Security Electronics & Networks Magazine by Security Electronics & Networks Magazine

Security Managers ◆ Integrators ◆ IT Managers ◆ Installers February 2013 Issue 340

Game of phones

l RISCO LightSYS shines l Product Review: MOBOTIX S14 l Proprietary cloud is coming l Interview: Kobi Ben-Shabat l Milestone teaches a lesson l HID’s SE near field tool kit l ASSA ABLOY’S wireless Aperio l Alarm panels: Best of the best

“WE DEAL WITH OPS BECAUSE THE OVERALL SOLUTION IS A PERFECT FIT” - ANTHONY BROWN, SECURITY INTEGRATOR - BLAKE SYSTEMS

“It’s been an easy decision to recommend OPS. We’ve recognised their unique benefits for years. Each installation leaves a feeling of confidence knowing the products we’ve purchased are of a high quality and can secure the job in a seamless manner.” “I like knowing whether it’s a camera, a switch or a total turnkey solution, I have the best possible product and support available to me when I need it.” To get in contact with Open Platform Systems today call your nearest branch or visit www.opsystems.com.au

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editorial sec ur ity e l e ct ro n i cs & netwo r ks

Trends of 2013

By John Adams

There’s blue sky over H.265 with good cause. It will save money on storage, expand edge options, improve resolution, reduce network load, and possibly all at the same time.

february 201 3 is su e 3 40

HAT will the trends of 2013 be? Where is technology heading? What can end users and installers expect from the next 12 months and what might the trends of the next year tell us about the medium term future of the networked electronic security industry? For a start, they suggest it’s still a hybrid industry when it comes to video surveillance. A number of the leading camera manufacturers have released new analogue offerings recently. We’re meant to meet the pivot point for IP video in 2013 but the market is an oddly diverse beast. Servers at the edge. Yes – those microSD slots on IP cameras can now be loaded with 128GB chips costing around $200 and chip prices are likely to fall by 25 per cent through 2013. When you consider the cost of rack-mount servers, edge storage becomes an appealing option. Touch screen alarm interfaces. Almost every manufacturer has one and in some cases they cost less than $100. Installers not upselling touch screens to end users simply aren’t trying hard enough. Remote management apps for authorised users. This is the year of remote management apps. Needless to say, it’s important for end users to bear in mind that apps are not always secure. Authorised mobile devices should be armoured using appropriate security solutions that encrypt passwords and allow remote wipe. It’s not just alarm systems that are being managed in this way. Video surveillance solutions are integrating mobile devices into their fabric. Yeah, that’s right. Unsecured smart phones linked to blue tooth, WiFi and public internet are now devices and managers on your CCTV subnet. Sure, it’s cool but security must come before utility. In 2013 you’re going to hear a lot of talk about cloud. As I point out about 80 times in this issue, cloud is a software or hardware service delivered over a network so a lot of you are more familiar with cloud than you think. But there are different patterns of cloud. Things to look out for are Genetec’s cloudbased surveillance and access control solutions.

Something to be interested in too, is the way cloud has a proprietary air. This is both an opportunity for manufacturers and integrators who can steer users towards a provider with which they have a commercial alliance, and a pain for end users who will start wondering just how open their open systems really are. There’s some new weirdness with mobile comms. Last month the U.S. Government egged on by Verizon and AT&T made it an offence under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to open a subsidised mobile device to another carrier. Yeah. Once you’re in, you’re in. The penalties are spectacular in their moral inconsistency - a $500,000 fine and 5 years gaol for the first offence. These rules don’t apply in Australia yet but we are in lockstep with the U.S. elsewhere so make sure you insist on open-comms mobile devices if you think you need them. Better video compression. H.265 HVEC has been approved but while you might not see a 4K device until year’s end, you’re going to hear more and more about 8MP at 30 frames per second thanks to H.265. There’s blue sky over H.265 with good cause. It will save money on storage, expand edge options, improve resolution, reduce network load, and possibly do it all at the same time. Simplification of installations. Installing IP systems is tricky so for the past 5 years manufacturers have been furiously simplifying the processes required to get a device onto a network. Don’t expect plug and play but do expect IP-based installs to get easier. Price falls in high end alarm sensors. I think we’ll see some price falls in high end alarm sensors. We have 3 brilliant manufacturers competing at the very high end including Optex, Risco’s Rokonet and Aritech. Take a look at them. Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers. We’ll see more and better product from these companies and the competition generated between them and the traditional players will continue to present integrators and end users with brilliant product at great prices. zzz

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feb 13 22: LightSYS shines

devices – into the realm of proprietary carriers and their now and future cloud offerings. But don’t expect this transition to be easy or your mobile hardware choices obvious.

Risco, manufacturer of the widely-respected Rokonet sensors, is expanding its range in Australia, kicking off with LightSYS, a 32-zone alarm panel with plenty of expandability and a very flexible personality.

50: HID’s SE tool kit HID Global’s iCLASS SE Platform is designed to enable developers to build innovative solutions for applications using smart cards and NFC smartphones in conjunction with the portable iCLASS Seos credential.

30: Online education Chippewa Valley School District Campus sites have replaced outdated analogue surveillance with centralized, open platform networked video for flexible access and efficient, longterm scalability. 34: Two in the hand MOBOTIX’ S14 comprises a pair of camera and lens heads connected by 2m cables to a remote base unit containing a processor giving installers an exceedingly flexible surveillance solution perfect for a range of applications. 40: Game of phones The future will see increasing lateral movement of system management into smart

52: App, app and away Most mobile apps supporting networked security applications are unsecured but the answer is in our hands. Manufacturers need to build tougher apps and users need to ruggedize their authorised mobile devices every way they know how. 58: Best of the best In this special feature we take a look at the flagship alarm panels available to installers from Australia’s largest manufacturers and distributors.

+regulars

66: Ip Man

08: news

John Adams speaks with Kobi Ben-Shabat, founder and CEO of Australia’s fastest growing security distributor about the success of his IPbased business and his plans for the future.

Latest business, product and technical news from Australia and around the world. 58: monitoring

70: Free to air THE concept of Aperio is simple and that simplicity is what makes it an excellent solution. Doors can be fitted with replacement Aperio cylinders, or with complete Aperioenabled mortise locks. By communicating wirelessly with a remote hub they become part of an overarching access control solution.

Security Managers ◆ Integrators ◆ IT Managers ◆ Installers February 2013 Issue 340

GAME OF PHONES

Publisher Bridge Publishing Aust. Pty Ltd ABN 11 083 704 858 PO Box 237 Darlinghurst NSW 1300 tel 61 2 9280 4425 fax 61 2 9280 4428 email info@bridge publishing.com.au

It’s increasingly obvious that the future of general alarm monitoring is going to be digital, probably with encrypted IP as the primary low cost, high poll channel, supported by GPRS wireless. In business applications, these paths will be reversed and expanded. 76: editor’s choice What’s new from our manufacturers. 80: helpdesk Our team of electronic security experts answers your tough technical questions.

Editor John Adams Advertising Manager Monique Keatinge Customer Service Annette Mathews tel 61 2 9280 4425 annette@bridge publishing.com.au

Design Tania Simanowsky e: taniasdesign@ optusnet.com.au Subscriptions 11 issues per annum One year (11 issues) Australia 12 months $A104.50 (incl GST) 24 months $A188.00 (incl GST)

Overseas 12 months $A155.00 (incl GST) 24 months $A270.00 (incl GST) WEBSITE www.securityelectronicsandnetworks. com.au No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form in whole or part without prior written permission of Bridge Publishing.

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i nd u stry d eve lo pme nts // business p rofiles // industry develop ments // busin ess p rof i l es //

BY JOHN ADAMS 4K

1080p 720p DVD VCD

H.265 HVEC approved by ITU

Alice Springs casino spends $450,000 on HD CCTV lMark LASSETERS Pratley Hotel Casino has completed its new $A450,000 HD CCTV security system. The new Dallmeier Semsy III system will provide better security coverage across the entire property with an upgrade from analogue to a high definition digital system, and is one of the first of its kind in Australia. The new surveillance system has been 2 years in the making and sees Lasseters partner with local supplier, Ronin Security. “Our patrons’ safety and security is always of utmost importance,” Lasseters’ chief operating officer, Chris Sartori said. “We also understand the importance of supporting local businesses and we are pleased to be partnering with Ronin Security.

“Our investment of $450,000 has enabled us to upgrade our security surveillance system with technology that is equivalent to, if not better than, any casino in the world. The system also ensures we keep pace with the expansion and redevelopments our property is currently undertaking.” The HD CCTV security system is the first of its kind to be used in the NT and is the same security system used at the Marina Bay Sands Casino in Singapore and other world class casino destinations, such as Crown Macau. The system is environmentally friendly and uses 70 per cent less energy than the previous surveillance solution.

Brad Ballesty joins Infratherm

Brad Ballesty

08 se&n

l BRAD Ballesty has joined the team at thermal imaging specialist, Infratherm, as business development manager. General manager of Infratherm Matt Nolan said Brad’s arrival is timely as Infratherm expands its new range of thermal imaging and radiometric cameras into the commercial CCTV market. “Brad was the obvious choice for us as we expand, and brings with him over 24 years experience in the commercial CCTV and security market here in Australia,” Nolan said. “We will be able to build on Brad’s experience and great customer relationships as we grow and expand our offering in this market. “With the price of thermal technology cameras becoming more affordable we believe there are now synergies between this type of product and the day to day security market.” Meanwhile, Ballesty says he is embracing his new role and is looking forward to the challenge ahead.

l The International Telecommunications Union has approved H.265, a new high efficiency video coding (HVEC) format that will allow transmission of 4k video (3840 pixels × 2160 pixels or 8.3 megapixels) of ultra high definition television. With H.265 video compression will come real time 8MP video streaming on broadband networks and real time 1080p video streaming on wireless mobile networks. The importance of the ITU’s ratification of H.265 is that it has the potential for such a wide ranging impact on networked electronic security solutions. While H.265 could mean much larger resolutions, it could also mean much smaller 1080p HD rail gauges. We’ll see remote management of surveillance networks using mobile devices, alarm system video verification in real time HD, the use of standalone edge devices as storage servers linked by wireless communications to central locations or to multiple users, real time megapixel video on dedicated CCTV subnets and ever more affordable 4k (8MP) monitors. It’s not a magic bullet. 4k streaming is likely to require between 20-30Mbps of bandwidth, which is certainly doable on dedicated gigabit networks. Nor are H.265 devices going to be available right away. Instead, H.265 gives the R&D hounds a sight of the fox – and the fox is more resolution in more flexible ways. I’m not certain that H.265 is going to appear in next-gen surveillance cameras. Instead it’s likely, given the level of competition in the market, that we’ll get pioneering H.265 encoders by the end of this year. I think we won’t get the full impact of the new compression rating until our makers shoehorn their chosen forms of H.265 nitrous into their acceleration hardware around 2014. It’s probably taken 3-4 years for H.264 to own the market. Remember when H.264 for the latest thing? So expect similar development latency with H.265 and you won’t go too far wrong.

No other company can offer you more ways to create, use and manage secure identities in a trusted environment than HID Global. From smart cards and printers to smart phones to managing identities in the cloud, we provide solutions spanning the entire lifecycle of your secure identities. Learn more about how HID can help you to create, use and manage your secure identities visit: HIDGlobal.com/create-use-manage-SEN or contact HID at +61 3 9809 2892 or email asiasales@hidglobal.com. ÂŠ 2012 HID Global Corporation/ASSA ABLOY AB. All rights reserved. HID, HID Global, the HID Blue Brick logo, the Chain Design, iCLASS SE, Secure Identity Object, SIO and Seos are trademarks or registered trademarks of HID Global or its licensor(s)/supplier(s) in the US and other countries and may not be used without permission. All other trademarks, service marks, and product or service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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RISCO offers cloud access, video verification l MANUFACTURER of Rokonet alarm sensors and the LightSYS alarm panel, RISCO Group, is selling direct to installers in Australia with an alarm panel range that looks set to grow quickly. Most interesting though, RISCO offers a surprisingly wide range of products, from PSIM management solutions to a cloud-based access control solution as well as alarm panel-based video verification. While Q Alarm Systems is distributing RISCO’s detector range in Australia, the panel range is available direct from RISCO Australia, which has set up a distribution centre in Sydney to handle demand as well as RISCO’s new B2B online store, RISCO Store. “We see the LightSYS panel sitting alongside the Hills Reliance and the Bosch Solution in terms of performance and capability but it certainly comes at a more competitive price point and has greater expansion, along with great options like our $A75 touchscreen keypad” said Tim Prag, RISCO Australia’s director of sales and business development. What’s interesting here is that while all we’ve heard about is Rokonet detectors, there’s actually a lot of RISCO products behind the scenes that installers in Australia have never had access to. And a great deal of it is seriously high end stuff.

Tim Prag

10 se&n

First cab off the rank in alarm panels is the 32-zone hybrid alarm panel, LightSYS, but there’s another new panel available called Agility 3 which monitoring stations are particularly interested in thanks to its video verification capability. The video verification can be used by monitoring stations or can be deployed by end users via a free iPhone app called iRISCO. “The system takes up to 7 snapshots of each alarm event in high quality colour,” said Prag. “The system will also take an image from every camera when the system is armed and store it in the 32-zone Agility panel. “This allows you to differentiate between alarm events and arming events – you can see if the Christmas decorations have fallen down or if a pet walks by.” Installers will be pleased to hear that RISCO’s video verification solution is slated to be introduced into the LightSYS range during 2013. Meanwhile, additional neat products include IR Barrier Beams designed to protect patio doors and windows when they are open. This solution is priced at just $200 and allows doors and windows to be left open for air flow while ensuring that a secure perimeter is maintained. At the upper end of the RISCO range is the SynopSYS Integrated Security & Building Management platform, a PSIM-style management solution that integrates multiple systems. There’s also ProSYS, a bus-line alarm system with access control that integrates with the security and building management platform to handle very large applications with greatly reduced installation times. “Our axesplus cloud-based access control system is another great solution,” says Prag. “We think it will be big in national and global multi-site applications.” Another development from RISCO is the G3 detector range - G for Green – which turns off the microwave when the system is not armed in order to save power. According to Prag, microwave consumes 3x the power of PIR so G3 saves serious money, particularly in large applications like schools or large commercial sites.

Smart cards, NFC to lift access market l SMART cards and near field communication (NFC) are set to drive new growth in the $US400 million global accesscontrol credential market, according to a new study by IMS Research. Smart cards are expected to lead the next generation of credentials used for physical access control, representing approximately 40 per cent of the global market. Secondary uses for these credentials include electronic payments and identity management. Blake Kozak, a senior analyst for IMS Research, said NFC and personal identification verification (PIV) will also continue play a role in the technological development of access control. “PIV credentials are a market trend in the USA and have been traditionally used only in government applications,” he told Security Systems News. “However, there has been a recent trend to use these credentials in the private sector.” Public key infrastructure (PKI) for access control readers and credentials is another growing trend. Kozak said PKI increasingly will be used for reader-credential encryption with the implementation of the FIPS 201-2 recommendations. Kozak said the main concern about NFC in access control is getting telecommunications providers, smartphone manufacturers and access control suppliers to agree to share revenue and services. Another barrier is reducing the cost of access control installations and maintenance. “The access control industry has typically been a slow adopter of new technologies not only because of privacy, but also because of the integration with life safety and the need to comply with other regulations,” Kozak said. “As a result, the implementation of NFC brings new questions to the market which must be addressed before uptake increases.”

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ObjectVideo, Panasonic enter patent license agreement Cisco Building AT&T’s Digital Life Control Panel l AT&T has enlisted Cisco to build its ULListed Digital Life control panel, which will run the firm’s all-digital, all-wireless home security and automation platform. When the service rolls out in March, the company will release pricing details and its specific markets, according to an AT&T press release. The IP-based Digital Life service will include professionally installed and monitored window and door sensors, CCTV cameras, smoke alarms, carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, motion and glass-break sensors, thermostats, water shut-off valves, door locks, plus the ability to remotely turn off appliances. AT&T will respond to alarms through its monitoring centers staffed 24/7, according to the company. With its Digital Life offering, AT&T will allow customers to choose from two different plans. The first option, called Simple Security, will offer basic home security services. The Smart Security option allows customers to choose from 4 different packages.

The selections include video (live video from inside and outside the home); energy (control appliances, lighting and HVAC); door (remote and automated control of door locks); and water (detects water leaks in the home and shuts off water at the main source). “We’re offering consumers a new experience in how they try, buy and experience home security and automation,” Kevin Petersen, senior vice president, AT&T Digital Life says. “Unlike other services in the market, we’ve designed a service that lets the customer customize their experience, from purchase to services selected to controlling these services through the app on the device of their choice.” The firm also plans to roll out the service in up to 50 additional markets in 2013. While no similar service has been released in Australia, it’s certain that the expansion of the NBN will see vigorous competitors in the alarm and video monitoring spaces.

l PANASONIC has signed a patent license agreement with video analytics provider ObjectVideo. As part of the agreement, OV has granted Panasonic access to patents relating to broader video and image manipulation, segmentation, video meta data, indexing, search, tripwire and next generation intelligent occupancy sensors. “We continue to see an increased demand for accurate, easy-to-use analytics in the video surveillance sector,” OV Chairman Raul Fernandez says. “As an early inventor of such fundamental technologies, ObjectVideo is pleased to offer our partners access to our intellectual property through our licensing program.” In July 2011, OV filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against Sony, Samsung and Bosch, alleging that the companies infringed upon OV’s patented technologies. Last year, OV entered global patent licensing agreements with Bosch and Sony, ending the feud between the companies. OV also signed agreements with Pelco by Schneider Electric, American Dynamics and Vivotek. Last July, OV dropped its patent infringement case with the ITC against Samsung.

