Day: November 16, 2022

An end-to-end IDIS video solution is helping Bristol Zoological Society in the creation of a new Bristol Zoo at its 136-acre Wild Place Project site. This follows the closure of the Society’s 186-year-old Bristol Zoo Gardens on 3 September, as the charity pushes forward with an inspiring wildlife conservation agenda. When the work is completed over the next few years, around 80% of the species at the new Bristol Zoo will be linked to conservation breeding and conservation programmes around the world – a higher percentage than any other zoo in the UK. Wild Place Project will remain open to visitors throughout the development phase. Upgraded CCTV visibility over the site is a crucial part of the Zoo’s strategy and the installation, carried out by KIS Fire and Security, has already delivered welcome conservation benefits. For the first time, a wolverine cub has been born and raised at Bristol, with vets using remote video to avoid disturbing the notoriously skittish animals during the highrisk birth period – something that may result in new-borns not surviving. The powerful but affordable IDIS solution is also key to operating at the site as it gives staff 24/7 visibility over enclosures, perimeters, and public areas, including raised tree-top walkways. IDIS’s 2MP 36x Lightmaster PTZs, which deliver crystal clear images in full HD resolution and can capture footage at distances of up to 350m in full darkness, are helping the maintenance team verify that fences are not compromised by storm damage and falling branches. The cameras feature 120dB true WDR dynamic range, backlight compensation, plus advanced image control settings which means they cope perfectly with the continuous fluctuations in light and allow the well-camouflaged animals – including bears, wolves, and lynxes – to be seen clearly. The cost-free IDIS Center VMS provides a powerful, flexible operating platform that makes the whole system easy to use, with the ability to seamlessly scale up to IDIS Solution Suite as the site expands. The transformed surveillance capability now provides the zoo with a truly futureproof system and there are plans to integrate it with Microsoft Active Directory, making it easier to manage access rights, and with perimeter detection. Adam Evans, Head of IT at Bristol Zoological Society said, “Our IDIS video solution, delivered by KIS Fire & Security, gives us the best long-term value for Wild Place Project, with the flexibility to scale and adapt as we develop the new Bristol Zoo. Looking ahead, IDIS also makes it easy for us to take advantage of AI-powered analytics and integrate with wider systems.” Pete Dowsett, Installation Manager at KIS Fire & Security, commented, “With this end-to-end surveillance solution, the Wild Place Project can reliably and cost-effectively safeguard its animals, visitors, and staff. It was a privilege to be selected to work on an important and unique conservation project such as this, and we look forward to supporting Bristol Zoological Society for many years to come.”  

360 Vision Technology, the UK manufacturer of rugged HD, radar and thermal PTZ imaging cameras, has confirmed a roll-out of its innovative TX Direct, wireless static IP address PTZ cameras, across Weston-Super-Mare, North Somerset. Deployed across areas popular during hours of night-time economy, but not yet covered by the fixed cable North Somerset CCTV system, TX Direct cameras have been installed by Select Electrics, primarily to protect areas identified where women may be vulnerable when heading home after evenings out. The introduction of the new TX Direct camera now means that women don’t feel as vulnerable returning from Weston’s vibrant nighttime economy, and are more likely to frequent venues and boost footfall in the knowledge that they can safely travel from the area. With funding from the Government backed Safer Streets Fund, currently ten TX Direct wireless cameras have been installed to help tackle a mix of safety issues. Located at points along popular routes out of the town centre and a local car park, the new 360 Vision TX Direct cameras are now in service and making a positive impact on street safety. “The latest TX Direct version of the Invictus camera from 360 Vision Technology was simply the best solution for the challenge,” said Ray Murphy of installer, Select Electrics, “We have deployed 360 Vision Technology cameras across varied applications over many years and we’ve always been delighted with their results. The quality of construction of the camera, combined with the advanced TX Direct wireless transmission technology, meant that not only was it the most economical choice, but it was also the best performing solution for the demanding requirements at Weston-Super-Mare.” Offered alongside the existing wireless TX camera range, 360 Vision TX Direct camera technology provides installers and end users with the advantage of seamless, direct ONVIF integration into Video Management Systems (VMS), rather than via a hosted server or third-party software. This installation flexibility meant that camera locations for each of the individual cameras could be prioritised without the constraints of ‘line-of sight’ or problematic cable routing associated with traditional fixed cable dependant camera video transmission methods. Cost-effective deployment Providing high definition 1080p, 25fps, 2048kbps, CVBR images, the TX Direct cameras enabled Select Electrics to easily add and set-up new surveillance cameras beyond the coverage of existing hardwired CCTV cable infrastructure, and as a cost-effective alternative to using expensive leased fibre networks. Furthermore, unlike other wireless transmission solutions, TX Direct cameras drive down the cost-of ownership even further, as the wireless camera is supplied ‘license free,’ meaning there are no recurring fees to pay. Using 4/5G networks for CCTV connectivity has traditionally been limited due to the lack of large