Sky is the Limit: Airport Security Soaring into Smart Management

Editor / Provider: Camille Shieh | Updated: 7/4/2011 | Article type: Infrastructure

Heightened aviation security since the 9/11 attacks and subsequent terrorist threats has brought along increased awareness, for danger can be detected or deterred before brought into the air.

As new airports continue to be constructed and existing ones upgraded, newer technologies like HD video surveillance, video content analysis and management software are gradually adopted to enhance the security and safety of complex airport and aviation operations. Security management of the entire premises is, thus, increasingly highlighted. One of the top challenges faced by system integrators today is assimilating new technologies and products into existing systems, as old and new systems often have trouble communicating with one another. However, should an airport project adopt technologies based on an open platform, integration would be much smoother, with extra cost minimized and existing investment extended.

It is common to find restaurants, retail shops, cafes — and even hotels, spa centers and casinos — in today's airports. “As airports provide a global transportation network among cities, they are important hubs and have considerable regional economic significance, giving the cities they serve great commercial advantages over those that do not have them,” said Uwe Karl, Head of Airport Solutions, Siemens Building Technologies. “Airports will undoubtedly continue to grow in number, and existing airports will continue to grow in size in order to satisfy the increasing demand for mobility. The systems employed to protect them, therefore, need to accommodate such growth, with a smooth migration path to allow systems to expand easily.”

Newer, Bigger, Better
The mature markets in North America and Western Europe see a continuation of security upgrades. “The sales outlook is promising as threat has not lessened,” said Mark Wilson, VP of Marketing, Infinova. “The biggest need requested by airports in North America is HD video surveillance.”

The US market is continuing at a good pace, fueled by the events of 9/11 and carried through up until the Obama administration, said Mark Moscinski, VP of Safety and Security, System Development Integration. “Federal stimulus funding has also kicked in for many airport security projects with design phases giving way to implementation projects; in fact, we seem to be only at a halfway point through the federal funds for the realization of our current projects.” In the last few years, large airports in Europe have had more difficulty with growth than smaller airports, and this trend will continue in the next five years, said Arjan Bouter, International Sales Manager at Nedap. “In Europe, large airports are looking for more flexible solutions to curb the impact of disruptions by extreme weather conditions and other disasters.”

Newer airports in the Middle East and Asia will also challenge the European ones, Bouter continued. “Obviously, this will have an effect on security management systems; new safety and security platforms will contribute to a lower TCO that improves the competitveness of European airports.”

New and upgrade projects in emerging markets, such as China, India, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia and Latin America, see healthy growth in number. “We recently completed a project for 22 airports in India, in addition to other major projects in Easter Europe and the Middle East,” Wilson said. “For these projects, we used a combination of analog and HD cameras, and in many cases, they are taking advantage of the existing fiber optics.”

These regions are characterized by strong expansion. For instance, China has planned over the next five years 55 new airports to cover the expansion of traffic, Bouter added. “These regions will implement new security platforms, often based on open standards.”

Many airports in these regions are also undergoing a “face-lift,” and usually for these projects, HD and megapixel technologies are sought after in conjunction with advanced software like video content analysis (VCA), said Aluisio Figueiredo, COO of Intelligent Security Systems. Overall, the physical security market for airports is expected to double by 2016, said Julian Harris, Research Analyst for Aerospace and Defense in North America, Frost & Sullivan. “Perimeter security is growing significantly due to technology innovation and the push to protect patron safety. We see fiber-optic fencing experience more growth than traditional fencing, as the former continues to be invested in.”

In video surveillance, Harris sees more IP surveillance installed at larger international airports, while smaller airports opt for analog technology with less integration of disparate security systems. “In terms of access control, fingerprint readers tend to be adopted by larger airports, while smaller airports stick to standard access control protocol, suggesting that larger airports are exploring more options.”

Biometrics will continue to play an increasingly crucial role, agreed Scott Mahnken, VP of Marketing, Bio-Key International. “Convenience and security are paramount in airports, and biometrics are virtually impossible to corrupt yet involve no cards, passwords or tangible assets. Documents may be forgotten, but we will always have our fingerprints or other biometric attributes.”

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Government In volvement
As most airports are state-owned, municipal, state and federal governments are crucial players in determining what security measures need to be set up in airports. “There is a maze of security and regulatory issues facing every airport,” said John Diedam, VP of International Sales, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies. “It starts with a thorough understanding of Title 49 CFR Part 1542 of the US Homeland Security's Transportation Department, ranging from who must be in charge, how to become compliant and airport tenant security programs, to security of various locations within the airport, law enforcement and access control. The first objective is to reduce the complexity of this and all other pertaining regulations, along with the security ramifications.”

Next, one needs to determine and resolve airport security and fire safety vulnerabilities, Diedam continued. “Security could be almost perfect if everything was locked down and nobody could come or go, but that's not feasible. What needs to be done is to assure that security is at a high level but innocents can escape when needed. There's a compromise, and they are typically found within the regulations aforementioned and local codes and regulations.”

In the U.S., every commercial airport is owned and operated by a local government entity — city, county, state or port authority — each with its own political structure, funding capabilities, environmental/noise requirements and security/law enforcement support, said Art Kosatka, CEO of TranSecure (a member of the Association of Independent Aviation Security Professionals). “There are federal regulations, as well as state and local building and electrical codes and fire and life safety codes, which must be met.”

“We often see that local or state governments are strongly involved in the economic development of the region/country where the airport is situated,” Bouter said. “Under such circumstance, local solution providers are often favored to take on new or upgrade projects.”

Airports are used as hubs to create new business in many places, observed Gerard Otterspeer, Product Marketing Manager for CCTV, Bosch Security Systems. “At times, international consultants such as ADPI, COWI-Larsen, Bechtel and Parsons set the security standards in airport projects while they help clients plan and design aviation construction projects.”

New ≠ Best
While there are strict and high security requirements, not all airport projects use the latest technologies the security industry has to offer. “Airport clients are very savvy customers, knowing what they need and insisting that their integrators and manufacturers provide systems that meet their expectations for both performance and budget,” Wilson said. “With even new construction projects, it is not unusual to see analog video implanted in areas where it sufficiently does the job. In fact, there are many hybrid and coexisting systems at airports.”

“Airports focus on leveraging as much of their existing technology as possible; they do not have a rip-andreplace mentality,” said James Chong, CTO of VidSys. “Additionally, they tend to wait to use new technology until it has been proven in the marketplace.”

“Generally, we like to think in terms of first providing an initial concept of operations (ConOps) for the customer — what are you doing, why do you need it, where is it required, what is the threat you are addressing and what are the priorities,” Kosatka said. “This should drive the technology decisions, one of which might be that new technology in consideration isn't right for the airport's actual needs at all.”

Securing airports is a complex undertaking, remarked Larry Lien, VP of Product Management at Proximex (an ADT Security Services company). “Airports are continuously looking for ways to improve ConOps to best protect passengers and employees, as well as avoid poor publicity and lost revenue from security incidents. Some airports leverage the latest technologies to fit specific project requirements. They evaluate many factors to make the decisions, including the benefits, risk factors, costs and ROI for new technologies. Newer technologies, such as HD cameras, offer significant advantages because airports may leverage fewer cameras but still cover a large area. However, airports must still consider the ability of newer technologies to communicate with existing systems and fit within the ConOps.”

In airport projects, proven brands, solutions and products are preferred, while current technologies are followed in a general fashion, Otterspeer observed. “HD and even full HD products have gained popularity in this kind of projects for applications like forensic search and wide-angle viewing; however, during the course of a project, the technologies used can change.” Technologies used are much influenced by the consultants in many cases.

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HD and VCA
Using HD video streaming can help extend the life of the existing analog cabling of an airport surveillance system while providing better forensic evidence and the zero latency needed for live monitoring using PTZ camera controls, Wilson Vertical Market said.

In airport security, the devil is indeed in the details. “HD delivers a wide-screen format that captures more useable image content, reducing the amount of empty sky or foreground in a scene if a wide-viewing angle is needed, such as at baggage claim areas,” Otterspeer said.

Motion sensor technology has certainly improved and can now detect farther and more precisely than previous versions, said Rolland Trayte, President of FutureSentry. “Solar-powered wireless sensors offer simple installation and add the detection range to 1,000 feet. Advanced applications can also add analytics to further ensure robust detection and reliability of alarming inputs, and enable the system to ‘learn' the difference between uniquely shaped objects.”

