Synectics to highlight value of ethical surveillance tools at Global MSC Security Conference 2019

This year’s Global MSC Security Conference and Exhibition, which runs at The Bristol Hotel in Bristol on 11-12 November, will see Synectics explain how advanced technologies and evolving features can support those practitioners tasked with ensuring that public surveillance is undertaken legally and ethically.  

Over 150 delegates from the fields of security, law enforcement, Government and academia are due to attend the two-day event, which will focus on the ethical challenges presented by the growing use of CCTV, ANPR, drones, facial recognition and Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the public realm. Risk Xtra is the Official Media Partner.

Speakers include Tony Porter, the UK’s Surveillance Camera Commissioner, who’ll be joined by senior representatives from police forces, Fire and Rescue Services and other organisations focused on public safety, crime prevention and national security.

‘Building Ethical Capacity into Surveillance Technology’

Synectics’ Martin Bonfield joins the event line-up. His detailed seminar will highlight how public concerns regarding surveillance ‒ especially those around the use of emerging technologies such as facial recognition and AI ‒ are shown to be greatly reduced if robust and demonstrable safeguards are in operation.

Those attending the session will gain a clear understanding of the tools available to help ensure that any public surveillance data can be captured, managed and shared in accordance with existing and evolving demands. 

The session will look specifically at solutions designed to support users in four key areas: the use of facial recognition, regulatory compliance (with, for example, the General Data Protection Regulation), data protection (cyber security) and evidence management.

Under the spotlight

To showcase emerging capabilities, Synectics will be demonstrating how its Synergy 3 Command and Control platform supports a wide range of safeguarding and compliance mechanisms, including comprehensive digital audit trails, automated workflows aligned to standard operating procedures and time-limited data storage.

The role played by highly secure, cloud-based evidence lockers ‒ which support secure, real-time authorised access to data ‒ will also be discussed, specifically in the context of inter-agency data-sharing.

Martin Bonfield

Bonfield informed Risk Xtra: “Synectics has been at the forefront of global surveillance solutions for over 30 years. We work closely with customers to tackle the complex issue of ethics surrounding CCTV use, data capture and monitoring, as well as the robust management of digital evidence. I’m looking forward to showing delegates examples of the smart technology available to ensure surveillance operations are effective, secure and compliant with legal and ethical frameworks – today, and years from now.”

As a premium sponsor, Synectics (exhibiting on Stand 15) will be showcasing its leading-edge technologies. Live demonstrations will run throughout the event to demonstrate how the tools explored in the seminar can be applied within a range of practical evidence management and incident response scenarios.

Genetec awarded Platinum Premier status in Mercury Security’s partner programme

Unified security, public safety, operations and business intelligence solutions provider Genetec has announced that Mercury Security (part of HID Global, the global leader in OEM access control technology) has awarded the company the highest status level – ie Platinum Premier – within its successful partner programme.

The Platinum Premier status recognises Mercury Security’s select business partners who demonstrate continued market growth, strong integration with Mercury’s own solutions and a shared interest in the open architecture approach towards access control.

“As a Mercury Security partner and reseller since 2014, we take pride in having achieved Platinum Premier status in just a few short years,” said Georges Tannous, director of strategic alliances at Genetec. “Mercury Security is a key partner in the development of our access control strategy as we’re aligned in our efforts to provide innovative and cyber-secure access control solutions based on an open architecture.”

Matt Barnette, vice-president at Mercury Security, responded: “Genetec has demonstrated significant growth with the Mercury Security brand of products over the last several years. This growth, coupled with the business’ continued investment in the open platform philosophy, has driven its well-earned recognition as a Platinum Premier partner. We look forward to working together with the Genetec team to deliver open, scaleable and secure solutions for our collective end users.”

According to the 2017-2018 Access Control Intelligence Database put together by market researcher IHS, Genetec has rapidly risen to become one of the leading developers of access control software with a Top Five ranking in the Americas and a strong global market share growth.

Genetec’s flagship product, Security Center, is an open architecture platform that unifies IP-based video surveillance, access control, ANPR, communications and analytics. Genetec also develops cloud-based solutions and services designed to improve security and contribute towards new levels of operational intelligence for Governments, enterprises and vertical markets including the transport sector.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Montreal, Genetec serves its global customer base via an extensive network of resellers, integrators, certified channel partners and consultants in upwards of 80 countries.

