cathexis smart jun20.qxp_000_Benchmark_apr15 15/05/2020 12:45 Page 1
SMART SOLUTIONS
Enhanced Protection and Business Efficiencies
The vast majority of end users will seek a videobased system for security and safety purposes, and with today’s advanced VMS solutions, they are sure to receive a powerful, flexible and smart system. However, the modern VMS can add value and boost the return on investment by providing a depth of real-time data which can be beneficial in a range of business management tasks. ideo technology is a great enabler across a whole range of business use-cases, and video surveillance is unquestionably one of the most valuable tools when mitigating risks and offsetting threats against people, property and assets. Video not only offers protection to a significant number of businesses and organisations around the world against a wide range of risks, but it also allows users to reap additional benefits via business intelligence, site management, automation and data sharing. In the 21st century, video is acknowledged as a benefit across a wide range of business functions. Video data is of great value because it is something people can make sense of. It allows a high degree of intuition to be applied to incident and events, because of the nature of the information.
V
28
Because video captures data that humans easily understand – visual information – it enables operators, and software which has been designed for the task, to apply logic when making decisions. This familiarity with the information contained in video also makes the decisions about what the system needs to achieve simpler. For example, if a video stream which covers a site entrance is captured, it is a simple task for the user to understand how they can use the gathered information. Do they want to be alerted if gates at the entrance are opened or closed? Do they need to take action if the entrance is blocked? How do vehicles or pedestrians behave when they enter the site? Is there a need to create a notification if pedestrians walk in the road, or if vehicles take a wrong turn? Because people can easily assess visual information and make decisions based on it, the possibilities available from video surveillance are significant. More often than not, video-based alarms are created based on exceptions to typical behaviour which works well. Known exceptions are easy to legislate for. However, security is not always about the expected. Unanticipated events will need to be addressed, and video solutions can include features and functions to ensure operators and other personnel are more efficient when dealing with incidents. Many who have worked with ‘traditional’ video surveillance will be aware of a few limitations of older technologies. Predominantly hardware-based video systems weren’t always intuitive; often training was needed just to view and replay footage. Searching was slow and cumbersome, especially if the camera count was high. Extracting information about site activity and non-alarm events was nigh-on impossible, and sharing data with other departments was not a credible option. However, modern systems have eradicated these issues with the introduction of the VMS.
VMS benefits Although capable of delivering a high level of functionality and bespoke solutions, VMS