Adoption of VCA for airport monitoring remains low, despite a visible growth in the last couple of years. “VCA is used in about less than 10 percent of airport projects currently, with potential to grow moderately to 15 to 20 percent in the next few years,” Harris said.

“Security standards are not in place yet to get this widely adopted in the market.” Actual applications, Otterspeer added, include line crossings for external perimeters and wrong-way or loitering detection for strategic locations such as air traffic control towers, customs gates and aircraft ramps. “VCA is used from site to site, depending on what the project requirements are,” Moscinski said. “Currently, simple analytics are used most often, as the technology still has several barriers to overcome, such as unsatisfactory hit ratios and high FARs. Simple VCA like motion and object detection can help identify when someone has crossed checkpoints from the nonsecurity to the security side, alarm relevant personnel and provide evidence to assist with tracking and identifying the intruder. We see the most active VCA evaluation now taking place for use in perimeter security.”

Another key technology identified is ALPR, which is very common these days at Tier-1 (major) airports and is becoming increasingly common at Tier-2 and even some Tier-3 airports, said Jim Kennedy, President of Inex/Zamir. “The primary use is for parking revenue management to prevent ticketswapping fraud and subsequent revenue losses. Increasingly, we are requested to provide a ‘list-matching' capability to our system so that local authorities can be immediately notified if a vehicle that is on a watch list enters a specific parking facility.” The disappointment with VCA often stems from undelivered functions it promised in the beginning, Figueiredo said. “Many vendors are pushing less-than-ready VCA products out to customers to make quick cash even if the technology is still not mature enough for real-life usage, ultimately creating more problems for customers. The accuracy of VCA reading is, on average, 85 percent or better when utilized in a controlled environment with strategic camera position and correct lighting.”

HD, megapixel cameras and video analytics may provide improved inf o rma t i on and s i tua t i ona l awareness, but they introduce enormous operational costs in terms of bandwidth and storage requirements, and other issues such as forensic capability and privacy.

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Drawing Together
In expansion projects, such as a midsize, domestic airport scaling to large, international airport or a large-scale airport expanding current facilities, new security systems and technologies, such as HD video, IP-based video and VCA, are often introduced. “These new technologies cannot be installed independently of other existing security systems and require shared information,” Lien said. “Security operators must use different consoles and different systems to manage incidents. The costs associated with operating independent and nonintegrated systems, such as training, additional skills required for reporting and longer incident response time, are significant.”

Yet connecting disparate systems under one central command is no easy task. “We face a lot of problems with legacy systems,” Figueiredo said. “Sometimes, there is no documentation, no SDK, or the company responsible for the system simply went out of business. System integrators (SIs) like us basically have to make sure that the systems work together through the use of an open-platform approach.”

“Typically, each installer/integrator is focused on making sure its own system is installed and runs correctly,” Lien added. “Expectations of how to integrate and what an integrated system can realistically accomplish could often be miscommunicated. Entities that require communication between systems should find an experienced SI that can help them set clearly defined goals for their environments.”

For security purposes, central management software like physical security information management (PSIM) is a good way to maintain unified control over different systems in operation. “A true PSIM solution enables one complete and intelligent security system by aggregating information from various subsystems and automating processes as appropriate to effectively manage situations,” Chong said.

PSIM software is a good option whenever doing a significant expansion or a new project, added Joshua Koopferstock, Director of Marketing, Feeling Software. “Multiple systems, mapping and SOPs should be combined within a single software package, and this common operating picture in airports is becoming increasingly important as security systems become bigger and more complex as the facility expands in size.” To facilitate smooth integration of hardware and software, as well as the old and the new, adopting an open approach that grants partners with access to their SDKs and APIs is vital, Koopferstock said.

“Oftentimes, SIs and PSIM vendors combine their knowledge of and expertise in physical security technologies, process management, and security policy and compliance to provide organizations with a complete situational awareness and management solution,” Chong said.

In addition, SIs and airports should work together to consider their ConOps and how the systems should function after integration, Lien remarked. “Understanding process flows, automating tasks, correlating information and giving usable information to operators will help airports optimize their operations and realize cost savings.”

Many are now focused on quickly identifying situations and disseminating the information to the guards, police and other necessary agencies in real time, Chong said. “Airports are also starting to use a single security asset, such as a camera, for multiple uses. For example, security may use a camera to see if someone is walking around the runway, while air side operations may use the same camera to verify if the gate is available for an arriving flight.”

The growing complexity of daily airport operations demands equally diversified security systems. Smoothly integrated systems, such as access control and people tracking, will help with the fluidity of security management on aviation premises. Biometrics, the new kid on the block for airport access control and ID authentication, will be explored next.

Nice Systems to Further Enhance Security at Brooke Army Medical Center

Editor / Provider: Nice systems | Updated: 6/29/2011 | Article type: Government & Public Services

NICE Systems announced that Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), a U.S. Army Hospital and Level 1 Trauma Center at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, is expanding its implementation of NICE security solutions and upgrading its video surveillance capabilities with NiceVision Net 2.0.

Brooke Army Medical Center has used NICE video surveillance solutions since 2001, and is now expanding the deployment to secure new facilities, which include a new seven-story hospital wing and an adjoining 5,000-space multi-level parking garage. BAMC is also renovating an existing facility where NICE video surveillance solutions are already deployed. For those planned expansions and improvements, BAMC is deploying the latest version of NICE's IP video solution, NiceVision Net 2.0. The deployment will enable BAMC to leverage its existing infrastructure of analog surveillance cameras while migrating to IP video. The NiceVision solution provides smart video capabilities for all "edge" devices, including encoders, access control and cameras. This results in better video surveillance capabilities and a lower overall total cost of ownership (TCO). The NICE solution facilitates more efficient and effective management, maintenance and control of a video surveillance deployment. It can also easily scale to accommodate BAMC's rapid facility expansion which will include more than 1,600 video surveillance cameras planned for integration with the NICE solution.

One specific need for BAMC is to capture high quality images of vehicles entering its new parking structure along with associated license plates, so BAMC can instantly recall video by license plate numbers or other criteria. To address this need NICE is providing a video surveillance/License Plate Recognition (LPR) solution.

The openness of the NICE IP video solution also gives BAMC better tools to deter and fight crime. The solution integrates smoothly with other systems and allows BAMC to maintain a high level of security across its entire operation. For example, the NICE video system was integrated with an infant protection system, which is now used by the BAMC maternity ward to prevent infant abduction. The integrated solution combines wireless radio frequency technology, RFID bracelets and video surveillance. Any attempt to remove an infant past pre-defined security access points automatically triggers a code pink alarm, simultaneously streaming video from nearby cameras to the BAMC control room. The integrated solution was deployed last December. The upgrade to the NICE IP video surveillance will also help BAMC achieve higher levels of redundancy to ensure video recordings are not lost or compromised. This is critical because there are daily requests to retrieve video for investigations and court cases, including requests from the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) office and for incidents involving patients and other matters.

"The security requirements of BAMC are very stringent," said Yochai Rozenblat, President and CEO of NICE Americas, NICE. "We're happy to have been able to play a key role in securing Brooke Army Medical Center for the last decade and look forward to serving the hospital's future security needs."

The NICE Security Offering addresses the needs of governments and enterprises with intent-based solutions for fighting crime and terror, by anticipating, managing and mitigating safety, security and operational risks. The offering enables capturing, analysis and correlation of data from multiple sensors and systems, including audio, video, radio, geo-location and web, providing a framework for fusing data silos into a single, holistic operational view. NICE Security solutions empower organizations to act effectively in real time to prevent, manage and investigate incidents, ensuring fast resolution and debriefing, and continuous security improvements. NICE Security solutions are deployed worldwide in transportation systems, critical infrastructures, city centers and enterprise campuses.

Port of West Sacramento Chooses DNF for Surveillance Upgrade

Editor / Provider: DNF Security | Updated: 6/29/2011 | Article type: Infrastructure

The Port of West Sacramento is located 79 nautical miles north of San Francisco. Boasting some of the world's richest agricultural and industrial regions, the port is central to network interstate and state highways, an international airport and national railway systems.

Concentrated in such an elaborate transportation hub, the Port of West Sacramento required a surveillance solution that would meet the demands of continual video surveillance throughout their facilities. A preexisting, outdated, system simply did not satisfy the Port's security demands. Amy Cameron, Analyst for City of West Sacramento said, “When the City of West Sacramento began management of the Port of West Sacramento, the security cameras and overall system was antiquated, not integrated, and became difficult to maintain.”

