It’s time to raise the video standard, writes Robert Wint, of manufacturer Verint Systems.
Integration. Integration. Integration. It might have been the mantra of a new political body representing the security party. Certainly it has been the subject of plentiful conferences, seminars, and thousands of column inches in the media over the last decade or so. But whereas in the 1990s the billing failed dismally to match the hype, the subject of video integration is being debated again properly, amidst the whisper of Open Standards.
It is, of course, the market that is now driving the need for integration in earnest, and in turn driving new product development. Video is just one element of a security installation. It is not stand-alone. Today, video is integrated with access control or alarms. Within a control centre environment, video must be easy to ‘fit’, and equally easy to ‘get at’ when it is needed. But more than this. Video must now integrate with other devices – help points on railway stations, ATMs, for example, and a host of other different technologies.
Historically, ‘products’ have been about proprietary software. Nowadays, however, end-users want and expect to be able to pick the best-in-breed products from across a range of different specialisms. They want the best camera manufacturer; the best recording technology; the best storage facility etc. Now, also, it is much more about IT. Yes to an extent we may have heard it all before, but increasingly security is being seen as ‘just another system on the network’, but as such offers significant advantages over so-called ‘traditional’ installations.
Slowly, migration is taking place. Security is steadily moving towards more IP-based systems. What is holding it back, however, is the lack of Open Standards, and the IT skills required to embrace the challenge. Larger installations feature technology from multiple suppliers, of which video is just one part. But it is an essential part that must integrate with other ‘business’ systems – Point of Sale technology, ATMs, Business Process Management systems, etc, all of which have again historically been based around proprietary software. Open Standards will have a significant impact.
Consider other areas where Open Standards are now accepted as part of everyday life. Your mobile ‘phone, for example, operating to an Open Standard, GSM; Televisions working to PAL; the near revolution in the business telephony sector where the fight against Open Standards was protracted and bloody, but the benefits to business customers now are essentially taken for granted. The parallels that can be drawn with the security industry are obvious.
In terms of video, MPEG-4 is increasingly being used as the ‘standard’. But a proper Open Standard, a published specification, requires compliance, and that is still a little way off. What is getting closer, perhaps, is the management of security as part of the IT infrastructure, operated and controlled by an IT Management system as with all of the other technologies on the network. This takes us into the realms of long-standing open standards such as Simple Network Management Protocols (SNMPs) that will alert the user to problems within the system (for example if a camera goes down or a video signal is lost).
At the moment, the industry has arrived at a rather strange impasse, halfway between Open Standards and Open rebellion! Some vendors, arguably those who are more open in thought as well as deed, have developed their own Software Development Kits (SDKs) to help installers and integrators write the interfaces required to enable disparate technologies (and not just security technologies) to interact. In short, to integrate. Whilst we wait for Open Standards to be agreed that will ensure the true integration of video, recording, storage etc, we are left in a bit of a hiatus. Stuck in the middle is a central system that ‘talks’ to every other system on the site. It is far from ideal, but it will do for now.
Of course there is understandable reticence amongst certain manufacturers, and certain installers, to the whole issue of systems integration and Open Standards. Historically, manufacturers have benefited significantly from ‘tying’ end-users in, and preventing them from looking at other technologies even if they wanted to. It has simply been ‘too difficult’.
Existing installations that may be in need of an upgrade, or wish to take advantage of a new technology, have been prevented from doing so because the perceived cost and hassle factor is too great. This is where, traditionally, an integrator used an SDK to write an interface between two systems. The problem is, as "integration" takes hold each system becomes dependent on several other systems, and the customer effectively becomes ‘locked in’. Try and replace one component and the whole system comes tumbling down. Hope is on the horizon however, as the security industry finally follows an established trend in the IT world. Video software vendors are now starting to offer open platforms where the whole idea is to be able to replace individual components at will. It’s not "plug and play" yet but it’s heading in that direction. Of course not all vendors are happy; end users can now write an "adaptor", using an SDK, and once it’s shown to be compliant to the controlling software system, plug it in and off you go. This opens up the ability to switch camera, storage and software vendors whenever you want, so that you can mix and match "best of breed" components and have the system that fits your needs, rather than the vendors’ idea of your needs.
Security has largely been seen as a grudge purchase. It is a statement we have heard all too often. Rarely is it ever seen as an added-value sale. The convergence of technologies, however, and the launch of Open Standards for video, will change all this. Ultimately, it will be seen not just as a commodity, but rather as an asset that has genuine strategic value.
Larger installations are already heading down the IP route, almost by default, but the end benefit is just the same. Video on a network is increasingly being used for many different purposes other than security. Retailers, for example, use video to undertake traffic analysis or monitor stock levels; Businesses use video to monitor workflow or manufacturing lines; airports monitor check-in queues; hospitals monitor patient welfare. The drive towards Open Standards for video has begun. What will be interesting now is who will dare speak against it.
