Expand Your Portfolio With Thermal Imaging on the Edge

Today’s more cost-effective intelligent thermal cameras are opening up new opportunities for integrators to provide IP-based perimeter security systems. Find out how end users are achieving multiple benefits from these solutions.

There’s an emerging opportunity for dealers and integrators to generate new streams of revenue from IP-based perimeter security deployments. Solutions like smart thermal cameras with video analytics now operate with a high degree of accuracy outdoors and are easy to integrate into existing networks, while lower costs make them a compelling alternative to traditional perimeter approaches.

As these systems achieve new levels of capability and cost effectiveness, the opportunity extends beyond installation revenue to enable remote monitoring services.

Intelligent thermal cameras are now cost competitive with alternative perimeter solutions. The economic advantages of outdoor thermal imaging become clear if you examine per-foot costs of securing a perimeter. While many manufacturers do not present their pricing in this way, the costs can be calculated, and the results are motivating a wider range of customers to adopt this security approach.

Thermal analytic camera systems are now available at an MSRP as low as $13 per foot, bringing the most accurate perimeter security technology to a price point on par with traditional approaches to perimeter security such as fence sensors, buried cable or visible cameras. In addition to being available at lower prices, thermal cameras can now see more, detect more and operate 24/7, providing clearer images and more accurate alerts for situational awareness you can depend upon.

Imager Improvements Boost Clarity

Recent advancements in the sensitivity of thermal imagers, combined with sophisticated image processing, can now present clearer thermal pictures regardless of conditions. Using a very high degree of video processing can emphasize small variations between objects and the background to exaggerate the fine details and present a clearer picture in contrast to other image features.

The better images reveal critical security information and extend the value of outdoor thermal cameras for 24-hour use.

Combining superior thermal images with video analytics systems designed to overcome challenges of the open-air environment creates cost-effective surveillance systems that increase awareness for large outdoor areas and perimeter security applications.

In the past, perimeter security solutions have been plagued by false or nuisance alarms that waste time and cause security personnel to lose trust in the system. Intelligent video systems for perimeter and outdoor security address this issue by providing immediate, and dependable, notification of an intruder along with accurate information pinpointing the location and nature of the alarm.

This additional information allows operators to respond efficiently and appropriately. In general, supplying better situational awareness to operators enables them to be more effective and productive. Fewer operators are needed, which frees up employer head count to address other functions in the enterprise.

Achieving Regulatory Compliance

Compliance is increasingly an issue in many vertical markets, motivating end users to secure locations that might otherwise have been unsecured. Companies that might previously have employed only minimal perimeter security measures are now facing mandates that require a higher level of protection.

The Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) and Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) are such examples of regulation where perimeter security standards are of paramount importance.

There are also other areas coming under increased scrutiny such as airports, rail, bridges and tunnels where protecting the perimeter is the first line of defense for securing these vital assets. Providing systems that enable end users to meet regulatory and compliance standards represents a major opportunity for dealers/integrators.

Doing More With Less Manpower

Automation is a useful tool to boost security effectiveness while reducing manpower expenses. Even the most diligent security person cannot be at all places at all times. Automation therefore supports an organization’s security mission with full-time awareness about all events that unfold over large areas to prevent intrusions and potential ramifications. In this way, an organization’s business value is maintained and not compromised.

From a security perspective, there are two main impediments for consideration. The first is not being aware of the risks that are lurking; the second is lack of reliable information about the place and nature of the intrusion when it occurs.

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