With this in mind, the Port weighed out their options and knew that upgrading their entire surveillance environment was their only option. The City of West Sacramento turned to security contractor, All Phase Security to architect a solution that met today's demands and tomorrow's requirements. All Phase Security recommended utilizing DNF Security's high-end line of video storage and workstations for the heart of the solution. DNF Security partnered with All Phase to provide an answer that included; capacity, scalability, speed, and endurance.

After careful consideration, the Port of West Sacramento accepted All Phase Security's recommendations. “Through the public bidding process, DNF Security was hired as a subcontractor to furnish and install their fully functional video storage appliance,” said Cameron.

The Port uses three DNF Security components: one was the powerful Falcon Video Management Engine (VME) which included dual quad core processing power, independent fail safe high speed disks for OS and video recording applications. Another was a state-of-the-art Seahawk 2405 IP SAN storage appliance that included SAS 6g storage array architecture, advanced data protection, multiple iSCSI ports and redundant power that is centrally located as the back end storage vehicle for the Falcon VME. Using the IP SAN Seahawk also allows for future growth of NVR's and capacity expansion. Joe Cuellar, Account Manager at DNF Security says, “Considering their demanding requirements, we thought that bundling our Falcon and Seahawk appliances would not only satisfy their manageability requirements, but also provide them with advanced storage technology that would meet the most demanding and sophisticated surveillance environments.” The server and storage implementation was followed up with their third DNF Security component, the Falcon 9300 workstation, capable of supporting up to 12 big screen high resolution monitors.

These three critical components were the keystones that enabled the Port's total surveillance execution. The real beauty of this solution is its modularity. As camera loads increase over the years, additions of Falcon VME engines can balance the load and keep the camera LAN separate from the storage SAN. The Seahawk 2405 can meet any new capacity requirements from adding cameras or increasing data retention requirements with the ability to expand to 288 terabytes. Storage performance and redundancy is never called to question because the Seahawk provides up to 5 gigabits of storage bandwidth today with a potential of 40 gigabits of bandwidth with an easy upgrade to 10Gbe technology.

With DNF Security's attention to pre-installation requirements, custom configuration, along with ease of use, resulted in a quick 15 minute installation.

All Phase Security never lost track of the fact that today's sophisticated technology does not translate in to ease-of-use. DNF Security products offered ease of management through internet access and web graphical user interfaces. There were no hidden training costs for their support engineers or the City of West Sacramento operators. Extensive easy to understand documentation with intuitive setup and management features made day-to-day operation a breeze.

“The installation process was seamless as we transitioned from our old security system to the new system and the staff has been helpful throughout the process,” said Cameron. “We believe other businesses will benefit from DNF Security.”

By integrating DNF Security's Falcon and Seahawk appliances, the Port of West Sacramento enjoys the benefits of a fully scalable, modular, and high performing surveillance solution. Not only has their security and surveillance requirements been met, but DNF Security's ease-of-use and manageability has resulted in lower management, operations, and training costs. Furthermore with the DNF Security production team's effort to pre-configure their system to their specifications, the Port significantly reduced their time of use.

Now the Port can look to the future, by easily scaling up (and out) their storage with inexpensive storage expansion units as their camera and video analytic requirements increase—this saving time and money. By replacing their obsolete security surveillance system with a state-of-the-art surveillance that will not only exceeds today's requirements, but is poised to grow with the Port Of West Sacramento in the future.

Your Business's Best Friend

Editor / Provider: a&s International | Updated: 6/29/2011 | Article type: Tech Corner

Anyone who hasever taken notes on a regular basis understands how limiting handwritten notes can be; finding specific information in a notebook can be time-consuming and frustrating. In the past, video archives were nothing more than a collection of footage waiting to be reviewed. With the advent of intelligent surveillance systems, raw video has been transformed into actionable information.

Video content analysis (VCA) has been plagued by bad business practices and unrealistic expectations, but the technology is, in many ways, still evolving and there have already been tried and tested real-life success stories that benefit from it.

The key for VCA to provide maximum value is having a clearly defined problem and realistic expectations of a solution. “There have been successful projects installed all across Europe,” said Gerard Otterspeer, CCTV Product Marketing Manager, Bosch Security Systems. “In Greece, for example, they use video analytics in tunnels to detect if someone is driving the wrong way or at the wrong speed.

That's directional detection coupled with speed detection. If a car stops in the tunnel for a certain amount of time, which is object loitering, the local authorities can be notified. Furthermore, a clear distinction is made between size and object shape, so the system knows if it's looking at a person or a car.”

Quality Comes With a Tag
What exactly is intelligent video? It is a system that analyzes millions of pixels at blazing speeds, Otterspeer said. “No matter what detection you choose, as simple as it may seem, all of it depends on the underlying algorithm. The first step is to analyze all those pixels and then identify objects. Only when you have the objects can you set the rules. So, it all starts with the quality of the algorithm, and this varies greatly from provider to provider.”

For example , in a complex environment where there are objects walking past one another in the background and foreground, the object IDs may be merging and splitting constantly since the camera is not aware of depth in the scene. “A lot of time and efforts have gone into optimizing ID tracking to ensure there is a right balance. If this is not done properly and two objects merge into one, it messes up the detection,” Otterspeer explained.

Many camera companies are giving away their software at low or even zero costs. However, you get what you pay for, which is nothing, cautioned Ivy Li, cofounder and MD of iOmniscient. “System integrators sometimes complain that the products they were using did not work — if they bought them based on price rather than quality and functionality, they should not be surprised.” Developing VCA algorithms requires a tremendous amount of time and resources. When a provider is giving them away for free, it is possible that they did not put in that much effort to begin with. Came r a s , DVRs a n d o t h e r hardware devices are becoming commodities with reasonable quality, leaving price the only thing to compete on, Li said. “This is not yet true for video analytics. The huge difference in quality drives the market and solution prices.”

Most companies already offer reliable, basic solutions such as line crossing, zone entry/exit and tampering detection. Price per channel for these is dropping since most companies can deliver, said Thejaswi Bharadwaj, Head of Civilian Technologies at Delopt. “However, for analytics that involve significant R&D and intellectual property such as people counting, PTZ tracking and ALPR, the prices will stay steady for quite a while.” Today, many camera and DVR manufacturers give away their software for free to sell their other products, Li said. “If you want a good, working product, you would have to pay for it. It's the same with transportation. You can get a bicycle very cheaply. However, it will not get you from Beijing to Paris quickly.”

"Many VCA solutions on the market today use video motion detection. Today's VCA uses advanced technology which applies machine vision to video scenarios in security and business intelligence applications," said Ed Troha, MD of Global Marketing at ObjectVideo. "Video motion detection is often used in products as an added component to drive hardware sales. These are not truly intelligent analytics and can have limited reliability."

Processing
The algorithms determine how intelligent the VCA is, said Patrick Lim, Director of Sales and Marketing for Ademco Far East. “There are products that use entrylevel processors but perform very intelligent functions without a problem. However, having a more powerful processor gives you some space to accommodate future firmware upgrades that can bring more complex algorithms and smarter features.”

VCA algorithms are very computationally intensive, and any increase in available processing power results in the ability to deploy more accurate algorithms without increasing solution prices, said Zvika Ashani, CTO of Agent Video Intelligence. “Computerized vision is a science that has many applications other than security, and advances are slowly applied to VCA, resulting in an increase in solution accuracy.”

Organizations that have the luxury of applying their algorithms to different industries have the greatest advantage since they can adapt and apply their algorithms to different applications, achieving economy of scale and knowledge-sharing among different projects, Otterspeer added. "For example, algorithm R&D could be centralized and later utilized across divisions such as automotive and security."

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Play Nice
Different vendors take different approaches, but the underlying concept is the same. Classifying different rules based on accuracy helps. According to Bharadwaj, there are three categories:
1. Moving objects: people counting, line crossing, zone entry/exit;
2. Static/semi-static objects: object removal, unattended object, dwell time detection (not based on face detection), loitering, crowd counting, object classification; and
3. Special rules: camera tampering, PTZ tracking of moving/stationary objects, ALPR, face detection.

Solutions for the first and third categories are mature, Bharadwaj said. “With the second, we believe more R&D investment is needed for a foolproof solution that works in all situations to surface.” However, Li feels that the question is not about whether an application is ready, but rather if a particular supplier has a product that can work robustly in different environments.