Integrator donates alarms worth $60,000 after Sandy Hook

David Morris

12 se&n

l IN the wake of the Newtown school shootings in Connecticut, David Morris, president of Modern Systems, donated alarm systems worth $60,000 to 13 schools in the Pulaski County School System. Morris came up with ‘Operation Security Blanket’ after attending a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which left 20 students and 6 teachers dead, WKYT.com reports. Realizing that most school districts can only afford to install access control systems and security systems, Morris’ Modern Systems will install 3 panic alarms in every school in the district free of charge. Morris hopes to encourage other security companies nationwide to donate security systems to keep schools safer.

The Power of Choice Wired, Wireless or RISCO Bus Detectors – The Decision is Yours

O ISC

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LightSYS™ Hybrid Security System offers ultimate flexibility, with your choice of wired, wireless, or RISCO Bus detectors in any combination, as well as advanced PSTN, IP and GSM/GPRS communication. Powered by RISCO Group’s state-of-the-art technology, LightSYS™ provides the Australian market with a cost effective, easy to install alarm system for residential and small commercial installations.

RISCO Group Australia Pty. LTD E-mail: sales-au@riscogroup.com | Purchase online: store.riscogroup.com

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Threat Protect Australia launches new brand

Mobotix signs distribution deal with huge IT distributor l MOBOTIX has entered into a agreement with IT and technology distributor Ingram Micro. Under the agreement, Ingram Micro will offer the complete Mobotix line of highresolution IP Video technologies to more than 170,000 resellers across the U.S. The entire Mobotix product suite will be available to Ingram Micro customers, including the Q24 Hemispheric Camera, the D14 DualDome Camera, the S14 Double Hemispheric Camera and the T24 IP Video Door Station. “Our new agreement with Ingram Micro marks an important milestone for Mobotix as its investment in IP security demonstrates that the value it delivers to value-added resellers is second to none,” Mobotix general manager Steve Gorski says.

“Today’s IT resellers are eager to tap into the benefits of providing networked security technologies and Mobotix is well positioned to help these VARs expand into this segment with reliable, innovative and trusted technologies.” Ingram Micro Inc is the world’s largest wholesale technology distributor and a global leader in IT supply-chain, mobile device lifecycle services and logistics solutions. The company supports global operations through an extensive sales and distribution network throughout North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Locally, Ingram Micro Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingram Micro Inc. and Australia’s largest distributor of IT and technology products.

l THREAT Protect Australia has announced a new brand identity in line with its acquisition of security firms Checkpoint Security Products and VIP Electronic Security. The rebrand, has been rolling out progressively since January 15 2013, when the organisation moved to new and larger premises in Belmont in Perth. The rebrand recognises the growth in Threat Protect’s range of services and market presence in WA. Announcing the new brand, Threat Protect CEO Demetrios Pynes said, “It is now time to adopt a more streamlined and consistent look and feel across the customer-facing component of our rapidly-growing organisation. “Our customers know Threat Protect as a reliable, trusted provider of highquality security systems and services. Our new brand signifies the core value of the company: To protect the community and deflect threats, with the highest possible standard of service, expertise and professionalism.” Last year Threat Protect also recently acquired the Alarm & Video Monitoring Centre (A&VMC), which will continue to operate under its existing brand. A&VMC is the A1 Grade control room, which specialises in electronic surveillance for the Threat Protect Australia group. Threat Protect will be relaunching its website www.threatprotect.com.au in coming weeks.

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i nd u stry d eve lo pme nts // business p rofiles // industry develop ments // busin ess p rof i l es // S H OW RE P O RT SECURITY 2 01 2 industry developments // business profiles //

DVTel Quasar HD Another standout product at the show was with IR Videofied’s XTIP710, a hybrid alarm system with video verification that now reports alarm events and status using GPRS and IP. We’ve like Videofied’s products for a while now and think they offer you installers a great up-sell or panel replacement option. Using reliable spread spectrum wireless devices, the company has a real track record of l SNP Security has won a tender to deliver visible success. security designs and surveillance monitoring the number employees that of tend to of massive Texas school district recently due toto Frankston CityofCouncil. It’s one a suite Sending alarm events along with video ONE footage from campus to campus in such a large upgraded its video surveillance system in an move safe city surveillance solutions SNP has won is pretty much Rolls Royce performance and system. Russell says prior to the Video effort to keep up with advancements in Web school in recent years. Videofied has 450-odd arrests under its beltmanagement thanks platforms. Austin Independent Insight implementation his VMS administrator Stuart Pitcher, national operations manager to its ability to identify burglars. When you consider School District – the America’s 38th largest spent a considerable amount of time with user for electronics at SNP, said that his team are most alarm systems are blind and cannot assist school system – has replaced its existing maintenance. “With this number of users a experts in this niche security area. reliable Web client is more economical than video management system with Video Insight operators by doing more than reporting multiple “It is the sixth safe city tender that we have software. Encompassing 230-square miles, installing (and uninstalling) thick VMS clients on adjacent alarm events, Videofied’s capabilities There was more to see at thebecome show and in won in theplenty past 12overburdens months. Weour have PC, which also already Austin ISD has 86,000 students, 11,000 each stick out even more. highly specialised in providing effective this and subsequent issues we’ll be reviewing many employees, 124 campuses and more than 3,000 taxed VMS administrators,” he says. security solutions withinAs public areas. Our ofThe the stand-out solutions. forresulted the editor’s switch to Video Insight has in pick for video surveillance cameras. surveillance networks are designed to the anCCTV improved video management system “We were unhappy with the platform that we SE&N’s Best Product at Security 2012 –for I chose increase public safety within municipalities. Austin ISD in many respects, including: had invested in and we needed a more practical Snap solution from Network VideoLittle Surveillance goalfor to provide added protection to It’s no our training employees; increased video in For its solution – something that was easy to use,” says distributed by Pacific Communications. publicimage areasquality; and reduce rates,” says more crime efficient storage; Austin ISD Police Department Representative camera ability to automatically wrangle the power of Pitcher. system performance; variety in camera Wayne Russell. “We needed something that faster cameras in challenging real choice and of LDAP integration. Thedesigned 3,000-plus didn’t require an incredible amount of CPU thousands The team atexisting SNP Security has world environments, it has to be my pick SE&N’s system is monitored AISD police processor power that could also serve as a fully- camera security solutions acrossbyathe wide range offor safe Best in Show. dispatch 24-hours a day, seven days a week, functioning Web client.” city projects including: City of Melbourne, particular during peak times After an exhaustive bid process, Russell found paying Up there with attention it isCity theofBosch Solution 144 City of Footscray, Dandenong, City of alarm to Stonnington camera in theCity busof drop off and pick up the solution in Video Insight. and Knox. Last month, and accessfeeds control panel with neat features like during breakfast and lunch “Video Insight was the capability only software solution areas, will also enhance HID’s to offer l HID Global has acquired Codebench, SNP cafeterias Security’s new CCTV surveillance pre-built garage door control and a succession of playgrounds and inJunction hallways Shopping during class that worked worker seamlessly with our card existing time, transportation identification a provider of physical security identity network atexpanders. Boronia readers and The Solution 144 is just Administrators monitor cameras atwas cameras and it offered very dependable Web changes. (TWIC) solutions, as wella as more complete management (PSIM) solutions. The Centre, which is part of the City of from Knox, We’ve spent a bit of time looking at Videofied that – school a solution. Thought through beginning each campus, but they report incident to client,” Russel says. PACS integration capabilities. It also allows deal gives HID the opportunity to officially opened by Laura Smyth, MP, Federal alarm event footage. Image streams are currently end, I think willhave resonate Bosch AISD policeitwho the solewith authority to installers A fully functional Web client application was tothe HID to extend the capabilities of its identity deploy Codebench’s PKI high security Member for La Trobe. black andtechnology white for inlow light performance clip and to export very and important to Austin ISD,system says Russell, givevideo. their customers more capability in assurance card management (CMS) looking authentication its physical “The effectiveness of an integrated security optioned for low bandwidth but they’re still large domestic and small commercial applications. appliance. access control products. solution or a CCTV surveillance network is ACCESS control solutions provider ASSA excellent for what are. and an NBN-proof comms The acquisition will allow HID Global to serve Twin “WeABLOY are very to they join the HID Global haspleased purchased assets of Greensteel notSIMs necessarily a direct result of network the number Now the word product under emerging government and commercial organization,” Codebench CEO Geri Castaldo portofbuilt intothat a medium-sized alarm Industries Ltd., a metaliscommercial door anddevelopment cameras are placed in any givenpanel area. with markets with significant growth potential, says. “Themaker. combination of ourlatest portfolios plus will incorporate the advances in video frame 16 doors of having biometric, prox and keypadof access Often, it’s a strong understanding according to company President and CEO HIDThe Global’s scaleproducts and channel strength also identification Greensteel willeven now be better marketed compression giving whereYes, crime hot spots are situated in order control? please. Denis Hébert. positions usday for new opportunities and manufactured under Baron and Fleming to position cameras go effectively make5544 for ability and market night. Special mentions to theandAxis ABLOYcould Vice President Codebench acquisition brings key thatbrands, neither company have pursued a difference to the local community,” saysWDR for As ASSA far as I’mExecutive concerned all alarm “The systems conceptual awesomeness, the Axis 1604 Thanasis in Molokotos integration capabilities while reinforcing and individually the nearsays. term.” Pitcher. should work the way Videofied’s does and I can’t its total obliteration of backlight, the Takex PXB“Thisof acquisition will enhance offering our ability enhancing our mutual relationships with As part the deal, the Codebench work out non-residential why more alarm manufacturers have 100ATC which takes affordable perimeter security to provide door opening customers and OEM partners,” he says. will join HID’s federal identity portfolio. The not will seized combination of technologies solutions toallow ouron Canadian customers,” he says. “It positions us for a number of new market to a new level, FSH FEW3800 for being greenest, merging HIDthis to offer its customers Established in 1932, Greensteel Industries for their own Giving the same great and C.R. Kennedy’s Dallmeier Panomera, which opportunities, including extending federal everything needed tosolutions. upgrade their physical operates in Winnipeg, catch performance with in the combinationidentity of GPRS looked the furthest and saw the mostest. Finally, technology into the commercial access control systems Canada. (PACS) agreement anonboard interesting move from ASSA and IPlateral connectivity in its latestsector, XTIP710 and moving our PKI strong withIt’s FIPS-201 guidelines for personal the most improved product range honours are ABLOY, which is a significant player in the authentication offering beyond the desktop shared by Vivotek and Merit LiLin. Nice work, folks. identity verification solution is just(PIV). icing on what was already a very Australia domestic locking and commercial to the door.” The addition ofVideofied Codebench’s portfolio tempting zzz access control markets. cake.

SNP Security wins Frankston 3000-camera school system CCTV tender deploys web-based solution

Special mentions go to the Axis 5544 for conceptual awesomeness, the Axis 1604 WDR for its total obliteration of backlight, the Takex PXB-100ATC which takes affordable perimeter security to a newCodebench level... HID GLOBAL acquires

assa abloy buys Greensteel industries

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i nd u stry d eve lo pme nts // business p rofiles // industry develop ments // busin ess p rof i l es //

ASSA ABLOY Completes 100th Acquisition Since 2005

IMS: Analogue Still Dominant In Consumer Market l ANLOGUE security cameras continue to dominate the consumer and do-it-yourself video surveillance market, accounting for 87 per cent of shipments, according to a new report from IMS Research. And analogue is expected to stay strong in that segment, with a significant revenue shift to network products unlikely in the next 5 years. While a strong transition to network equipment is occurring in the professional market, the IMS report said the consumer market would remain solidly analogue through 2017 for 2 main reasons: Consumer network cameras are typically twice as expensive as analogue cameras, and the market is very price-sensitive. Meanwhile, many major suppliers in the consumer market are primarily focused on analogue equipment and have comparatively small ranges of network products. Josh Woodhouse, an IMS market analyst and author of the report, said education also plays a role when it comes to determining which cameras to choose. “Many consumers do not understand the difference between analogue and network equipment,” he said. “Often the functionality appears similar. For example, both consumer analogue and network systems can offer wireless connectivity

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and remote viewing, but achieve them in different ways. Additional benefits that network equipment can offer are often not applicable or are lost on consumers.” The consumer and DIY equipment covered in the IMS report is sold online or in retail stores, Woodhouse said. The majority of the analogue equipment is sold bundled, with multiple cameras and a DVR, while consumer network security cameras are often sold individually. “These network cameras appeal to a different type of end user, typically a more tech-savvy residential user who requires a small number of cameras for monitoring,” he said. “The functionality to integrate network security cameras into an end user’s own network, often wirelessly, and view video streams on their TV, smartphone or tablet is a key selling feature.” “The faster growth [overall] seen in network equipment has not cannibalized sales of analogue equipment—there is still organic growth in both product lines,” he said. “For standard multiple camera installations, analogue offers a cheaper solution complete with many of the functions available from network equipment. Analogue bundles will remain fit for purpose for many consumers in the future.”

l WITH the acquisition of 4Front on 27 December 2012, Assa Abloy has now acquired 100 companies since Johan Molin joined the group as president and CEO in 2005. Assa Abloy Group has experienced impressive growth since the beginning of 2005. Sales have increased by 84 per cent from SEK 25 billion to SEK 46 billion as of September 2012. During the same period, Assa Abloy’s operating income (EBIT) has doubled from SEK 3.7 billion to SEK 7.4 billion and earnings per share have increased by 114 per cent from SEK 6.32 to SEK 13.53. “The strategic growth target for Assa Abloy is to grow 10 per cent on an annual basis through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions,” explained Molin. “We have a focused acquisition strategy in three directions: gaining access to new geographic markets, adding new and complementary products to our portfolio and obtaining cutting-edge technologies in various key fields,” said Molin. “The foundation for Assa Abloy’s rapid acquisitions expansion has been the group’s ability to identify and build good relationships with potential acquisitions, effectively acquire them and successfully integrate them fast into the group. What’s even more exciting is that virtually all acquisitions have developed very well and contributed significantly to the profitability of the Assa Abloy Group.”

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i nd u stry d eve lo pme nts // business p rofiles // industry develop ments // busin ess p rof i l es //

NICE ranked PSIM software leader by IMS Research

Access control will hit $US16B by 2017 l THE electronic access control systems (EACS) market could be worth $US16.3 billion by 2017, according to the “Electronic Access Control Systems Market: Global Forecast & Analysis (2012-2017)”. The report states that the EACS market comprises authentication systems, intruder alarm and perimeter security systems. Although the market faces issues of technological dormancy and high cost, heightened security concerns backed by government and regulatory mandates have helped to advance the market. Demand for solutions that integrate immediate onsite response with electronic security and alarm systems is also driving growth, according to the report.

North America is leading the total EACS market, followed by Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Europe. In the APAC region, revivals of stalled construction projects and infrastructural boom have opened new avenues for the market. The sudden civil uprisings in the Middle East and Africa are also compelling the governments and enterprises to rethink their security measures, according to the study. The report names Bosch Security Systems, Siemens Building Technologies, Honeywell, Schneider Electric, ASSA ABLOY, Tyco Int’l, Magal Security Systems and Future Fibre Technology among the major global players in the market.

PSIM certification technical training l APPVISION PSIM certification technical training will be conducted for integrators and technicians at the Education Centre, Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway, Killoola Street, Concord in Sydney March 4 & 6. The AppVision PSIM (physical sensor/security information management) system is able to centralise the command and control of a disparate number of sub systems through its common SCADA like platform utilising custom graphic user interfaces. AppVision is a professional level application which was developed using Visual.NET under the Microsoft .NET framework. The internal multi-protocol driver manager enables AppVision to centralise and remotely command various types of equipment used in the building management and electronic security industry. These include CCTV systems, alarm panels, access control, building automation, PA systems, intercoms, HVAC, building management, redundant server configurations and bespoke automation systems. The course will instruct and certify system integrators familiar with C# and .NET as to the value of a PSIM by taking them through the process of integrating the following systems; TECOM, Dedicated Micros, business intelligence systems (people traffic), Milestone, HikVision and other systems, including audio and video analytics. Trainers include Prysm Software’s Nicolas Moamart and TechnologyCare Australia’s Olly D’Souza. For more information contact +61 401 108244 or www.technologycare.com.au. 20 se&n

l NICE Systems has been recognised by IMS Research for its “ability to customise and deliver complex PSIM solutions for leading organisations worldwide,” NICE Systems has been ranked as the global leader in providing Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) software solutions by IMS Research (now part of IHS). The 2012 IMS Research Physical Security Information Management World Report counts NICE as the leading supplier of PSIM software based on revenues generated in 2011. This is the second consecutive IMS Research PSIM report that ranks NICE as the top vendor worldwide. “The PSIM market has high barriers to entry as it’s an area that demands the type of resources available only to wellestablished security solutions providers that have the ability to develop, customise and deliver complex offerings,” said Niall Jenkins, manager of video surveillance and security research at IHS. NICE’s ranking as the leading PSIM provider is based on its situation management solution, NICE Situator, which met the criteria of capture and correlation of third party systems and sensors. NICE Situator’s gateway library and open architecture allow for the seamless integration and management of third party systems and sensors.

