IBM, a provider of global security services, announced the availability of an advanced digital video surveillance (DVS) service. The launch of IBM's latest DVS service marks an important shift in the industry's approach to security, applying advanced analytics to video data and signaling the ability to converge physical and IT security.
Key to IBM's DVS service is an innovation in video analytics, which was developed by IBM researchers over the past several years. The DVS service, called the IBM Smart Surveillance Solution, builds in the research team's advanced analytic capabilities, which are designed to enable real-time decision-making and post-event correlation of people and activities.
The IBM Smart Surveillance Solution is designed to provide the unique capability to carry out efficient data analysis of video sequences either in real time or from recordings. Based on open-standard-based middleware, the software platform is designed to allow monitoring and analysis of real-world events via multiple sensors, including video cameras, radar and audio inputs.
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The IBM Smart Surveillance Solution can provide a number of advantages over traditional video solutions, including real-time alerts that can help anticipate .gif)
incidents by identifying suspicious behavior. In addition, forensic capabilities are enhanced by utilizing unique indexing and attribute-based search of video events to classify objects into categories such as people and cars.
The solution also delivers situational awareness of location, identity and activity of objects in a monitored space, including license plate recognition and facial capture.
With real-time analytic capabilities, the DVS service opens up an array of applications that go far beyond the traditional security aspects of surveillance systems. Early adopter industries in this rapidly evolving market include retail, public sector and financial services.
The retail industry estimates that nearly US$50 billion is lost annually to fraud, theft and administrative error. IBM extends and integrates the IBM Smart Surveillance Solution into a broader portfolio of offerings called the IBM Retail Loss Prevention solution, which connects surveillance video with point-of-sale systems, inventory, customer and employee data.
Integration gives retailers the ability to dynamically search and analyze store activity, view and record live action, quickly recall previous recordings, query events, and trigger alerts to loss-prevention staff when anomalies are detected. Retailers also can leverage DVS technology to better understand the effectiveness of store design and in-store promotions.
"With the new DVS service, IBM has a complete vision for security that incorporates IT security and physical security under one umbrella," said Chiao-Fe Shu, Senior Technical Staff Member and Chief Architect of IBM Smart Surveillance Solution. "By combining digital video and analytics, we are seeing a monumental step forward for physical security."
The Smart Surveillance Solution is a cross-IBM solution that leverages IBM services, from consulting, design, planning and integration, along with IBM hardware and software. Integrating IBM products with video surveillance specific technologies from alliance companies establishes IBM as a true end-to-end solution provider in this hyper-growth market.
IBM's Digital Video Surveillance service provides an integrated video surveillance solution that can include components such as cameras, digital video recorders, servers, storage systems, software and network devices.
The IBM Digital Video Surveillance leverages industry standard platforms, such as IBM BladeCenter, System x servers, System Storage and enterprise-wide networks to enable wider access to video, real-time video analytics and implementation of an enterprise video system. In addition, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager automates data backup and restore functions, supports a broad range of platforms and storage devices, and centralizes storage management operations.