Video plays an important role in event management and post-event investigation, a tool that has for a long time helped keeping places safe and secure. But more and more, video is also used for purposes beyond security, enabling users in different vertical markets to optimize business.
Video plays an important role in event management and post-event investigation, a tool that has for a long time helped keeping places safe and secure. But more and more, video is also used for purposes beyond security, enabling users in different vertical markets to enhance management efficiency and optimize business.
That’s the main point that Pelco by Schneider Electric wanted to drives home in its webinar titled “Risk Mitigation and Operational Excellence.” The event discussed ways in which video surveillance can help with security as well as business enablement in a variety of verticals that are addressed below.
Oil and gas
For oil and gas operators, a primary concern is protecting equipment from hazardous materials, and Pelco is known for products that are toughened and hardened. “There's a special class of cameras that we call explosion proof. This means they are designed and built in such a way that they will not emit a spark that helps create an explosion,” said Russell Ost, Vertical Manager for Oil and Gas at Pelco. “These cameras continue to evolve. New features and capabilities will allow even greater functionality for the oil and gas customer.”
While oil and gas factories themselves are well-lit, outer perimeters are often poorly illuminated and may be subject to intrusion or other types of threat especially during the night. To solve that, thermal imaging can play a major role, a technology that detects objects via heat emitted by objects instead of reflection of visible light. That, coupled with analytics, can alert operators of potential threat early on.
Besides security, video also helps in other areas. For example, they can monitor gauges and other meters on a continuous basis, eliminating the need to dispatch human workers to do so, which can be labor-intensive as well as dangerous.
Safe city
Keeping pedestrian safe on the streets is a major focus of safe city initiatives. Since accidents occur mostly at intersections, cameras need to be installed at various corners to leave no blind spots, a layout that can be expensive. The use of multisensor or panoramic cameras, meanwhile, can cover all spots with a single device and save the city some money. Together with advanced ALPR technology, city administrators can easily spot a problematic vehicle and identify it.
Analytics can play a role in operations as well. “Say I have an area where a vehicle is not supposed to be there. So rather than having someone patrol this area all the time, I now can see visually by using my video analytic,” said Tom Dodrill, Vertical Manager for Safe City at Pelco. “That's increased efficiency, because rather than having a guard or police officer there all the time, I can keep an eye on the video, and they can do something else.”
Casinos
The gaming industry especially relies on video to identify and deal with fraud. With more advanced video surveillance technology, not only can operators monitor the tables more effectively, but they can also store the video longer for future investigative purposes. At the same time, with video increasingly migrating to IP, it can also integrate with access control and other systems to give operators more situational awareness of the entire premises.
Meanwhile, video can also help with business enablement. “You can track the number of visitors, using analytics to position your slot machines, for example,” said Miki Manjal, Vertical Manager for Casinos at Pelco. “You really want to see who is using what slot machine at what time, what revenue it generates, and how many visitors are using this slot machine as well.”