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LightSYS shines Risco, manufacturer of the widelyrespected Rokonet sensors, is expanding its range in Australia, kicking off with LightSYS, a 32-zone alarm panel with plenty of expandability and a very flexible personality. 22 se&n

T’S not often we get to talk about a new range of alarm panels in Australia and what’s nice about Risco’s LightSYS is that it’s a very wholesome solution indeed. It’s affordable enough to be installed in any application, yet brawny enough to offer serious scalability while always remaining extremely flexible in its functionality. My demo of the Risco LightSYS was with Tim Prag (pronounced ‘prague’ as in the city of), Risco Australia’s newly-minted director of sales and business development. Prag’s only been in Australia since November last year and worked as a security technician in Manchester England since he was a lad. Prag’s got a good knowledge of the product and doesn’t miss a beat when talking me through the gear. It’s not just paper knowledge, either. Having a tool-savvy tech handling sales and business development is a smart move from Risco. There

by john adam s

aren’t likely to be too many applications Prag’s not run across since his apprenticeship – that’s a bonus for techs needing some advice. By all accounts, this Risco panel is slick. While I’ve not installed one, nor lived with one, the combination of features and the installation demo strongly suggest a solution that’s well thought out and that ticks many current and future boxes. Want dialler monitoring for now? Great. Want to go IP with dialler backup? Good-oh. Want IP with GPRS and GSM support? No worries at all. And for a system that scales the way this one does – up to 32 zones of hardwired, bus-line and wireless – there’s a very competitive entry price. Then there’s the pointy end of the system. The sensors. They’re Rokonet. We all know how well those work. That’s pretty much all I need to say about that. You can choose from a range that extends from affordable domestic quad PIRs to top-end external dual technology detectors like WatchOut, which is generally considered to be the best external high security alarm sensor on the market. Something else that’s very neat is that Rokonet’s high-end Agility panel has video verification and alarm sensors with integrated cameras giving video verification capability that will be available for LightSYS in 2013. So if in the future you want 32 internal zones with video verification – well that’ll be just fine. The sensors will be backwards compatible, making VV a nice up-sell for you techs. While Prag unpacks and powers up the hardware I take in the gear. My first impressions of the system are the cream polycarbonate housing with no baubles and a simple keypad. This user interface is organic in appearance and not extravagant in design. The keys are the tactile rubber we know so well. The backlighting is a warm blue. Everything is simple and well put together. There’s an optional touch screen, too, and it’s a jaw dropping $75. I did not see this device, just a picture, but if the quality is consistent with everything else the Israelis build, it’s a real bargain. Once Prag gets the hood up and I can see the board work, it’s clear things are modular with LightSYS. This is a relatively simple motherboard - it’s not crowded. Additional functionality comes through expanders so you’re not paying for hyperengineering on the main board from the get-go.

Want dialler monitoring for now? Great. Want to go IP with dialler backup? Good-oh. Want IP with GPRS and GSM support? No worries. And for a system that scales the way this one does – up to 32 zones of hardwired, busline and wireless – there’s a very competitive entry price.

workaday Zodiac internal quad detectors. There’s a selection of wireless fobs to arm and disarm the system or you use programmable length user codes. You also get a bridge resister, an EOL resistor and a 12k anti-masking resistor, which schools in Australia often demand. You could install the base model in a small house or office but most installers are going to go for additional functionality and hardware and that’s where LightSYS really shines. Because it’s a hybrid panel you can choose wireless, hardwire or busline sensors, or a combination of all 3 up to 32 zones. I like bus configurations. They allow installers to reduce the suffering imposed by titanic star configs. You can install all the sensors and keypads on the bus. The bus-line detectors are the same price as Risco’s Rokonet wireless detectors and in a bus configuration the system offers 4 partitions, 4 areas/groups and 4 keypads. A good thing about bus detectors is that during installation you set them to 1-32 zones and then during programming when you do a bus scan the system finds all the field devices. Typical Risco, there’s an extra zone on bus detectors so if you have a device at the end of a large building you can deploy another sensor as a sub zone – that’s plenty clever. As you’d expect, the bus is one cable in and out of detectors, keypads then into the bell. What this means is that one cable can do the whole system. You can star wire or daisy chain or loop and the bus configuration itself is flexible allowing you to build in redundancy. As a basic kit, LightSYS comes with PSTN dialler onboard, a 500-event log memory and support

Specifications

Ok, so it looks sweet but what are the specs of LightSYS and why would you choose it over the competition? For a start, the main board is an 8-zone, 4-area hardwired alarm panel with hybrid expansion to 32 hardwired, bus-line and wireless zones. Buying the system as a $150-kit you get the LightSYS panel, the LCD keypad, a power pack, a 7ah battery, an internal top hat sounder, an external sounder with blue strobe and a pair of se&n 23

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for 16 user codes. But the basic specifications don’t do the panel’s potential full justice. For a very affordable $98 there’s an expander that offers GSM/GPRS support, while another optional expander costing $44 has an RJ-45 plug and handles IP. “The housing architecture is a bit different,” Prag tells me. “We tried to get away from the traditional control panel housing. There’s no cam-lock. As an engineer and installer, I can’t remember the number of times I’ve had to drill out an alarm panel barrel after a user’s key was lost. Instead with LightSYS there are clips and you just push the box closed and there’s a tamper switch for protection.” With the housing open I see the supplied power cable is already terminated, which is a nice bonus when you’re in a hurry. If you want to, however, you can nip off the plug and terminate power and ground yourself. Prag continues setting up the panel. He clips in the transformer, plugs in power and then gees up a couple of wireless detectors. It’s all very easy. Making my task as a reviewer more interesting is the fact that this panel is fully optioned with all the expansion modules, including the RJ-45 equipped IP module and the GPRS/GSM comms board, the bus expander and the 32-zone wireless board. The panel is well laid out inside with all

termination points accessible. There’s easy access to the comms modules. As we’re poking around inside the panel, Prag tells me installers can buy their own SIMs and work with their own monitoring stations, or they can buy SIMs from Permaconn making the panel plug-and-play. Now Prag shows me round the central board. “There are 8 zones onboard, bell tamper and there’s a 2k2 resistor if you want to monitor the load to the siren,” he explains. “LightSYS has 4 programmable outputs and you can buy a 10-output expander taking this up 14. And there’s the 32-zone wireless receiver in the top right corner, which is supplied boxed and you just slide it into a rack in the panel housing.

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“Then there’s the bus expander. As it’s a 32 zone panel, if I use 16 zones hardwire and bus, I can only use 16 zones of wireless. LightSYS will take a pair of 32 zone wireless expanders and while it remains a 32-zone panel, this does allow you to split your range. You can assign 16 devices on one side of the building to one receiver and 16 devices on the other side to another receiver. It makes your installations more flexible.”

Programming the system

Prag starts programming up a couple of wireless sensors. He gets into the text-driven programming mode – the enter key takes the installer into menus, back goes out of menu and up and down keys that scroll through the menus – it’s menu driven and if you know the menu number you can go direct to it. Your programming details include things like entry and exit times, siren durations, controls like quickset and system labels. You can download software via GPRS/GSM or IP, the software is free from the Risco website though Prag points out you need an RS-232 lead if you are downloading direct to the panel. “The second menu is zones,” he says. “You can go through the zones one by one, or you can go through all the options for each zone. You can label it, assign partition, group, zone type, a zone can be nominated as open at the time of arming – allowing you to have the front door open as you arm the system. Installers can also program what the panel should do in an alarm event, activate the internal or external siren, etc. Terminations can be programmed as NO, NC, EOL, or double EOL with double EOL being the default thanks to that a pair of 2K2s. Meanwhile, if you’re only changing labels you do it by catalogue, zones, partitions – this just speeds up the process again. After zones are done it’s on to Outputs – you start with Output 1 and go through each one. “The Installation menu is where you install your bus devices, you click and the panel scans the bus and finds all the devices and you can then label them and program their zone properties,” Prag explains. “Next you do wireless devices. The first thing is to calibrate the environment - it’s best to set your threshold at 10 above the ambient RF noise floor – then you find the detectors and run through the properties associated with the wireless zones – zone names, zone numbers, delays, assignment to areas, etc.” Another nice feature Prag shows me is the ‘Follow me’ functionality which is basically SMS messaging of alarm events to programmed mobile numbers. Events might include intruder alarms, fire alarms, medical alarms or tamper. And programming system arming is easy, too. Codes are a settable length or you can program in wireless fobs.

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Tim Prag

Once Prag gets the hood up and I can see the board work, it’s clear things are modular with LightSYS. It’s a relatively simple motherboard - it’s not crowded. Additional functionality comes through expanders so you’re not paying for hyperengineering on the main board from the get-go.

LightSYS is a solid product. The folks at Risco call it a ‘flexible hybrid system’ and while it’s unusual to hear the word hybrid in relation to alarm panels, there’s no doubt whatever that this panel has great expandability in multiple directions. When it comes to costs, the threshold is low but that doesn’t mean LightSYS is lacking in horsepower. On the contrary, this system will take on pretty much anything installers care to dish out – hardwired, wireless or bus sensors; dialler, GPRS/GSM or IP alarm reporting; output expansion, affordable touchpads, and later in the year, video verification. There’s a 2-year warranty on everything – which is 12 months better than some. And along with all its own capabilities you also get Rokonet’s respected range of high quality sensors to play with. Yep, I’m thoroughly convinced. Risco’s LightSYS is definitely worth a very close look. zzz

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CLARA SWAIN HOSP ITAL

first aid IN operation 18 months, a Hikvision-driven security solution has already provided a variety of benefits for India’s Clara Swain Hospital.

LARA Swain Hospital located in the economically-vibrant city of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh (a northern Indian state) was suffering from “various troublemakers and individuals that really did not have any business being inside the hospital,” explains Deepanshu Girish Gupta, managing director and owner of Coral Infocom Private – the system integrator for this project. Fortunately for the Clara Swain Hospital, Gupta’s customized solution has greatly changed this dynamic. “The hospital is far more secure and a safer place for both patients and employees now,” he says. “We have also seen a great improvement in employee work performance due to the Hikvision units we installed.” This solution features 2 Hikvision components: the DS-2CC 575P-M 540 TVL low illumination ICR dome camera and the DS-8116HFI-S standalone DVR. About 50 individual units of the DS2CC575P-M Dome Camera were placed throughout the hospital’s administrative offices, corridors, security areas, ward lobbies, operating facilities, patient waiting rooms, outpatient facilities, as well as the ICU, main entrance and emergency doors – essentially everywhere except the patient rooms. “Obviously, from a privacy standpoint, we do not want cameras inside actual patient rooms,” says Gupta. “But, these patients are still secure based on the fact that the corridor areas leading to these rooms are secure.” Since all of the cameras are indoors, and as such, in a controlled-lighting environment, the DS-2CC 575P-M proved to be the perfect model for this solution. In particular, its compact design allowed this camera to be an unobtrusive tool, rather than big brother looking over patients and employees. “We were able to remove individuals that should not be at the hospital, and this was vital. But, also of importance, we greatly improved employee production by allowing managers a tool to review and correct errors. This camera proved to be a nonthreatening benefit in helping the hospital run more efficiently,” Gupta explains. Technical features of the DS-2CC575P-M include

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a 1/3” SONY CCD, 540TVL horizontal resolution, electronic day / night, 0.1 Lux @ (F1.2, AGC ON) lighting range, and internal power synchronization.

Eyes on the go

Hikvision’s DS-8116HFI-S standalone DVR allowed Clara Swain’s administrators an additional element: the ability to view the Hikvision cameras while these administrators are on the move. “We chose the DS-8116HFI-S Standalone DVR primarily because of its quality and to give this customer the ability to remotely monitor cameras from mobile phones,” says Gupta. “Due to the client’s busy schedule, they are not generally in the office, ruling out the general PCbased viewing experience. Instead, we needed to allow 3 or 4 individuals to simultaneously see the cameras on their mobiles. Hikvision’s ivms-4500 software and dual-stream technology facilitated this process.” Furthermore, the up to 8 SATA HDD in each DS8116HFI-S unit allows the recording space needed for a large hospital, as well as the ability to futureproof the project. Additional features, such as up to 1024×768 pixel VGA output resolution, dual-stream support, and up to 16-ch synchronous playback, combine to make the DS-8116HFI-S ideal. Recently, Coral Infocom Private Ltd. completed a similar hospital solution in India. Gupta said he was was able to utilize lessons from this Clara Swain solution as precedents. “The key for us is that Hikvision products work. For our customers, the success we have already enjoyed is proof that our Hikvision solutions will work for them, as well,” he says. zzz

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cas e st u dy

Chip p ewa Valley School District

Online education Chippewa Valley School District Campus sites have replaced outdated analogue surveillance with centralized, open platform networked video for flexible access and efficient, long-term scalability.

O address the disconnect between its state-of-the-art facilities being monitored with an outdated security system called for a complete renovation of its analogue video surveillance. Management at Chippewa Valley School District chose Milestone XProtect Corporate video management software (VMS) for an open platform IP network solution with 1400 high-definition (HD) Axis cameras to cover all 22 campuses across the Michigan district. In 2004, an attack on Chippewa Valley high schools was foiled. A student threatened to terrorize the school in a way similar to the publicized events of other U.S. schools. For the district administration this was an eye-opening situation and the catalyst to upgrade security measures for the continued safety of students, teachers, staff and property. With more than 16,000 students on 22 campuses for kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12), Chippewa Valley Schools of Michigan is responsible for many safety matters. With a previously diverse array of analogue camera systems, each sending

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video to multiple DVRs around the district, there was little efficiency for monitoring the pupils, teachers and staff. It was also difficult to obtain video evidence and going back into recordings was more of a frustration than a help. Chippewa schools otherwise boast state-ofthe-art technology and planned to ensure that the taxpayers receive optimal value for concerns about loss, vandalism or property damage. Stepping up to IP video surveillance was the best option to keep the schools’ costs low. IT consultants Metro Technology Services designed a comprehensive surveillance solution based on Milestone XProtect Corporate VMS that is centrally managed by the school administration. Installed and fully integrated by Peripheral Vision (PV), more than 1400 HD Axis network video cameras are connected via Milestone Federated Architecture to cover Chippewa Valley’s internal and external properties in its 22 locations. “Throughout the entire design process, we performed intricate walk-through sessions with each school’s principal to ensure we would cover all possible blind spots,” says Tom Giachino, president of Metro Technology Services. “From

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cas e st u dy

Chip p ewa Valley School District

Since installing the Milestone solution and highresolution Axis cameras, the school has seen a dramatic decrease in security-related instances and is far more effective when it comes to dealing with the incidents that do occur. an end-user perspective, the Milestone system was easy to use and fit our needs perfectly to help secure the district. “Before Milestone XProtect, it was nearly impossible to effectively manage the out-of-date analogue camera system over Chippewa Valley’s entire school district. Now, rather than relying on hundreds of DVRs and low-resolution cameras, district administrators can easily and quickly monitor the schools via XProtect Smart Client to keep the students, staff and property safe,” says Hugh Sonk, president & CEO at Peripheral Vision, the installing Milestone partner. “The majority of the issues we saw when reviewing video software choices were related to proprietary equipment. Milestone’s open platform technology, however, saves us from a complete system overhaul if we decide to change any of the more than 1400 cameras we have invested in for the district,” explains Craig McBain, director of technology at Chippewa Valley Schools. The school district now efficiently monitors all campus buildings and perimeters from one central location. Department heads around the district also have specific access to monitor where they are responsible. Since installing the Milestone solution and high-resolution Axis cameras, the school has seen a dramatic decrease in security-related incidents and is far more effective when it comes to dealing with the incidents that do occur. The complete installation was delivered in 2 phases, starting with installing the cameras in 5 high schools around the district. Phase 2 connected the middle and elementary schools through Milestone

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Federated Architecture. These were completed after hours, overnight and on weekends during the regular school year. PV was able to set up each building’s XProtect system individually and connect them as each station was finalized. “The buildings are large and it’s definitely a challenge to manage the security, keeping an eye on property and students in multiple areas,” says Sonk. “The Milestone system even allows administrators to virtually walk the halls by monitoring the system from their mobile devices, in addition to their desktops. It has an easy-touse interface and is a real improvement for the district.” Users in each department were trained. Due to the intuitive design, they quickly developed the skills to operate cameras through the XProtect interface. “There is a fast turnaround time for training – no more than 45 minutes per session,” says McBain. “We actually took advantage of those to determine camera realignments for trouble spots not seen during the initial install.” While the administration and security guards have instant access to the entire system running Milestone XProtect on their laptops and smartphones, the transportation manager can see if buses are on time, the food service manager can review an incident in the cafeteria or monitor lines, and maintenance managers can watch for vandals or keep track of safety with internal school issues such as flooding from a broken pipe, road and parking lot conditions or traffic. The benefits gained from the Milestone implementation were immediately seen by the Chippewa School District. The reliability and efficiency of exporting the video, the ability to document an event - not only from the scene itself but all of the pieces leading up to and following the incident - continue to result in improved security. zzz

p ro d u ct rev i ew

mobotix

Two in the hand MOBOTIX’ S14 comprises a pair of camera and lens heads connected by 2m cables to a remote base unit containing a processor giving installers an exceedingly flexible surveillance solution perfect for a range of applications.

