2021 - securitylinkindia

National

Milestone Marketplace Helps Customers Explore Unmatched Possibilities to Extend their Video Solutions

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 29, 2021November 14, 202405 mins

Times are changing fast and so is the need for using and combining technologies in new ways. With the new edition of Milestone Marketplace, buyers will not only find the complementary hardware and software functionality, but they will also explore solution services when building best-of-breed video management solutions. COVID19 has forced businesses, cities, and entire countries to operate in new ways and increased the demand for new technologies and digital solutions. A versatile use of video solutions that can be expanded with more functionalities helps companies thrive when the world changes, whether the need is to ensure public safety, secure access to buildings, or check adherence to social distancing rules. Milestone Marketplace is empowering businesses to explore the unmatched possibilities of video solutions, relevant to companies looking for a new video solution and for existing users of Milestone XProtect looking to enhance the solution’s functionality. In addition to verified hardware and software, the new release of Milestone Marketplace also holds solution services with a total of more than 500 options to choose from. The global digital platform includes powerful technologies, like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, video analytics, GIS and GPS along with combined solutions tailor made to meet several business challenges. The partners behind this are all part of the Milestone Community, ready to help businesses use video solutions to solve new challenges. “Marketplace is primarily a connection platform to help end-users make the most of their XProtect investment. Through it, our customers in India can now connect directly with Milestone partners and seek their advice and expertise on different challenges, use cases, and technology. Being an open ecosystem it helps our customers with flexibility and future proofing, and the collaborative nature of Milestone Marketplace means new use cases can be explored and deployed in partnership with Milestone and other members” Explore, connect, deploy Milestone Marketplace allows buyers access to a vast catalog of Milestone Systems XProtect compatible software, hardware and solution services, as well as recommendations and guidance on how to solve specific challenges. Moreover, buyers can filter through a network of trusted Milestone integration partners to find the best fit for their business across the globe. Customer cases, documentation, implementation guides and demos are just some of the elements made available by the partners using Milestone Marketplace to allow customers to explore solutions available to them. “Since we first introduced Milestone Marketplace in 2019, we’ve been working to extend the experience for both customers and partners when searching for and creating XProtect compatible solutions. With this version we’ve onboarded integrators as a new partner type, improved the search functionality, and added use categories to name but a few, all with the aim to offer a future-proof platform open to integrating with innovation from around the world,” said Kenneth Hune Petersen, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Milestone Systems.

Case Study

Five Ways Logistics Parks can Optimize their Operations with Smart Video

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 24, 2021November 14, 202404 mins

When people think about cameras in logistics parks, they think about pure-play security applications. But what if video could also be used to boost efficiency, productivity, and even health and safety? Of course, none of this is possible with traditional security cameras that record footage of a site. But the good news is that the latest generation of smart video solutions can help optimize the operations, and gain new competitive edge, in five key ways: Improving the employee safety Introducing health and safety policies is relatively easy, but enforcing them can be much harder. With smart video, users can trigger alerts if their people are not wearing hard hats, or if they are entering restricted areas, for example. Because these kinds of situations are detected automatically, one can save time and ensure to not miss potential health and safety breaches. Optimizing the site security At busy logistics parks, people come and go all day and night, increasing security risks and often causing delays at the park entrance as well. Smart video helps operators speed up site access and tighten security with a range of features, from vehicle recognition to facial recognition, which can be used to prevent unauthorized access to the site and speed up access for authorized visitors. In all cases, automated alerts are generated to inform the security team of any suspicious activity, allowing them to respond faster and more effectively. Saving time for the security team With smart video, one can replace manual security patrols with ‘remote’ patrols. These support regular security checks of the key site locations using strategically placed, high-definition, low-light cameras that can identify potential security breaches automatically and in real time. As an extension to remote patrols, one can use AI to reduce the need to review footage manually, saving even more time for the teams. Increasing the operating efficiency and throughput The latest smart video solutions give the team a way to monitor all vehicles entering the park and to direct them to available loading docks in real time. The best solutions also provide all the devices and software they need to scan goods entering the park and to follow them through to their final destination, helping the security team reduce risks and shrinkage, and reduce manual goods tracking workloads and costs. All this helps increase security and throughput and increase overall operating efficiency. Minimizing on-site fire risks Thermal cameras and smoke detectors can be built into the smart video solution to detect abrupt temperature changes that could indicate a fire. This allows the teams to respond in real time, before employees are put at risk, and before the buildings or assets are damaged or lost.

