Analytics-based CCTV systems are actually good for business

Aimetis Corporation is a global leader in intelligent video management software with a client list that is the world’s Who’s Who of security management. Aimetis is one of the technology partners that TSTT works with in building state-of-the-art CCTV solutions for local organisations. Anthony Hackett, the Director of Sales, North America was in Trinidad earlier this year participating in bmobile’s Technology Expo and discussed how Aimetis’ technology helps companies make cost effective decisions when implementing CCTV solutions and achieve a return on investment (ROI) in the process.

Aimetis offers intelligent video analysis tools that help companies quickly identify CCTV footage relevant to incidents being investigated and virtually eliminates the need for having human operators looking at live video streams trying to spot evolving incidents.

“It is not only impossible but also unproductive to have an employee sit and watch video surveillance whole day” said Hackett. He showed that every company can obtain impactful results by moving away from ‘dumb’ CCTV systems, to building smart CCTV deployments that add value to their business. Hackett indicated that the key to improving a CCTV’s ROI is when clients used intelligent video management and analytics, with algorithms built into their CCTV deployments, so the CCTV investment could deliver real results that help these companies increase their productivity and profitability and meet their business targets.

Video analytics and intelligent video

Hackett explained that video motion detection is not video analytics. “Analytics uses algorithms built into clients’ CCTV deployments to process the video, analyse it and resolve complex issues in real time.” As an example, an intelligent CCTV system scanning for intrusions in an area will distinguish the difference between shadows and other objects that appear to move because a light source is moving and the movement of real people and vehicles. This eliminates false alarms by triggering an alarm to the security operator only when a scenario crosses a threshold or when a person enters into a restricted area, such as a person approaching a perimeter fence or a person going on to a train track. In another example, to protect parking lots from thieves, analytics can be used to detect a specific behaviour that someone is doing, such as loitering for 30 to 60 seconds in a particular area of the parking lot. The algorithms make the CCTV system intelligent enough to detect when these ‘risk’ behaviours are being done and then send an alert to Security personnel, directing them to the area where the infringement was detected.

‘People counting’ and ‘queue management’ are two other ways video analytics and intelligent video can be used to gather business intelligence to improve on business deliverables and impact ROI. Using a public library, hospital and a fast food company as examples, Hackett showed how these clients were able to use intelligent CCTV data to better understand how many people visited an organisation and at what times of the day and month. Managers were then able to adjust staffing, catering and other resource needs to better serve their customers.

Facial and license plate recognition, as well as tracking and following a person, were three other interesting case studies discussed; both as tools used to improve security methods and fight crime by state and private companies; and also as a method businesses can use to improve on traditional employee time and attendance systems, by including visual verification of who signed in and when.

Other methods to improve CCTV ROI

Besides increasing the effectiveness of the security personnel, other ways that a business can lower its total cost of ownership or improve on its CCTV ROI, were by lowering the upfront cost of deployment, as well as the recurring cost to manage and update the CCTV system. It is therefore critical that a business builds high efficiency, scalability and availability into its CCTV system; implements proper IT management; and uses a very simple licensing model. To achieve the first two, Hackett discussed measures such as using a video management system design that is energy efficient and requires less servers and computers; bandwidth efficient cameras or cameras which provide the optimal bandwidth frame rates for the purpose required, since a higher resolution camera isn’t always needed; low cost alert systems such as black monitors and texts, emails and live video sent to security operators’ smartphones; and reducing administrative time by automating processes, updates, camera firmware settings and passwords.