Axis study claims that IP cameras save costs

Axis Communications has released a study that claims an IP-based system of 40 cameras offers a lower total cost of ownership than an analogue-based surveillance system. It also claims that if IP infrastructure is in place, the IP surveillance system will always cost less.

Axis UK managing director Steve Gorski said: "This study shows that on a like-for-like basis where cost is the only consideration, IP-based systems make sense at a relatively low number of installed cameras. In our experience, most end-users will have some IP infrastructure to integrate into already, which network cameras can take immediate advantage of. When you add in the wider benefits of IP-based systems, such as scalability, remote monitoring and image quality, solely basing a comparison on cost becomes less and less relevant."

The study's findings suggested that the cost to acquire, install and operate an IP-based system was 3.4 per cent lower than a traditional system consisting of analogue cameras and DVR-based recording. Overall, it says, an installation with 32 cameras is the break-even point for IP-based systems versus analogue systems.

Video surveillance gets smarter in Verbania, Italy

Verbania, the capital of the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Italy, was created when the towns of Intra and Pallanza merged. As one of the most idyllic and famous tourist destinations on Lake Maggiore, the town relies heavily on holidaymakers to fill its streets and generate income. To ensure the safety of visitors and citizens, the town council decided to launch a community surveillance project based on a system of network cameras.

Monitors linked to the ten Sony SSNC-RX550 network cameras are installed in the Verbania Municipal Police control room, which is currently undergoing restructuring. Even so, the system does not require the intervention of dedicated security operatives. The human element only comes into play when real-time monitoring is needed (for example during a major event), or when an automatic alarm is triggered.

Today the Municipality of Verbania can be assured that those who commit crime will be identified, thanks to technology which directly recognizes objects and reads vehicle registration plates. In fact, the town's network cameras have been positioned so that they can monitor all arrival and escape points in every area of the town. Intelligent image analysis functions now enable allow the city to keep special areas such as no-stopping zones under control. Using these features, live images can be monitored in unattended mode until suspicious activity occurs, at which point the operator is proactively alerted to the threat by means of an appropriate alarm.

Afghanistan To Get 'Big Brother' Cameras

The U.S. Government is contemplating a massive video surveillance project for the country of Afghanistan that would establish surveillance over all major thoroughfares in Kabul, the capital city, as well as all U.S. and multinational camps, traffic circles and Afghan ministry compounds.

The surveillance apparatus would provide a 24/7 command and control system that would be enable authorities to track personnel and identify vehicles with the use of license plate recognition systems.

This post from Wired does a good job of summing up my feelings. “Sorry, don't get me wrong; camera systems can be an extremely effective way of monitoring high-value or sensitive sites, particularly in Kabul. But a fiber optic ring around Afghanistan? License plate recognition systems? What the heck country are we talking about? How about a recognition system for donkey carts which are still commonly used in Afghanistan.”

Justice Chief Wants Cops Monitoring Cameras

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's new anti-crime adviser said Wednesday that he will recommend a major change to the city's beleaguered video surveillance program, allowing police to watch footage in real time as officers do in other cities. San Francisco, in deference to privacy concerns, only allows detectives to request footage if they have information that a crime occurred on camera.

In part because of a lack of costly data storage space, San Francisco achieves 80 percent of the resolution that its cameras are capable of producing and gets choppy footage comprised of, at best, two to four frames per second, telecommunications officials say. The problem is not with the manufacturer, but with the implementation of the cameras on a tight budget. The hearing made clear that city officials, and residents, have tough choices ahead on how much money to put into surveillance.

While informative, this article neglects to include an important option that could solve San Francisco’s dilemma—intelligent video surveillance.

Rethinking Surveillance

Video surveillance has become a fact of everyday life. Each time you withdraw cash from the corner ATM, travel through an airport or visit a national monument, your image is probably being recorded. But you may be surprised to learn that there are no federal laws governing how these images can be used, where they should be stored, with whom they may be shared and when they must be destroyed. In this age of YouTube, TMZ and "Cops," it's hard to know where your image might reappear.

The laissez-faire approach of our national legislators is no longer an option. As an increasingly sophisticated surveillance blanket covers more of the United States, we need federal laws to preserve an individual's right to privacy while setting principles governing the use of closed circuit television and other surveillance technologies for bona fide security purposes.