National

Milestone Systems Appoints Sandesh Kaup as New Country Manager for India

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 24, 2021November 14, 202404 mins

Milestone Systems, a leading provider of open platform video management, has announced the appointment of Sandesh Kaup as the new Country Manager for India and SAARC. Sandesh Kaup re-joins the Milestone family after four years in a highly successful leadership position at Allied Telesis – a network infrastructure/ telecommunications company, involved with secure IP/ Ethernet switching solutions. Sandesh Kaup comes with over two decades of experience and significant exposure handling multiple global companies. Milestone has been a part of his DNA since 2011, running the local business until 2016 and largely responsible for the incredible growth the organisation experienced in that time. In addition, he has developed expertise in building businesses for companies like Bosch Security, Ingram Micro, and Anixter during his early career. Sandesh comes with a Bachelor of Engineering in Instrumentation from Mumbai University. Jordan Cullis, Director for APAC at Milestone Systems said of the appointment, “Sandesh not only brings his exhaustive experience of two decades in the security industry, but has prior experience with Milestone where he has displayed illustrious leadership and yielded the company to great growth numbers. His experience, contacts in the Indian market and sales focused management style will be instrumental in recovering the region after such a difficult, covid-effected 2020.” “It is like coming back home. I am excited to be back with Milestone, especially at a time when India is presenting great opportunities for the VMS industry growth. I am sure that the global expertise which I have gained over the years will help me take Milestones’ businesses to newer highs.” said Sandesh Kaup, Country Manager at Milestone Systems, India and SAARC, “Also, with the most recent Marketplace 2.0 release, Milestone now has unmatched possibilities of video solutions for organizations looking for new video solutions and for the existing users of Milestone XProtect who are looking to enhance the present functionality. This opens up great opportunities for us to work with even more partner to take our solutions to major business accounts in India.” In his earlier tenure at Milestone, Sandesh had nurtured the sales growth in India, which saw a 40% YoY growth from 2011 to 2015. Apart from building important business accounts he also played an instrumental role in building synergies and creating an ecosystem (solution partner) across server storage, networking, access control manufacturer, and command control software and other third-party software. Sandesh has also earned industry accolades like the Milestone Leadership Compass Award in 2014 and was the winner of the President Club 2015 Award for the Best Growth year-on-year.

National

Videonetics Launches Intelligent VMS 3.0

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 24, 2021November 14, 202407 mins

