Security will always be a necessity, especially today that it is a determining factor for the tranquility of people. IP technology, specifically video surveillance, is a tool that provides great advantages and possibilities in this area.
By Santiago Jaramillo Hincapié
Undoubtedly, the IP-based security industry has matured rapidly in recent years. As technology and other components of security solutions have advanced, so have customer expectations. Companies that offer security solutions have evolved to meet these new expectations. This requires an understanding of both the technology and the factors that motivate customers, issues, and key issues.
To achieve such an understanding it is necessary to take a step back and observe the integral solutions. Video management software (VMS) has become more sophisticated, as have the hardware components that work with it.
The evidence is everywhere. Today's camera technology can provide much higher levels of detail thanks to better functionalities with megapixels and HD. Another example is the current IP access control software, which offers customers a more flexible way to manage their facilities. Innovative monitoring tools can detect safety equipment in need of repairs before malfunctions require the disbursement of large sums of money or failure altogether.
This results in more efficient, durable and practical equipment when establishing a security facility either in a space intended for commercial, government, business, educational, hotel or city use. The important thing, in each of the cases, is to have the expert advice that allows the project to get the most out of the installation.
According to Mauro Lima Vaz, vice president of Bosch Security Systems for Latin America and the Caribbean, one of the fundamental challenges in the security industry, more specifically in the video surveillance segment, is the transition and integration with the IP world, which brings not only a technological change but also adaptations in the way of thinking and organizing the work of surveillance and in general of the work. "It is not a new change, but it will accompany us for a long time," says our guest.
Lima Vaz also emphasizes that "the intensity of the change is different between the different product lines. Internally, we are increasingly looking to focus on the most important fundamentals of our business and have a stronger synchronization between the different regions of Latin America to create more synergies and learn from each other in order to meet the current need of the market."
Andrei Junqueira, Business Development Manager of Axis Communications, highlights that IP video surveillance has been a great ally in terms of security, when it comes to offering a response to theft and fraud that can generate millionaire losses, as well as ensuring the protection of people, assets and infrastructure, generating a safer environment.
"Today's IP cameras offer an increasingly discreet design, which adjusts to the physical characteristics and needs of the client, they also have data processing and functionalities included in the device itself, transforming them into true 'intelligent applications'. It is a trend that the sector is discovering little by little and that can impact its profits", describes Andrei Junqueira.
A clear example of this, according to Junqueira is the retail sector, "the great trend that is visualized today in this market is the ability to integrate new analytical solutions for data processing that results in better strategies for the business, such as the counting and registration of people, or the monitoring of products for the management of the supply chain. They are useful tools to improve sales and product availability, as well as to organize staff and avoid delays at checkouts or payment centers."
Additionally, according to the representative of the company Axis Communications, in some chains of the sector the technology is already being used to make Heat Maps (Heatmaps), which are nourished by images provided by the cameras to provide a source of accurate information about the flow of customers in the store. This real-time analysis allows us to understand the interaction they have with the products in order to improve the design of the premises and the distribution of merchandise (layout), as well as evaluate new promotions and marketing campaigns.
"The trend is growing; in the United Kingdom, a survey of the main businesses and retail chains reflected that a third of them adopted solutions under the IP standard, while 60% planned to invest in this type of technology to make the transition to the digital world, "says Junqueira.
IP security for all budgets
Alex Pazos, director of Business Development at Samsung Techwin Latin America, indicates that currently small buildings or businesses use between four and eight surveillance cameras to ensure their safety, avoid assaults or have images prior to the event of a crime and ensure that, if someone committed a robbery, it is easily identifiable if they re-enter the space.
In terms of solutions, what is being presented is that large telecommunications companies are offering the cloud surveillance service and SMEs, seeking to reduce initial investment costs, accept the proposal of these companies to install a system with a certain number of cameras in exchange for the payment of a monthly payment (which could be up to US $ 100), also receiving the installation of video surveillance devices and visual verification when they do not have service to the public (in case an eventuality arises) and in this way the cost of implementation and maintenance of the solution is lowered, since this amount is canceled monthly.
Now, starting from the question, how much can a business lose that chooses not to implement a video surveillance system? Alex Pazos affirms that "before establishing figures it is important to point out that when talking about theft you can not only think of external agents; it is also necessary to consider cases in which the employees themselves commit this type of crime. In an analysis carried out by specialized sources, it was found that in the North American retail sector, US $ 160,000 million are lost annually (in a business of US $ 8 billion per year), which indicates that it could affect up to 5% of the profits of an SME. "
On the other hand, to identify what is the ideal type of camera, the representative of Samsung Techwin Latin America warns that the place of the building where the equipment will be located should be considered. For example: if it is a store or commercial premises, the ideal would be that in the cash register two high-resolution cameras are located, one monitoring the cash register and the other to the place where the merchandise is passed, and in the rest of the store you can install wide-angle cameras, to have an open approach to the premises, optimizing the cost of installed equipment."
Safer spaces
Juan Pablo Tavil, sales manager of Axis Communications for South America – Southern Cone, says that "nowadays people are looking to live in safer environments. In this sense, different solutions and devices were incorporated into the market to meet the monitoring demands of different spaces such as entrances, perimeters, common areas and internal streets. In recent years, cameras gained more image quality with the creation of HD and Full HD digital cameras, improvements in their night vision and greater data processing capabilities."
It also states that there are already spaces that use Full HD video surveillance cameras with patent reading to open the door only for authorized cars, while smaller cameras but of HD quality and with face recognition only authorize the entry of people already registered. The options today are multiple.
But not any video surveillance system is the right one Ponder Tavil, since they are large areas, some of them dark at night, in which not only residents or employees constantly transit, depending on the destination of the property, but also service providers, many aspects must be taken into account. In this way, it will be possible to detect any type of irregularity or crime that may occur.
"The migration to digital or IP cameras is one of the strong points in the current market and many public and private buildings are looking for HD or Full HD cameras to be able to monitor from the reading of vehicle patents at access points to monitoring with thermal cameras to identify people day and night through the temperature difference between bodies," highlights the sales manager of Axis Communications for South America – Southern Cone.
Other trends are also beginning to take hold, such as 4K technology, equivalent to four times the resolution of a Full HD image, and two technologies that emerged in recent years and are gaining popularity: Lightfinder, which allows you to capture color images even in the dark (since normally cameras switch to the black and white function at night), and Forensic Capture, a type of automatic light contrast compensation that generates images full of object details even against the light.
The profitability and scalability of a video surveillance system are also very important aspects, since in the future it can be easily integrated into new needs that may arise. Another important factor is to choose equipment of easy installation and minimum maintenance, which in turn allow easy handling.
For the coming years, an intensification of this technological evolution is foreseen, strengthening the modality of urban environments of permanent data exchange that will allow not only to respond adequately to situations of insecurity, but to act preventively for the purposes of the tranquility that everyone wishes to have.
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