GOT a look at the MOBOTIX S14 system at the company’s Pyrmont HQ recently. We played with Set 2 of the S14 suite, which includes a pair of ‘day’ camera modules and a base unit. When MOBOTIX’s Chris Watt opened the case of the S14 the build quality and the presentation of this MOBOTIX gear was what struck me. 34 se&n

There’s simplicity and function everywhere and the cameras and all components are built with typical MOBOTIX precision. Perhaps because this is the first time I’ve seen a MOBOTIX S14 kit being unboxed it strikes me just how much care and attention has gone into these S14 kits. Kit 2 includes an S14D FlexMount Core with a pair of day sensor modules, 2 x 2m sensor cables, a pair of 40mm bridge extension sets for tunnelling through walls, a 0.5m ETH patch cable and 2 replacement domes in white. All the lens modules are field replaceable with the same tool – one side of the tool is for focusing, one side for popping covers on and off. When it comes to imaging the S14 is capable, too. Featuring the latest MOBOTIX imaging platform, the P3, the 3.1MP S14 sports a ½-inch chip size offering a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels at 20ips. Sensitivity is said to be 0.5 lux and there’s 8x digital zoom and pan/tilt. Interfaces include Ethernet 10/100 Mbit, MiniUSB, MxBus and there’s IP65 rating, an operating temperature between -30C and 60C. Each camera head also has an integrated microphone. All other MOBOTIX lenses, from super-wide angle to

by john adam s

telescopic, are now available as options with the S14 as day or day/night versions. There’s onboard storage – an SD slot protected by a plug that you screw out in the field. The supplied chip is a modest 4GB but this can be increased if required at reasonably low cost. Locally, Cheap Chips is selling SanDisk Extreme 128GB microSD cards for $A222 which, given this moves genuinely useful storage servers to the edge, is not expensive, in my opinion. “The P3 is the MOBOTIX platform going forward,” Watt tells me. “The S14 and the base unit are technically the same hardware and firmware as other P3-based MOBOTIX cameras – the S14 base unit has the same board as our cameras. The successor to the M12 camera is based entirely on this new P3 board. “The S14 is the first of our solutions to have the full sensor modules and these will also go into the MOBOTIX M15 and any future cameras we release. There are also plans to bring in different types of modules, including megapixel and thermal in the future.” It’s certainly designed to be very easy for installers I say, peering into the polystyrene box. “Yes,” agrees Watt. “And it’s not just the physical connections that are simple. When you plug the components in, the base unit detects exactly which sensors are attached so you don’t have to configure anything manually.” We’re pulling components out of the packaging now and I can see that in all the connector ports there are little blue protective port plugs. You pull these out when connecting camera to base unit. If a base unit port is not being used the protective plug remains in place. This strikes me, in a good way, as being typical MOBOTIX overkill. Nothing is left to chance and at multiple levels significant thought looks to have

S14 is the first of our solutions to have the full sensor modules and these will also go into the MOBOTIX M15 and any future cameras we release. There are also plans to bring in different types of modules, including megapixel and thermal in the future. gone into ensuring vulnerable parts of hardware are adequately protected right up to the point of installation. Sorting out connector cables is simple, too, and Watt tells me all the cable terminations are exactly the same as MOBOTIX has been using since the Q22 was first released in 2008. As we go through the process of setting up a system it’s clear just what a simple process installation actually is. When you’re building an S14 system you just pull out all the components, select the lenses, fit them, extract the port plugs, connect and lock the cables and you’re done. Obviously, there’s the physical installation of camera hardware and base unit to consider, but there’s no soldering, crimping or screwing in of microscopic termination grub screws. Once the cameras are installed we wait for the Control Centre software installed on a PC in the demo room that’s linked to a video wall to boot up. Once this happens the software will find the

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devices on the network automatically. According to Watt, MxCC will even find the cameras if they are on a different subnet to the main PC and then allow you to change the IP addresses to suit the local machine. “It’s very simple to get started and you can do the bulk of your configuring from MxCC – image setting, exposure, recording setup,” Watt explains. “It’s a nice GUI to work your way around and it does lots of the setup for you, which is what I really like about it. And if there’s anything more advanced required in a given application you can just jump into the web browser.” As well as handling basic setup, MxCC can handle more complicated applications and system changes with no input from the installer. When you change hardware in an installed system, MxCC automatically detects that – there’s no need to change settings. If you have a black and white sensor attached, MxCC will automatically detect that there was both a colour and a black and white sensor attached and automatically sets itself to switch to the black

36 se&n

mobotix

and white sensor at night. Watt tells me setup is 90 per cent exposure, 10 per cent configuration and watching him work, that sounds close to the mark. “The sensor modules have an FPGA chip on board,” Watt explains. “At the moment that chip identifies the hardware but in the future we’ll be able to move image processing out to the edge, freeing the base unit for tasks like more elaborate video analytics, which is currently only available in the Q24.” Current analytics are targeted towards support of marketing campaigns in retail environments – that includes people counting and heats maps – and its capabilities are already impressive. Loitering and speed alarms are coming. In real time operation, you drive the system using the MxCC control panel. You just set the cameras up to a camera grid that reflects areas of interest, risk or high activity. You can change the wall, configure an alarm, do playback, there’s no limit to the number of cameras, no limit to layouts. Simplifying our demo, Watt has already done layouts with maps that are very easy to negotiate your way around. You simply select a camera on a map and bring it up in a live window and the icons can then be synchronised across multiple computers. You can also handle viewing in full screen with navigation by buttons – MxCC can scale up and down – as far as you need it to. There’s also an alarm window that shows alarm events as well as a new event handler – Watt says the old one was basic – that extracts the sensor from the event. “This means that for video motion, I can have many video motion events linked to different windows. There’s also recording and you can bring in signal inputs,” he explains. “We have applied this capability to 24 hour gyms to stop tailgating after hours. This allows them to establish which member is letting people in. We’ve also been able to use event logic – in this case a VM – to detect sequences of door movement in a nursing home to increase the safety of disoriented residents.” MxCC is a nice management solution. It’s not just

It’s a nice GUI to work your way around and it does lots of the setup for you, which is what I really like about it. And if there’s anything more advanced required in a given application you can just jump into the web browser.

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mobotix

While we don’t bill for it we consider our management software to be an integral part of our system. Logically, we want MxCC to be as powerful as anything else that’s on the network. simple and modular – there’s a lot of customisability just below the surface. According to Watt, there’s a subtle stigma attached to bundled software, which can be seen by the market as suggesting a less capable video management solution. However, Watt says these preconceptions are flawed. “While we don’t bill for it we consider our management software to be an integral part of our system. Logically, we want MxCC to be as powerful as anything else that’s on the network. To ensure this, the camera firmware is upgraded every 6 months while Control Centre is upgraded every 12 months.” Next, we fit a hemispheric lens to one of the sensor heads, just to get a sense of the performance of the unit. Before we start driving this, Watt shows me footage of the entry to the MOBOTIX HQ in Germany. All the colour cameras in the Foyer are 3MP and its easy to see the hemispheric lens is great solution for this sort of application. Perhaps this large, bright foyer is 15m wide and 15m deep. At the rear of the foyer there are glass windows, then an open courtyard area and another building on the other side with glass windows – the MOBOTIX demo room. Depth of field is so good we are able to see what people in the building behind are doing – great performance for a fixed lens camera. Back in the Pyrmont demo room, I aim the camera through the window towards Blackwattle Bay. It does a good job – handling the glare through the window and giving a general view over the water but the hemispheric lens is designed for closer work than peering across the 8 lanes of the Anzac Bridge. It’s in the demo room itself, as well as applications like the MOBOTIX foyer that you see the S14 camera at its best. The fixed lens gives good face recognition

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at around 4 metres, and usable face recognition out to 10 metres. Past this distance the camera is perfectly able to pick up clothing colour, hair colour, events, groups of people, and handle variable light and backlight. And using a pair of hemispherics gives complete overlapping coverage of a large space – no blind spots. The flexible nature of the S14, with its separate base module and twin camera heads means installers can deploy the pair of hemispheric lensed cameras in a range of nifty applications designed to suit particular challenges. These might be to secure 2 rooms that are adjacent, or a room and an external corridor, or both sides of a right angle turn, 2 rooms located one on top of the other, or to provide 360 degree coverage. According to MOBOTIX’s BDM Dean Hobin, the company grew 24 per cent in Australia & New Zealand last year. Given MOBOTIX is no newcomer to the Aussie market these numbers really are excellent. And with products like S14 and upcoming cameras based on the powerful P3 platform, those impressive growth figures look likely to continue. zzz P

Features of the S14 include: l ½-inch colour or monochrome CMOS sensor l 2048 x 1536, 3.1MP resolution, 20ips l 0.5 Lux minimum scene illumination l PoE l 8x Zoom and digital Pan/Tilt l Ethernet 10/100 Mbit, MiniUSB, MxBus l Dimensions mm: 201 x 110 l Operating Temperature -30C to +60C l MicroSD slot – 4GB supplied

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by john adams

Game of phones

The future will see increasing lateral movement of system management into smart devices â&#x20AC;&#x201C; into the realm of proprietary carriers and their now and future cloud offerings. But donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect this transition to be easy or your cloud and mobile hardware choices obvious. 40 se&n

OR most of history networked security solutions have been proprietary. And for all the current talk of open platform networked security solutions, not a lot has changed. This is in part because proprietary formats are written into the DNA of management solutions. Sure there are increasing numbers of edge devices, cameras mostly, that are open platform, but they’re not entirely open. Too often there are elements of programming that are available only to administrators using proprietary software platforms – systems designed to work with ‘own’ devices. For all their faults, things are improving in this area as manufacturers sort themselves into alliances and the work of ONVIF and PSIA filters through the product stack. But just as our hardware becomes more interoperable, a major new trend is threatening to cart networked security systems back to a darker age of proprietary networks. What is this trend? It’s the movement of management and monitoring of security solutions – commercial and increasingly, domestic - onto mobile devices running Apple iOS and various incarnations of Google’s Android. And from the wider perspective it’s fierce competition for ownership of internet ecosystems and ultimately, proprietary ownership of cloud. The difficulty with proprietary ownership of cloud is this. Third party makers building applications that manage security systems via mobile devices must bond their apps to cloud – they must integrate with cloud as intimately as possible to ensure the best reliability and performance. And the result is that relationships with underlying cloud providers are genetically embedded into code and are necessarily for keeps. At the heart of the issue is commercial competition, fierce and deep. Companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook are engaged in a war of epic proportions in order to establish the dominance of their proprietary internet ecosystems. They’ll stop at nothing – including hamstringing competitor devices at network borders – to promote their individual corporate hegemony. To highlight the conflict, we see patent wars being fought as the owners of these sprawling commercial platforms seek to disable or slow down competitors. Any really clever app builder further down the food chain is promptly swallowed by bigger fish looking to shore up their business models and guarantee a profitable future. If this war of the platforms sounds unrealistic to you, consider the workstation you use. Whose proprietary web browser won the battle in the 1990s? It wasn’t Netscape, was it? The company that created the Secure Sockets Layer and Java was run under by market forces and its shadow exists only through Mozilla’s Gecko-based Firefox. Now expand and apply that tussle to mobile operating

Companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook are engaged in a war of epic proportions in order to establish the dominance of their proprietary internet ecosystems. systems and to the fast growing cloud. Yes – it really is a battlefield out there and there won’t be a crowd of winners. So, what’s the point of these observations? In short, if you’re going to take your electronic security system outside the traditional boundaries of your corporate network, you need to understand the play. All the old rules still apply. Cost. Security. Uptime. Inter-network performance. Accessibility. Future-proofing. Interoperability. And all this against a paradigm of no guarantees. Oh, sure, you want the flexibility to jump providers but you’ll only keep it by weakening the integration layer between your app and the underlying service layer. And what if you commit to a cloud service that cannot scale or that doesn’t exist in vital areas of your local or global market? Be very afraid.

The protagonists

There are challenges when you start talking about cloud services and about mobile applications and they relate to a definition of terms. Simply put, the term ‘cloud’ applies to any software or hardware services delivered over a network. Pretty easy, eh? And old, too. By this definition, the cloud has been around since the mid-1990s and it infiltrates every aspect of WAN communication. This means that the war for dominance of cloud – a thing that we can clearly see is pervasive – is really a war to own internet services. And that’s something security integrators and

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security managers need to pay serious attention to. The 4 biggest players are Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook. Each of these companies is immensely rich in assets and this gives them the raw power to invest in serious amounts of infrastructure, including global networks of data centres. There are other players in the mix, too, including Microsoft. While much of the competition between these players will happen in social networking and ecommerce, it’s really the area of software, tablets, smartphones and data centres that should be of most interest to security people. In this area the central conflict is that between Apple’s iOS which is used by Apple in iPhones and iPads and Google’s Linux-based Android operating system used in smartphones and tablets by everybody else. Given the hype surrounding Apple, you could be excused for thinking it was the market leader but Android holds a 75 per cent share even though its latest version, Jelly Bean, is still somewhat clunky. Android is open source and Google works with third party hardware manufacturers and their software development teams to push the technology forward, while keeping its own supporting apps closed source. So far it’s a model that’s worked well, though there have been a couple of misfires along the way. Just for reference, Google activates about 1.4 million third party Android devices per day. Will Google stay out of the mobile device market? The company released Android-powered Nexus tablets built by ASUS in 2012 and its $US12.5 billion purchase of smart phone maker Motorola Mobility last year argues not. Apple’s response to Google’s Android has been the voice-activated Siri and the hasty decision to chop Google Maps from iOS. From a security integrator or end user’s point of view, these moves should be seen as outlining the real nature of the competition. Apple and Amazon are also contesting another front – digital music and digital books. Amazon rules eCommerce. About one third of online purchases take place through Amazon, which is a vast number. And Amazon gives away Kindle tablets at breakeven to give its customers a mobile interface to its online storefronts. Strengthening its act is Amazon Web Services – AWS Cloud – and the company has global infrastructure capable of handling vast traffic in real time. Now Microsoft is muscling in on the act. It has a new tablet, called Surface, and its own mobile

If there’s a weakness with cloud it’s the way vital alliances will lock service providers into code-deep relationships with the proprietary solutions of monolithic corporate players whose capabilities may not be suitable enough, or flexible enough in the future.

42 se&n

operating system and the big American also controls mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia. Microsoft has huge potential thanks to the pervasive nature of its software – a proprietary OS that became the global operating system. And Microsoft has a presence in mobile, media centres and the car industry. Interestingly, Microsoft is now talking about itself as a software and service company – that could be a sign of things to come. The key thing for me though, and for all or you, is that this contest between Amazon, Apple and Google and now Microsoft, is vertical. Each of these huge players is setting up its own ecosystem comprising alliances, firmware, software, hardware devices, eCommerce portals, data centres and, increasingly, cloud services. Google’s App Engine is a Python app cloud, while Amazon’s EC2 and S3 provide generic compute and storage clouds. Meanwhile, Platform-as-aService provider EngineYard is a cloud for Rubyon-Rails – an open source web framework which is unsurprisingly backed by Amazon and Oracle. There’s also Apple’s MobileMe cloud, Google Gears and Microsoft Live Mesh. Sure, these are limited for the moment but they tell us where the infrastructure investment is going.

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If there’s a weakness with cloud it’s the way vital alliances will lock service providers into codedeep relationships with the proprietary solutions of monolithic corporate players whose capabilities may not be suitable enough, or flexible enough in the future. If a third party provider with its applications symbiotically melded to a provider wants to change clouds, that’s not likely to be easy to do. And there’s no way for apps not to be melded to a chosen cloud. The tightest possible integration is required if apps

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are to be stable, fast and scalable. Then there are proprietary apps that third party organisations link their own apps to in a proprietary cloud. These lock client apps to provider apps. And thanks to the closed ecosystems we talked about earlier, these proprietary apps won’t work outside the original cloud, throwing the continuity of the service into disarray. To say nothing of re-encoding issues that are almost inevitable.

Future of cloud

Affordable cloud is here. Google Drive, AWS and smaller competitors like iCloud, DropBox, SkyDrive, MelbourneIT, RackSpace and Box offer consumers and small businesses storage in the cloud and other services at very low cost. And there are more and more remote management apps being released. These open up a range of applications that have been vapourware for 10 years or so. I argue remote management apps combined with edge storage using affordable 128GB microSD servers and cloud backup of motion and/or alarm events really are the future of many applications in video surveillance. This change will take place in an affordable pervasive online cloud environment. The question is not whether this will happen but what cloud will look like when it arrives. Will the future of cloud be proprietary or open and which provider is most likely to win? As some readers will already have discerned, the current situation is thoroughly fluid. While cloud – software and hardware services over a network – has been around a long time, the establishment of large cloud provider ecosystems between which fierce

44 se&n

While cloud – software and hardware services over a network, remember – has been around a long time, the establishment of large cloud provider ecosystems between which fierce competition forces down prices is still in its infancy.

competition forces down prices, is still in its infancy. It’s not certain who will dominate cloud services but it is likely that the company that does dominate in the proprietary market segment will not be a startup but instead an organisation already investing heavily in a revenue generating vertical platform of which scalable cloud services are a necessary extension. The market leader will be a company that can handle huge transaction rates, high data throughputs, the best interface to users and which have the most pervasive vertical presence to multiple markets. Also vital is cost. This latter is tied to numbers of data centres and their proximity to commercial, industrial and increasingly, residential, concentrations. Proximity is the key for affordable cloud services when you start talking high bandwidth. Such a demand relates to economies of scale and this too, suggests the winner will be a big player. When thought of in this way, potentially dominant players other than Google become clearer – eBay and Amazon – the latter in particular. And if Microsoft flexes its software development muscle, it will make a serious impact. But there are rumblings. Recently, monster cloud user Netflix, rolled out a private content delivery network (CDN) and it did so to ensure reliability, ownership of business, low cost on bandwidth and greater control of its cost model. Could similar developments take place in smaller applications with non-proprietary cloud owned by end users, or by manufacturers/ developers and integrators? Yes – open cloud solutions do exist. The most notable is OpenStack, which was developed by Rackspace and NASA under the Apache Licence. It’s supported by such venerables as IBM, HP, Cisco, Dell, Linux, Intel, AMD and VMWare and 150 others. OpenStack is managed by the OpenStack Foundation and is free open source software for building infrastructure-as-a-service solutions. I think it’s fair to argue that while late to the party, open source cloud will win the percentages battle for the cloud-based platforms of the future. Once a particular weight of companies throws weight behind OpenStack the result will not be in doubt. It’s my feeling that level of support has already been reached. At the same time I think open source will not own the entire market. For those extreme sports people wanting to get in on the bleeding edge of cloud and multicloud, the short term play is deep integration of portable applications with a weather eye on open source. For me, low cost, no-lock open source is the best route to the networked electronic security product we’ve dreamed about so long, that magical unicorn, the truly open platform solution. zzz

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genetec

Unlike most access systems on the market that only support a single brand of modules, the SMC is designed to be an open platform that simultaneously supports multiple hardware vendors.

