Monthly Archives: April 2010

CCTV footage will be good enough to secure convictions with IP CCTV

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IP CCTV cameras supply the solution.

The police and courts are being encouraged by the picture and recording quality that is now available from both HD CCTV and Megapixel IP cameras. For too long now we have had recorded images that simply are not good enough to secure convictions.

Highlighted in recent report.

This was recently highlighted in an internal report from the Metropolitan police who have compiled figures to prove that for every 1000 CCTV cameras that are positioned across the capital just one crime is solved. Add to this the comments made by a representative of Scyron the company who help the police analyse footage, as he said, as many as half of all of the CCTV cameras across the UK are of no use whatsoever.

Analytics.

Police are also encouraging the use of analytics on existing analogue cameras to ensure that only images are recorded when required ie. when loitering is taking place in known drug dealing areas or fighting outside drinking establishments. This encourages the public that they are not being watched constantly by the Big brother state.

Things must improve.

All the above will help improve every aspect of  CCTV and surveillance in the UK customers will finally get the picture and recording quality they deserve and criminals will find themselves faced with indisputable CCTV evidence to convict them in court. Once people realize the clarity and usability of the pictures then ultimately crime will be reduced . A benefit to us all.

Digicoms fail under BT 21st Century Network upgrade.

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Industry release warning.

Central stations have released more information about Digicom failures that are now known not just to be BT 21CN related but also associated with other NGNs (next generation networks) that other communication companies are supplying.

Examples of problems or failures.

1) Broadband installations

2) Star services

3) Lease cost routing

4) Changes from one supplier of communications to another.

Line providers change T & C’s.

The problem is starting to be considered serious enough by some communication companies that they have decided to to actually change their terms and conditions  to absolve themselves of responsibility if digicom signals fail to get carried across their network.

Upgrade now.

Central stations are now speaking to all intruder alarm companies advising them to speak to their customers and get their systems upgraded to 21CN compatible communication products these are as follows.

1) Redcare secure range.

2) Emizon.

3) CSL DualCom.

4) WebWay

5) Chiron

6) Risco.

Most of the above products are well established and proven solutions to current problem. More importantly they mostly offer duel path signalling and this is obviously much more secure and acceptable to insurance companies.

Prices.

Although monitoring prices are generally slightly more expensive than the  original Digicom would have been. The situation has forced the cost of dual path signalling down significantly and this means great opportunities for new sales, something that should not go unnoticed by security companies.

Why appoint a CCTV regulator?

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New IP solutions encourages new appointment.

Why has the UK government decided to appoint an interim CCTV regulator? Well Andy Rennison certainly has a big task ahead of him. To be fair it seems on the surface just another public servant being appointed just for the sake of it. We already have regulation within the industry in the form of the NSI and this is effectively controlled by the government already through the implementation of European standards for intruder alarms, access control and CCTV.

The challenges ahead.

There are however some challenges ahead within our industry that to the credit of government officials have actually been foreseen at a relatively early stage. Integration between CCTV, access control and intruder alarms mean that the boundaries are becoming blurred between the security technologies . Of even more relevance is that CCTV evidence produced by camera systems has always been contentious but now with the advent of IP CCTV and integrated CCTV systems mean that the police and the courts are desperately seeking guidelines and regulation to ensure that evidence that is forth coming from the new IP surveillance systems can be used in the courts  and this is very much in the public interest.

Government interference?

Government intervention can only be justified if it is profoundly in the public interest and with CCTV software being used more and more, guidelines are are must to ensure forensic integrity is maintained and all evidence is 100% acceptable however it may need to be used.

Complaints procedure for CCTV systems defined by the CCTV regulator.

The right for the public to be able to complain is only a step forward if there is a real understanding in the public domain as to how IP CCTV works . So if education is part of Andy Rennison’s  remit then this cannot be viewed as bad thing.

Conclusion.

Within the industry we have to look at this in a positive way. No publicity is bad publicity and if it means that high standards are enforced then only the most professional companies will be able to take on the new challenges set out by the new CCTV regulator. We look forward to the way this develops with interest . Your thoughts are welcomed. Do we need this kind of regulation or can the industry be relied upon to govern itself ?

Data centre CCTV

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CCTV in data centres.

We have recently been asked to look at IP CCTV solutions within Data centres. This is one of the fastest areas of expansion for security solutions within the country at the moment. The reasons behind this expansion are simple. Paranoia when it comes to the protection of company data and information. In addition demands from users when it comes to accessing this information are unparalleled they do not accept down time.Therefore there is always a  requirement for off site storage and redundancy.

IP camera solution.

Quite simply IP cameras are the only real option. The network is always going to be in place and most data centres understand the benefits that HD IP cameras can offer.When dealing with playback it is essential that the pictures give both quality and a frame rate that will mean anything that goes on inside the data centres does not get missed. The ability to record using a VMS solution is also now being viewed as crucial , storage on a server is what data centres do anyway and with VMS CCTV software you have the ability to zoom in without losing image quality and suffering from the age old issue of pixelation.

Remote access.

The ability to remotely access any recordings is also crucial because we find that most managers are off site and data centers tend to be lightly manned.

Conclusion.

In conclusion Data centers are growing at an incredible rate in the UK and IP CCTV is going to be used more and more for the protection of the building and storage infrastructure. If you require more information please click here.

Bad day for plane spotters but a great day for maintenance.

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All UK airports closed.

 Airports across the UK are saturated with security measures from access control CCTV biometrics and so on. Normally the on going programme of maintenance for all this equipment has to be carefully scheduled to fit in with passengers and staff to ensure that when tested it causes the minimum inconvenience and disruption .

Icelandic volcanic eruption.

 A unique opportunity for security installers arose yesterday and today however when a volcanic eruption in Iceland over 900 miles away from the UK grounded every single aircraft in the country. The situation is not expected to be resolved until at least tomorrow and with this information very well publicized it means that the airports for the first time ever are deserted. What a great chance for security installers to get on site and carry out all those jobs that normally mean either working at night or working around many hundreds of people.

Unique testing opportunity.

It also offers a unique opportunity to carry out testing on analytics in an almost a completely sterile environment. With the runways effectively reduced to parking lots day light testing with no movement has never been able to have been done before and the smart installers will be using this very rare window of oppotunity to carry out some experimentation.

How long have they got?

No one is able to tell for how long the eruption will continue but it seems certain that the combination of  the weather patterns and a local volcanic eruption are highly unlikely to ever occur again. So our advice would be to all installers of CCTV, access control or any kind of security device get on site today and make the most of it!