As we forge ahead through 2022, a new collective of energy and possibility is emerging in the video surveillance industry. One that acknowledges the global pandemic and wave of economic change it brought, including disruptions in the labour market, supply chain bottlenecks, and economic uncertainty; but also brings forth innovative solutions that empower businesses to adapt and thrive in the face of this change.
In its latest eBook, Eagle Eye’s experts predict what will impact the video surveillance industry in the coming year, and explain how you, as a business leader, can seize opportunities and forge a path to success even amid ongoing uncertainties.
Flexibility to customise
Businesses want the flexibility to add customised analytics to their video surveillance systems.
We’ve grown extremely accustomed to personalisation, and that expectation is seeping into all aspects of our personal and professional lives. Customers looking for video surveillance don’t just want a generic monitoring system anymore. They want a system customised to their business, industry, location, and unique needs.
This can be accomplished with artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics embedded into the design of a modern cloud-based video management system (VMS). Everything is flexible and customers only pay for what they use on a day-to-day basis.
Customers can add cameras to their system and upgrade or downgrade camera resolution and retention, and add or delete analytics, such as counting, line crossing, loitering, and camera tampering – all on a camera-by-camera basis. The data gleaned from these analytics can be used to improve business efficiencies and customer experiences.
For example, retail operators can analyse customer behaviours and traffic patterns, informing store layout and staffing requirements. Multifamily residential managers can use analytics to ensure only trusted people enter secured buildings. And, using licence plate recognition, they can allow or deny access to vehicles in their private parking garage. In addition, they can uncover any illegal use of their trash dumpsters and receive instant alarms, all making for safer, more liveable environments
AI can also supplement manual work. In the healthcare industry, for example, nursing home operators needn’t have staff members roaming halls and rooms. Instead, they can use analytics to get instant notification if an elderly resident falls, then immediately dispatch the necessary personnel. Smart city managers can use AI for crowd detection and erratic behaviour identification. The verticalisation and customisation of AI is limitless.
And, when a VMS is true cloud, all this functionality is available to users in a generic way. There’s no need for onsite devices to run the software, meaning fewer hassles on-premises. AI makes it very easy to find the right footage, detect activity in video, and ensure it’s only alarmed for relevant activity, taking security cameras to the next level.
Do more with less
COVID-19 has caused workers to rethink their conditions, and consequently, has dramatically impacted the labour pool, forcing short-staffed businesses to turn away customers and/or scale back hours and operations. This is hitting the retail, restaurant and hospitality sectors particularly hard, as these service industries rely on staff onsite, versus remote workers.
Consequently, they’re searching for new ways to serve customers with smaller staff and less supervision, while still ensuring a high level of service and security. This is where video surveillance can help. By using existing infrastructure or installing a new system, management can get a first-hand account of the pace and quality of service, which can later be used for training, particularly useful in high-turnover industries.
Additionally, they can use their system to ensure compliance with policies, service guidelines, and safety. For example, are policies being followed? Are customers being greeted in a timely manner? Are employees wearing proper safety gear? All of this can be monitored remotely, alerts can be immediately activated, corrective action can be taken, and service levels elevated.
The good news is most businesses are recovering, and coming back stronger than ever. Video surveillance in the cloud will enable these organisations to more easily scale and grow with the pent-up consumer demand, as well as train new employees, ensure return-to-work guidelines are being followed, and look for emerging post-pandemic trends to optimise their business.
The business intelligence value of video surveillance
Video surveillance is still used primarily for security. However, businesses are starting to realise its power to provide business intelligence that can improve operational efficiencies and customer service.
Construction industry leaders are using video analytics to determine if safety protocols are (or aren’t) being met. Smart cities are using analytics to detect anomalies in crowds and erratic behaviours in real time, expediting emergency response. Healthcare professionals rely on line crossing analytics to ensure pharmaceuticals, equipment, and sensitive patient data is protected in restricted areas.