Shining a light on Raytec and Wavestore’s systems integration move

The recent announcement that Wavestore’s open platform Video Management Software (VMS) has been successfully integrated with Raytec’s lighting solutions means that operators are now able to match the security requirements for individual locations throughout a site with a wide range of lighting options managed directly from Wavestore’s front-end ‘one screen, total control’ display. 

Raytec and Wavestore’s technical teams have worked closely together to develop an intelligent lighting solution which can be controlled via Wavestore’s VMS by simply clicking on fully-customisable buttons. The solution also enables the ideal lighting for each situation to be automatically selected when a moving object is detected or by metadata-triggered events from other systems and software, such as access control, ANPR, alarm sensors, cameras, face recognition and other forms of video analytics.

“There are so many different reasons why our end user clients may need supplementary lighting and this smart solution provides them with the flexibility to choose from a long list of options which exactly meet their requirements,” explained Enrico Bizzaro, head of integrations for Wavestore.

Minimising energy costs

“Our clients tell us that minimising energy costs and light pollution is important to them, so this integrated solution has been designed to ensure lights are only turned on when needed. This could be, for example, at an access control reader location in order to visually verify the identity of a card holder or to enhance the ability to read the number plate of a vehicle entering a site. Lighting is also quite often used to add to the deterrent factor of a video surveillance system and, in this respect, operators can choose different options such as SOS, Hi-Lo and Wave light effects.”

The benefits offered by the deep level of integration between the two technologies are available  as standard across Wavestore Premium, Wavestore Enterprise and Wavestore Ultimate channel license levels. 

First to support Hybrid LED illuminators

Wavestore was the first VMS to support Raytec’s Hybrid LED illuminators which bring the benefits of White Light and infrared technology into a single unit. With less cabling required, the 2-in-1 solution reduces installation costs as well as negating the capital cost of deploying two separate lighting units.

Wavestore enables the Hybrid LED illuminators to be controlled individually or as a group with all commands, such as scheduled on/off timings and brightness, securely authenticated by Wavestore in order to prevent unauthorised access to the illuminators over the network.

Genetec unveils product line-up for Security Essen 2018

Genetec, the manufacturer of unified security, public safety, operations and business intelligence solutions, has announced its show line-up for Security Essen 2018. In its 21st year of delivering global innovation for physical IP security, Genetec will demonstrate Security Center (its scalable, open architecture security platform that unifies video surveillance, access control, ANPR, communications and analytics. The company will also feature its family of security infrastructure appliances and host no less than 11 industry technology partners on its stand, all of them demonstrating their technology integrations and support for Security Center.

Security

Visitors will be able to see the latest features in Security Center (v5.7), including its IP video management system (VMS) designed to scale and adapt to the evolving needs of the security market. This latest version also features enhanced privacy protection, designed to help end users comply with the General Data Protection Regulation’s (GDPR) data privacy and confidentiality mandates, along with a new reporting feature that automatically alerts system administrators to outdated camera firmware.

Genetec will demonstrate its Streamvault turnkey security infrastructure appliances, pre-installed with Security Center to offer a simplified software delivery system. In addition to video surveillance, access control and ANPR support, Streamvault also now provides certified performance with KiwiVision Privacy Protector (a core module in Security Center) that dynamically anonymises video to support GDPR compliance for public and private video surveillance environments.

Genetec will also demonstrate how customers can easily migrate their legacy access control systems to a unified Security Center platform.

Privacy and cyber security

Committed to maintaining the highest levels of privacy protection, Genetec continues to inform IT and security professionals on both cyber security and privacy practices. The company has recently launched the Genetec Trust Center, a central repository of educational materials focused on cyber security, privacy and Security-of-Security topics to help system integrators and end users mitigate risks via trusted Best Practice.

“With our growing presence in Germany, Genetec is happy to bring its many innovations to Security Essen this year,” said Nick D’Hoedt, regional manager for the Benelux and DACH at Genetec. “We will show our customers and partners alike how they can unify their security platforms into a scaleable model that offers one solution through a single interface for improved operational efficiency, adhering to the highest standards of GDPR-compliant data privacy. We’re also proud to welcome 11 of our top technology partners from our growing ecosystem of camera, access control, sensing and software vendors.”

Operations

Also on display will be Genetec Mission Control, a collaborative decision and event management software that provides organisations with new levels of situational intelligence, visualisation and complete incident management capabilities.

Genetec Partner Pavilion

As stated, Genetec will host 11 of its technology partners in individual demo pods on the stand at Security Essen. Each partner will demonstrate their hardware and software integrations with Security Center.