Way of the master GENETEC has released Synergis Master Controller (SMC), an intelligent IP controller based on an open architecture that blends IP video surveillance, access control, and license plate recognition systems.

ENETEC’S Synergis Master Controller, currently installed at more than a dozen key customer sites around the world as part of a limited availability program, is designed to address what Genetec says is longstanding customer demand for non-proprietary access control solutions. Synergis is a big deal not just for Genetec but for the access control industry and integrated management solutions as well. While we’ve not had a demo yet – this is a paper-only preview, Genetec’s play in this area must be taken seriously. Synergis provides real-time monitoring of access events and alarms, as well as cardholder management and reporting. The system enables users to handle thousands of access events in

46 se&n

real-time and centrally manage and configure cardholders and credentials across multiple distributed sites. To achieve this, SMC will offer native support of widely-deployed and non-proprietary access control hardware from leading vendors, including HID Global and Mercury Security. When deployed with Genetec’s Security Center, the Synergis Master Controller will provide even greater efficiency and control of a security system. The Security Center platform unifies security applications and key operating tasks to enable users to manage access control, video surveillance and third party systems from within a single interface. Unification of access control and video also ensures that all access control events, alarms, and reports are associated with both recorded and live video. With the addition of the SMC to the Synergis access control product line, Genetec’s customers will now have more flexibility when designing a solution to suit their particular needs, installation environment, and budget. Thanks to a new technology partnership with Mercury Security and a long-standing relationship with HID Global, customers will be able to leverage SMC’s open architecture and choose from a growing array of industry-standard reader interface modules,

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genetec

Genetec CEO Pierre Racz

and proprietary sector of the security industry. Unlike most access systems on the market that only support a single brand of modules, the SMC is designed to be an open platform that simultaneously supports multiple hardware vendors. This way, we are making it possible for customers to choose best-of-breed hardware based on their needs, while knowing that they avoided the pitfalls of proprietary systems,” explains Jimmy Palatsoukas, senior manager of product marketing at Genetec.

Integrated cloud solution

Unlike most access systems on the market that only support a single brand of modules, the SMC is designed to be an open platform that simultaneously supports multiple hardware vendors. input modules, and output modules. Above and beyond new system installations, the Synergis Master Controller will be ideally suited for customers which are looking to modernize an existing installation. It will allow them to leverage their corporate or security network to transition to a fully IP-based access control system. The SMC will also facilitate their migration to Genetec’s unified security platform, Security Center, bringing the benefits of access control and video unification to a wider audience while leveraging much of their existing infrastructure such as readers, interface modules and wiring. Moving to an open and extremely flexible option like the SMC will ensure their investment is protected for the lifetime of their access control system. “With the launch of SMC, we are enhancing our Synergis enterprise class access control solution to bring more openness to a traditionally closed

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As if this wasn’t enough, alongside SMC, Genetec is also developing hosted security solutions including video surveillance, access control and license plate recognition (LPR) as a service that will be built on Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud-computing platform. “Just as we pioneered IP video 15 years ago, we are now breaking new ground by using advanced cloud technology to make video and security applications (including access control) even more accessible and meaningful for companies of all sizes,” says Pierre Racz, Genetec’s CEO. “By working closely with Microsoft we are able to take advantage of its robust cloudbased development platform, Windows Azure, as a central part of our strategy to bring marketleading video surveillance, access control and license plate recognition to a broader user-base. As the leader in the world’s largest security surveillance market, we are uniquely positioned to bring a ‘built-for-the-cloud’ solution to both our existing integrators and users and to a whole new market that is looking for simple, ubiquitous, and powerful security tools.” Genetec says integrators will be able to take advantage of streamlined and greatly simplified set-up, provisioning and install procedures, meaning they can on-board more customers, more easily, and with greater initial satisfaction. Meanwhile, end users will benefit from the ease of use, availability, and lower cost of ownership. Security assets (including video, access, and related critical data) will be automatically stored in the cloud so that they can be easily reused, retrieved, and analyzed anytime, anywhere. Users will be able to roll-out and configure security systems and upgrades without disruption, and take advantage of worldclass data centres to reduce IT burden and costs. They will also benefit from built-in, accessible and flexible online payment and administration processes from within one hosted solution. zzz

Solution 144 from Bosch

available

NOW

Integrated Access Control & Alarm System

GSM / GPRS Module

External Code Pads

Biometric Reader

Bosch have released a security and access control system that has the alarm features you’ve always loved, with the access control capabilities you’ve always needed. A solution where the important features include: • 16 access doors or LAN readers • Up to 144 zones & 256 users • Full text menu display for programming & user control •

Proximity, biometric and external readers, with external keypad options

•

Supported communication formats include Conettix IP, GSM, SMS, Email, CID, GPRS, CSV IP, SIA 3+ Text and Voice

•

SMS over Bosch GSM & SMS panel control ie. arm, disarm

•

Up to 37 outputs available with one on-board dedicated relay programmed for roller doors

All this, and it’s cost effective when used in mid-sized installations, yet powerful enough when expanded to handle large numbers of zones, outputs and even up to 16 access doors. And if you already know how to programme a Bosch Solution 16plus/64, you’ll know how to programme this one too! www.boschsecurity.com.au Solution 144: your access control & alarm solution.

Sydney (02) 9672 1777

Perth (08) 9240 5455

Melbourne (03) 9558 8088

Brisbane (07) 3267 0442

Email: stsales@au.bosch.com Security Master License No: 409 400 739

p ro d u ct rev i ews

i class

HID’s SE tool kit HID Global’s iCLASS SE Platform is designed to enable developers to build innovative solutions for applications using smart cards and NFC smartphones in conjunction with the portable iCLASS Seos credential.

ID Global has added a reader module and developer tool kit (DTK) to its iCLASS SE platform for highly secure, adaptable and interoperable secure identity solutions. The new reader module provides full interoperability with the company’s iCLASS Seos credential and other current and emerging technologies, and supports a wide range of applications using any combination of smart cards, microprocessor cards and NFCenabled smartphones. “Our new reader module enables third-party developers to build a broad range of products that simplify how identities are created, used and managed, and take advantage of both existing and future technologies,” said Helmut Dansachmüller, senior director of product marketing with HID Global. “Solutions based on the iCLASS SE reader module will enable customers to future-proof their secure identity infrastructures using a highly flexible, open platform that increases security while supporting exciting new technologies such as NFCenabled smartphones for access control, PC logon, biometrics, transit, customer loyalty and other applications.” The iCLASS SE reader module offers a number of capabilities designed to speed time to market

iCLASS SE supports exciting new technologies such as NFC-enabled smartphones for access control, PC logon, biometrics, transit, customer loyalty and other applications. 50 se&n

for solutions that are easy to deploy, support and upgrade. Key features include all capabilities and benefits of the award-winning iCLASS SE platform. HID Global’s standards-based, technologyindependent iCLASS SE platform uses the company’s Secure Identity Object (SIO) data model within its Trusted Identity Platform (TIP) architecture to increase security while delivering simplicity, adaptability, and interoperability. iCLASS Seos credentials deliver full privacy support, feature a standards-based card edge, and are portable for use on NFC smartphones. iCLASS SE readers and Seos credentials are also interoperable with a growing range of commercial and residential locks from HID Global parent ASSA ABLOY. There’s dual-frequency support so iCLASS SE reader modules simplify technology migration by supporting iCLASS Seos, iCLASS SE, standard iCLASS, HID Prox, Indala Prox, FeliCa MIFARE Classic, or MIFARE DESFire EV1 credential technologies. You also get flexible deployment and support as the new modules support firmware changes and field upgrades to extend customer installation lifecycles, and are backwards-interoperable with existing HID Global OEM75 module products to further enhance deployment flexibility. The iCLASS SE Reader Module also includes a comprehensive Developer Tool Kit (DTK) that accelerates design initiation and shortens integration cycles for finished products. The DTK includes all of the necessary tools, utilities, and sample products across a variety of reader and antenna form factors and test cards, as well as documentation and other developer resources and materials. All DTK resources are accessible via a secure, online developer portal. zzz

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52 se&n

alarm m oni tori ng / segm ent

Proudly brought to you by

BY JOHN ADAMS Your Monitoring Specialists

1300 130 515

www.bensecurity.com.au

Machine vision It’s increasingly obvious that the future of general alarm monitoring is going to be digital, probably with encrypted IP as the primary low cost, high poll channel, supported by GPRS wireless. In business applications, these paths will be reversed and expanded.

E’RE edging ever closer to a comms revolution which it’s hard to believe won’t result in profound changes to alarm monitoring with plenty of opportunity coming our way. There’s little chance the lateral drift of digital communications won’t permeate monitoring and system design. There’s already talk of cloudbased access control solutions and cloud-based alarm systems can’t be far away, either. Another key beneficiary of recent developments looks to be video alarm events – machine vision. When it comes to comms, leading alarm panels offer users and installers hybrid performance – that’s hardwired and proprietary wireless – but there’s certainly room in the market for ONVIF-style networked alarm sensors operating via Zigbee or Bluetooth and deployed across wide area networks. Something that’s likely to be curious

from the perspective of standards is trying to wrangle future alarm solutions that are almost certain to be plug-and-play and may or may not incorporate monitoring station and end user monitoring (with different functions and priorities), right down to the level of video verification and video analysis. Personally, I think this technology brings many more opportunities than threats but long term success will depend on the market’s ability to give users what they want. It’s speculation, but I can’t help thinking players like Google, or large partners of players like Google, won’t look at cloudbased security solutions including CCTV, access control and intrusion alarms some time soon. There’s an oblique impact on the value of security licensing here, too. It’s hard to see how SLED, the NSW licensing unit, which recently dug more deeply into the electronic security industry by insisting all security system contractors hold master licenses, is going to cope with stuff like edge cameras, edge sensors, edge readers and edge camera/sensors. It’s fair to say that right now there are a significant number of systems being installed and maintained by unlicensed yet highly qualified IT techs. And when IT-based edge devices start installing themselves on the more pervasive networks of the future, SLED is going to be chasing AutoRun programs.

There’s certainly room in the market for ONVIFstyle networked alarm sensors operating via Zigbee or Bluetooth and deployed across wide area networks.

se&n 53

alarm m oni tori ng / segm ent

Proudly brought to you by

Your Monitoring Specialists

1300 130 515

www.bensecurity.com.au

I think it’s pretty obvious that the big kahuna in monitoring is a combination solution comprising multiple GPRS networks supported by IP or digital dialler. But what this multifarious approach to security communications tells us is that while the future is digital, the flexibility of digital communications really opens things up. As an example, we’ve talked about AT&T’s Digital Life solution a couple of times in the past few months. But cutting the security industry’s grass isn’t the only thing AT&T has going on right now. The company is also working with police and emergency services on ways to allow the public to text message 911 monitoring centres. This trial will use Tennessee’s ESInet as well as the NetTN backbone and it’s designed to help the state’s emergency services integrate texting into its systems so as to give a more complete understanding of events in real time. This sort of cross-pollination is likely to become more pervasive as digital communication continues to evolve. It may open up the possibility of automated situation reports actioned remotely from large networks of devices and perhaps even the sharing of event data between multiple organisations – private and public. It’s hard not to think of wireless as the way of the future even though my own bias for both business and domestic solutions leans towards glass. Globally, the number of wireless monitoring solutions being shipped is growing exponentially. Research in Europe suggests wireless monitoring is forecasted to grow a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47.1 percent to 2016. At the same time, the number of tracking devices and wireless alarm systems monitored from an alarm receiving centre and similar will grow from 9.1 million in 2011 to 39.7 million by the end of 2016. These numbers are exceeded elsewhere in the world. In the U.S. the POTS network which carriers DTMF signals from digital diallers to monitoring station receivers is projected to close around 2015. From this time on, alarm communications will have no choice but to make their way to monitoring stations via IP networks – cabled or wireless. And it’s no different here in Australia

54 se&n

As part of its $11 billion contract, Telstra has agreed to disconnect its PSTN services 18 months after fibre is laid in any given area. This means that by 2020, dialler comms will be ploughed under. where NBN Co’s contract with Telstra includes authority to pull fibre optic cable through the ducts of Telstra’s copper PSTN network. As part of its $A11 billion contract, Telstra has agreed to disconnect its PSTN services 18 months after fibre is laid in a given area. This means that by 2020, local dialler comms will be ploughed under. The replacement in domestic applications is likely to be high polling IP running across the NBN that’s supported by GSM or GPRS in ordinary domestic applications. In higher security applications, we’ll see multiple-carrier GPRS support for primary comms paths with cabled IP backup. Clearly though,

there’s plenty of room for variation. Something that can’t be easily predicted is what digital monitoring sessions might look like in the future. At present video verification is the exception, not the rule but it’s unlikely this blind event reporting will continue indefinitely. The ability of next-gen systems to send not only event data but video footage to monitoring stations will have a significant impact on the way security systems are managed. Driving this change is the miniaturisation of high quality HD CCTV hardware and the ratification of H.265 HVEC compression standards. Technologically speaking, incorporating 1080p HD cameras and LEDs into intrusion sensors with 128GB of microSD storage doesn’t sound like a big deal to me. In alarm monitoring applications, H.265 is not only going to give monitoring stations the ability to vacuum up 1080p video clips of alarm events as part of typical activations, with video popping up as an icon in the event log on the operator’s workstation. Such alarm events could then be ‘chased’ through a network of sensor cameras as patrols are dispatched, much as retail and casino CCTV operators follow events in real time via multiple cameras. And as well as video verification, tighter compression and wider bandwidth means we’re also likely to see remote cloud patrols, a service that, privacy issues notwithstanding, could be undertaken from any location on Earth. zzz

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p ro d u ct rev i ew

ap erio

Free to

air

THE concept of Aperio is simple and that simplicity is what makes it an excellent solution. Doors can be fitted with replacement Aperio cylinders, or with complete Aperio-enabled mortise locks, and by communicating wirelessly with a remote hub they become part of an overarching access control solution. 56 se&n

PERIOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S heart is a short-distance 3DES AES 128-bit encryption wireless communication protocol designed to link an online electronic access system with any Aperio enabled mechanical lock. Any number of existing doors can be equipped with Aperio, and at a much lower cost because thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no wiring to the door. Instead a wireless hub manages 8 doors and links to the access control system via a single RS-485 cable. The hub communicates with Aperio-compatible access control panels via one RS485 cable and appears as 8 separate doors at the access control panel for programming purposes. All these Aperio locks are uniquely serialised so a properly programmed access control system knows exactly which doors they are and treats them the same as its hardwired entry points. And with all doors linked online, authorization is updated in real time, providing a high level of control while audit trail and time zone functionality enhances system monitoring. Expanding an electronic access system with Aperio is also more cost-effective than alternative solutions because it is easy to install. Importantly, Aperio is fully compatible with RFID technologies

Doors can be fitted with replacement Aperio cylinders, or with complete Aperio enabled mortise locks and by communicating wirelessly with a remote hub become part of an overarching access control solution. so in most cases there is no need to change user credentials, you just use existing cards. Nor do doors and locking systems need to be exchanged, simply upgraded with Aperio-enabled products, maximizing the return on past investments. The new locks in the Aperio range variously offer compatibility with MIFARE, iCLASS and RFID prox protocols. They talk via Zigbee RF to the hub unit in a nearby ceiling which can manage any 8 locks from the Aperio series. One of the new locks has key override and prox – perfect for things like fixed drug cabinets in hospitals – while another new product in the Aperio range offers 2-factor authentication. Same as all the locks in the Aperio series, this unit talks to wireless hubs at up to 30m. Aperio mortise locks can be retrofitted in place of existing mortise locks with no additional installation work. These locks have all the functions of a normal mortise lock and can be set up in latch-only or vestibule mode. Aperio can be also integrated with a new mortise lock or it can be installed with an existing mortise lock. Like many other locking solutions in the range, this unit has a key override. But the simplest product in the Aperio range is arguably the neatest. It’s a straight cylinder exchange that serves to turn any Aperio-enabled cylinder lock into a fully access controlled door in about 30 seconds. You take off the faceplate, pull out the pin that holds the cylinder in place, remove the old cylinder, replace it with the Aperio cylinder and in less than 30 seconds you’ve got access control with full audit trail. That’s the beauty of Aperio. And you can move this Aperio cylinder to another door any time you like, depending on changing needs and threats. From an installation point of view, you install a single wire to the access control panel from the remote hub and you’ve got 8 doors of access control. The simplicity of the process is a real boon. Technically, you don’t need to be an installer to replace a mechanical cylinder with an Aperio cylinder, though in the real world of integrated security installations this is going to be preferable.

The physical process itself simply involves undoing 2 screws and pulling out a pin. That’s a major advantage of this Aperio cylinder series – that it can be installed by non professionals. You don’t have to be licensed, certified, an electrician, or a locksmith. It’s cylinder out, cylinder in, there’s no key override, it’s portable and you can move it in 30 seconds to any other door with a cylinder lock. ASSA ABLOY´s Aperio wireless lock family can also now deliver interoperability with Seos credentials from HID Global and ASSA ABLOY, and with the HID Global iCLASS SE reader platform. As a certified Genuine HID Technology, Aperio now also supports HID Global’s iCLASS SE platform. Additionally, Aperio locks support iCLASS, MIFARE and DESFire, as well as low frequency 125 kHz HID Prox and EM410x technologies. zzz

se&n 57

s p e ci al f eat u r e

alarms

o, what are the capabilities of the best alarm panels on the market today? We’ve observed in the past that alarm panels have been slow to adopt many of the capabilities and functionalities of the digital age – but how are things at the flagship level? What can installers and users expect from our leading brands? It certainly seems that manufacturers are incorporating many of the latest developments into their flagship alarm systems.

