis.

The new cameras at Cambridge include 20 outdoor HD cameras, 47 vandal-resistant network cameras. Elsewhere, Conestoga selected outdoor fixed domes for high quality outdoor surveillance and discreet HD fixed domes for coverage inside administrative buildings as well as classroom and dorm corridors. “With the old system, investigators sometimes sat for hours trying to find an incident on a DVR, and that same evidence can now be found in minutes,” said Willis. “If something serious happens, we're able to hand police the video when they come in minutes later.” The cameras have helped catch car thieves. A number of high-end pickup trucks and SUVs had been stolen from the Doon campus. The Axis cameras captured a suspect's vehicle on video, which allowed the local police to break up a huge car-theft ring.

The improvement can also be seen when the college conducts improved training exercises. In one, personnel scan live video feeds looking for a subject moving through campus wearing a reflective vest. “With the analog system, we could never train our staff this way,” said Willis. “At first, it took our staff almost 20 minutes to locate the suspicious person. Today we're well under five.” In addition, ROI has been immediate, and the system is now featured in orientation tours for prospective students and their parents.

Five ways to hacker-proof your IP system

Editor / Provider: Avigilon | Updated: 6/3/2013 | Article type: Security 50

Last March, the Crown Casino in Australia made international headlines after a group of high-rolling card players were able to gain unauthorized access into the casino's video surveillance system in order to cheat Crown out of US$33 million in illegal winnings, according to a recent article posted on Avigilon's website. Journalists were quick to compare the elaborate heist to the storyline of the 2001 feature film, Oceans 11, where Brad Pitt and George Clooney starred as the masterminds behind robbing a high-profile Las Vegas casino for $150 million.   
 
Given that Pitt and Clooney's characters were perceived as the good guys in the movie – to whom the audience rallied behind to pull off the impossible - it was no surprise that the crime in Australia was glamorized and was taken lightly in the public eye.

While it is easy to dismiss the Australian casino heist, many people within the security industry were hit with the reality that new approaches needed to be taken with advanced technology.
 
Making sure your IP surveillance system is secure from outside threats is vital no matter if you are a well-known Las Vegas casino or a privately owned retail store. We spoke to Michael Miller, the president of The Wire Guys, a surveillance system integrator based in the eastern U.S, to discuss this topic. Miller came up with five ways end users can protect themselves from getting hacked.  
 
Use a Dedicated Network for Your Clients and Your Servers
Miller: I don't know the particulars as far as the Australia casino heist, but if you have your security network on your same corporate network, which is tied to your wireless network, and if it's all on the same subnet, it's pretty wide open at that point. That would be my guess to what might have happened in Australia. It would be absolutely crazy for a casino to be set up like that if they were. But technically in a casino, just like in hospitals, everything is separate and dedicated. There's absolutely no way to get to the cameras from their corporate network.

If their network is set up like that we will step in. But a lot of times, the IT departments are in control already, so they set the rules and regulations and we conform to what they recommend to us. What we would typically recommend is having a totally dedicated separate network. Separate switches, separate cables, separate everything. Even the client machines are on their own dedicated networks. Make it so that it's physically impossible to go from your corporate network to your camera network. That's the best way to do it.
 
Change Your Passwords
Miller: Make sure you change all of your passwords on your cameras and your switches. You can use authentication on your network to make sure that only the devices that you want on your network are on your network. Those are the things that you would typically want to do.
 
From Remote Access Use Your VPN
Miller: There are two ways to give remote access to your system. The first option would be to open a hole in your firewall, or as we call it port-forwarding. The other option, which is more secure, would be to do a VPN access. So basically, from your mobile device, you can initiate a virtual private network back to your firewall which puts you on your network. That is much more secure than just opening up ports at that point. Then you have your username and password you have to enter for Avigilon's mobile VMS, so you have VPN and your username and password to get into the system.   

Don't Use Your VMS server With Company Information on it – Dedicate a System for Surveillance
Miller: If you circumvent the VMS and go directly to the cameras, then you can see the live feeds. If you can get into the server, you can access recorded footage potentially delete recorded footage. Typically, especially the way we build system and the majority of companies that know what they are doing - you're not going to share your surveillance system, with your SQL server, with you database with everybody's AR department, you wouldn't want to do it that way.
 
Check to See Who is Accessing Your Networks
Miller: Well Avigilon's system can do that and most VMS' can do that. It gets a lot trickier though if they're circumventing the VMS and going straight to the cameras. If you have a firewall in between, then you can track IP addresses and Mac addresses and see who's accessing your network. And even some of the cameras have logs in them as well so you can see what IP address and what user would have accessed them. [Editors note: Used with the permission of avigilon.com/connected.] 

Omanian auto dealer gets robust eyes

Editor / Provider: Hikvision Digital Technology | Updated: 5/31/2013 | Article type: Commercial Markets

Located at the heart of Muscat, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, the biggest automobile dealer in Oman, recently deployed an IP-based video surveillance system consisting of 100 Hikvision Digital Technology cameras, VMS and network keyboards to secure its perimeters. Technosolutions, the system integrator for this project designed the surveillance system.

Suhail Bahwan offers cars from BMW, Infinity, and Nissan, and boasts some of the largest showrooms for these models. With such impressive, and lucrative, facilities, Suhail Bahwan placed emphasis on securing the safety of not only its cars, but the many employees and customers. For this solution, the client's goal was to monitor all critical showroom locations, such as entrances, exits, POS, customer service counters, and a variety of other employee work areas to be monitored with a high-resolution video surveillance system. To further simplify and gain added efficiency, network keyboard was chosen to operate this video surveillance solution.

For indoor areas like reception and financial transaction counters, Anoop Nair, Sales Manager at Technosolutions chose the 2-megapixel vandal proof dome. He noted that Oman's automobile showrooms have experienced instances of camera vandalism. Obviously, in sensitive locations where money is involved, the client preferred vandal proofing. Many of these showrooms had preexisting hardware and logistical infrastructure. An example of this was PoE enabled network switches. Nair utilized the 2-megapixel dome PoE and saved installation costs by eliminating expensive fiber optical cabling to a central location. 4CIF low light D/N network domes monitored employee hallways, since lights in these showrooms are turned off when the area is closed at night.

The main entrance is covered by a 2-megapixel IP66 waterproof dome. A less-obtrusive dome was chosen over a more visible box camera. The camera's 30 meter IR range can monitor both entrance and parking lot areas. The 2-megapixel network IR bullet camera provides coverage for a variety of areas, such as internal access control locations, outdoor parking lots, and vehicle entry/exit areas that do not possess access control. The camera that has a 30 meter IR range is positioned to read license plate numbers.

The indoor network PTZ high speed dome, placed on the interior of the four-meter high showroom ceilings, exploits 23x optical zoom to “provide coverage of each and every nook of showroom and see people and objects that normal bullet/domes cannot,” explained Nair. Placed on top of the building is the outdoor network IR PTZ speed dome. Similarly, a 36X optical zoom provides the ability to zoom onto any object or person at a long distance, and comes with 80 meter IR range.