Featured sponsors include Bosch, Edesix, MOBOTIX, OPTEX, Panasonic, Quanergy, Siklu, Southwest Microwave, SimonsVoss, The Safe Group and Schréder. 

All show attendees are invited to visit the Genetec Stand (G30) in Hall 5 at Security Essen 2018.

Nortech strengthens business partnership with Nedap

After a strong start to 2018, access control specialist Nortech has once again been recognised as a certified partner of Nedap for long-range identification.

Following the presentation of the certification at this year’s Intertraffic exhibition, Nortech’s managing director Stephen Blackler commented: “Nortech is proud to be part of the Certified Partner Programme as it shows the company’s commitment and ability with Nedap’s long-range identification products as part of our vehicle access solutions.”

Having been part of the certified programme since 2010, Nortech recently visited Intertraffic 2018 in Amsterdam to support Nedap and cement its relationship with its distributors and the many contacts the company has in the traffic industry. During the show, Nedap presented its leading smart parking and vehicle identification solutions to the market, including its TRANSIT, uPASS and ANPR readers for long-range identification.

In addition to its ongoing long-range identification partnership, Nedap has recently visited Nortech at the company’s Cwmbran headquarters to give technical training on its long-range products to Nortech’s technical support team. Intensive training ensures that Nortech staff can provide in-depth support to its customers on Nedap products.

With many years’ experience in the automatic vehicle identification business, Nortech knows that offering the best quality equipment and the right equipment for the job will avoid potential problems at a later juncture.

Nortech works with Nedap to offer free tailored training courses that discuss the technologies involved and how and where to apply them plus guidance on correct installation with practical hands-on training.

Nedap’s safe, secure and efficient technology is both cost-effective and convenient and can easily be applied to parking and security applications. For these reasons and many more, the popular uPASS Target has recently been nominated as a finalist in the PSI Premier Awards 2018.

Wisenet X sets the Benchmark with victory in 2017 Innovation Awards

Hanwha Techwin’s Wisenet X cameras have been selected as the winner of the Video Surveillance Hardware category in the Benchmark Innovation Awards 2017.

Designed to recognise and reward innovative thinking and the delivery of benefits through advanced security solutions, the awards scheme is run by Benchmark Magazine, the monthly publication which is widely regarded as the ‘Which?’ magazine for the electronic security industry and is the sister title of Risk UK and Professional Security Installer (PSI) at Pro-Activ Publications.

A Benchmark test team and an independent panel from the security industry judged across nine technology areas, with Wisenet X standing out against stiff competition as the winner of the Video Surveillance Hardware category.

Defining a new standard

“When we launched the Wisenet X camera series earlier this year, we believed we had also delivered on our commitment to set a new standard for IP network video surveillance cameras,” said Bob Hwang, managing director at Hanwha Techwin Europe. “We’re absolutely delighted the innovative technology developed by our highly talented engineers and product management team has led to our Wisenet X cameras receiving this high profile and prestigious award.”

Equipped with 150 dB Wide Dynamic Range (WDR)  technology and a varifocal F0.94 low-light lens, Wisenet X cameras are ‘supercharged’ by the most powerful DSP chipset ever incorporated into a full camera range. Together, these features ensure that “superb quality” colour images are captured, regardless of the environment or the time of day, and without the need for IR LEDs or supplementary lighting.

The advanced 150 dB WDR technology built into many of the Wisenet X cameras and domes ensures clear, sharp images can be captured even when there may be strong contrasting lighting conditions. A standard WDR image is normally captured by composing two frames with different exposures. Wisenet X 150 dB WDR uses four frames to create a more natural image and negates the problem of image blurring which is a weakness of standard WDR.

Faster processing of video

With an all-new architecture, the Wisenet X chipset runs up to three times faster than older generations of chipsets. This delivers much faster processing of video as well as specialist analytics pre-loaded on board the cameras as standard. This includes people counting, which offers the opportunity to measure store efficiency between footfall and actual sales and also identifies the busiest days, times and seasons, as well as queue management to identify peaks and troughs of customer flow at checkouts.

Heat mapping provides accurate, real-time information about customer in-store behaviour. It does so by displaying ‘hotspots’ within a store to indicate customer buying patterns, including dwell times and areas of a store where there might be low activity in order to assist with product placement decisions.