Paradox MG5050

best of the best In this special feature we take a look at the flagship alarm panels available to installers from Australia’s largest manufacturers and distributors. 58 se&n

The premier alarm panel offering from CSD is the Paradox MG5050 hybrid panel which combines the Spectra hardwire panel with the Paradox wireless range. According to CSD’s Daniel Dunbar, key features and strengths of the MG5050 include the new TM40 and TM50 touchscreens along with smartphone Apps that provide clear and intuitive user interfaces for control not only of the arm states but also output activations, name programming, zone testing, even floor maps and zone status filtering. “Inbuilt (and wireless option) PGM outputs provide for activation of external devices such as garage doors, reticulation, lighting and air-conditioning,” says Dunbar. “With an integrated 32 zone wireless receiver and 10 hardwired inputs on board, the MG5050 comes with enough zones to satisfy most small installs. And with the addition of 8 zone hard wired expanders the MG5050 will support any combination of hardwired or wireless zones. “Meanwhile, low level control may be achieved using programmable outputs; for genuine Access Control Paradox supplies the EVO product range.” Dunbar says menu-driven programming for the installer, master and maintenance codes makes programming and ongoing management of the

alarm panel as simple as can be. Paradox also supplies a range of installation tools such as onsite firmware updating and easy to use programming software. 32 users are available, and each user can have a remote control enrolled. “The MG5050 supports 2 partitions (unlike other systems, no programming is required to enable partitioning other than assigning a zone to the second area) additionally, each model of code pad will automatically add the armed status display for the second area as soon as it’s enabled,” says Dunbar. “On the new TM40 and TM50 touchscreens each area’s name is displayed on screen.” There’s a good spread of monitoring options, with all current Paradox Spectra, Magellan and EVO panels able to support PSTN Contact ID, Personal Dialling and Monitoring as well as, depending on the variant selected and configuration of communication modules, IP/Ethernet GPRS, GSM, dialler and SMS. There are also touch screen options including the TM40 (4.3 inch colour) and TM50 (5 inch colour) keypads. These touchscreens feature intuitive

“With an integrated 32 zone wireless receiver and 10 hardwired inputs on board, the MG5050 comes with enough zones to satisfy most small installs. And with the addition of 8 zone hard wired expanders the MG5050 will support any combination of hardwired or wireless zones. menus and icons, ultra-fast response time when scrolling through pages, and clear/precise menudriven prompts. Other neat advantages of the touch screens include SpotOn Alarm Locator which allows the user to upload up to 32 floor plans to the TM50, providing a graphic verification of zone locations customisable with illustrations or photographs. On screen monitoring displays the arming status of all partitions and zones and with Solo Test mode, you can easily test all system zones right from the TM50’s screen. An external SD media card slot allows users to upload photos for use with the slide show function and easily upgrade firmware, while customisable labels allows user to customise and edit zones, areas, users, and PGM labels. Can the system be accessed via the internet by users and techs for maintenance and system status checks? “Yes and one step better,” says Dunbar. “While the panel can be accessed through a browser via the IP Module and also through the PCS250 GPRS, these same modules enable access via the iParadox smartphone App available for iOs or Android.”

Hills Reliance R128

Over at DAS the flagship alarm panel is the Hills

se&n 59

s p e ci al f eat u r e Reliance R128 Alarm Panel, a solution that has been around for a while and is respected for its reliability and functionality. Like the others, it’s a hybrid and offers wireless and wired support for alarm devices. Key features and strengths that make operation easier for users and installation easier for techs include 16 programmable zones expandable to 128 using zone expander boards, 8 individual areas, 99 user codes and a maximum of 24 code pads. The Reliance 128 is ITI and Inovonics wireless compatible, so there’s no shortage of quality intrusion detectors to play with. DAS also recommends its Optex sensors, which are of excellent quality and meet various customer residential and commercial requirements. Hills Reliance panels can interface to several communications options including GSM/GPRS and IP. Hills provides a secure GPRS communicator interface and monitoring platform – Telstra Secure which comes in 2 plans; month by month or a 36-month plan. Hills Reliance panels support a touch screen known as TouchNav, which is one of the nicest keypads on the market. It’s a 3.5-inch colour touch screen with an easy to use graphical interface, custom text naming for user names, areas, zones, outputs and rooms, swipe card integration (when card reader NX1701EAU is installed) and an inbuilt message board. Remote maintenance of Hills Reliance panels can be accessed via the internet when they are interfaced with Hills ComNav interface. ComNav allows both users and techs to do system checks and maintenance.

Bosch Solution 144

Bosch’s leading alarm panel is the beautiful Australian-designed and developed Solution 144 that we’ve been slavering over since we saw it at Security 2012 in Sydney. It’s another hybrid and comes with 16 onboard zones and is expandable to 144 wired or wireless, it’s partitionable to 8 areas with 256-PIN, token, keyfob and fingerprint users. Other strong features of the Solution 144 includes integrated access control for up to 16 doors and these can be driven via proximity key pads, weather-proof external metal keypads, internal and external LAN readers and fingerprint biometric LAN readers. There are also 5 on-board outputs, expandable to 37. Comms options are well covered out of the box. You get PSTN (dialler), GSM/GPRS, IP and locally via SMS, Email or iPhone app. There’s a touch screen in the pipeline and maintenance and system status can be handled via Solution Link. Bosch says it doesn’t do a browser-based drawbridge into Solution 144 for security reasons.

Security Merchants Protégé

Security Merchants flagship alarm panel is Protégé

60 se&n

alarms

... strong features of the Solution 144 include integrated access control for up to 16 doors and these can be driven via proximity key pads, weather-proof external metal keypads, internal and external LAN readers and fingerprint biometric LAN readers.

by Integrated Control Technology (ICT) which is manufactured over the ditch in New Zealand. While Protégé is ostensibly an alarm panel, its vertical and lateral potential is simply epic. It goes without saying Protégé GX system caters for unlimited zones, doors and users but even that technical hyperbole is too limited a description for this product. In short, this is a fully integrated alarm, access control and building automation solution and its automatic integration of these facilities makes it very simple for end users to utilise and benefit from the functionality of the system. Importantly, the system is modular and this means the customer pays for only the functions and numbers they require. There are very neat C-Bus, ModBus and BacNet integrations that allow Protégé vast lateral flexibility. With a system as capable as this one, effective management is vital and optional management software enables enhanced integration functions with CCTV, photo ID, muster reporting, email reports. When it comes to comms, Protégé has digital dialler and TCP/IP on-board and there are optional GSM/GPRS interfaces available. From a device comms perspective, Protégé is hardwired but there’s integration with some generic wireless products. Protégé has a fully programmable touchscreen, operating on Windows CE and communicating through TCP/IP. This allows operation of the Protégé system and other connected systems, including IP intercom, building automation, lighting control and VoIP, etc. Techs programming and maintaining this mighty system can climb aboard via dedicated software through PSTN or TCP/IP connections and iPhone

Call us on (02) 9150 0651 or visit www.perimetersystems.com.au PERIMETER DETECTION SOLUTIONS SINCE 1987 Palmgrove Business Park, D413-15 Forrester St. Kingsgrove NSW info@perimetersystems.com.au | www.perimetersystems.com.au

s p e ci al f eat u r e

alarms

When it comes to comms, the RISCO LightSYS control panel has a built in digital communicator and supports the option of both a plug in GSM/GPRS module and/or an IP plug on module. and Android Apps are also available for remote connection and operation of the system, which is a nice up-sell for users.

RISCO LightSYS

RISCO Australia’s Tim Prag says that LightSYS is the company’s leading alarm panel product. It’s a hybrid system, too, with a twist. You get support for wired, wireless and bus-line devices. Features that make RISCO LightSYS easier for installers include a text-menu driven which makes operation for the users much easier. The option of adding bus detectors reduces the cable requirements, the need for expansion modules and reduces the labour time and cost. The RISCO LightSYS control panel allows for 32 zones, wired, wireless and bus-line in any combination. The system allows for 16 user codes and 16 wireless key-fobs, 4 partitions and 4 groups per partition, 500-event log memory, 4 wired keypads and 2 one-way wireless key-pads. The RISCO eyeWAVE wireless PIR camera will soon be available on the RISCO LightSYS panel to allow for video verification. Yeah, you read that right. Soon there’ll be video verification. And having held these sensors in my hand I can attest to their quality.

62 se&n

When it comes to comms, the RISCO LightSYS control panel has a built in digital communicator and supports the option of both a plug in GSM/GPRS module and/or an IP plug on module. The user interfaces include a tidy LCD keypad or you can go with the optional touch screen, which is available in black and white and looks great in either livery. Techs can access the system thanks to full upload and download capability either remotely or via a direct RS232 cable. The RISCO LightSYS U/D software is free to be downloaded from www. riscogroup.com.

ness m1

Meanwhile, over at Aussie manufacturer Ness, the M1 combines security, automation, lighting, HVAC, access control and telephone interfacing. It’s a bit of a stretch calling this big solution an alarm panel but given it offers 208 alarm zones hardwired and 144 wireless alarm zones via the M1 radio interface, it’s impossible to slot the M1 underneath Ness’ 16-zone D16X in terms of outright capability. In addition to its security features, M1 offers what Ness says are the most powerful automation features available on any system anywhere in the world. The Ness M1 Logic Programming engine built into the controller allows to the installer to write almost any logic rule they require. A mutual strength of the M1 (and the D16X if you focus on the straight alarm panel) is a wide choice of user interfaces. Ness offers a number of hardwired keypad and touch screen options, wireless radio keys and keypads, as well as smartphone Apps for both Apple iOS and Android. The M1 navigator features a touch sensitive 3.5inch LCD colour display with bright, easy to use

graphic icons and softkeys which makes it simple to operate security zones, control outputs, lights, automation tasks and easily change custom settings. For greater interconnectivity, the M1 allows multiple panels to communicate with each other via TCP/IP to allow great expandability and flexibility. The M1 supports up to 199 User Codes (4 or 6 digit) with assignable authority levels per panel. M1 also supports multiple Arming levels: Away, Stay, Stay Instant, Nite, Nite Instant, Vacation. The system is simple for installers to program and offers great flexibility to allow tailoring to a client’s needs. Programming is simply performed either via the system keypad or it can be handled using Ness Up/Download software. All Ness systems can be partitioned into areas to allow the installer to program the system to work better for the user. Expanding its capabilities even further, the Ness M1 also supports access control card readers and interfaces to 3rd-party systems such as Clipsal C-Bus and push automation controllers. When it comes to comms, there’s an onboard dialler, plus an optional GSM module as well as optional Ness APX IP monitoring module provides monitoring via internet/IP. M1 can also send email alerts to multiple users. In addition, M1 can be fully programmed and controlled over the internet using ElkRP PC software. User can also log into their system via a Web Browser using the built-in Web GUI in the Ethernet module to fully control both the security and automation functions.

Videofied XT-iP710

Videofied’s flagship alarm panel can either operate as a complete stand-alone wireless video alarm system or connect to any existing alarm system as an XTender-upgrade to video alarm system. The XTiP710 central panel communicates wirelessly with up to 24 devices. There are 3 wired inputs and 2 wired outputs and 2 wired arming inputs are also provided. Wireless devices consist of battery powered MotionViewers (Detector/ Night Vision Camera), keypads, proximity readers, IP65 wireless arming stations, reed switches and remote controls. The capability to map any wireless MotionViewer camera to a wired input also provides a flexible alarm/event video verification solution for glass breaks, PE Beams, smoke detectors, duress/holdup buttons or any other wired device. Significant advantages of the Videofied system over general alarm systems, are that each wireless Videofied MotionViewer (PIR detector with built in night vision camera) will provide a 10-second video clip upon detecting motion, meaning each and every alarm activation can be verified at the security control room through a simple event based 10 second video.

Communication is dual path for alarm events to the monitoring station which is provided using the on-board GSM/GPRS and IP Ethernet communicators. All communications are 128-bit encrypted and utilise redundant IP control room services for the Videofied signals and video alarm events. The Videofied monitoring software – Frontel – is designed to work seamlessly in conjunction with any other alarm monitoring software. To date, Frontel is integrated to operate with 28 different monitoring software platforms including SIMS, ADSW, CAMS, PATRIOT and DICE. There are currently 65 Videofied-enabled security control rooms throughout Australia and New Zealand. End users of Videofied systems can receive video alarm events and information once it has first been channelled and managed by the central monitoring station. It is a seamless and self-managed process to forward video alarm events to the end user so that intrusion videos can be viewed on the computer, iPhone or smart phone. All Videofied systems, including information and settings associated with each system, can be remotely downloaded and uploaded from the Videofied–enabled security monitoring station. Installers also have the capability to utilise the Videofied system’s direct connect programming cable for easy connection, programming and servicing of the Videofied system and devices. zzz

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a la rm s

by john adams

Dual carriageway A good PIR is a perfect detection solution when installed carefully, even in quite challenging environments. But there are times when only a dual technology sensor will do.

HE thinking behind dual technology sensing is very simple – it’s all about double knock – 2 separate thresholds must be reached to trigger an alarm event. Double knock works in this way. Let’s say the PIR sensing element within a detector picks up the presence of an intruder - but the triggering of the second sensor is required before an alarm contact is opened to report that intrusion. Sensor designers assumed that even if the PIR portion of the sensor was compromised by a big increase in temperature from sun through windows or air con, the presence of the microwave component still provided adequate protection. PIR elements sense the level of IRE changing between zones over a set time at a set speed. There aren’t many environmental disturbances that mirror this sort of activity but heat sources - especially warm air currents - spell trouble for PIRs. Some other issues with PIRs include the fact the reflected IRE signals their pyro elements receive are so minute. The low signal level means that amplification and filtration processes must be well engineered in order to achieve quality signals and this necessary processing slows response times as well as limiting coverage. Significantly, microwaves work differently. They submerge an area with a signal and can then pick up variations between the signal sent and the signal reflected back to them in a process known as Doppler shift. Microwave sensor technologies offer strong detection performance - in fact their performance is too strong. The old Pinkerton’s units would detect the movement of a finger at 50 paces, and the microwave components of new dual technology sensors are still very sensitive to tiny movements and slight vibrations. Making life more interesting, microwaves pass through solid objects like walls and windows and have a habit of detecting pedestrians at the bottom of the garden, rats in a wall or water flowing through pipes. When combined with PIR detection, this acute sensitivity to movement could be reined in and leveraged and the result 64 se&n

was a more consistently reliable catch rate. Some other important facts are that PIRs are sensitive to movement across their zones, while dual technology devices are more likely to activate if they pick up a Doppler shift from an object that moves either towards the sensor or away from it. Additionally, combining 2 completely different sensing technologies means each can be tuned up more than would be possible if the sensors had to stand-alone.

Processing

There aren’t many environmental disturbances that mirror this sort of activity but heat sources - especially warm air currents - spell trouble for PIRs.

When thinking about processing installers and end users should try to ignore most the marketing hype about intelligent sensors making ‘decisions’ before signalling an alarm. It’s a fact that through clever engineering and digital signal processing sensors are now able to adjust their basal detection parameters in relation to a changing environment, but this ability is still limited in discretion. In most cases, an alarm activation is the result of a set of fundamental electronic thresholds being exceeded and a normally closed contact being opened or a normally open contact being closed - it’s not a ‘decision’ based on active neural processing in real time. There are a couple of different ways dual technology sensors assess a signal. The first is based on parallel count ratio. If a dual technology sensor picks up a change in its environment it’ll start to count the number of times change takes place. Should the PIR’s count reach 16 before the microwave has counted 1, the sensor will assume there’s a possible fault with either PIR or microwave and trip a contact reporting that fault. But should the appropriate count ratio still not be reached after a more extended period of time, the sensor is designed to reset its counters. It does this based on the designer’s conclusion that a certain set of signals in the context of certain parameters confirms either a fault or a legitimate environmental disturbance. Simultaneous count and trigger ratio work differently. In such a system every sensor contributes a count to counter X - the environmental problem counter - which then operates in a similar manner to the parallel count ratio. It looks for a ratio within a certain time period in order to assess potential sensor flaws. As the count starts, both sensing devices also begin to count to another location - counter C. This is the trigger counter and when it gets the first count it arms the circuit ready to report an alarm when certain ratios are met. zzz

touch of brilliance

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For more information, For more information,visit visitwww.honeywell.com/security/hsc www.honeywell.com/security/hsc The TuxedoThe is available white (TUXW) or silver (TUXS) and (TUXS) is compatible Honeywell’s Tuxedo isinavailable in white (TUXW) or silver and is with compatible with VISTA systems. Available at ADI. Call 1300 1300 ADI ADI. Honeywell’s VISTA systems. Phone 234 234. 2011Honeywell HoneywellInternational InternationalInc. Inc.All All rights rights reserved. reserved. ©©2013

t h e i n t e rv i ew

Ko b i Be n-S h a bat with John Adams

Ip Man Q: Open Platform Systems is growing fast, Kobi - you were a BRW Fast 100 company and were ranked 52 on the 2012 Fast 100 list. How many staff do you have now and where are your offices in Australia? Can you give us an idea of turnover?

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John Adams speaks with Kobi Ben-Shabat, founder and CEO of Australia’s fastest growing security distributor about the success of his IP-based business and his plans for the future. A: We have been growing an average 67 per cent each year for the past 3 years and have grown the team from 14 to 18 in the last 4 weeks. We have 6 full time support technicians and 9 team members for sales and marketing. The budget for 2013 is set to be $A12M – that

will represent a 50 per cent growth on the previous year. We cover the East Coast very well with offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and we’re looking to open an office in Perth soon.