Videonetics, world’s leading AI & DL powered Unified Video Computing Platform (UVCP™) development company, has recently launched its third generation of Intelligent VMS that delivers unified, next generation user interface, military-grade security, rugged with unprecedented levels of high availability and a future ready solution, for any size of deployment across various industry verticals such as smart & safe cities, critical infrastructure, industrial, mass transit, education, healthcare and retail to name a few. Building on more than a decade of R&D in the domain of video computing, computer vision, artificial intelligence and machine learning based technologies, Videonetics released its Intelligent VMS 3.0 that encompasses multiple video computing services in a unified, homogenous software architecture platform and goes beyond mere ‘capture-record-display’ generation of video management. Videonetics has been ranked #1 video management software provider in India, and among the top 5 in Asia (IHS/ Informa Tech Research). Some of the key differentiators of Videonetics Intelligent VMS 3.0 are as follows: Next generation user interface The Intelligent VMS 3.0 offers a modernized user experience with intuitive, responsive, adaptive, and friendly interface. The interface supports user-specific camera layouts, hierarchical camera groups to enable the user to multi-task and improve operational efficiency. Intelligent VMS supports all standard web browsers and provides mobile apps for both iOS and Android platforms. Highly secured The Intelligent VMS 3.0 is cyber security hardened to meet today’s evolving threat landscape, by ensuring data safety and accessibility only to the authorized personnel with security protection. It offers various security measures such as multi-factor authentication, SHA 256, RSA & AES encryptions, video watermarking, distributed storage management for critical data, and secured channel communication to name a few. Business continuity The DC-DR (data center – disaster recovery) architecture of Intelligent VMS 3.0 is built considering the complexities of vast amounts of video data generated from large number of cameras in the field, protecting the same from loss or corruption and transferring data to another location. The DC-DR framework addresses the challenges through a practical, flexible and service-oriented architecture. It ensures business continuity with minimum or no service disruption. Collaborative vigilance The Intelligent VMS 3.0 features collaborative surveillance platform for the operators to exchange messages and share observations. It offers features such as sharing camera views, importing operator screens and chat room for discussions. Geo-fence based situational awareness The Intelligent VMS 3.0 goes beyond conventional map-based viewing to geo-fence based situational awareness possibilities. User can easily draw a virtual fence with geo coordinates or simply using mouse to see relevant cameras within the fence with all the events of interest. The Intelligent VMS 3.0 also comes with a unique feature of ‘neighbourhood view’ in which a camera can be defined as a master camera which in turn can be associated with nearby camera to provide complete neighbourhood view in case of any even of interest. It has ready integrations with map services such as Google Map, OpenStreetMap etc., to provide drag-and-drop of the cameras for alerts, archived, and live video feeds. The in-built pencil tool helps in associating the cameras on the map for a quick geo-situational awareness. Scalable and Cloud-ready The scalability of Intelligent VMS 3.0 is unlimited by design of the architecture. The computing nodes can be provisioned as and when required, and they auto-register themselves to the system with minimum configuration which makes it extremely easy to deploy. Many of the large enterprises and in fact even government organizations are now adopting the ‘Cloud First’ policy and most of their business processes are already utilising the benefits of Cloud these days. Intelligent VMS 3.0 comes with built in readiness for deploying it over cloud be it a public, private or a hybrid cloud. It has been built on a cloud agnostic stack to ensure that it can be deployed on any cloud of customer’s choice to ensure full flexibility, openness, and therefore lowest cost of ownership. It comes with its own server resource orchestration technology, streaming service engine and intelligent storage technology to help customer take full advantage of the cloud setup. Intelligent VMS 3.0 also comes with ready integrations with popular cloud service providers. AI powered I n the series of another ‘firsts’ Intelligent VMS 3.0 comes with pre integrated artificial intelligence and deep learning framework called DeeperLook™ – an indigenously designed highly efficient AI framework which ensures quick and easy deployment of AI based video analytics use cases for various verticals. The framework offers over 100+ such AI based video analytics use cases for different industry segments.

Latest

Kidnapping: Handling of Hostage Situation & Negotiation Skills

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 24, 2021November 14, 2024015 mins