Surveillance technologies will continue to gain in capability -- and become more intrusive. Issues of privacy and public surveillance may appear vexing, but the United States must move forward with laws to effectively adapt to the inevitable spread of this technology. If the public is to trust business and government to watch over us, we need to follow the lessons of Britain and protect video images as we do other private data.

Video Focuses on Storage

With digital video on the rise in enterprises, storage teams will play a key role in accommodating the petabytes of data that can be generated by video surveillance systems.

http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/magazineFeature/0,296894,sid5_gci1293369,00.html?offer=STWNB1 (Registration required)

The need to store 30GB to 40GB per camera per day isn't unusual. That comes to 1TB or more per camera per month. Now, if a retail organization has 30 to 40 cameras per store and 1,000 stores, you're looking at multipetabytes of storage, even if you're rewriting over some old data.

No matter who controls the video surveillance budget, the storage team will be asked to build out the necessary capacity to store video. And they'll have to learn the idiosyncrasies of surveillance storage because it's not going away.

Video Surveillance Trailer Provides Visual Backup

Law enforcement agencies across the country can now rapidly deploy a live remote mobile surveillance trailer in high risk locations. Russell Turner, Vice-President of Sales for NetVision Mobile, states that "Law enforcement professionals at the National Association of Police Chiefs Annual Conference remarked on how the NetVision Remote Surveillance System 'will help protect personnel and property during large public gatherings, covert operations and in high risk situations.'"

Officers can view the cameras from within their vehicles. Monitoring companies, such as Securitas, can automatically dispatch EMS resources to the exact location while providing vital real-time information for effective planning & preparation. Should priorities change; the entire system can be taken down in five minutes, rapidly deployed at another location, and set up in five minutes.

The NetVision Mobile Security Surveillance Trailer is just skimming the surface with Law Enforcement & the Construction Industry because this mobile security solution will be used by many other types of businesses that need an 'Eye in the Sky' for their piece of mind.

FBI Wants Palm Prints, Eye Scans, Tattoo Mapping

CLARKSBURG, West Virginia (CNN) -- The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists. But it's an issue that raises major privacy concerns -- what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans. The bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10 year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information -- from palm prints to eye scans.

Given the recent request for a $3 trillion budget, $1 billion doesn’t seem like all that much anymore.

Biometric Powered ‘Medicine’ Dispenser…Dude

Biometric technology stands ready to change forever the way we visit the pharmacy…potentially rendering a lot of people in white lab coats obsolete in the process. Anytime Vending Machines or AVMs went into operation in California today and employ a variety security features designed to make the automated vending of controlled and prescription medicines possible without any human intervention. The first product to benefit from AVM technology, however, might catch you a little by surprise. It’s marijuana, and here is how the process works:

Patients have to present a prescription and be fingerprinted before they are issued with a pre-paid credit card that stores the dosage and type of drug prescribed. […] Vince Mehdizadeh, owner of the Herbal Nutrition Centre in Los Angeles, where one of the first machines is based, said patients could get access to prescribed drugs after hours. "They'll be greeted by a security guard right there. They'll slide the card in and they'll fingerprint in to verify that it's them,'' he said. "A camera takes a picture of them, verifying that they're actually at the machine. And they get the medicine and they move on.''

AVMs are a very cool device, though I think they might end up with an interesting reputation given their market entry strategy. In any case, I would I am not sure the necessity of a full-time security guard standing next to the AVM fits terribly well with the automation concept being pitched.

Cam Case Collateral

The rapid proliferation of video cameras in the public, and their increasing importance in court room had brought forth a number of important ethical and legal questions for those “caught up in the net” of video surveillance.

Among the questions to be answered: can the cops resist the temptation to "go fishing" for other bad guys when reviewing tape of an incident? What are the ethical ramifications of overlooking minor infractions caught on tape and, most importantly, will the prospect of being filmed actually dissuade ne'er-do-wells from ne'er-do welling?

While we will never be able to completely eliminate these issues of “collateral damage” in surveillance-centric criminal investigations, we can do quite a bit with recent technology advances to minimize them. For instance, the days of needing to troll through days and days of video to track down a particular bad guy are over. Using searchable surveillance and biometric technologies, an investigator can target a video investigation on a particular individual. The video search engine returns only that video that relates to the subject in question.

Sometimes, modern surveillance technologies are viewed exclusively through the lens of ‘big brother,’ but in this case we can also see how those same technologies can be used to protect our privacy by bringing much needed focus and efficiency to video investigations.