The rollout of the body-worn was the result of extensive research and interviews with clients, Axis says.
Among the different video surveillance solutions in the market, body worn cameras are certainly gaining popularity. Their ability to help users protect themselves and record evidence has led to an increase in demand, causing various brands to enter the body-worn market.
Axis Communications is the latest entrant.
It’s important to note that body-worn cameras are not a new segment. The U.K. for example had as early as 2000s begun exploring the body-worn market, which is today seeing competition between different large and smaller brands.
Recently, the body-worn market is seeing a newcomer, albeit the company is quite an industry veteran – Axis Communications, which has just
launched its first body worn camera solution.
Commenting on why Axis entered this market only now, Fredrik Andersson, Global Product Manager at Axis Communications, mentioned the rollout of the body-worn was the result of extensive research and interviews with clients which, needless to say, was a time-consuming process. “We’re constantly monitoring the industry’s and customers’ needs to be able to address these with our products,” Andersson said. “We wanted to bring a device to the market that fulfilled the new customer needs and filled the gaps from a tech perspective.”
Further, Andersson commented that the company aimed for delivering the highest-quality product possible, and thereby devoted a significant amount of time into the body-worn’s design and production. “The body worn cameras were a completely new field for us, which challenged our thinking in terms of the design. Following feedback from our customers, we needed to develop the ‘Swiss Army knife’ of cameras – small, lightweight devices that were still robust enough to withstand the harsh environments in which they’re used,” he said. “Plus, the batteries needed to last long enough for an average shift, while providing the required high image quality. Getting these elements right meant further extensive research and feedback from customers, numerous product prototypes and pilots in different environments.”
Various applications
The body-worn targets law enforcement and private security. For the former, body-worns have the obvious advantages of capturing footage and evidence, making officers feel safer in their roles, deterring antisocial behavior and providing a useful tool for training and development.
Private security is another target vertical. “Private security personnel can be employed in a number of roles and locations, from office buildings to entertainment venues; from healthcare to education. Their direct interaction with the public means that body worn cameras can play a valuable role. For example, in workplaces like hospitals, airports or train stations where people are often stressed and situations can become heated quickly. That’s where the body worn cameras can help to de-escalate tension, deter people with malicious intent or help to record and document incidents if they occur,” Andersson said. “Beyond law enforcement and private security, we see a number of places where body worn cameras will be valuable – from operators on public transport to other emergency services and first responders.”
According to Andersson, Axis’s body-worn system stands out in being open, allowing it to be easily and well-integrated with the customer’s existing VMS or Evidence Management Systems (EMS). “It is a natural extension to the existing video surveillance solutions, easy to integrate with other video surveillance data and removing the need to ‘rip and replace’ any existing systems,” Andersson said. “Ultimately our extensive research and discussions with customers has resulted in us designing a body worn camera solutions that delivers against their key requirements: high-quality images and audio; easy to use in the field and by operators; battery-life for a full shift; secure data, and robust enough to give us the confidence to offer a three-year warranty on all parts.”