There are four VCA rules that most users are familiar with, namely people counting, directional detection, camera tampering detection and object removal. “The concept can be easily communicated to customers, and the benefits are easily understood,” said Jukka Riivari, CEO of Mirasys.

People Counting
The largest marketfor people counting is retail, Bharadwaj said. “Presently, most retail locations do not have a way to measure footfall traffic and correlate it with sales numbers. A real-life scenario is one in which a store has counting systems installed at all entrances, aisles and exits. These systems can provide various statistics about flow rate, occupancy and other information that can help optimize operations.” In terms of operational efficiency, people counting helps stores maximize staffing levels at both peak- and low-traffic periods, said Steve Gorski, GM for the Americas, Mobotix. “Hospitality is another vertical that also finds significant value through the use of VCA.”

The traditional method for retail counting was highly inaccurate and costly, requiring extensive wiring and many sensors, Lim added. “New top-down intelligent video devices come fully packaged. For chain stores looking to collect data centrally, IP network connectivity also saves a lot of money. Crowd counting for traffic flow in shopping malls is also a growing trend.”

Accurate people counting requires good processing power. “More often than not, multiple cameras are needed for a wide door/passage way. These cameras need to function as a single integrated sensing entity and generate a single count. It is also important to handle overlap between camera views to avoid over/under counting,” Bharadwaj said.

People counting is very valuable for indoor usage, especially in conjunction with access control. However, the greatest potential lies in commercial and retail settings where people want to know how many people are standing in a certain aisle at a certain time. For security and safety applications, there is increased use of crowd density detection, allowing for an alarm if a train platform reaches, for example, 80 percent of its capacity. Line checking, such as in airports, is another area that can greatly improve operational efficiency, Otterspeer said. “One of the things that can reduce false alarms is head detection. The shape of a human head and its relation to the shoulder is always a certain geometry. Detecting that greatly reduces false alarms from dogs or other animals.”

With the right camera placement and good software, you can do high-quality counting anywhere, Li said. “More sophisticated counting applications can be used for queue management to determine average waiting times.”

Counting and crowd management are slightly different, Lim cautioned. “Counting is expected to be more than 90-percent accurate while crowd management looks at the speed of a crowd formation and area of formation. Count accuracy in crowd management is usually not expected to be more than 85 percent.”

For Coastalwatch , people counting is most practical from a high-mounted camera in an area where background noise is less likely, said Tim Chandler, President of CoastalCOMS Division. “Our focus is to assign a risk variable to a risk index — the ‘count' or number of people is assessed to indicate that the number of people has significantly increased or decreased over a predefined amount of time. Our system ends up reporting 'load' rather than 'count,' which works best in beach areas where safety is a concern.”

Directional Detection
Directional detection and tampering detection are basic functions that many cameras include and most customers enable, Otterspeer said.

“Directional movement detection is used for triggering alerts when a person or vehicle is moving in an area and direction that they should not be moving in. This is used, for example, in protection of critical infrastructure and in airports,” Ashani said.

Real-life scenarios for directional detection involve perimeter surveillance and wrong-way movement detection for vehicles and people, Bharadwaj added. “This is a motionbased algorithm; false alarms arise when the line drawn includes objects such as trees that move due to wind.”

Directional detection can also be applied to beaches as a further indication of risk. “The ability to draw a virtual line in the sand and see if folks are stepping across the line to move into or out of the water is useful, as it can modify a risk calculation's results,” Chandler said. “The idea is to support the risk manager with useful decision support metrics that they can evaluate in real time, especially for remote or unmanned areas of responsibility.”

Directional movement detection can be very accurate, so long as the environment is not overly crowded. Outdoor scenarios are more challenging as there are environmental conditions that can lead to false positives or negatives, Ashani said. “Modern VCA algorithms are able to robustly handle outdoor scenarios in many common cases. Another challenge is the ability to distinguish between target types. For example, the system can fail to distinguish between a group of people and a slow moving vehicle if the algorithm is not sophisticated enough.”

Typical sources of false alarms are moving shadows, changing lights and incorrect object/target classification. Each of these can be minimized by developing additional algorithmic components, Ashani said.

Tampering Detection
Like with all video analytics, tampering can be a simple application, Li said. “The system can tell if someone has sabotaged the camera or covered the lens. More sophisticated systems can also tell if the system can see clearly. So even if the camera has not been tampered with but has lost focus or can't see because it's raining too hard or if the camera has moved due to vibrations, the system will let the operator know.”

Tampering detection is a must-have for any surveillance installation. A tampered camera directly defeats the purpose of video surveillance, Bharadwaj said. “Accuracy depends on design. A good solution needs to detect tampering due to camera defocusing, blocked camera and view change. At the same time, it needs to disregard camera shakes/vibrations due to environmental conditions.”

Camera-tampering detection is applicable to any surveillance camera and enhances the operational readiness of cameras in surveillance installations, Ashani said. “For some solutions, camera tampering is not limited to only video loss or image blocking but also detects insufficient lighting or oversaturated images which result in poor video quality.” This application is generally very accurate and generates very few false alarms, Ashani added.

Object Loitering/Removal
Object loitering and object removal are essentially the same thing. The targeted object is identified, but the alarm goes the other way around, Otterspeer said.

At the moment, object removal rules are probably most effective in places where the traffic is not too dynamic, Lim said. “Object loitering is not as magical as some would claim. If a camera is placed over a crowded airport and a crowd forms up covering one another and an unattended bag, there is no way the VCA will work.” Successful applications are likely in museums and exhibitions rather than airports and transport terminals. “I've heard stories about a public transport operator that tried to implement unattended-bag detection for trains, buses and even the stations. It was a complete failure,” Lim added.

Object removal detection is not practical if the object in question is too small, not in a well-lit area or occluded from the view of the camera for very long periods of time, Ashani added. “There was a large warehouse that installed 150 cameras, all of which carried video analytics. The customer wanted to be notified when cargo went missing, and to be able to use forensic search to find the cargo. This was not that difficult,” Otterspeer said. “However, the director of that establishment wanted to know when one little box of a cellular phone went missing, and wanted the system to follow it through all 150 cameras. That was simply not possible — and still isn't — with the current state of the technology.” Once the director was shown how to set up the right detection lines and proper rules, he was still impressed by how much it could help his operations.

Baggage abandoning is a different matter, as the system needs to understand when one object splits into two and establish a connection between the person and baggage.

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Customizations
Boxed solutions are generally not tailored for specific applications. If a customer is looking for one niche solution, it may still be a centralized solution because of the flexibility. It will also be more expensive because the system needs to be trained by engineers, Otterspeer said.

However, meeting customers' real-life needs is an increasingly popular requirement, Li said. “Solutions tailored for industries, ranging from oil and gas to prisons, maximizes value and reliability. For example, solutions for banking provide detection of skimming devices on ATMs, and solutions for airports provide metering of aircraft to tell precisely how long each is parked at the air bridge.”

Another example would be how people counting is used in coastalarea management. “For safety applications, people counting seems to be most interesting for remote ‘pocket beaches,' which are areas that are often off the beaten path and unguarded by lifesavers,” Chandler said. “If a large number of people suddenly appear in an unguarded or remote beach area, that may equate to higher risk if the ocean or water conditions also match up. This type of VCA, which requires accuracy within a range rather than identification of a single human form, is a great example of VCA working in tandem with business rules and VMS-actuated work flows.”

Integration
The power of analytics is greatly enhanced when alarms or events are correlated with those from other functions, such as access control or video management. A unified security platform allows the end user to view information from all the different systems, correlate it and report on it through one interface, said Jumbi Edulbehram, VP of Business Development at Next Level Security Systems. “The combination of this data enables the user to have a fully comprehensive view of security and business operations, and that is what the end user is seeking.”

The challenge in integrating with VMS is that suppliers are focused on storing information and displaying it, Li said. “They're not familiar with the sophistication of VCA metadata, so they don't have the ability to display it. For example, the VCA software may have a function that allows the user to track an individual and know which camera he has passed through over a period of time. However, most VMS systems are just focused on showing raw image scenes; they don't have the capability to ask complex questions nor to display the answers.” To complicate matters, most metadata today is still proprietary, but fortunately there will be a standardized set of metadata in ONVIF 2.0, making it easier to interact and to integrate VCA into other systems, Otterspeer added.