data cellular connections with a static IP address, which is required to access and control the camera. Traditional rapid deployment systems either record locally with footage downloaded as required, or their data streams are highly compressed and frame rates are reduced to cut down on expensive data usage. A typical traditional static IP address solution will consume 20Gb of data at best per month. If streamed live and uncompressed, this allowance would be used in less than a day. With its fixed IP address, TX Direct offers North Somerset a viable alternative, delivering data allowances of 1000Gb and above, allowing cameras to be streamed 24/7 back to a central monitoring location, with minimal installation time and no adverse impact on infrastructure. Cost savings “ Up until recently the cost of transmission using a SIM card has been financially prohibitive to most councils and authorities,” said Chris Harrison, CCTV Manager, Corporate Services, North Somerset Council, “360 Vision have changed this with their TX Direct, which has no competition in the current camera marketplace. We know this because here at North Somerset, we trialled ‘market leading’ SIM package alternatives, which ran through data so fast that cameras could only realistically be used for a few minutes a day – a solution that was not fit for purpose. “Our yearly transmission costs with the 360 TX Direct solution are just £480 per year, just a fraction of the cost of the SIM alternative or rented fibre-optic solution. Wireless is cheaper, but its coverage is limited to an unusable amount. With 360 TX Direct, whatever the mobile network used, there is always over 95% coverage. So as long as you have power and somewhere to mount the camera it’s a highly practical solution.” Cyber secure TX Direct cameras also provide the tightest cyber security, in the form of AES (256 bit) encryption. Suitable for many applications, TX Direct is network agnostic, providing the ultimate flexibility to perform with any carrier and take advantage of the best available SIM contracts. Securing the area In the control room, the ten additional TX Direct cameras are seamlessly integrated into the North Somerset VMS (Video Management Solution) via the ONVIF protocol. If any suspicious activity is detected, or a person appears vulnerable or needs help, control room operators can contact police instantly, to assist via the Police Airwave network, which is directly linked to the control room. “We chose 360 Vision Technology as their deployable cameras are head and shoulders above competitors,” continued Chris, “The quality of the camera unit is the starting point but the fact that we could integrate them seamlessly into our VMS was invaluable. In fact, our operators don’t even know it’s a deployable solution. So, from an operator point-ofview, it’s no different than any other fixed camera, meaning no additional training for staff or additional equipment required in the control room, a true plug and play solution.” “With the potential to change the face of public space and remote surveillance camera deployment in towns like Weston-Super-Mare, TX Direct wireless PTZ cameras provide a high performance, supremely cost-effective alternative to any traditionally wired solution,” said Jason Wyatt, 360 Vision Technology’s Business Development Manager involved in the scheme, “With easy deployment in areas where additional coverage is required, and flexible mobile network connectivity combined with very low operational costs, the TX…

Cementing its position as a boutique brand solving problems like security, safety and operations by leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), Staqu, India’s leading AI implementation enabler, has deployed JARVIS, its flagship product with Olive living spaces. With this new proprietary upgrade, JARVIS will be equipped to optimize the resources in an efficient manner, making living spaces/societies smarter, safer and relatively more secure. Atul Rai, Co-Founder & CEO of Staqu, said, “The latest Olive Co-living integration in JARVIS comes at a crucial point. Given that modern Co-living spaces are more adaptive to digitize their various monitoring activities, Jarvis helps them in getting insights of all their nooks and corners using the third eye which is an existing CCTV camera equipped with artificial intelligence. JARVIS is being utilized by Olive in streamlining their safety, security, and SOP monitoring protocol with a human independent manner and without any biases. Kahraman Yigit, Co-Founder & CEO – Olive Living said, “The tie-up with Staqu is in perfect alignment with Olive’s mission and vision to manage properties remotely, make living spaces safer, secure and guarded against delinquents and wrongdoers without increasing overheads. Today we can manage many properties from a remote location with the highest situational awareness in the industry. Staqu has enabled us to migrate the majority of the responsibilities of mid-level management to Jarvis. We are thrilled with this partnership and truly hope that together we can create an ecosystem where technology can achieve its highest potential and support the needs and necessities of modern-day societies.” Integrated with Olive Living, JARVIS will now be able to detect and notify any intrusion in real-time, subsequently alerting the relevant stakeholders. A similar approach will be taken in case of fire, violence, cleaning/mopping, overcrowding detection. Simply by integrating JARVIS with existing CCTV, Olive can now verify if all their SOPS are followed or not and provide hassle-free, seamless, and comfortable living space for its members. In addition, upgraded JARVIS is now equipped to conduct thorough overcrowding analysis and sleeping security guard checks along with real time alert, JARVIS also provides Video management software along with digital recording and various state of art reports which can be used in various predictive analysis for decision making.

