Taking Digital Surveillance to a Higher Level

With the downturn in the economy we inevitably see a rise in criminal behavior. Whether its random bombings of storefronts in New York City or plain old employee theft, the need for more sophisticated digital surveillance systems has never been greater.

The problem with most existing surveillance systems is that they are either based on analog technology that doesn't provide the best quality video, or they are based lower end IP technology that are cumbersome to manage.

The analog systems developed by companies such as Honeywell, Pelco and Bosch are under assault from a IT-driven system developed by companies such as Cisco, D-Link and a host of others. The problem with the IT-driven systems is that they typically can only support up to 16 cameras per digital recorder, eat up a lot of storage and don't come with any real tools for searching through hours of digital recordings.

Trying to fight their way into this crowded market is a new startup company called Advent Systems, which has developed a new IT-drive system that supports up to 64 hi-resolution cameras per recorder, up to 1 terabyte of storage per system and, most importantly, comes with tools that make searching video a whole lot easier.

All too often, people don't want to spend hours looking through video recording to find the person who was last seen in an area where some minor crime took place. But as any security professional will tell you, if you can catch culprits committing minor crimes then you have prevented a future major crime because it's only a matter of time before someone committing minor thefts tries something more daring.

Other compelling attributes of the Advent approach include the ability to add cameras dynamically to the system, the ability to watermark video files and the ability to remotely access the system to view recordings.

The need for more sophisticated approaches to digital security is an unfortunate byproduct of the times we live in. More often than not, municipalities of all sizes are deploying digital surveillance systems as part of an attempt to create a network of cameras that monitor vital security areas. Those municipalities also want to be able to tap into private security networks whenever a criminal act occurs.

With the convergence of physical and IT security, responsibility for digital surveillance systems is quickly moving into the realm of IT professionals. The task at hand is how to build those systems effectively by leveraging the latest digital technologies rather than simply creating a lower cost version of a limited analog system.