Page 64 - Security Today, April 2017

On the Fence
Why IP video is more relevant for border surveillance; open architecture opens the way
BPy John Merlino
ending legislation on immigration presents a prime opportunity for government agencies to rethink how to use technology to mitigate risks at our borders and key entry points. Like the Rapid Fielding Initiatives deployed by the Army to address the immediate and
critical need for more hardened body and vehicle armor to protect our troops, border agencies need to find ways to shorten the evalu- ation and procurement curve to more quickly deploy technologies that can combat the many challenges they face. With more than 7,000 miles of border to patrol, it’s clear that surveillance technology can serve as an essential force multiplier. But what kind of surveillance technology would do the most good? And how can we value-engineer those solutions to address future threats without putting more stress on taxpayers and federal funding initiatives?
Acknowledging the Limits of Analog
Traditional analog solutions often fall short in meeting the dynamic demands posed by open stretches of land and marine borders. DVR- based storage is prone to failure, leaving agencies with dangerous gaps in coverage and the burden of replacement costs.
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The average video quality captured by analog cameras often makes it difficult to identify known terrorists or other individuals of interest on government watch lists. And most importantly, since the technology isn’t network-based it’s difficult to retrieve and share rel- evant video in a timely manner, which can seriously hamper response time to threats.
Why IP Video is More Up to the Task
IP video, on the other hand, excels in the very areas where analog comes up short. Instead of DVR storage that has finite capacity and must be retrieved manually, IP video streams across existing network infrastructure to cloud storage or a server farm in a data center. The digitally formatted, open-protocol video data can then be shared re- motely across multiple authorized agencies from any secure device with a browser—a desktop, laptop or mobile device such as a smart- phone or smart tablet.
To ensure recording continuity, many IP cameras even support onboard memory cards for failover in case of network outages. To save on bandwidth consumption and storage, IP cameras support a number of compression standards—from Motion JPEG to extremely
IP VIDEO SURVEILLANCE
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