User interface is another problem area. “If the VCA software allows the user to go back to the beginning of an event when the need arises, the metadata to achieve this can be requested from the video analytics system,” Li said. “However, if the VMS's user interface doesn't have a button to activate this function, the user can't get this information.”

VMS integration, thus, requires software developers to work closely to ensure all functionalities can be accessed through a common user interface, and major standards bodies need to pick up their pace in addressing their clients' needs.

Prominent American University Secures New Facility with L-1 4G Fingerprint Readers

Editor / Provider: L-1 Identity Solutions | Updated: 6/23/2011 | Article type: Education

While the use of biometrics in higher education is still relatively a new concept in North America, it has seen success in the few facilities it has been implemented in. The latest educational institution to implement a biometric access control solution is considered to be one of the top research universities in the world. By day, over 40,000 students roam the campus grounds and by night over 10,000 university housing residents go back to their residence halls and plazas.

With such a large student population, security becomes a big issue. “Their brand new facility needed to incorporate a number of features, that would reflect not only the progressive nature of the institution but also address the critical security issues of an on-campus police station”, said Shiraz Kapadia, COO, Bioscrypt (The Enterprise Access Division of L-1 Identity Solutions). Access to new rooms such as a holding cell and the transportation and protection of evidence transferred from the main station into the secure property room, required restricted access to certain personnel.

Critical tasks such as the ones mentioned above, called for a physical access control solution which would be robust enough to handle the different layers of security clearance within the building, but still simple enough to handle the management of the system. Enter Bioscrypt (The Enterprise Access Division of L-1 Identity Solutions) and their market-tested and customer proven 4G solutions.

TagMaster Installs Traffic Control for Capri, Italy

Editor / Provider: TagMaster | Updated: 6/21/2011 | Article type: Infrastructure

TagMaster, the leading producer of advanced RFID solutions for long-range identification, announces the installation of automatic vehicle identification for traffic control on the island of Capri in Italy. The installation is being handled by TagMaster's long term partner, Generale Sistemi and their systems integrating partner Zucchetti SpA div. Kronotech.

Traffic control is more and more used in many urban areas to limit and to facitilitate a more efficient traffic flow. In many cities the centre is further protected for both environmental reasons but also to support a pedestrian friendly environment. This was the situation in the beautiful Island of Capri with a high number of visiting tourists.

To make it possible to handle transportations in the medieval city at Capri with narrow streets and many pedestrians small electrified vehicles are being used. A high number of such vehicles are used for all kind transports and a system to control the traffic was asked for. After an extensive analysis a web based system was created to control the traffic by handing out transport permissions. In this way it has become possible to adopt the traffic based on the demand but also on the flow of pedestrians over the course of the day providing with a safe, convenient and environmental solution. The parameters can be adjusted over time to adjust to any change in traffic or number of pedestrians.

Long range readers from TagMaster are used to identify the vehicles driving by at various key positions through out the city. This information is sent to the management system to be used to control the actual traffic flow as a feed back to the planning system. Due to the small form factor and discreet design the installation is made possible into the existing infrastructure with no implications for existing buildings. The possibility to adjust the read range and fine tune the read area has been key to the success in this installation.
The system has been well received and has lead to improved transportation efficiency but also to an improved environment for the visiting tourists.

"Traffic control is a growing demand in the market to handle city congestion, to improve transportations as well as to improve the environmental conditions. Long range RFID is a very suitable technology to be used in this type of application providing with a flexible and very reliable means for identification of vehicles. The implementation designed by our partner Zucchetti using TagMaster RFID readers and ID-tags is one more example of a successful installation” says Adolfo Deltodesco, CEO at Generale Sistemi SrI.

Philadelphia International Airport Deploys NABCO Suspect Luggage Containment Vessel

Editor / Provider: NABCO | Updated: 6/20/2011 | Article type: Infrastructure

NABCO, announced that Philadelphia International Airport has purchased a NABCO Suspect Luggage Containment Vessel (SLCV), an innovative security solution that will strengthen the facility's defense capabilities against explosive threats.

The NABCO SLCV will improve the airport's ability to protect both travelers and facility personnel against threats discovered during baggage and passenger screening. The SLCV's explosive containment capabilities, compact size and ease of mobility make it an effective solution for meeting Philadelphia International Airport's specific safety and security requirements.

Philadelphia International Airport is the only major airport serving the 5th largest metropolitan area in the United States. Owned and operated by the city, the airport is located seven miles from downtown Philadelphia and last year served more than 30 million passengers.

An approved U.S. Department of Homeland Security anti-terrorism technology, the NABCO SLCV is used to safely contain a potentially dangerous item discovered during screening, and transport it away from people and screening machines until a bomb squad responds. NABCO's line of Suspect Luggage Containment Vessels can be operated remotely, are compatible with many portable X-ray systems, and can be fully integrated with in-line and conveyance systems.

“The SLCV can help reduce the number of disruptions and evacuations that are usually required when a suspicious item is found in a busy, public area,” said NABCO CEO Frank Tobin. “Not only does this technology protect the safety and well being of the traveling public, but it also sustains uninterrupted performance as a vital transportation and economic hub for the Philadelphia area. Any facility that wishes to increase protection and keep commerce moving can benefit from this capability.”

Philadelphia International Airport is one of hundreds of high-security facilities and law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and around the world that rely on NABCO solutions to safeguard personnel, facilities, communities and the environment against chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) threats.

Infinova Surveillance Cameras Transport through Chinese Expressways

Editor / Provider: Infinova | Updated: 6/9/2011 | Article type: Infrastructure

Infinova announced that 2,870 Infinova cameras are covering 516 miles of expressways throughout the northern province of Shanxi in China.  Expressways include Shangman, Xihan, Baoniu, Weipu, Shangjie, Baomao, Tongxi and Zhong’nan Mountain Tunnel. Besides Infinova cameras, the implementations also include Infinova matrix switchers, DVRs, fiber optic transceivers and modems, housings, Ethernet modems and other Infinova equipment.

"These complex installations show how obtaining equipment, from the cameras with several types of transmission technologies, to the DVRs, from the same vendor can make implementing such systems easier," said Mark Wilson, Marketing VP, Infinova. "For instance, the Shangman Expressway is integrated with 136 sets of Infinova WDR, dome and PTZ cameras as well as matrix switchers. The Xihan Expressway features the same cameras plus 260 pairs of fiber optic modems."

The WDR cameras are featured throughout the expressways. For example, the Zhong’nan Mountain Tunnel, at 11-mile the longest tunnel in China, uses 305 WDR to view through the low-light and illumination within the tunnel.  WDR cameras offer superiority over CCD cameras, providing a higher signal to noise ratio, improved color rendering and better image quality, yielding excellent video for the various expressway surveillance sites, all of which require detailed images under difficult lighting conditions.

Surveillance systems used on the expressways differ from traditional surveillance systems. The highway systems have decentralized edge sites, distributed along the expressways, all of which need to stand up to weather extremes, temperature fluctuations and the other rigors of an outdoor environment. Due to the long distances, transmission quality is a challenge and fiber is the best choice for the intelligent transport systems. To assure reliability, both node fiber optic modems and video encoders/decoders are deployed.

The use of a node fiber optic modem reduces the engineering costs of an expressway surveillance system. Also called a bus digital fiber optic modem or link type digital fiber optic modem, the video transmission system is networked through one or two fibers. Deploying a standard time division multiplex and an add/drop multiplex approach, the node fiber optic modems save fiber resources and extend transmission distances.

Take a Pulse on International Market Dynamics

Editor / Provider: The Editorial Team | Updated: 6/3/2011 | Article type: Hot Topics

Almost halfway into 2011, a&s surveys and gathers regional market updates for your reference, with specific focus on the analog-to-IP transition and HD development in the real world.

Global markets have enjoyed a rather fruitful year from 2010 to 2011, and growth opportunities and potential for 2012 look very promising. Although some regions see slower growth than others, the effects of the 2008/2009 recession have worn off for many.

In North America, growth has been steadily returning, although no sharp increase in revenue or sales volume is witnessed. "Government spending in the U.S. is still tight due to the weak economy, although the market continues to grow at a steady pace," said Peter Simmons, Marketing Director for Seon Design. "In particular, biometrics sees a growth in demand for US schools."

On the Western European front, the Italian security market continues to expand after the recession, although a

Robert Hufton, Applications Engineering of Video Networks, Teleste

concern over civilian privacy is creating mixed feelings toward implementing security systems. "Privacy is highly regarded by the Italian general public," said Roberto Terranova, Sales Director of Securitaly. "For this reason, we're not seeing as much activity in the market as anticipated."

