Page 70 - Security Today, April 2017

vidually or with multiple views on a monitor, they can quickly switch cameras, zoom in for a closer look or play back video. The city can also create different groups of users with different permission levels, allowing certain users’ views to be restricted while providing others with a higher level of security that allows them to create their own views by selecting the cameras they wish to monitor.
Integrated Systems
One of the most prevalent trends today is the movement toward broader and deeper systems integration between previously disparate security and non-security systems and new technologies. Nearly ev- ery security device either features or will soon incorporate network communication capabilities, which facilitates deeper levels of integra- tion between video, access control, call boxes, motion detection and more. These integrations can transform what may have started out as a video surveillance implementation into a more comprehensive end- to-end solution thanks to a larger menu of available options.
By facilitating this high-level integration, open-platform VMS solu- tions are leading the way in this movement, providing the most effec- tive tools for collecting video and other data from a greater number and wider variety of integrated systems. Increasingly, these solutions function as the main platform for integrated security systems, connect- ing and collecting, processing and analyzing this wealth of information to detect abnormal behaviors or incidents based on established policies and can alert pre-determined staff, such as law enforcement, to take action, if necessary.
For example, when integrated with access control systems, video analytics could detect someone entering municipal offices after hours, allowing the VMS to flag that event and alert appropriate persons. When reviewing incidents, the intelligence gleaned by correlating vid- eo and other data using the emerging science of predictive analysis allows municipalities to implement new policies and procedures to help identify and track a variety of incidents. This seamless integra- tion between diverse systems enables video surveillance and security systems to shift functionality from simple detection and documenta- tion toward prevention.
Moreover, as surveillance systems age, they often become more complex than they may have been when initially installed, as the technology associated with them continues to move at a rapid pace, further complicating municipal surveillance. Open-architecture solu- tions help ensure the system will continue to be efficient and effective now and into the future, allowing municipalities to continue to use their existing systems rather than undertaking costly upgrades and/ or replacements.
Reliability
The critical nature of security makes continuous system operation crucial for any application, but especially public safety. Leading VMS solutions offer both recorder server failover and management redun- dancy to ensure maximum system uptime. The most advanced solu- tions also offer camera failover protection that allows cameras to be switched to designated backups instantaneously if the connection to the primary camera is compromised to ensure municipalities never lose sight of critical areas.
Redundancy is another critical function of VMS. For instance, video servers might be installed at each location for on-site record- ing with video also transmitted to the central server for monitoring and recording. Many cameras are equipped with on-board storage capability that allows video to be continuously recorded even when there is no network connectivity to further ensure recorded video is available even if the connection to a particular camera is lost.
Flexibility
Municipalities often implement video surveillance to address imme- diate public safety concerns and other needs, but as the systems are
used, they are often applied for other applications. Communities con- tinually grow and expand; crime hot spots shift, surveillance needs and goals change. The security landscape is also constantly changing with new products and technologies coming to market. Additionally, in many cases, businesses within a city may elect to share video from their cameras with police departments to improve safety and speed up the investigation process, which means integrating those cameras into the municipal system.
Therefore, when deploying video solutions, municipalities must be forward-thinking. Scalable VMS offer an easy way to share and add cameras, alter coverage areas and expand systems as population, demographics and other factors change.
In light of these realities, municipalities need to select a VMS pro- vider that offers open platform solutions so they have the flexibility and agility to quickly and easily expand and accommodate varying applications. This helps ensure that they get greater value out of their surveillance systems with the most up-to-date solutions possible.
Wireless networks, for example, allow municipalities to quickly and easily deploy cameras in certain areas as needed. For example, if an event is taking place in town, video coverage can be temporarily increased around a specific location or venue to increase safety and security before, during and after the event.
Mobile
In addition to allowing cameras to transmit video from virtually any location, wireless capability can also serve as a force multiplier by enabling remote video access. This allows police officers, for instance, to perform regular patrols throughout the entire city rather than fo- cusing on particular areas, such as those with high traffic or high crime rates, which can be “patrolled” by surveillance cameras. Should something occur in those areas, the VMS video surveillance system will alert them to a potential problem and can transmit video associ- ated with the incident to their in-car computers or smartphones for improved situational awareness. At the same time, the video is also transmitted to the command center for recording and viewing images from that location.
Successful municipal surveillance system implementation requires a VMS solution to allow law enforcement officials to easily access video remotely. At the same time, high-resolution cameras can gener- ate extremely large video files, which must be transmitted wirelessly. Video management systems are capable of compressing video files to manageable sizes to deliver real-time, full-motion video from multi- ple megapixel cameras to web and mobile users without compromis- ing video quality. This allows live or recorded HD camera streams to be monitored, managed and controlled from virtually anywhere, even over 3G and 4G networks.
Network Security
More than ever, network security is a major concern for everyone. Video surveillance networks are no exception, as hackers can use vir- tually any networked device as a gateway to entire networks where sensitive data, video and other information may be stored. This is precisely why providers of advanced VMS solutions take network and video security very seriously, supporting full encryption between clients and servers and HTTPS between cameras and servers to en- sure end-to-end encryption of all data. Additionally, some solutions are also capable of randomizing the recording database to prevent recorded information from being manipulated and reinserted by any- one, including the IT staff.
Beyond that, leading VMS providers also continuously develop and deliver updates, upgrades and patches to ensure the ongoing stability, performance and security of their solutions. In some cases, these are delivered and installed automatically, eliminating the time and expense of performing manual updates while ensuring municipal- ities are running the most recent, most secure version of their VMS.
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