Anil Puri CMD, APS group A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on-ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has rich experience of approximately 35 years in corporate in diverse domains & from functional managerial level to apex as chairman of a corporate group. His acumen for handling crisis management has prompted him to share his exclusive and niche experiences. He will be discussing the topic in four distinct parts in separate articles; Part 1 – Hostage situation & ways to deal with hostage situation; Part 2 – Negotiation skills; Part 3 – How to survive an abduction or hostage situation, and finally in Part 4 – The role of corporate security. He will take you through realistically at ground zero in visualization and response matrix through series of these four articles. His second article illustrates at length the role of positive attitude in negotiation skills to counter hostage situation. Dynamics of Hostage Negotiation Hostage negotiation is all about psychology, and successful crisis negotiators are among the most skilled practical psychologists I’ve ever met. Think about it – in the typical hostage scenario, lives are at imminent risk of violent death at the hands of a depressed, suicidal, homicidal, delusional, drug fueled, or cold-blooded hostage-taker, often in the midst of a chaotic and uncontrolled workplace or family environment. Resolution of hostage crises may take hours or even days of incredibly focused and intense negotiation, and require the use of virtually every type of skilled communication strategy in the crisis intervention skill box. Although hostage situations can vary greatly based on the motivations of the hostage-taker and the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, there are some basic facts that apply to all hostage situations. The hostage-taker wants to obtain something as ransom. This can be as simple as money, personal safety or safe passage to another country, or it can involve complicated political goals. The target of the hostage-taker is not the hostage itself, it is some third party (a person, a company or a government) that can provide whatever the hostage-taker wants. The hostages are bargaining chips. They may have symbolic value (e.g., 1972 Munich Olympics, in which the target was the Israeli government and the hostages were Israeli athletes), but the hostages themselves could be anyone. Whether it is a barricaded crisis situation or negotiations with a bad actor holding hostages, the keys to success are the skills of the negotiator or intervener to effectively communicate. Little else matters if communications is not established, maintained and utilized in such a way that management of the instant situation becomes possible. Most negotiators think that they are effective communicators. Some are, many are not. Communications must be practiced over and over again to assure proficiency. This article provides the rudiments of the skills needed for success in the field. Hostage Crises: The statistics – The facts & fiction Fewer than 20 percent of law enforcement critical incidents deal with actual hostage taking, and most crises are successfully resolved without the loss of life. In fact, containment and negotiation strategies yield a 95 percent success rate in terms of resolving a hostage crisis without fatalities to either hostages or hostage-takers (HTs), which is a remarkable statistic for any form of lifesaving crisis intervention strategy. There are three especially dangerous periods during a hostage crisis. The first is the initial 15-45 minutes when confusion and panic are likely to be greatest. The second is during the surrender of the HTs, when strong emotions, ambivalence, and lack of coordination among HTs and crisis team members can cause an otherwise successful resolution to go bad. Finally, tactical assault to rescue the hostages carries the highest casualty rate, probably for two interrelated reasons. First, the very fact that tactical intervention is necessary indicates that all reasonable attempts to resolve the crisis by negotiation have failed, and that violence against the hostages has already taken place, or is imminent. Second, if a firefight ensues, the resulting panic and confusion may result in hostages being inadvertently killed or injured. Phases through which Hostage situations moves Initial phase: This phase is violent and brief and lasts as long as it takes for the hostage-takers to make their assault and subdue the hostages. The end of this phase is often marked by the presentation of the hostage-taker’s demands. Negotiation phase: At this point, law-enforcement officials are on the scene, and the demands have probably been received. This phase can last hours, days or months and could also be referred to as ‘the standoff phase.’ Physically, nothing about the situation changes greatly. The hostages and the hostage-takers stay in the same place. However, a lot is happening during this phase in terms of the relationships developing between everyone involved. The negotiator’s job boils down to manipulating those relationships in a way that results in a peaceful ending. Termination phase: This is the brief, sometimes violent final phase. This phase has one of three results – the hostage-takers surrender peacefully and are arrested, police assault the hostage-takers and kill or arrest them, or the hostage-takers’ demands are granted and they escape. The fate of the hostages does not necessarily depend on what happens during the termination phase. Even when the hostage-takers give up, they may kill hostages during the negotiations. Often, hostages are killed either accidentally by police or intentionally by their captors during an assault. There have even been cases in which the hostage-takers were granted their demands, but they killed the hostage anyway. Post-incident stage: In this the effects of the incident play themselves out. These effects can include changes in the status of the groups responsible, shifts in the relationships between world governments or increases in security. Negotiation &…

Latest

CAPSI Security Leadership Summit 2020

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 24, 2021November 14, 202409 mins

