Speaking to asmag.com recently, Fabio Marti, VP of Marketing at Azena, said they definitely see demand increase on the software and video analytics side of perimeter security solutions.
Protecting the perimeters is an important part of physical security. But until recently, it was limited to hardware solutions like surveillance cameras, boom barriers, and, in less common instances, devices like radar and LiDAR. Now, video analytics, which has become important in every aspect of surveillance, is also becoming popular in perimeter security.
Speaking to asmag.com recently, Fabio Marti, VP of Marketing at Azena, said they definitely see demand increase on the software and video analytics side of perimeter security solutions.
“The use of video analytics is growing exponentially in accuracy and sophistication thanks to the addition of Artificial Intelligence,” Marti said. “Cameras that can process these images using AI-enabled analytics can more accurately detect anomalies and verify them as potential threats or a false alarm and help the human operators to determine the appropriate level of response.”
For example, cameras equipped with line crossing analytics and weapons detection capabilities can alert operators that not only has a human entered the perimeter but weapons have been detected on the person. Within the security operations center, this alarm arrives pre-verified with a higher threat level, and operators are immediately alerted to the priority level of this alarm.
Challenges in perimeter security
Several concerns plague perimeter security. The threats being faced on the perimeter are growing in sophistication. The rise in popularity of drones and anti-detection technologies poses new types of challenges.
“Concurrently, the Security Operations Center environment is growing in complexity,” Marti pointed out. “They have to monitor everything from intrusion alarm and security systems, weather systems and environmental sensors, social media, and other business functions such as fleet management and executive and personnel travel security.”
Video analytics with AI can solve many of these challenges by automating certain actions and ensuring that human decision-makers can more appropriately focus their attention on higher priority items.
How video analytics helps in perimeter security
Marti pointed out that several advantages drive customers to video analytics. For instance, it can be used as the first line of defense at a perimeter to pre-filter incoming alarms.
Being able to more fully automate the verification of alarms means that security operation center operators are handling fewer alerts and can better focus their efforts on incoming alarms that have already been pre-qualified as requiring a response.
This can enable a SOC to monitor additional cameras, more facilities from a central location, or a larger geographic area with the same number of employees.
“The ability to automatically correlate alarms from other systems, such as access control or intrusion detection systems, with the video associated with the event, can also aid in detecting the reason for a false alarm,” Marti continued. [This could mean]“Diagnosing the difference between a security event that requires an immediate response, and a mechanical failure that might need calling a technician or submitting a repair order instead of dispatching a security officer.”
Integrated systems increase the benefits even more. Camera feeds integrated with the access control system can provide video data of a series of card swipes by an authorized user, indicating a potential malfunction of the reader or the card.
A series of door alarms can also indicate a loose door contact if the cameras show no person present at the door during that time period. These capabilities can also provide additional value from the system outside of simple perimeter protection.
Endnote
The perimeter security market may grow from US$ 61.3 billion in 2020 to $ 96.5 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 7.9 percent, according to MarketsandMarkets. Various reports from top research firms also indicate that video analytics would significantly drive physical security demand in the coming years.
As more customers realize the benefits of video analytics, we may see its demand in perimeter security increase. Issues like COVID-19 and economic concerns have boosted the need for better security with less staff on the ground, and video analytics could meet this.