Processing power

The processing power of the Wisenet X chipset also provides an opportunity to run multiple on-board third party analytics applications in the same way that we all use Apps on our smart phones. These include face recognition to assist security personnel to quickly identify known offenders and ANPR to control vehicle access to sensitive areas such as loading bays, as well as to manage car parking areas.

The latter serves to generate event notifications when an authorised vehicle number plate is recognised and can be configured to trigger access control operations such as opening/closing a barrier, as well as sending activity reports and snapshots via e-mail, FTP or SMS.

Veracity showcasing end-to-end Command and Control solution at IFSEC International 2017

Veracity, a leading provider of solutions that solve real-world challenges in IP video systems, is showcasing a new suite of products at IFSEC International 2017 which neatly brings together the three cornerstones of its business: IP transmission, storage and display.

Following on from its acquisition of security Command and Control software manufacturer icomply, Veracity’s largest-ever IFSEC stand is built around a walk-through Control Room, promoting the company’s integrated security management platform powered by VTAS Pro.

Bringing together new and legacy third party video recording systems, VTAS Pro combines them with other security systems such as access control, LPR, guard tours and building management. This provides a “unified and coherent system” for the management and control of single or multiple sites, allowing system operators to be far more efficient in responding to incidents.

VTAS Pro is fully-integrated with Veracity’s TRINITY direct-to-storage architecture and, fundamental to that, the advanced COLDSTORE surveillance storage system. It also features a full video and media wall display option which can be reconfigured ‘on-the-fly’ and in response to specific incidents or emergency situations.

Live views may be mixed with playback and media streams such as broadcast news, online data streams, maps or other graphical displays.

This end-to-end Command and Control solution is highly scaleable and supports a large number of operator workstations, with shared incident management and alarm receiving co-ordination. It’s capable of handling thousands of remote sites.

The system can provide integration with access control, building management, intruder detection, VoIP intercom systems and video analytics including ANPR and facial recognition. Several native security functions can be added to the system in a modular, customisable way such as guard tour, lone worker monitoring, dispatch, alarm monitoring and key management.

Veracity will also be presenting its new HIGHWIRE Powerstar Base 4 Encoder Replacement Kit containing a HIGHWIRE Powerstar Base 4 unit, four HIGHWIRE Powerstar Camera units and a 57V DC power supply (region-specific). This product bundle is a simple and cost-effective replacement for legacy analogue video encoders, allowing the end user customer to upgrade to IP cameras by re-using the coax cable and powering the new IP cameras with PoE over coax.

*Veracity will be exhibiting on Stand F1050 at IFSEC International, which runs at London’s ExCeL Exhibition Centre in Docklands from 20-22 June

Hanwha Techwin opens new demonstration showroom

Hanwha Techwin recently held an open day at its new European headquarters in Chertsey to officially mark the opening of its Wisenet showroom.

Distributors, installers and systems integrators from across the UK, many of whom were accompanied by end user clients, accepted an invitation to see Hanwha Techwin’s new demonstration and training facilities. This provided them with the opportunity to be among the first to have a close-up look at the new Wisenet X ‘extreme performance’ camera series, as well as the company’s premium 4K Wisenet P and feature-rich Wisenet Q cameras.

“We have simulated a Control Room environment within our new showroom facilities so that we can demonstrate many of the practical features built into our cameras,” said Chris Parry, country manager for the UK and Ireland at Hanwha Techwin Europe. “With cameras installed throughout our self-contained building and overlooking our car park, we’re able to show in real time the benefits that are achievable from the very latest advances in video surveillance technology.”

Sitting at the ‘Control Room’ consul, Hanwha Techwin guests were able to put a wide range of Wisenet cameras through their paces via spot monitors and a large video wall. This allowed them an opportunity to test the usefulness of analytic solutions like ANPR, people counting and heat mapping as well as privacy masking and advanced Gyro digital image stabilisation.

Commenting on his visit to the new demonstration facility, Paul Miller (director of systems integration specialist RJ Pro-Vue Ltd) said: “I was very impressed and will certainly be taking advantage of the opportunity to bring my existing and potential customers to Chertsey so they can benefit from hands-on demonstrations of the technology built into the Samsung Wisenet cameras and recording devices.”

Nick Kalsi, technology consultant for Edwardian Hotels London, also felt his time was well spent visiting the new showroom. “We are an existing and satisfied user of Wisenet cameras and, together with Mohamed Elsebahy, group CCTV manager for Edwardian Hotels London, I was particularly interested in the detailed demonstration of the new Wisenet X cameras. We will certainly consider deploying these at one of our new hotels.”