Govt seeks help of private security guards in coronavirus vaccination programme: G Kishan Reddy Private security guards may be added in the frontline workers list for getting early vaccination The Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) has organized its fifteenth edition of annual Security Leadership Summit 2020 on 17 December 2020 in association with Association of Private Detectives and Investigators (APDI), BW BUSINESSWORLD, SecurityLinkIndia, International Council for Industrial Security & Safety Management (ICISSM). The private security industry has been observing the pandemic Covid19 and its roles in pandemic all through the year – it led the way in ensuring a completely safe and secure environment during this bad phase. Now that when the country is in the transition phase to a post-Covid19 era, private security agencies are still playing a pivotal role. This summit was a great forum to analyze the role of private security firms during pandemic. The government was given due credit for its endeavor and support during the pandemic. Inclusion of the private security services (PSS) in the ‘essential services’ list was hailed as a big boost for the industry. The summit also hailed the recent amendments in the PSARA Rules that go in favour of the industry to enable ease of doing business. People present there also hoped that the mechanism of GST levied on the services by the industry shall also be dealt by the central government the way the industry has been demanding. G Kishan Reddy, the Union Minister of State for Home, who was the Chief Guest of the occasion, said that as India eagerly awaits the launch of Coronavirus vaccine, the government and health agencies will take help of the 90 lakh private security guards across India in the roll out of massive vaccination drive. “It is not easy for the government, police or officials to distribute and administer Coronavirus vaccine to 130 crore people across the country. This is why private security industry will have a great role to play in this job. With their numerical strength security guards can ensure wider and faster distribution of vaccine and ensure that every household is covered in the vaccination programme,” said Mr Reddy. He praised the security industry for its yeoman service during the Corona pandemic prompting the government to cover the industry under the ‘essential services. “For, they have been playing a role everywhere – they worked as frontline warriors in the time of Corona pandemic at hospitals, banks, markets, institutions. This is why this industry is an important part of India’s security system and Home Ministry has been taking various steps to promote and strengthen it,” he stated. He also assured that the Home Ministry will take up with the Union Finance Ministry for relaxation in the GST regime for the private security industry. He stated the government was committed to make the private security industry meet global standards and promote ease of doing business in the industry. The fact is that the pandemic has impacted all and it severely affected the industries as well. This has resulted in unpredicted hardships for professionals across all fields. Nevertheless, the security industry of India has managed to remain steadfast through this all, and performed beyond the call of duty. It showcased its true potential and the government declared it as the essential service. The front line warriors of this industry set many great examples across India during the lock down. This summit honoured them and indeed presented Badge of Honour to the frontline Corona warriors including Mr. Reddy, Gen VK Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, who was the Guest of Honour in the concluding session of the Summit, and other industry stalwarts, and commemorated their efforts. Vivek Bharadwaj, IAS, Joint Secretary, Police Modernization, MHA, who played a significant role in bringing ease of doing business environment in the industry was honoured with the ‘Ease of doing Business’ Award. Speaking at the event, Vivek Bhardwaj said that the Home Ministry would write to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry to include private guards in the frontline workers list so that they could also be included in the first phase of the vaccination programme. Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman, CAPSI thanked the frontline warrior organisations for working on the ground to secure enterprises across the nation and therefore contributing to the nation-building efforts. This ensured a smooth and safe transition into a post-Covid world, He also thanked the Chief Guest for taking decisive and timely decisions during the height of the pandemic which resulted in confidence within the industry. He also put in a request that the GST levied on the services within the industry be duly dealt with. Another positive impact he mentioned was the collaboration between international security certification agencies and CAPSI which has enabled Indian security guards and companies to be able to operate or provide their services globally and make it possible to reach out to a larger audience. The chairman said that CAPSI has entered into tie ups and agreements with various global agencies to improve employability of private security guards globally. “We have tie ups with three international organisations. These will impart a forty hour training module to our guards to arm them with certification. With this, we will help them get employment globally,” he added, “Indian private security guards are in great demand globally and this is the opportunity we need to grab.”

Latest

Prama Hikvision Offers Temperature Screening Solutions for Safe Reopening of Education Institutions

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 24, 2021November 14, 202406 mins