Cellebrite DI Ltd. a global company in Digital Intelligence (DI) solutions for the public and private sectors, recently announced their collaborative work with the Lake Jackson Police Department. Big cases solved by large agencies with lots of resources may grab more headlines, but most communities depend on smaller police forces to do the hard work of keeping communities safe with just a handful of officers. Detective Sergeant (DS) Christopher Collins, of the Lake Jackson Police Department in Lake Jackson, TX, understands what it means to be the only digital examiner in a department. He is literally a one-man band. Not surprisingly, DS Collins faces a number of challenges that those in small departments know all too well: multiple roles, budget constraints, outdated equipment, too many devices, and slow USB speeds. In the two years, he’s been in his present position, DS Collins has learned how to use technology as a force multiplier to modernize his workflow and get the information his investigators need to move cases forward as quickly as possible. Right now, he is utilizing Cellebrite UFED 4PC, Cellebrite Physical Analyzer, and Cellebrite UFED Cloud. DS Collins has high praise for the solutions he is using. UFED 4PC… makes it extremely easy to run through a phone extraction and capture of evidence. With the on-screen instructions… there’s almost no question on what to do because it gives you the steps to follow.” “Running it [data] through Physical Analyzer presents everything that you’ve captured and parsed through on the screen. It gives you that extraction summary screen, and I love that screen. It shows you what extractions have been completed or included in the report, and it breaks down photos, videos, text messages, instant messages, and device locations…. The workflow is a lot easier to work through on that.” “Another thing (I like about) Cellebrite UFED Cloud is the public-facing cloud and social media profiles that Cellebrite UFED Cloud is able to capture. By putting in a URL or a username, it captures the public-facing images. Using Cellebrite UFED Cloud’s feature to do that sounds way more forensically sound.” When asked what advice he had for officers, like himself, who are flying solo in their departments on how to use digital technology to better serve their communities and close the public-safety gap, here’s what DS Collins had to say. Train Up: Take up as much free training as you can. Reach out. If your department is part of the ICAC task force, go through ICAC training. They have a ton of resources for training that are free or very low-cost. Get Cellebrite Trained: As DS Collins explained, “This was one of the best courses I’ve had. And the person who trained me, my instructor for my CCO and CCPA, actually pushed me to get my CCME because he saw how well I was performing in that class. He was a fantastic instructor.” Find Funding: While there are federal funds available, DS Collins recommends that those seeking funds to transform their department shouldn’t focus strictly on federal grants. Set Standard Operating Procedures: DS Collins is in the process of building a mandatory mobile device evidence collection course for basic-level patrol officers and even detectives because they need to be able to know how to handle devices collected at a crime scene. When asked what gets him out of bed every morning and do his job, DS Collins paused for a moment then said, “In the simplest terms, it’s justice for the victims. And the help that it will give those victims in restoring a normal life is insurmountable. That’s the main thing that drives me, is to protect the children.” Zach Cohen, Vice President of State and Local Sales at Cellebrite, commented, “Detective Sergeant Chris Collins is a prime example of how a single, driven individual can introduce new technology to agencies, no matter the size. His efforts to educate other team members and dedication to training demonstrate an attitude that all analysts and investigators should emulate.”