In the U.K., residual effects of the recession linger. "Many projects are on hold, and IP uptake is slow," said Robert Hufton, Applications Engineering of Video Networks, Teleste. "Some verticals such as railways are going to do well, especially in France, the U.K. and Algeria."

In Oceania, the current instability and power struggle in the Australian government, along with the reconstruction in the south, mean that the US$36-billion, fiber-to-the-home initiative might get scrapped, said Wayne Palmer, MD of Australian Security Supplies. Despite these, solution providers are optimistic about and eager to expand the market even further. "The market is bound with opportunities, giving us a steady two- to four-time growth each year," said Michael Mackowiak of Aucom Surveillance Systems. The country's tight regulations on installers for certificate and license renewals contribute to a highly competitive environment that upholds the "survival of the fittest" principle.
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Emerging Markets
The Middle East is now busy with new projects of all scales after recovering from the recession in 2010. “This

Natan Cuglovici, Technical Director of Vault

year, there are projects for airports and seaports, as well as industrial projects in oil and gas,” said Grahame Edwards, Technical Director in Dubai, Schneider Electric.

The market is equally promising in Turkey. "Turkey is a large country with much potential," said Rustu Arseven, GM of Tesan IletiSim. "This year, we are predicting at least 50-percent growth in our security business."

In Iran, industry players tread cautiously amidst improved market conditions in 2011. "The situation in 2011 is much, much better than 2010 due to less social and political issues," said Mohammad Zarei, Sales Director of Hedayat Security Systems. "However, the situation for 2012 remains murky in our opinion."

Opportunities also abound in Central Asia. "Kazakhstan is a very young country, meaning that there are abundant project opportunities, including major government and large-scale infrastructure projects," said Nikita Panfilov,
CCTV Product Manager, Intant.

Eastern Europeans also agree that the local markets have been recovering from the recession, and 2011 and 2012 will see visible expansions and growing numbers of projects. "In Poland, we follow the general trends in the world, but our market was not affected much," said Monika Mirczewska-Stanosz, Import Manager of Suma. "The growth since recovery has not been as huge as everyone expected, but it didn't drop. Growth in 2011 will be even more than last year."

"The Bulgarian security market has been hit quite hard," observed Georgi Kolev, Sales Manager of Avicam. "The market prefers entry-level products; although 2011 has seen a big growth in sales volume, the margin is actually smaller as cost-effective products were sourced and sold at a higher volume than before."

"In 2011, the growth in Bulgaria is not significant," added Rumen Palmov, Sales Manager of Sectron. "Project-based businesses are still down; large-scale projects were cancelled or postponed, and construction also came to a halt."

On the other hand, the market in Bulgaria is benefiting from its rising crime rate, and people want to employ security systems as they are more affordable nowadays, Kolev said. "The market situation will get better as we go into 2012, and achieve further heights," Palmov said.

In South Africa, the market witnessed a slowdown after the World Cup, said Simpson Jong, MD of KYLink Electronics. "Recently, banks have been strict on approving mortgage applications, which causes further delays

Arnon Kulawongvanich, GM of Sales and Marketing, Chubb (a UTC Fire & Security company)

to ongoing or new projects." The market is dominated by large companies from Europe and the U.S., but Samsung and Sony enjoy sizable market shares as well.

Across the world in Latin America, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago are ready to deliver more products and handle more projects in 2011 and 2012. "The Brazilian market is growing fast and is expected to grow even faster due to upcoming world events," said Natan Cuglovici, Technical Director of Vault.

"Currently, all vertical projects in Argentina are surging, and name brands are used in project-based segments by system integrators (SIs)," observed Roberto Alvarez, President of Selnet.

"There is great demand for security and video surveillance products, as Venezuela suffers from high crime rates," said Antonio Formica, CEO of Segintdig de Venezuela. Fueled by the high demand, interest in new security technologies is much higher than expected.

"The Trinidad and Tobago security market is booming, along with the rest of the Caribbean region," said Jason Fraser, MD of BVRT. The growth has encouraged regional distributors and SIs to visit Asia in person, instead of going through Latin American distributors, in order to source suitable products for the residential market.
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Asia
The Asian markets have been expanding quickly in recent years as well, due to growing awareness. "We're growing at a healthy rate every year in India," said Zaheer Ali, Director of Oriole Electronics. "The security market is

Monika Mirczewska-Stanosz, Import Manager of Suma

growing at 20 to 30 percent on average. What is lagging behind is a more systematic approach, as many lack real capability and experience."

"The growth in India is huge, but nobody knows how to properly coordinate equipment or systems in an operational aspect," added Sam Yang, Director of Special Operation Services, Security & Personnel Services. "Technology is just a tool; we need to know what the tool does and how to properly manage it."

Equally promising markets can be found in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. "There are a lot of opportunities in the Philippines, as the install base is still quite small," said Antonio Uy, Marketing Manager of DigitalCCTV. "As a result of prices coming down, the general public has become interested, from residential units to small retail shops."

Price is still the top concern in the Philippines, added Marc Yu, Manager of VM Security Technologies. "However, prevalent petty crimes and government projects are key drivers behind this growing market."

In Indonesia, the market is estimated to have a 15- to 20-percent growth rate in 2011 and 2012. This growth is partially fueled by a growing concern over possible terrorist activities, explained Andrianto Setiadi, President of Wisma Sirca. "Our company has seen a roughly 20-percent increase in sales activity in 2011," said Dadang Maulana, Director of GSB Security. "The projects we have worked on lie in the banking, government and corporate sectors."

The Malaysian security market will grow as well, but maybe moderately, said Mohamed Mohideen, International Sales and Marketing, Cmos Dotcom. In recent years, the market has started to focus more on quality products for longer life cycles, leading to smarter investment in TCO and less future maintenance.

Both the Thai and Vietnamese markets are seeing rapid growth. "The surveillance market in Thailand has expanded by 30 to 50 percent since last year," observed Arnon Kulawongvanich, GM of Sales and Marketing, Chubb (a UTC Fire & Security company). "Hot verticals include airports, private companies and residential

Nikita Panfilov, CCTV Product Manager, Intant

homes. The surge is a result of growing needs and requirements, as well as the government's driving various projects."

"In Vietnam, the enterprise sector is doing well, such as service, manufacturing and transportation industries," said Leo Wu, Vice Director of Trung Loi Trading. "However, the tightening of government budgets has led to heavy delays in government tenders."

For the more matured markets in Hong Kong and Singapore, only limited growth is seen. "Hong Kong was affected by the recession, and our sales activity did not return to the level it had in 2008 until this year," said David Leong, VP of International Sales at STL Security.

The Singaporean market is highly competitive, as the total market size remains small, said Ang Sze Meng, PM of Golden Sprint Security System Enterprise. "This means that revenue growth and market growth are both limited as well."
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Analog to IP
Frost & Sullivan recently modified its prediction that IP sales will top analog ones from 2013 to 2016, and several veterans offered similar estimates in respective regions. In general, analog product sales still dominate with at least 70-percent market share in all major markets. Despite this high percentage, the volume of IP products shipped is rising rapidly in all major markets, with the exception of Oceania.

More precisely, 90 percent of distribution products in the U.S. are still analog, and 80 percent of integration

Mohamed Mohideen, International Sales & Marketing, Cmos Dotcom

projects opt for IP, said Suhaib Allababidi, VP of 2M CCTV. The market share for analog products in Australia and New Zealand remains high at 90 percent, where slow IP adoption is forecast to continue for a few more years. "Analog is still dominant, though IP will eventually become the norm because the market needs to leverage technology from other industries to achieve economy of scale," said Bud Broomhead, President of Intransa.

In Italy, most products used are still analog and not much IP, and it will likely take a couple more years before IP becomes more popular, said Alessandro Berio, MD of Eurogroup. With a market share estimated at 20 percent or less, IP products are currently used for large infrastructure projects only. "IP uptake is slow because installers are traditionally from an electrician background with little IT knowledge," said Alessandro Oliva, IT Engineer, Feniva.

For the emerging markets in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa, analog products also account for 70 to 90 percent of market share. "In many cases, if the project is managed by the CIO, IP products would be used; conversely, if it is managed by the security manager, analog products would be used," Alvarez explained.

