Video Surveillance

In 2017 the video surveillance community saw the emergence of video surveillance as a service. As predicted, we also witnessed an increase in intelligence in cameras, greater adoption of analytics, and more content aggregation. In addition, biometrics assumed increasing importance as a measure to prevent massive data breaches.

Soon, you may run into Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa (or an equivalent, unnamed intelligent personal assistant technology) at your local hospital. At least, the thought is not beyond the realm of possibility, especially for those who are working to bring artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions to the healthcare industry.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Messenger, Partner Development &Inside Channel Manager at Milestone Systems, one of Quantum’s video surveillance Advantage Partners. We talked about the cannabis industry and how the legalization of marijuana is transitioning security and surveillance solutions to help tackle the challenges that grow houses, production facilities, and dispensaries face every day.

What can we do about our transportation challenges? How do we prepare our transportation infrastructure to support our needs in the future?

Workplace violence is declining nationally, so why is it increasing in healthcare facilities? Each year, there are fewer and fewer reported nonfatal workplace incidents and homicides, according to a report published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. However, Advisory Board reported that 75 percent of all workplace assaults happen in healthcare facilities. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration categorizes several risk factors for violence in healthcare facilities.

What do users want from their surveillance system? Ask any security professional, and you will hear answers like these: sharp, high quality images; widespread camera coverage; real-time analytics; fast search and retrieval of video footage with minimal, if any, intervention from people in the information technology department.

Quantum hit the jackpot at the ISC West 2017 conference in Las Vegas this year, coming away with two coveted security industry awards for video surveillance data storage. StorNext® data management software won top honors from the Security Industry Association (SIA) as category winner in the New Product Showcase (NPS). In addition, StorNext also received the Platinum Govies Government Security award given by Security Today magazine.

Today, video surveillance cameras are commonplace, and transportation agencies and businesses are benefiting from advanced technologies that are now widely available. Detailed images can be produced, with more activity captured by multi-sensor HD cameras, and facial recognition applications can also be used to identify criminal suspects. But, analytics are no longer just limited to security applications.

Administrators and security professionals at education facilities responsible for formulating policies and procedures to help ensure the safety of students, staff and property are continually searching for more effective and cost-efficient solutions. Perhaps the most significant challenge they face is in identifying the best specific surveillance and security solutions available within their budget that deliver the highest return on investment and lowest total cost of ownership.

Not long ago, storing video surveillance data typically depended on expensive primary disk. Few organizations could afford to retain data this way for a significant period of time – many would retain data for as little as 30 days. As a result, these organizations missed the opportunity to leverage their valuable data assets effectively with today’s advanced analytical tools. This was the first challenge Quantum and Milestone set out to address.

If you’ve ever used the fingerprint scanning feature to access your smartphone, you’re familiar with biometric technology. Biometrics—the use of biological (physical and behavioral) characteristics such as fingerprint, face, and iris scanning to perform identity verification—is a maturing field, and applications of the technology are expected to grow in the years ahead. In fact, it’s predicted that biometrics will be used to authenticate 25% of all electronic transactions worldwide by 2020, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

2016 saw video surveillance and security increasingly become the focus of mainstream media conversations, with video playing a pivotal role in bringing terror suspects to justice (as it did recently in NYC) and with police body worn cameras capturing sometimes controversial incidents that spark national conversations. Behind the camera, technology has continued to evolve and storage has become an even more important consideration for anyone implementing a surveillance and security system. Integrators, resellers, vendors, and end-users can look to 2017 as a time of vigorous change for video surveillance and security.