Q: What do you put the rapid growth down to? There are plenty of companies desperate to squeeze themselves into the IP video space but few are having your successes. A: In my opinion, the main reason is the high level of support and service we provide to our clients, with 6 technical people across the East Coast. We conduct Genetec certification training and managed to train over 120 people last year with plans to maintain that number for 2013. Along with this, I think our core focus on IP (video, access control and LPR) and the great relationship with Genetec is what provides the “glow” to the total solutions we provide. The turnkey solutions we offer with our key partners such as Axis, EMC/IOMEGA are important too. Obviously over time, our experience in major projects and our local delivery capability is critical. There are also many global and local reference sites that use Genetec and these have built customer confidence in the solution we provide. Q: So there’s no secret ingredient here that is fuelling your growth – it’s about a balance of quality suppliers allowing you to best support a wide range of applications? A: I think the secret is the great team we have and the hard work they put in every single day, balanced with the great products we represent and our approach to customer service. I feel we are unique – our boutique distribution is an important ingredient to deliver good support and maintain good relationships with customers and suppliers and we see our difference to many competitors that can’t provide that level of support because they have so many products. Q: When you supply a solution, how involved is OPS in delivering that solution to the client through support for the integrator? A: We are very much involved, though

the market has come long way in terms of its knowledge and experience since I started selling IP video 12 years ago. The complexity of projects is increasing and rapid changes in proposed solutions require a big investment in support and integration to make sure the end result is as expected. One example is the shift to deploy solutions on the VMWARE platform. You need a different skill set to handle that, especially when you consider a lot of our customers are still selling DVRs.

Integration to “anything” is here right now and we have integrated lately to RFID tags for tracking of devices and assets (both for video and access control), package tracking and integration (in warehouse environment), ‘smart’ fence integration and many others that allow customers to consolidate many applications to single head end.

Q: Your business is called Open Platform Systems but how open is it possible for systems to truly be? Can integrators and end users really expect to find IP Video’s Holy Grail - networked solutions that will integrate with pretty much anything? A: When we thought about the name 5 years ago open platform was not the main stream concept it is today but we still anticipated that this is the only way forward not just in video but even in access control. I still remember how one of the big names in IP video a few years back had a white paper on his web site ‘Why proprietary is better than open platform” but since then that has been removed and they support ONVIF now. Integration to “anything” is here right now and we have integrated lately to RFID tags for tracking of devices and assets (both for video and access control), package tracking and integration (in warehouse environments), ‘smart’ fence integration and many others that allow customers to a consolidate many applications to single head end. Q: Where is this industry going really? Will we see cloud solutions that herd us into proprietary ecosystems along with the consumer masses - cloud solutions solely owned by the likes of Google

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t h e i n t e rv i ew

Ko b i Be n-S h a bat with John Adams

and Amazon? Can we avoid being compartmentalised by low-cost cloud solutions that are being called ‘anti open platform’ and even accused of deliberately impeding the performance of competitor’s hardware? Or does a hybrid (LAN/ WAN) future seem most likely to you? A: I think we will see both, I see the cloud as major growth for our industry as deployment of cameras will be much easier and cheaper but the key thing is reduction of ongoing cost for maintenance and support. Big systems will stay as they are today – as standalone systems or part of private clouds in the near future – while small systems will be cloud-based. With the announcement of Genetec JV with Microsoft Azure I am pretty excited about these opportunities, especially when I see the cloud domination in my business - my emails, CRM/ERP and areas of customer service are now all going on in the cloud. Another aspect of the cloud that is important is the managed service that it will bring to the access control and alarms markets. Integrating video and video verification to these will be a main requirement of the future. Q: At 40 you’re still a youngster, Kobi. Did you expect this sort of success a couple of years ago when you were touting DVTel video management solutions at the dawn of IP Video? A: It’s more than a couple ... it has been 5 years and a great journey. I think that at the end of every year when I look at our achievements and where OPS and the security market are heading I can truly say that it’s still an unreal ride and a great challenge. I think that I have seen some lows as well, so we need to keep working hard to maintain that success. Q: What’s changed most fundamentally in the market since then, in your opinion? Is it interoperability? Network and hardware performance? Customer expectation? All of the above and more? A: Customer expectation and acceptance of IP and Open platform are the main changes, the value-add

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proposition (megapixel cameras and IP becoming more cost effective). If you add the changes we see in technology in any part of our life, I don’t think that offering analogue systems or proprietary systems gets any respect these days. Q: I know you work hard and are constantly ‘in the business’. Aside from hard work, are there any secrets you’d like to share with younger readers eager to forge their own paths? A: More hard work. I think that focus, determination and patience are the main ingredients for success when building a new business. Listen to people and make decisions once you have looked hard at a few options.

I think the future is bright with the ‘triple whammy’ of video, ACS and LPR and especially cloud and managed services. There will be thermal cameras for safety (fire detection), there will access control as a service, as well as managed services for alarms. It seems like analytics will make its way onto the market too, thanks to constant and increasing demand from clients.

Q: What’s your favourite product on the IP Video market today that you do not distribute? A: This is tricky ...we look at the potential gaps that we have all the time and try to figure out what solutions we need to improve and it seems like the main products we look for relate to an all-in-one NVR that has open platform software and provides a cost effective solution. I’d also like a combination storage, switch and monitor. And wireless locks with NFC capabilities... Q: What do you most enjoy doing when you’re not working? A: I enjoy thinking about work...cycling also helps me to keep fit and relax and resets my mind from the pressures at work. Q: What can we expect from OPS in the next 18 months? Do you have any plans for more in the way of networked access control, or is it going to be a period of growth and consolidation? A: I think the future is bright with the ‘triple whammy’ of video, ACS and LPR and especially cloud and managed services. There will be thermal cameras for safety (fire detection), there will access control as a service, as well as managed services for alarms. It seems like analytics will make its way onto the market too, thanks to constant and increasing demand from clients. zzz

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ap p s

app, Most apps are unsecured but the answer is in our hands. Smartphones and tablets are now home to apps for mobile payments, banking, healthcare, customer service, product inventory, law enforcement and much more.

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by john adam s

app and away M

ORE than a couple of times in the past 12 months or so we’ve alluded to some changes taking place in the alarms market, in part these changes are heralded by interactive new products like AT&T’s Digital Life, but with high end alarm panels, app access to system status and management is also starting to filter through. It would be a mistake to leave customer expectation out of this process of evolution. When they can transfer tens of thousands of dollars a day via a secure banking app, customers are entitled to expect secure mobile access to their security system as well. $US171.5 billion in payments was undertaken on mobile devices in 2012, according to the Gartner Group - a 61 per cent increase on the 2011 figures. Gartner projects 2018 will see $620 billion in financial transactions from 450 million users. These numbers are huge and transactions are generally very secure. Some electronic security manufacturers are embracing the new technology, realising that as the digital revolution proceeds, there will be an expectation that the performance of formerly ‘dumb’ appliances can be enhanced through remote access. Other manufacturers, however, are remaining on the sidelines concerned over the security ramifications posed by allowing end users to access their alarm systems in unsecured online environments through smart device apps. I tend to think both parties in this debate are in the right. In the future, enhanced security systems integrated with video surveillance

If Google, which owns the ecosystem and the app (making for tighter integration), could not secure Google Wallet, chances are smaller companies will have even less success securing their apps.

capabilities and video verification are going to be accessible through online apps. But these will need to be truly secure. A poorly secured mobile device that’s a gateway to an enterprise server is a troubling thing. How can the installer and end user be sure a manufacturers app is secure? Well, therein lies the rub. There are no standards relating to online access of security systems and that means the responsibility falls on the app writer (and the contracting manufacturer) to ensure apps are secure. Before we go on, let’s consider what risks a frail app poses to a security system. It might allow third parties to arm and disarm the system. It might allow the theft of secure codes. Once in the system a management app will allow third parties access to personal information or event logs that show security procedures. Obviously the seriousness of such breaches is amplified by the security levels of the site breached – whether this be a 2 bedroom flat or a nuclear power station. IT departments also have to be onboard with this. An RSA survey recently found 93 per cent of IT security professionals thought mobile devices were a threat to enterprise security. Having understood the threat, we need to understand the risks. And they are real. There’s no point pretending the apps used by smart devices - phones and tablets – really are secure. In fact the majority of apps in key areas like banking, retail and social networking are not very secure. According to a ViaForensic study,

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ap p s

of a selection of iPhone and Android apps only 17 of 100 passed 3 very basic tests for encryption and data traceability. More to the point as far as this discussion is concerned, as many as 40 per cent failed the test for securely storing passwords and user names, a flaw researchers said could lead to identity theft or fraud. More concerning, ViaForensic found passwords and financial data were stored in clear text on some mobile devices. Further, transactions that should have been secure were unencrypted and data storage was messy.

IPhone vs Android

They’re called computers but a typical smart device is not a PC or a laptop. Instead it’s operating on barebones when it comes to processing and storage capability as designers try to balance paradoxical demands like storage and processing power with low cost and low power draw. The results of this armwrestle are short cuts in design that create security weaknesses – in this case it’s tiny memory. A mobile phone with a small read/write memory (some are only 512Mb) needs to hang on to vital data

There’s no point pretending the apps used by smart devices - phones and tablets – really are secure. In fact the majority of apps in keys areas like banking, retail and social networking are not secure.

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in an accessible location. The trouble with this is it means key data is close to the surface where it can be easily reached. Another weakness of mobile devices is written into their DNA – it’s C Language’s frailty in the face of buffer overflow. Apple uses a species of C Language called Objective C to create iOS and Android is similarly vulnerable. These vulnerabilities mutually extend down to the OS level, which is no fun thing. So - the key players are Apple and Google. Google builds new versions of its mobile OS in cahoots with hardware makers and there are 3 primary versions including late 2010’s Gingerbread, as well as Ice Cream Sandwich and the most recent version Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). If all this lolly shop talk is confusing readers, Google’s mobile OS is always code-named after sweet treats to avoid the fiddle of numerical labelling in a fast changing environment. Meanwhile, Apple apps have to pass a gatekeeper before they are hung in the window of Apple’s App Store and it goes without saying that an app with obvious security issues will not make the cut. Typically about 10 per cent of Apple apps are rejected for passive or active security failures. Apple’s proprietary model demands it keeps a pretty good grip on which apps are delivered to its users so there’s a good chance that sinister applications arriving for vetting are discovered and junked. Other Apple iOS security features include a 10-failed password data wipe, and there’s also remote wipe which allows the owner of a lost iPhone to erase all their data if a phone is lost or stolen. Over at Android Marketplace, apps are judged differently – on the basis of a security model relating to capabilities. When an app is loaded onto an Android phone it asks the OS for a set of capabilities and the OS is built with a preconceived capabilities list it is prepared to assign. It’s simple and clever and prevents an app undertaking any operation the OS deems it should not be allowed to. Nevertheless, if an app requests user name and password for remote hosting there’s no way the Android OS can tell to what use such data will be put. Additionally, Android has no integrated password-fail wipe or remote wipe yet, lowering security. Something else that should be considered by readers is Google Wallet, an app that time found wanting, despite the huge amount of effort Google put into ensuring this App was secure. The point is that if Google, which owns the ecosystem and the app (making for tighter integration), could not secure its own Wallet, chances are smaller companies will have even less success securing their apps. This means apps must always be considered suspect.

Securing device and apps

It’s pretty obvious that the froth and bubble around apps has nothing whatever to do with their security. As a metaphor, we all know the Sydney Opera House has an integrated security system with

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solid capability but no one is taking photos of themselves in front of its server racks. What I mean by this is that app security is back-of-house yet this does not mean security manufacturers and security conscious end users should be focused on nothing but clever utility. If your company is looking to build an app that allows remote mobile access to video surveillance or alarm and access control systems, make sure it’s built right. Those staff with mobile device access to security systems – in commercial applications there will only be a handful of them – should follow basic procedures to ensure their mobile devices stay out of harm’s way. In the short term this might mean having a dedicated device to access security systems running something like Opera Software’s Opera Mobile or Opera Mini browsers. Opera has great design features when it comes to security and an unpatched vulnerability rate for the past 12 months of just 0.01 per cent - that’s really good. Authorised security system users should also ensure their devices are not open to public wireless networks and they should employ PINs

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ap p s

on phones that lock and wipe after multiple failed login attempts. Now, if anyone knows how to secure thickclient applications running on mobile devices, it’s the banks, so there’s no harm in trying to emulate their security solutions in mobile app security. For instance, a mobile device should have a password and there should be an authentication handshake between the device and the security server during an authentication event. Data stored on the mobile device should be encrypted and one-time passwords should be used in PKI-type applications. This involves a security password being required every time there’s an authentication event. The security system sends the code to the requesting device by SMS and this is then used as a one-time authentication. There should be procedures written that cover the security of security system-linked mobile devices, too. There are a range of security apps available to toughen up mobile Android devices, including the free Avast! which has antivirus protection, scans apps to provide details on what they are doing, and a Web shield that scans URLs

Opera has great design features when it comes to security and an unpatched vulnerability rate for the past 12 months of just 0.01 per cent - that’s really good.

and call history. Tough iPhone apps include DOT LOCK PROTECTION, which costs 99 cents and allows users to hide personal information and utilize either the standard keypad entry, or the dot lock, which requires that they draw a pattern using a finger to unlock a device. This app will file a break-in report for you, as well as take a photo of your phone’s thief, with a date, and even better, a GPS location of your phone. Meanwhile, RSA SECURID SOFTWARE TOKEN muscles up an iPhone into a 2-factor authenticator to deploy software tokens to other RSA resources like VPNs, WLANs and web apps on the go. Another security app we particularly like for hardening up mobile devices is 1PASSWORD PRO. This app allows users to securely store website logins, passwords, credit cards and membership numbers using hardware-accelerated AES encryption and autolock. zzz

for malware. Avast! is rated as having a detection rate of attempted hijackings greater than 90 per cent. There’s a very neat anti-theft component hidden inside Avast! that allows users to remote control smartphones using SMS. Lost or stolen phones can be remotely locked, located or wiped. You can also make the phone play a siren sound, lock down its SIM card, and prevent USB debugging as well. There’s also a firewall that allows you to control network traffic. You can block access to Wi-Fi or the network for specific apps which is handy for security and power saving. Lookout Security & Antivirus is another free security app and offers antivirus and scheduled scanning for Android devices. There is also a locate function for lost or stolen devices, the ability to activate an alarm, and the option to track your phone online via the Lookout website. A handy feature that Lookout provides is the ability to backup contacts online and restore them to your existing device or a new one. Extra features include safe browsing, remote lock and wipe, privacy reports on apps, and advanced backup which includes photos

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new pr o d u ct s h owcase / new p roduct showcase / new p roduct showcase / n ew p rod u

editor’s choice

What’s new in the industry

Intrepid MicroWave 330 INTREPID MicroWave 330 is an integrated volumetric perimeter detection system for open areas, gates, entryways, wall and rooftop applications. Based on Southwest Microwave’s field-proven microwave detection technology, it provides volumetric detection of human intruders with minimal environmental nuisance alarms. Advanced digital signal processing (DSP) allows continuous monitoring of intrusion alarm and tamper switch status, received signal strength and detection parameters. As part of the new-generation INTREPID family, MicroWave 330 networks seamlessly with MicroPoint II fence detection sensor and MicroTrack II buried cable detection sensor using a common, open architecture communications protocol. Features include digital signal processing (DSP), seamless networking capabilities, microwave path monitoring; K-BAND frequency; simplified maintenance; interference and surge protection; weather-resistant packaging and integrated I/O modules. n Distributor: Perimeter sECURITY n Contact: +61 2 9150 0651

Hikvision Launches X55 Series of Low-Light Network Cameras HIKVISION has released a new series of low-light network cameras – the X55 series – that enables users to achieve vision in dark environments. There are 4 models in the series: the DS-2CD755F-E(I) (Z) indoor dome camera, DS-2CD7255F-E(I)Z(H) outdoor dome camera, DS-2CD855F-E network box camera and DS-2CD8255F-EI(Z) bullet camera. Each offers super low light technology (up to 0.05 lux/f1.2, with AGC on), and boasts a full high-definition output and industry-leading noise reduction technology (3D DNR). The low-light capability is a hallmark of the X55 series. With a minimum scene illumination of 0.05 lux @ F1.2, these cameras have a level of sensitivity that allows users to discern colors, shapes, sizes and movements in near complete darkness. Each of the models in the series captures images of up to 2 megapixels and provides full HD 1080p real-time video recording. The DS-2CD8255F-EI(Z) and DS-2CD7255F-E(I)Z(H) both have a weather proof rating of IP66. Meanwhile, the DS-2CD8255F-EI(Z) bullet camera, DS-2CD755F-E(I)(Z) indoor dome camera and DS-2CD7255F-E(I)Z(H) outdoor dome camera all offer optional infrared LEDs and provide an IR range of up to 30m, as well as a motorized Varifocal lens that facilitates quick and easy lens installation. The DS2CD7255F-E(I)Z(H) also has a built-in fan and heater. Among the many networking features, network connection errors and IP address conflict alerts allow users to quickly resolve potential networking issues to ensure the maximum uptime in the system. n Distributor: Security Merchants n Contact: 1800 635 122

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New Lumina LAB series cameras from CSD BASED on the successful Lumina B5 tube camera the LA-B5-50WDN-3IR now boasts enhanced IR illumination and optional lens variants. Retaining the 600TVL resolution and Winner 5 chipset which made the standard version so popular, this range is now available in 3 models. Choose between a 3-16mm or 5-50mm lens in the slimline form, or select the 5-50mm lens with external IR illuminators for serious viewing power in total darkness. n Distributor: Central Security Distribution n Contact: 1300 319 499

uct showcas e / n ew p ro d u ct s h owcas e / new pr o d u ct showcase / new p roduct showcase / new p roduct showcase /