Many contribute restricted IP expansion to frail and expensive national Internet infrastructure. "Granted, traditional

Alessandro Oliva, IT Engineer, Feniva

installers still need a lot more education to drive IP growth, but IT-savvy distributors have got that covered," said Emre Yildirim, GM of Bilgi Technology. With new state-sponsored and large-scale projects in motion, IP products shall have no problem achieving greater traction in the few years.

In the Asian markets, sales of analog products have reportedly fallen by 60 to 90 percent, while the volume of IP products carried has increased dramatically for some. "Our revenue portion on IP has increased from 20 percent last year to 35 percent this year," said Sunny Mathew, Executive Manager of Autocop. For others, the growth in IP is hampered by a price-sensitive mindset. "Analog products such as DVRs are easy to find in Thailand, even in supermarkets, as they are cheap and easy to install in comparison," said Sakchai Somsuk, MD of TSolutions.

To encourage IP adoption, some local distributors and SIs hold seminars and invite end users to attend exhibitions to better educate the market on IP-based technologies, especially for those end users wanting higher quality and resolution products. For some, designing a pure-IP security system where different segments are interconnected by a network creates less integration problems, said Serguei Zagriatski, System Manager of Transportation Business, ST Electronics. "We use IP products for all new projects now."
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What HD?
HDcctv or HD-SDI technology was brought onto the table by various exhibitors at Secutech 2011, offering more

Sunny Mathew, Executive Manager of Autocop

hybrid or tribrid possibilities. Several interviewed have already begun talks with vendors to promote products based on this new technology in the respective regions. Others, however, maintain a conservative stance as to the development, promotion and acceptance of said technology.

Advantages
For some, HD-SDI products offer the convenience of utilizing existing analog infrastructure and avoiding the switch to a completely IP-based system. In addition, the HD-SDI concept is easier to grasp for traditional installers, who are used to analog systems. "Networking is sometimes too much for traditional players; therefore, HDcctv holds great potential compared to IP," said Andy Chao, President of Panorama Security.

Some are considering expanding their product lineups. "HDcctv is quite interesting and shall help us offer another choice to customers who are thinking of upgrading existing systems," Uy said.

Work in Progress
As HDcctv is relatively new to the security world and needs further time to mature, concerns were voiced. "I have noticed the various HDcctv offerings at the Secutech show ground, but the pricing and maturity/reliability would mean that next year or even 2013 would be a safer bet," Arseven said.

"The price of HDcctv is a sensitive issue. If it is set between analog and IP, there may be some chance for it to grow in the market; otherwise, it would be very hard for it to become widely adopted," Cuglovici said. Current price

Bud Broomhead, President of Intransa

tags of HDcctv products could be six times higher than analog products; therefore, many are still observing how the market will react. Some suggested that encoders minimize the appeal and chance for HDcctv products.

In terms of technology maturity, those who have sampled are concerned about their storage, transmission and DVR functionality. "HD-SDI DVRs need to expand on their capability, as they offer only four channels now; plus so far, only a few makers can offer them," Allababidi said. Also, real-life transmission distance is still limited to about 100 meters, which hampers the upgrading of current systems, Palmov said.

"HDcctv products are not as scalable as IP products, and interoperability issues remain to be addressed, as industry standards for HDcctv are still in drafts," Jong said. Additionally, HDcctv offerings are unsatisfying at the moment, as some of them still project CIF-like results, Yildirim said.

Current mixed views do not seal the fate for HDcctv products in any way — it is, after all, still a fresh idea to many in the industry. Some optimistic professionals believe that as the HDcctv technology matures and products offer better functionality and choice, these devices could have a chance to be adopted by certain high-end, analog-based, niche markets.

Managed Services Moving Mountains

Editor / Provider: Hayden Hsu | Updated: 6/6/2011 | Article type: Tech Corner

With network connectivity and cloud-based services becoming readily available, device manufacturers and service providers have found new ways to protect end users' properties and serve their evolving security and operational needs. a&s surveys current market conditions for managed video as a service and examines real-life usability issues, technical limitations and business development opportunities.

The prevalence of broadband along with 3-G and 4-G connections is making video accessibility easier than ever. While current uptake of managed video as a service (MVaaS) is limited to certain markets and business venues, momentum is picking up with increasing functionality and reliability. According to John Honovich, founder of website ipvideomarket.info, 2010 global subscription revenue was estimated to be US$50 million to $100 million, with a total of 200,000 to 300,000 cameras hosted, of which 75,000 to 125,000 were new. IMS Research pegged

▲Matt Steinfort, President and CEO of Envysion

the world market for video surveillance as a service and remote video monitoring in 2010 at approximately $692.4 million.

A highlighted benefit of MVaaS is plug-and-play, meaning that edge devices such as cameras and D/NVRs automatically connect to the video service without configuration by the customer. "However, not all managed and hosted video providers offer plug-and-play setup yet," said Matt Steinfort, President and CEO of Envysion. "Some providers, especially those hardware companies who have developed managed or hosted video solutions, do restrict users' camera choice. Others, like ourselves, are camera-agnostic and can deploy their video solutions with any mix of analog or network cameras."

Another important aspect of plug-and-play that remains inconsistent among MVaaS providers is the ability to run managed or hosted video independent of a computer's operating system, security configuration or other system configuration. "Web-based applications, like Envysion's, bypass these issues because no software is downloaded to the computer. Still, not all managed and hosted providers offer a cloud-based solution, meaning users must install software on their computers before using the system and any time an upgrade is released," Steinfort said.

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Many cloud offerings allow edge devices such as cameras and readers to autonegotiate their connections with the hosted application. "This is very valuable for both dealers and end users as it removes the necessity to configure the port forwarding and static IP addresses on the network, making it plug-and-play," said Brian Lohse, Director of Business Development for Secure-i. "Unfortunately, this requires the edge device to have proprietary connection information built into it from the manufacturer, and is thus not very open. For an MVaaS provider to add another camera model to its compatibility list, it can be time-consuming and expensive."

Indeed, many MVaaS offerings claim that they will work with multiple brands. "However, some of the vendors make their own encoders and cameras, making it difficult to use another line of product such as access and intrusion detection," said Jim Shepherd, National Account Manager for Retail, Protection One. "In addition, the newer entry-level technologies in the market may not have reached out to all the major video-monitoring service companies and provided their SDKs to work with the software and equipment."

As a result, options may be limited. "For example, older components that include analog technologies such as DVRs may have limited network functionality," said Jumbi Edulbehram, VP of Business Development, Next Level

▲ Brian Lohse, Director of Business Development for Secure-i

Security Systems. "If analog cameras and encoders are used, they typically have less functionality and flexibility when compared to network cameras." Newer MVaaS offerings rely on the full power of the network infrastructure to provide users with the ability to access, configure and monitor all features of their security system from anywhere and at any time through Web browsers or mobile devices. "When coupled with platforms that integrate multiple subsystems, security data is correlated across sites on a consolidated interface, offering users a comprehensive view of security operations."

"Our key strategy is to function as part of the cloud-computing network," said Stanley Mill, Technical Director of Virtual Eye. "Since many network cameras comply with M-JPEG and H.264 compression standards, video streaming is not an issue any more." For DVRs, fully integrated solutions are limited to a handful of brands; for intrusion detection, solution providers can usually work with alarm control panels that are compliant with Honeywell's Ademco or Bosch's contact ID protocols, offering automatic video recordings and text/email notifications when alarms are triggered.

In the case of iControl Networks, numerous camera OEMs were sourced to put its software into their cameras to work on the software platform. "This does not limit features," said Gregory Roberts, VP of Marketing. "Rather, it significantly increases the use cases for end users as they, as subscribers of home management/ security offerings from our deployment partners such as ADT Pulse, can not only see live video of their premises remotely, but can set their system to capture video clips and pictures when events occur, such as doors being opened or rooms being entered."

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FAILSAFE?
Be it landline or mobile, no network connections are perfect 100 percent of the time, which could be a reason to the seemingly slow uptake of MVaaS offerings in most parts of the world. "There are no assurances, which is a huge issue," Shepherd said. "Other issues include a lack of sufficient bandwidth to port video over networks, not having the video stored on mission-critical servers, and losing video when there is any power interruption." Protection One has seen large national accounts, especially in retail, with very little bandwidth at their locations. "The Internet connections are often sized solely for the purpose of uploading PoS data at night, not for transporting video on demand. Increasing bandwidth at thousands of locations is a huge expense," cautioned Douglas Paul, VP of Operations and Corporate Services.