Genetec and MOBOTIX unveil details of new technology integration partnership

Genetec, a leading provider of open architecture, unified IP security solutions, and MOBOTIX (the German manufacturer of video surveillance devices) have announced a technology relationship in which both companies will work together on R&D, testing, business development and sales support for new and existing enterprise clients.

Both companies enjoy a global reputation for quality, reliability, first class customer support and expertise in delivering flexible security solutions.

Genetec’s Security Center unifies video management, access control, ANPR and communications management within a single intuitive platform. The new technology partnership will offer single and multi-site management for MOBOTIX edge devices, leading to greater efficiency for a higher level of security.

MOBOTIX enhances video for physical security applications, business operations, process monitoring and sustainability through reliable camera hardware, decentralised architecture and energy efficiency. The company’s solutions include both optical and thermal imaging sensors.

Genetec and MOBOTIX have a footprint in more than 70 countries. Through this partnership, they’ll be able to offer customers from SMEs through to those managing enterprise multi-site deployments a flexible end-to-end IP video security solution.

“We’re happy to enter this technology partnership with Genetec as we recognise a natural synergy with the highly-scalable unified security platform that Security Center represents, as well as the catalogue of IP cameras and compression technology that MOBOTIX offers,” said Dr Tristan Haage, chief sales officer at MOBOTIX.

“With two recent 500-plus camera customer deployments in Europe and the Middle East, both companies are already realising the advantages of a highly-integrated hardware and software solution for enterprise deploymentsy,” added Hagge.

“As Genetec grows its presence in Germany, we realised the many symbiotic advantages we share with MOBOTIX,” observed Francis Lachance, director of product management at Genetec. “With MOBOTIX joining the Genetec ecosystem of technology partners, we’ll be able to offer the many differentiating features and capabilities MOBOTIX brings to the table, fully integrated with Security Center. It’s a win-win relationship.”

Optimum multifaceted CCTV solution for ultra-high security introduced by EyeLynx

A modular integrated CCTV solution with wireless 4G router, multi-camera and recorder has hit the market with the aim of installations for ultra-high security sectors.

Pharos Optimus from software security expert EyeLynx allows up to four configurable devices to be mounted on a mast, meaning that site security operators can deploy the perfect combination of day, night and infrared cameras, lighting, detection and audio technologies on a single PTZ unit.

Highly robust to repel extremes of temperature, moisture and corrosive chemicals, Pharos Optimus models can cope with marine applications and other harsh environments such as industrial chemical plants and the desert.

EyeLynx, which is part of the perimeter protection group Zaun, expects the top end of its Pharos range to sell well to energy infrastructure operators, such as oil, gas, electricity and nuclear networks across Europe and the Middle East.

Optimus is deployed with configurable modules including Full HD 1080p and VGA thermal cameras, ANPR, visible or infrared LEDs and amplified horn speakers. Adaptive LED lighting controls brightness in response to ambient light levels.

Also available is a combined IR/white light LED module capable of illuminating subjects over 100 metres away.

Evidence gathering for prosecutions

CEO Jay Patel explained: “Optimus offers the greatest protection against crime and vandalism at a fraction of the price of security guarding, and also gathers vital HD video evidence for prosecution in the event of a security breach. Site security operators can detect threats early with advanced sensors such as RADAR, on-fence acoustic cable and video analytics integrated with SharpView.”

EyeLynx’s Pharos system is said to be the only true rapid deployment HD surveillance system on the market with Edge Recording Cluster (ERC) capability to incorporate an intelligent recorder, management software and wireless communications all in the same unit.

Cameras record HD 24/7. Whenever the perimeter is compromised or a potential intruder approaches too close to the site perimeter, Pharos will send a snapshot alert to the Control Room for visual verification using Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G or ADSL (or even to assigned personal mobile devices, such as the police or the nearest member of security staff to the breach).

SharpView integrates with access control, fire and intruder alarms and facial recognition systems to further enhance safety and security at multi-site facilities.

Precise movements at full zoom

Optimus incorporates a micro-stepping motor with no wearing parts ensuring smooth silent movement and zero backlash, while a speed range of 10,000:1 delivers precise movements even at full zoom.

EyeLynx has also unveiled an innovative mounting bracket for its Pharos pole-mounted devices complete with anti-tamper and anti-theft enhancements.