Education institutions across India are looking for breakthrough solutions to resolve the health and safety concerns after the recently issued fresh guidelines by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for safe reopening. To help education sector to safely reopen, Prama Hikvision offers an impressive line-up of solutions for the education sector. Few such solutions include the temperature screening solution, a crowd-flow management solution and social distancing solution. Using a touch-free temperature-screening solution is one of the measures being currently used to quickly spot individuals with an elevated skin temperature (EST). This method reduces manual testing time and safety risks to those involved in the detection process. The temperature screening cameras have been widely adopted by majority of the educational institutions in India and abroad. The thermal cameras are capable of accurately monitoring the skin-temperature of all the incoming people, students, staff or visitors. They also raise an alert in case someone with an elevated temperature is spotted within the camera range or if a visitor is not wearing the mask. The cameras are capable of detecting the skin temperature of as many as thirty people simultaneously. Solutions for safe reopening of education institutes At schools and other education institutions, temperature screening products and solutions are needed to enhance the safe stay of all the students and staff while also giving them quick access to classrooms, offices and dormitories. Now with Hikvision’s Temperature Screening Solutions, this process becomes much easier – and much safer. Flexible product options A variety of products and solutions will suit a host of specific needs for any scenario. Touch-free temperature measurement: High-efficiency temperature measurement without close contact provides even more protection. Centralized management: Instant visualization of overall statistics enhances protection and facilitates exporting of data. Solution overview Onboard temperature screening & mask detection The school bus system is one of the most important transportation methods for students. Hikvision’s smart onboard temperature screening terminals support non-contact skin-surface temperature measurement, mask detection, attendance check and audio alarms to detect abnormal temperatures at an earlier stage and keep bus travel safe. Recommended products: Smart onboard temperature screening terminal. Temperature screening & mask detection at entrance lobbies Upon arriving at school, students and staff shall be guided to the pre-set entrance lobbies for preliminary temperature measurement before entering the campus. A variety of devices are available to meet temperature measurement, mask detection and attendance management needs. Recommended products: Fast installation with thermographic cameras – DS-2TD2617B-6/ PA, DS-2TD2636B13/P, instant visualization of temperature and mask detection with DeepinMind NVRs. Temperature screening & mask detection at the entrance of classrooms and dormitories Touch-free temperature screening with access control: At the entrances for classrooms and dormitories, Hikvision recommends MinMoe terminals for preliminary temperature screening, mask detection and access control. Recommended products: DS-K1T671TM-3XF Mask detection at open areas Open areas are where students carry out after-class activities. It is recommended to install IP cameras for face mask detection and intrusion detection so as to better protect students. Powerful data management and visualized demonstration At the control room, site managers and security staff can view statistics and temperature records of all connected sites in real time using HikCentral. HikCentral creates instant popups and other notifications upon detection of abnormal temperatures. Recommended products: HikCentral – temperature screening. Safe reopening for education sector requires all of us to move forward together, employing the recommended best practices and maintaining safe daily habits in order to reduce risks. Cutting-edge video technologies can help various organizations better observe the instructions and guidance. Prama Hikvision, has dedicated product packages for education vertical specific applications and solutions, including schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions. It has multiple application cases across India to bolster the cause of safe reopening for the education sector.

Latest

Matrix Comsec Bags CII Industrial Innovation Award 2020

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 24, 2021November 14, 202403 mins

Matrix Comsec, a leading manufacturer and provider of security and telecom solutions, was conferred with the CII Industrial Innovation Award, 2020 recognizing Matrix as one of the Top 25 Most Innovative Companies in India at the CII Industrial Innovation Awards ceremony in New Delhi on 9th December, 2020. CII Industrial Innovation Awards were instituted by CII in 2014 to recognise and celebrate visionary enterprises across industry segments. These premier awards seek to recognise and honour the Indian industry’s brightest stars and to identify the top innovative organisations. The process for determining the top awards and the list of top innovative companies involved a rigorous evaluation process, presentation and grand jury interaction. The unbiased assessment process measured the innovation culture, innovation management, inputs to innovation and the results of innovation. Sharing his perspective on this recognition, Ganesh Jivani, Chief Executive of Matrix said, “It is indeed an honour to win this prestigious award and I thank CII for this recognition. Innovation really has been the DNA of Matrix right from its inception. I thank our technology and product management teams for their dedication to building innovative and world-class quality solutions. Matrix offers cutting-edge physical security and telecom solutions in more than 50 countries including many first-world technologically advanced nations. With 250+ R&D engineers and world-class processes and infrastructure, Matrix is committed to innovating and designing cutting-edge high-performance products. This accreditation is a validation of Matrix’s innovation and design capabilities and will go a long way in motivating us towards building world-class solutions.”

Five Security Lessons Learned From Our Customers Navigating Covid-19

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 16, 2021November 14, 2024022 mins