On the other hand, many others feel the fear of service disruptions on IP networks is greatly exaggerated. "For example, how many times do you find that Google or your bank's website is down? The Internet was designed specifically to be ‘self-healing' or able to withstand disruptions," Edulbehram explained. "That means when one part of the network is affected, other parts make up for the disruption. Traditional security integrators need to be knowledgeable about the inherent best practices of robust network design." Mill agreed, adding that SAS 70-

▲ Jim Shepherd, National Account Manager for Retail, Protection One

compliant data centers today guarantee portal uptime by using redundant power sources, multiple network carriers providing reliability and performance, on-site staff to monitor and provide assistance, managed firewall and data backup services, flood-proofed raised floors, advanced canopy cold-row cooling, smoke detection systems, 24/7 security and digital video surveillance.

Most commercial-grade MVaaS solutions today use a hybrid of local and hosted storage, Lohse added. "They incorporate SD cards or local NAS drives to supplement the cloud infrastructure, which allows them to mitigate bandwidth concerns and provide redundancy in the event of a network failure. Furthermore, many MVaaS applications are constantly monitoring for connectivity and send out an alert to users if an outage is detected, so it can be addressed immediately."

Security communication to central monitoring stations can include cellular backup; thus, when the power and broadband service are out, emergency backup battery and cellular services initiate, keeping a constant level of communication to central stations, Roberts said. "This is critical to ensure the peace-of-mind value proposition that home security delivers, and features that solution providers like us offer."

For Envysion, much like the Internet a decade ago and software-as-a-service applications (SaaS, such as salesforce.com) a few years ago, questions of MVaaS uptime and redundancy are largely a thing of the past. "Internet connectivity and reliability continue to improve, and many enterprises have redundant or backup IP. In addition, MVaaS solutions can be designed and deployed to work ‘locally' if the Internet does go down," Steinfort said. Customers' video can actually reside both on the on-site DVR and in the cloud. The video remains on the DVR until the hard drive is full (typically 30 to 60 days depending on camera configurations and the drive size).
The Web-based application, through which users backup footage, review video and export reports, resides in the cloud. When customers log into the portal to view live or recorded video, the application streams the video content on demand from the DVR at the site.

An added advantage of managed video over traditional security is that many providers have system health monitoring in place and can immediately alert customers if a camera or DVR goes down, whereas traditional cameras could be down months before anyone knew.

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ONLY FOR COMMERCIAL USE?
The driving force behind MVaaS in the US commercial space has been a lack of internal resources to manage the video and to have the administrator expertise to use it wisely. "Much of the MVaaS supply chain is outsourced to cheaper labor, which allows users to pay low recurring fees over time as opposed to large capital expenditure that may not show an ROI. Also, various MVaaS models exist, allowing customers to pay by the service, specific device channel or their specific uses," Shepherd said.

In the past few years, businesses have begun to see that surveillance footage holds hidden business intelligence that can be used as a strategic management tool to drive bottom line improvements. "Businesses understand that by integrating video to key business data systems, users gain access to actionable insight," Steinfort said."This insight gives operators a clearer understanding of what's happening in the day-to-day operations of their business and enables users to make positive changes within the organization to improve productivity and financial performance." During the same time period, MVaaS providers began developing easy-to-use, rapidly scalable solutions that require minimal IT support on the customer's end. "Perhaps the largest

▲ Jumbi Edulbehram, VP of Business Development, Next Level Security Systems

deviation from traditional solutions is that these MVaaS solutions are designed to be used by hundreds or thousands of users in the organization, which provide the network effect," Steinfort observed.

Other driving forces noted by Lohse include more mature and refined options to choose from, increased dealer and end-user awareness and understanding of cloud technology, and more affordable solutions as they incur economies of scale in bandwidth and storage.

That is not to say it is all smoothing sailing, though. "Porting video to third parties, sending them overseas for review, and opening up closed networks to possible threats and hackers have become common concerns as of late. Additional concern with liability and risk is added if a video is somehow publicized without the customer's permission," Shepherd said.

However, Edulbehram expects that the private/ residential sector will use nothing but MVaaS in a few years. "Today's concerns are largely based on a lack of information or not following basic security practices. Most users are comfortable with conducting sensitive financial transactions over the network, and I expect to see similar comfort levels with remote security services."

Lohse echoed in agreement. “I do believe that the private/residential sector will eventually pick up. The limiting forces right now are just cost and need.”

For iControl, residential applications in the U.S. are significantly increasing due to recent mass-market launches such as ADT Pulse interactive services and other interactive home management and security offerings by major broadband service providers, Roberts said. "While consumer concern regarding privacy is prevalent, many software solutions address this via encryption techniques. Our solution actually creates a Wi-Fi subnet in the home, enabling encryption of the data using the latest technologies."

3DES and SSL security encryption protocols, along with ISO certifications, should ensure the peace of mind most customers require, Mill added.

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BUSINESS POTENTIAL
In physical security, many solutions have "tried" and failed or gone quiet (in the case of video analytics). What is to say MVaaS will not suffer the same fate?

"Telco efforts have been half-hearted and underfunded," Lohse analyzed. "Telcos don't understand the security industry, how to market and sell solutions effectively. Customers know the likes of ADT, Protection One and Stanley as security companies and that their respective success is based on core competency in security, whereas it seems telcos are doing this ‘on the side,' which isn't as comforting to customers."

Roberts agreed. "Consumer research directed us to integrate home management services with home security, enabling broadband service providers to offer a new, next-generation interactive home security solution and helping existing security companies upgrade their existing offerings. There is tremendous potential for add-ons

▲ Stanley Mill, Technical Director of Virtual Eye

like energy management solutions as well." To accommodate different wireless technologies such as
Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Z-Wave and cellular, solution providers also need to have the ability to adapt to the needs of their deployment partners.

By contrast, telco offerings are normally video-centric, and other systems, such as access control, are very difficult, if not impossible, to integrate, Edulbehram said. "Another difference is that telcos sell directly to end customers, bypassing the traditional security channel. Security integrators have the market knowledge and expertise to deliver proven solutions to customers; today's integrators provide a high level of service and support that telcos can't match."

Clearly, alarm-monitoring companies play an important role in managed video services, "because we are in the data and analytics business to observe behavior that requires actions," said Jamie Rosand Haenggi, CMO for Protection One. "We see more applications of video being used for ‘guard replacement.' The ability to offer visual and personalized verifications, guard tours or video escorts enables companies to leverage this kind of technology as a way to be all places ‘on demand' without the costs associated with manning multiple stations or locations."

In Edulbehram's view, the industry can provide and develop stronger revenue-sharing models with the security channel and help system integrators further build recurring monthly revenue (RMR) models. "Also, we can increase integration with traditional central stations or monitoring centers to help build business efficiencies and customer security."

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Indeed, while the concept sounds great, dealers want RMR and users do not want to buy security or manage assets remotely. There is still a lack of defensible use cases with white papers and TCO comparisons, Lohse observed.

"We often find in video services that the toughest part is not the hardware and software configuration," Paul said. "The toughest part is clearly understanding the customer's expectation of what we do with the video we see and then document that in a way that an operator can act on it."

Carlos Perez, VP of Product and Marketing at Envysion, agreed. "While our application offers many benefits and

▲ Gregory Roberts, VP of Marketing at iControl Networks

much flexibility, I am not suggesting that it does everything. Instead, I am suggesting that we communicate very effectively what we can do and work very hard to understand what prospective customers need from a solution to ensure that we can deliver."

Surveillance footage holds an incredible amount of information and potential to drive improvements across departments. The trick is getting to the video that matters quickly and in a cost-effective manner. MVaaS makes this possible. "Departments across the organization, including marketing, operations, human resources and risk management, can benefit from access to relevant video."

These areas remain relatively undeveloped, but there is enormous potential to add services to existing offerings or develop completely new ones,” Steinfort projected.

With growing 3-G and 4-G coverage and improved bandwidth, Mill also sees MVaaS potential in transportation, e-government, manufacturing and medical applications. "Our ultimate goal is to create public awareness about mobile surveillance and incorporate this service as part of their mobile lifestyle." Take Asia for example. The Chinese market consists of 350 million mobile subscribers, reaching 25 percent of its population. Taiwan has a 100-percent mobile penetration rate of about 22.5 million people. Malaysia currently has 14.6 million subscribers, out of a population of 27 million. "In total, the estimated global market size could be as high as $800 million," Mill concluded.