Crow Freewave wireless from iTech ITECH Security (formerly Crow Australia) has released the FW2 Freewave 2Way (bi-directional) wireless LCD keypad and transceiver based on the GFSK (gaussian frequency-shift keying) FM technology. FW2 is fully compatible with the Crow Runner series alarm panels. The proprietary Freewave signal decoding technology has been enhanced by the addition of a gaussian filter circuitry, which through its pulse shaping capabilities, greatly reduces environmental noise (spectral width) and allows the true RF signal to be ‘heard’ substantially louder (greater signal to noise ratio) in a noisy environment. This technique also allows for the true signal to be transmitted at lower levels which increases battery efficiency. The total result is a much greater, stable and more reliable RF operating range, typically 200m+ RF range in an open air environment. The FW2 transceiver is also compatible with the standard (single directional) Freewave 9F gear. This allows existing Runner systems with Freewave 9F (916.5MHz) wireless to easily be upgraded. n Distributor: iTech Security n Contact: +61 3 9580 0730

Dahua launches 1.3MP WDR network cameras DAHUA has released its new 1.3MP series with cutting-edge WDR technology designed to handle extreme lighting contrast conditions. There are 4 new models, including box-type cameras and dome cameras including the IP66-rated 1.3MP WDR HD IPC(IPC-HF3101), 1.3MP WDR IR HD IPC (IPC-HFW3101C), 1.3MP WDR HD Vandal-proof IP dome camera (IPCHDB3101) and the 1.3MP WDR HD Vandal-proof IR IP dome camera. Compared with conventional network cameras, this series of WDR IPCs offer excellent wide dynamic range of 128dB, making them perfect for locations with strong lightingcontrast. Adopting 1/3-inch 1.3Megapixel PS CMOS image sensor and advanced DSP technology, the cameras render high image quality with great color reduction, even in low light environments. Minimum illumination is 0.1 Lux@F1.2 in color and 0.0005 Lux@F1.2 in B/W mode. With real time recording capacity at max. 1.3Megapixel (1280x960) resolution, these cameras also support dual-stream encoding, which allows video streams to be separately transmitted for different purposes. Moreover, the built-in SD card design removes the inconvenience incurred by internet interruption and some customized functions as dual power supply, PoE, Wi-Fi, and etc. are rendered as well. Dahua network cameras all conform to ONVIF standards. n Distributor: Dahua Technology n Contact: +86 571 876 88883

FLIR Raven real time site planning tool EVER wanted to see exactly how your security application plan would perform before it was installed? To know exactly how far the thermal imaging cameras will see? To find any black-spots and be able to fine-tune the entire system even before installation? Now you can. Introducing FLIR Raven – the free web-based tool using Google Maps that allows you to design your entire security application and camera layout using the FLIR Raven Site Planning Tool. Raven is an interactive thermal security site planning tool for FLIR security and surveillance thermal imaging cameras. It can handle up to 50 cameras at a time and conveniently displays both range and location for each camera specified. It will show you the area of detection coverage, allowing you to plan which cameras you need to have installed and where. It is now very easy to quickly determine areas of vulnerability within your security network. Using Raven, you can choose from a complete list of all thermal imaging cameras currently available in the FLIR security and border security product range. An updated user’s guide is available online at www.raven.flirops.com - here you will also find a direct link to a video tutorial with screen shots and audio. This will show you exactly how to get the best use out of Raven. Raven is available free of charge via the FLIR website. Simply click www.raven.flirops. com to start planning today. FLIR Raven is compatible with FLIR thermal imaging cameras including the PT-Series, F-Series, SR-Series, D-Series, HRC-Series, PT-602CZ, A310 pt and A310 f. n Distributor: Flir Systems n Contact: 1300 729 987

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s p e ci al re p o rt

new pr o d u ct s h owcase / new p roduct showcase / new p roduct showcase / n ew p rod u

editor’s choice

What’s new in the industry

HID Global and BehavioSec fraud detection HID Global is partnering with BehavioSec, a leading behavioral biometrics company, to combine BehavioSec’s Behaviometrics technology with HID Global’s 4TRESS Authentication Server. The joint offering brings a new layer of security to HID Global’s Fraud Detection System without sacrificing user convenience by employing behavioral fingerprints as an additional authentication mechanism. The integrated 4TRESS Authentication Server and Behaviometrics solution addresses risk by increasing security at the time of login. If a user’s password or OTP token is stolen but the credentials are not entered the way the user would enter them, login would be impossible. Once logged in, user behavior is continuously monitored to ensure that a third party has not intercepted or taken over the session. BehavioSec’s Behaviometrics solutions can create digital fingerprints of users’ ongoing keyboard pressing patterns, including speed, frequency and pressure, when interacting with computer applications and websites. With significant accuracy, the system can detect deviations from a user’s normal behavior and whether an attacker takes control of a computer. n Distributor: HID Global n Contact: +61 3 9809 2892

AXIS P13 fixed network cameras AXIS P13 fixed network cameras, available in both indoor and outdoor-ready models, offer great performance even in low light conditions, delivering high resolution images for easy identification. The new Axis P1357 and the equivalent outdoor-ready Axis P1357-E units offer exceptional video surveillance with 5 megapixel resolution. Axis P1355 and the outdoor-ready Axis P1355-E cameras provide excellent video surveillance with 1080p HDTV quality. With the release of these 2 models, the latest technology has now been implemented in the entire Axis P13 Series, resulting in further improved image quality in this already successful series. All models support wide dynamic range - dynamic contrast and include day and night functionality with an automatically removable IR-cut filter. They use the same lens mount as the previous Axis P13 models, and offer easy installation such as remote back-focus adjustment for fine-tuning the focus from a computer. These cameras also offer increased processing power, allowing for greatly enhanced performance in image processing. Further, they’ve been equipped with a serial port for pan/tilt head which enables operators to remotely change the camera direction. The new cameras also support P-Iris control, which allows the camera to precisely control the exact position of the iris, improving sharpness. Management is via Axis Application Development Partner Program and Axis Camera Station. n Distributor: Axis Communications n Contact: +61 3 9982 1111

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ISD’s Jaguar has cubs INNOVATIVE Security Designs (ISD) has released a Jaguar Mini camera series, including the JMS-AF-1080P and JMSCS-1080P. The cameras deliver full 1080p high definition (HD) resolution based on 2-megapixel CMOS image sensors and feature seriously impressive dual 256GB SD slots for more robust and flexible storage options, according to the company. Users can leverage 512 GB of total edge-based storage or enhance reliability by using the SD cards as a mirrored pair. Operated by power over Ethernet (PoE) or DC, the cameras include wide dynamic range (WDR) and outputs for analog devices to help users transition from analog to IP systems. Other features include motion detection, day/ night filters and advanced H.264 compression to reduce storage costs and bandwidth requirements. n Distributor: AFN Security. n Contact: +61 2 9450 0435

uct showcas e / n ew p ro d u ct s h owcas e / new pr o d u ct showcase / new p roduct showcase / new p roduct showcase /

New 180-degree cube from VIVOTEK

ANPR through the cloud

VIVOTEK’S CC8130 is a compact cube camera especially designed for indoor surveillance. The unique design makes it ideal for real applications. The ability to view at a wide angle of 180 degrees provides complete video security with no blind spots. The unique mounting design facilitates easy installation on a wall or desktop, capturing faces at eye level. A built-in microphone further increases the level of surveillance while recording sound within a 5m radius. The CC8130 supports the industry-standard H.264 compression technology, drastically reducing file sizes and conserving valuable network bandwidth. Together with the ST7501 multi-lingual 32-channel recording software, users can set up an easy-to-use IP surveillance system with ease. Features of the CC8130 include real-time H.264 and MJPEG compression (Dual Codec), 30 fps @ 1280x800 and built-in IEEE 802.3af Compliant PoE.

ANPRonline.Net’s Automated Number Plate Recognition solution uses a dual lens camera from Mobotix. Video information is delivered via the cloud for analysis, action, notification and reporting of vehicles at locations under surveillance. Developed in Australia, ANPRonline.NET allows businesses of any size to quickly and cost effectively deploy numberplate recognition technology. n Manufacturer: IP-Surveillance.com.au n Contact: 1300 062 923

n Distributor: Altech n Contact: +61 2 8622 8000

New 650-line analogue from Panasonic

DSC PowerSeries Wireless Transceiver Module

PANASONIC’s indoor dome line-up has been boosted by the release of a new varifocal, true-day night, high resolution analogue camera (WV-CF374). Powered by the new Superior Reality image processor, the camera has improved lowlight sensitivity, low power consumption, and better quality picture tones and natural colours. Features include high resolution 650 TV lines, low light sensitivity, day/night (with IR cut filter), adaptive black stretch (ABS) for more detail in the dark areas of the scene, focus assist for easier installation and 2.8 ~ 10 mm 3.6x Varifocal Auto Iris lens.

DSC, part of Tyco Security Products, unveils the PowerSeries 2-way wireless transceiver module (TR5164-433), which transforms the hybrid PowerSeries alarm control panel into a wireless system and only requires hardwiring of the panel and receiver. The add-on module supports 60 wireless zones, 16 wireless keys, and both 2-way and 1-way DSC wireless devices. Compact in design, the TR5164-433 features an easy wireless enrollment process, according to the company. Installers confirm electronic serial numbers, zone numbers and zone type through a series of user-friendly screens, reducing installation time.

n Distributor: Pacific Communications n Contact: +613 9676 0222

n Distributor: Q Alarm Systems n Contact: +61 3 9676 7000

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re g u lars help desk

helpdesk

Our panel of experts answers your questions.

Q: We’ve just been through a building here in Melbourne with a system installed by nobody knows who and we are convinced the analogue cameras were never commissioned – just installed out of the box. It would be less of a worry if it weren’t for the fact this is not the first time. What sorts of things would Help Desk recommend techs undertake to properly commission cameras in a new CCTV system?

Q:Could you explain ground loops and outline the best way to avoid ground loop problems in surveillance applications? A: Ground loops are simply current paths that couple any 2 earthed points, signal return connections or equipment ground points in a way that impacts on the performance of your equipment. Ground loops occur when resistance, capacitance and inductance of conductors carrying the unwanted ground loop currents cause common cross coupling impedance that injects signals, crosstalk and noise into input circuits. It’s possible to reduce resistance and inductance by installing short lengths of heavier cable, but it’s going to cost more and be more difficult to implement. Be sure the system you’re installing has appropriate grounding points on the chassis that are linked electrically all the way to the earth ground. Be certain coax cables have proper termination at both ends and use twisted pair (with signal and return lines together) to minimise pickup loop area. And never run cables carrying high level-signals alongside those carrying low-level signals. Be sure every shield of a coax cable is insulated from the shield next to it as well as from the group shield and check that each signal line has its own return line running close to the signal line. This reduces loop area and keeps the return line away from common sources of introduced impedance.

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A: Commissioning of a modern system is complex. You essentially want to establish that all the system’s components function to specification – cameras, network components, storage facilities, operator workstations. With cameras you’d think about target framing as well as performance aspects like synchronization tests using a reference set, test card evaluation of resolution, contrast and ghosting. There’s going to be network bandwidth, live resolution, remote resolution, low light and backlight performance. You’ll also want to carry out focus tests on lenses, as well as doing backlight, brightness, adaptation and filtration tests on lenses. And if you think we crossed from analogue to network cameras there - yep, we did and so will you. A proper maintenance program will involve recommissioning at least once a year and preferably every 6 months. There’s also cleaning of the housing window to consider.

Q: I want to install vibration sensors on the walls of an internal building that has been repeatedly attacked from units next door. Intruders have ignored the monitored exits and selected other areas of the shared perimeter to breach – successfully. Is there a product on the market that we could use to defend building structures themselves? A: The solution that springs immediately to mind is Senstar’s FlexPI. It’s an intrusion detection sensor used to protect building interiors. FlexPI can function with a stack of surfaces and materials when protecting structures such as walls, ceilings, roofs, stock cages, floors and pipes. Best of all, FlexPI is easily integrated into most existing alarm systems. The solution comes with a terminator kit, non-sensitive lead-in cable in 30 m (98 feet) roll, a

Universal Configuration Module (UCM) software on CD and a USB cable. Power supply is 12-48V DC. Q: We’ve got a challenge with a piece of coax that’s running through a factory. There’s a lot of equipment and we just can’t seem to avoid noise on the cable (and noise on the monitors) no matter how or where we run our cables. Would you recommend going to fibre? A: We wouldn’t go for fibre on a single run unless we absolutely had to. EMI occurs when varying currents set up magnetic fields which induce electric currents in lower current conductors they cross. The result of this is going to be noise which will wreak havoc on a 1Vp-p video signal in a coax cable. Spikes on the inducing cable can even add data bits to the induced cable. Awesome. You don’t go into any detail about your overall system but it’s hard to resist suggesting the possibility of using a networked camera on this cable run – particularly if you have a hybrid DVR running the show. If you don’t have a hybrid, you can still run the networked camera at the edge and tiptoe through the noise minefield on Cat-5 cable before using an IP-to-analogue converter to get images into your analogue DVR. Cat-5 is better than coax in noisy environments because the balanced twisted cable in the 4-pair core is resistant to cross talk and racket from the environment even though these cables are not shielded. Cat-5 has excellent

signal-to-noise ratio and, depending on the individual environment, is going to shrug off noise that would disable a coaxial video pipe. And if Cat-5 is not clean enough then try Cat-6. It offers even better lower insertion loss, less near end crosstalk, less return loss and the same good far-end crosstalk as Cat-5. The result of all this is even higher signal-to-noise ratio and with Cat-6 you’ll know you’ve installed a future-proof cable with 200MHz of bandwidth on tap. Q: We have a potential problem with a legacy perimeter solution we just discovered during recent fires near our site. The way the system is designed, when there’s fog or smoke, an environmental output shunts to avoid activating a false alarm at the control panel. What happened was that for about 48 hours as the fire burned near us, the perimeter was completely unprotected from intrusion. Is there some way we could have at least reported the open perimeter to our

management solution? A: A simple solution to the dilemma of environmental shunts on IR perimeter beams is to run a multiple-conductor cable and install relays in the alarm panel. Setting the zone up this way allows the technician to provide multiple relay outputs allowing environmental contacts to be shunted at the same time as tripping a 24-hour zone. Another solution is to use the relays built into the PE beam so there’s no need to put additional relays into the panel. It works because the negative side of each zone and the negative side of the auxiliary power supply are connected and this cuts the number of wires needed. The panel’s EOLs can be installed in the field inside the PE beam instead of at the controller - that means the detection wires will be fully supervised. Having gone through all this, we’d think about replacing the hardware with something that reports signal loss from environmental events or masking. zzz

Cat-5 has excellent signal-to-noise ratio and, depending on the individual environment, is going to shrug off noise that would disable a coaxial video pipe.

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events february 2013 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; july 2013

December 2012 Issue 339

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l Case study: IGA Willagee l Road test: FLIR thermal l Key product releases of 2012 l The Interview: Joe McCann l DVTel Quasar shines bright l Full mesh wireless networks l 2013 - The year ahead

Date: Feb 17 - 19, 2013 Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates Contact: http://www.asisonline.org/ UAE ASIS Middle East 2013 will address a full spectrum of topics in security management such as: supply chain security, loss prevention, hotel security, intellectual property, maritime piracy, terrorism, executive protection, internal theft and fraud, competitive intelligence, brand protection, physical security, cyber security, investigations, due diligence and global business issues.

ISC West 2013 Date: 10-12 April 2013 Venue: Sands Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV, U.S. Contact: 203-840-5602 Website: http://www.iscwest.com Product categories include access control, alarms and monitoring, biometrics, fire control, networked security products, public security and safety, remote monitoring, systems integration, video surveillance, wireless applications and more.

Secutech Taipei, Taiwan

Date: April 24-26, 2013 Location: Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taiwan Contact: http://www.secutech.com/13/en/ SecuTech Expo offers an organized presence and underlines dynamic fields of the Asian security industry. The show represents not only the Asian manufacturer powerbase, but its multinational participation makes it a true international exhibition in Asia.

Global Security Asia 2013 Date: Apr 2 - 4, 2013 Location:Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore Contact: http://www.globalsecasia.com/default.asp?pid=207 Global Security Asia focuses on counter terrorism and law enforcement in the Asia Pacific Region. Like previous shows in the Series, GSA 2013 will retain its format as a 3-day event showcasing the latest technology solutions in the defense and security environments.

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Security Exhibition & Conference Date: July 24 - 26 2013 Location: Sydney, Australia Venue: TBA Contact: 03 9261 4504, kmcrorie@divexhibitions.com.au Security Conference & Exhibition will showcase products such as access control, alarms, barrier protection, biometrics, CCTV, clothing and accessories, computer and communication security, critical infrastructure, detection and control devices, entry/exit systems, fencing/ perimeter security/ grills, fire/safety, home automation, ID systems/supplies, IP technology and IT security.

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MAGAZINE

ENEWSLETTER

Advertising enquiries call Monique Keatinge on 02 9280 4425 or email info@bridgepublishing.com.au

2Way Wireless LCD Keypad • Tamper Protection • Unique wireless ID number • Frequency band: 916.5MHz • Range up to 500m (open space) • External power input if required • Transceiver supports std Freewave 1 devices • State-of-the-art 2 way wireless based on GFSK • Low current technology for extended battery life • Freewave2 advanced & secured RF protocol with unique 24bit ID • Transceiver can easily be added to existing Runner systems to upgrade to 2Way (Bi-Directional) communication

iTech Security Pty Ltd (Formerly Crow Australia) www.itechsec.com.au info@itechsec.com.au

6 Japaddy Street Mordialloc Victoria 3195 Australia Ph: +61 3 9580 0730 Fax: +61 3 9580 0807

4/15 Halley Rd Balcatta Western Australia, 6021 Ph: +61 8 9344 2555 saleswa@itechsec.com.au