Samir Nayak Sr. Sales Director & Country Manager, Everbridge Leading organizations are accelerating their digital transformation to cope with the multitude of disruptions that the pandemic and other critical events are creating. The COVID-19 pandemic is also shining a light on organizations that are succeeding in this environment, having strong business models in conjunction with strengths in adaptability and resilience. As security executives are navigating their organization’s road to recovery and considering a post-pandemic future, there are many lessons to be learned from how the world’s leading organizations are acclimatizing to operating with uncertainty. Not knowing when, or if, the COVID-19 pandemic will end means that changing your approach to security and adapting to better support your business operations is an ongoing endeavor. Many leading organizations are utilizing Everbridge Control Center for mission critical safety and security, and these customers offer valuable lessons for other organizations that are evaluating their security approach. In this white paper we are highlighting their top five security lessons learned that apply across all industries, navigating COVID-19, covering: Boardroom attention and security leadership. Agility, adaptability, and transformation. Automation to reduce risk and enhance compliance. Switch to remote working. Confidence in reopening facilities. 1. Boardroom Attention and Security Leadership The global pandemic is reshaping the business agenda. Many organizations are prioritizing safety and security above all other commercial decisions, forcing security executives into boardroom discussions where business executives are scrutinizing their security operations. Leaders at the forefront of the security industry are seizing their opportunity, by clearly setting out their longer-term investment requirements, rather than focusing on purely tactical initiatives. Ensuring safety and security are receiving the required level of ongoing investment allows their teams to stay ahead of emerging threats and critical events while comprehensively managing everyday organizational risks. They are requesting investment for sustained competitive advantage; articulating the commercial value of security to boardrooms and investing in technologies aimed at driving or enabling revenues and reducing costs over time. We see security executives achieving their objectives by also focusing on reducing risk and increasing operational compliance through digitization and automation. The larger the organization, the more important digitization and automation becomes for increasing behavioral consistency while reducing costs. Strong leadership skills demonstrating a proactive focus on protecting people and business operations have come more naturally to some security executives. Their training and experiences have given them the ability to operate calmly and effectively during life threatening crises. They have taken accountability for collaborating with business colleagues to ensure operational continuity while bolstering their duty of care. They are demonstrating their adaptability in uncertain environments and are at ease managing a growing number of risks. Leading organizations are proactively mitigating risks so that the organization can keep running. They are accelerating effective decision making, not making wrong decisions, having certainty when an incident or critical event is not taking place, and not escalating false incidents. This is where technology is contributing meaningfully, by enabling organizations to make the best-informed decisions through having the right information in the hands of the right people, at the right time. The lesson: Leading security executives are prepared and resilient. They act boldly, especially during uncertainty. They take a long-term view of strategy, yet they can adapt to a changing tactical environment. 2. Agility, Adaptability Innovation & Transformation During the pandemic we are seeing leading organizations adapt with agility in safeguarding people, facilities, and assets wherever they are located. These same organizations are transforming and preparing for growth. The most resilient are not only surviving they are looking to the future with optimism. These organizations may not be the ones you often read about when it comes to innovation and transformation, as they are too busy accomplishing their new plans. Supply chain issues, increasing insider threats, new cyber threats are not dulling leading organization’s ongoing responses. They are operating in a no fail environment and are mobilizing resources to address ambiguity and volatility. The overriding purpose of security innovation and transformation appears to be commercial and organizational success. Leading organizations are expecting their security to be: Commercially valuable, and more cost efficient. Failsafe in protecting people, facilities, and assets with built-in mobility and digital/ physical convergence. Resilient and adaptable to be future proof. Responding faster through automation and data insights. The lesson: Leading organizations have commercially focused security executives that are using technology, as much as possible, to enable revenues, reduce costs and better protect assets. They are building for future growth. 3. Automation to Reduce Risk and Enhance Compliance While some organizations are advancing the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, many more organizations are digitizing and automating standard operating procedures to provide comprehensive operational control and increase workforce productivity. We see customers digitizing and automating compliance, resulting in better: Management of (multiple) critical events. Safety and security. Protection of people, facilities, and assets. Operational resilience. Mitigation of business disruptions. Response, adaption, recovery, and learning from incidents Speed of response is one positive outcome of automation, directly affecting life safety or security. Using technology to automate alerts, decisions, actions, and reporting is clearly beneficial when the volume of information flooding into the organization is significant. Waiting for an operator to notice ‘something’ before acting is an avoidable risk. Without automation you are also relying on your operators to know your assets from memory (e.g., finding the nearest camera to where an incident is happening) or losing precious time through switching between applications and lookup lists. That is assuming that your operators are trained sufficiently that they remember the exact process your organization has prescribed for the exact situation, and that they can remember that process during a potential crisis moment. Beyond automation, our customers are using orchestration for dynamic workflows. They are not operating with data silos or fragmented operating pictures. Dynamic workflows defining how the system is going to react if ‘this and this happens’ or if ‘this and this but not that happens’ ensures that the system performs in the way the organization has…

Reinforce Social Distancing Measures with Occupancy Counting Technology

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 16, 2021November 14, 2024010 mins