And many organisations, across multiple industries, are now taking advantage of intelligent analytics and advanced image processing capabilities to initiate their return-to-work strategies. By monitoring face mask usage and social distancing adherence, as well as occupancy monitoring, they’re taking steps to ensure their facilities are compliant with local COVID requirements.
Lastly, with cloud-based video surveillance, it’s possible to access and share video anytime, from anywhere, and receive real-time alerts the second a motion or event is detected. Using AI-based alerting, it’s also possible to only receive alerts when a specific object appears, greatly reducing false alarms – an expensive ongoing issue in video surveillance.
Work from home and deliveries
One thing COVID-19 has demonstrated is work that previously took place in an office setting can be done – and indeed has been done – remotely. However, in a knowledge economy, organisations are still reliant on face-to-face interactions and in-person collaboration.
What this all means is, we will return to the office at some point, but not everyone, and not every day, resulting in a much smaller worker density and a direct hit to the commercial real estate market. During the second quarter of 2021, there was 13.6 million square feet
Many are rethinking how they use their real estate, looking to turn core workspaces into multi-tenant facilities and/or giving employees the option of flex time. New, unfamiliar faces are now coming and going, and employees are no longer locked into the traditional 9-to-5 workday. A positive shift in many ways, it also changes the security landscape at workplaces and heightens the need to protect people and property.
Access control integrated with video surveillance will become more prevalent, as will licence plate recognition tools for parking management. From the security personnel side, remote monitoring will no longer be a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have. And the ability to remotely manage a video surveillance system will continue to grow in value.
Finally, due to the swell in home and delivery services, body-worn camera usage is on the rise. With too few people working and customers wanting more delivered more often, frustrations and even hostility toward service workers are on the rise. Body cameras tied to video management systems can protect the lone worker, de-escalate aggressive behaviours, alert monitoring centres if assistance is needed, and even help companies ensure their deliveries are compliant with policy.
Interoperability is key
Many on-premises systems don’t have the ability to connect quickly or to securely exchange data among systems. When the video management system is cloud based with a free, open application programming interface (API), users get the single sign-on; quick authentication; and ability to access, interact with, and share data they want. For example:
• Parking management: Licence plate data can be shared with the access control system to allow or deny entry. Users of a tenant management system can see parking availability and decide whether or not to drive to the office.
• Building management: Occupancy data can be shared with the building management system to automatically raise or lower HVAC and electricity, saving power and money.
• Retail: Shelf inventory can be shared with the supply chain system to determine product delivery and restocking needs.
• Logistics: Cameras can be integrated into logistics software to track packages through the supply chain process.
• Quick service restaurants: Video integrated with point-of-sale systems can identify and authenticate suspicious transactions all in one place, detecting fraud and mitigating loss.
• Construction: Video and analytics safety- detecting helmet usage can be pushed to the compliance system to determine if employees are following safety protocols.
Download the full report at www.securitysa.com/*een5
Camera Worldwide Statistics report
Eagle Eye Networks has released the second annual Cloud Video Surveillance Camera Worldwide Statistics report, delivering data and insight into security camera usage and trends globally and regionally.
The report analyses aggregate data from a sample set of 200 000 cameras and includes more than 150 camera manufacturers. It covers a wide range of industries including corporate enterprises, retail, restaurant, warehouse, industrial, education, healthcare, hospitality and multifamily dwellings.
“Organisations moving to cloud-based video surveillance make key deployment decisions across several factors,” said Dean Drako, founder and CEO of Eagle Eye Networks. “We are sharing the most common implementation configurations and trends with a goal to help everyone moving to cloud security camera systems make better decisions.”
Key data includes:
• Increased adoption of higher resolution cameras, audio-enabled cameras, and regional differences in usage across the Americas, EMEA and APAC.
• Relative level of use of the four most common video analytics.
• Flexibility of true cloud systems to support hundreds of camera types and manufacturers around the world.
• Growth in number of camera manufacturers.
• Preferred video recording location and recording retention duration.
• Regulated industries’ usage of cloud video surveillance.
Download the report at www.securitysa.com/*een6
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