An open-architecture platform can optimize incident response speed and accuracy
to better assist security supervision. Gadi Piran, President and CTO at OnSSI,
shares with A&S on how this can be achieved.
An open-architecture platform can optimize incident response speed and accuracy
to better assist security supervision. Gadi Piran, President and CTO at OnSSI,
shares with A&S on how this can be achieved.
Today's system integrators, architects and engineers face an abundance of choices when they design a security project. Choices vary between megapixel or regular network cameras, LCDs or plasmas, fingerprint or iris recognition technology, virtual or real matrix switchers, COTS (common off the shelf) or custom software. The possible combinations of hardware and new software changed how the systems are designed. Open-architecture software is one of the biggest driving influencers for this trend.
Benefits of Interoperability
Systems featuring an open-architecture platform enable processes residing on multiple processors and operating systems to communicate with each other seamlessly. This enables system designers and users to customize their system capabilities with specific features and functionalities.
Open architecture also facilitates interoperability between formerly disparate systems devices, such as PTZ cameras and control and management software solutions. Video surveillance systems can now be easily integrated with Pont of Sales (PoS) systems or ATM systems to allow searches of specific surveillance images combined with the synchronized data to confirm actions or analyze patterns.
Advanced Control and Management
Another key aspect of integrated systems based on open architecture is the advanced level of control and management available through the use of application driven middleware or system management software. These powerful control tools are designed for monitoring, accessing and storing video in one or hundreds of locations.
Content and video analytics are allowed to be completely integrated into IP video surveillance system management solutions that provide immediate detection and alerting of situations. This functionality is scalable, application independent and requires very low bandwidth without the need for additional hardware.
Intelligent video applications such as motion or object detection enable seamless integration with powerful, mission-specific modules, controllable from the centralized control and management software. Modules can also be easily integrated with other external applications and databases of physical devices to further extend their functionalities.
Future Outlook
In a distributed IP video surveillance scenario, the ability to view, share and distribute video, statistical and integrated information with other applications and systems, such as access control and intrusion detection systems, would not be possible without an open-architecture platform. This hardware agnostic approach to systems configuration provides more latitude in choosing components for a best-of-breed and cost-saving system solution.
As IP video surveillance and security systems become more popular, more development and implementation of software - driven solutions can be expected. Bandwidth and storage requirements are becoming less of an issue, and the capabilities and performance of video and security systems will continue to improve. In additional, there will be more high-level system integration in the enterprise level.