Challenge The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our way of life, at both a professional and personal level. As new information emerges about businesses reopening and restrictions lifting to give way to a new definition of normalcy, there remains public and health safety guidelines to curb the spread. This challenge could not be more top of mind for organizations, both public and private, in how they open up their operations while keeping their employees and customers safe. It has been established that social distancing plays a pivotal role in limiting the spread of COVID-19. Organizations such as retail stores and business offices need a way to limit occupancy rates in their facilities at any given time in order to support effective social distancing measures. Solution Motorola Solutions is committed to innovating mission-critical technologies to protect people and communities. In the face of this global pandemic, Motorola Solutions is currently investigating different solutions, including looking at the analytics and software technology we have in the market that can be leveraged to help organizations effectively protect their employees and customers. Motorola Solutions’ Occupancy Counting feature in Avigilon Control Center (ACC) 7, the latest release of our video management software, can provide organizations an easy and streamlined way to count and identify the number of people in a facility. The feature aims to remove the staffing costs required to count people manually and the subsequent guess work on occupancy by frontline employees, particularly where facilities have multiple entry and exit points. Occupancy Counting helps organizations comply with social distancing guidelines by limiting the number of people in a facility, thereby reducing the interactions between them. Occupancy Counting leverages Avigilon’s analytic-enabled cameras that feature advanced object detection, including enhanced detection of people, which is particularly suitable for facility entrances or exits. To deploy the Occupancy Counting feature, Avigilon H5A or H4A cameras or third-party cameras connected to an Avigilon artificial intelligence appliance, can be specially placed at the entry and exit points of a facility or area to monitor traffic. AI-powered video analytics detect and classify a person crossing the entry or exit point and automatically translates these analytic events into entry and exit events. These events will be visible through dashboards in Avigilon Cloud Services (ACS) for managers to determine how many people are inside a facility, or alternatively, for automated screens to display at store fronts. Cloud-based reporting and visualizations provide helpful insights into hot spots and high traffic entry or exit points, allowing facilities to implement corrective measures to manage occupancy rates. For example, a retail store has been directed by its local government to reinforce social distancing measures by limiting the number of people in its store to 50% of its typical capacity. The retail store installs H5A cameras at its entrance to leverage the Occupancy Counting feature. As customers enter or exit the store, they are counted and compared to the occupancy threshold set in the ACS dashboard by store management. The front door display shows the current occupancy and when it is exceeded, displays a red screen that lets employees and customers know that they have to wait until people inside exit before they may enter. The ACS dashboard gives managers both a real-time and historical view of the occupancy of their facility and delivers further insights on typical peak times, the number of times per day customers must wait to enter, and finally, informs measures to optimize outdoor queuing support (e.g., sidewalk markers or crowd control barriers). The retail store is one out of many locations of a national chain. The security team of the retail chain has connected all of its stores that use ACC software to ACS, enabling them to use the Occupancy Counting feature across multiple stores from a central location, and determine if there are any trends that regional or national management should be aware of. In an office building setting, occupancy counting can display the number of people inside a facility based on strategically placed cameras installed at entry and exit points of the facility. The net total occupancy is displayed on a dashboard in ACS and can also be publicly displayed on a tablet placed at entry or exit points to manage traffic. Based on a set occupancy limit being reached or not, the tablet can be triggered to display instructions to permit entry or wait. The ACS dashboard can be used by management to provide insight on how many of their employees are returning to work in the office, allowing them to determine if additional guidelines like social distancing or face mask attire need to be reinforced. If occupancy limits are consistently exceeded, managers can also implement corrective measures such as requiring more employees to work from home. Organizations can pair the Occupancy Counting feature with Avigilon’s social distancing technology for a more powerful solution. Avigilon’s social distancing technology is powered by video analytics to automatically calculate the distance between individuals in the H5A cameras’ field of view. Managers can continuously monitor social distancing efforts within a facility, run reports of when social distancing violations occur and identify high traffic zones requiring additional attention or corrective action. As our world slowly reopens, it is imperative for organizations to follow public and health safety guidelines including social distancing and avoiding large gatherings. Innovative video security and AI-powered video analytics technology can deliver the intelligent capabilities that organizations need to protect people and create a new way of operating, especially when there is no timeline on when COVID-19 will recede as a global health crisis. In these uncertain times, a layered approach is the best strategy. Combining solutions for occupancy counting with technologies for social distancing, face mask detection and thermal screening efforts are essential for a depth in defense approach to limit the spread of COVID-19.