Have you ever visited an old favorite restaurant after some
time only to find out that the menu has changed? With a sense of
adventure you find yourself trying new selections and possibly missing
some old favorites. For some, such an experience elicits excitement;
for others, apprehension.
This scenario is playing out today in the realm of central
station monitoring. The industry may have never before witnessed a more
pivotal period in central station technology than it is at present.
Thanks to the Internet and IP technology, monitoring facilities, as we
know them, are evolving into an exciting business enterprise.
A lot of the change is being driven by more technology-savvy
customers who expect to have a Web 2.0-type experience — much
in the same manner in which they control their credit card and banking
accounts online. Why should their alarm monitoring account be any
different? And the benefits are mutual because central station
operators can reduce their workload and liability by letting those end
users and/or dealers enter their own account data.
Customers Are
Being Empowered Via Web Access
For those who may not be familiar with the term Web 2.0,
it refers to the concept of how people are no longer merely passive
viewers of what happens on the Internet. They now are, and expect to
be, interactively part of their own online experience.
Tim O’Reilly, co-developer of the idea for Web 2.0,
recently commented, “The biggest change we’ll
encounter [on the Internet] is a move away from traditional network
architectures to have the Web as a platform. The first thing we need to
realize is that this isn’t just a software revolution.
It’s a revolution in the way we capture and coordinate
data.”
There are a number of manufacturers and products in the
marketplace that enable this sort of interactivity and enhanced
services for customers.
Monitoring software manufacturers, such as Security Information Systems
(SIS) of Orlando, Fla., provide what is known as secure IP-based dealer
and end-user access platforms for IP-savvy customers. Major third-party
central station operations, such as Port Chester, N.Y.-based U.S.A.
Central Station Alarm Corp., provide secure IP-based services like
U.S.A. Connect, which is based on the GE MAS automation platform.
Services such as these allow customers to review/change
account information, get reports, review new account activity and put
accounts on/off test.
Dealers are becoming excited about being able to keep in touch with
their central stations, such as those contracted with COPS Monitoring
of Williamstown, N.J. COPS dealers are able to use a secure Internet
service called COP-A-Link via their handheld phones and PDAs.
Monitoring Firms
Can Offer Access Control Management
As mentioned, the menu of monitored alarm service
offerings has never been greater. This substantially expands the
horizons of central stations that have spent many years establishing a
good, solid revenue base and built their businesses on burglary and
fire alarm monitoring. One of these new service opportunities is access
control.
This is a tremendous growth area: a recent survey found that
85 percent of all alarm monitoring customers do not have any form of
access control. Central station software can now be integrated with
remote access control software, thereby allowing the central station to
provide access system data management to existing monitoring
customers.
An example is the VertX CS system by Irvine, Calif.-based HID
Global Corp. This system consists of IP-based access controllers that
can control up to 12 devices from a central station’s
head-end. With this setup, the central station administers the access
control system data entry and monitors the access alarm points. Another
option is offered by Bethesda, Md.-based Brivo Systems, with its
econtrol Online Access Control™ system. Even though the
central station monitors the access control alarm points, the customer
at the Web 2.0-based head-end can perform the data entry, thereby
reducing central data entry labor and liability.
Analytics Add
New Twist to Remote Video Deployment
While some central stations are only experimenting with
remote video verification, other operations such as SentryNET of
Pensacola, Fla., are applying advanced video compression technology.
These systems can deliver video events as an attachment directly to
your E-mail account, which can then be viewed with a PC or PDA from
anywhere at anytime.
Remote video systems transmit pre- and postalarm images
automatically and directly to the central station. This can provide
true video alarm verification — a perfect solution to the
costly false alarm problem.
The time will come when video and smart motion detection will be
unified as one. This could be five or more years down the road, but
because technology is moving so fast many may be surprised how soon
video begins playing a major role in monitoring.
One of many companies currently pursuing this technology
— also known as video analytics, or intelligent or smart
video — forward is Verint Systems Inc. of Denver.
Looking at monitoring from the perspective of an on-site
command center, such as those found in a large segment of the public
and private commercial/industrial sector, the company has defined three
keys to success. They are situational awareness, security systems
integration and effective collaboration.
Situational awareness starts with the deployment of
sophisticated analytics technologies at the edge of a video
surveillance network. Analytics, embedded into “edge
devices” like IP cameras, encoders and video servers, can
automatically identify suspicious behaviors across the security
perimeter, before they escalate. Effective distribution of video data
is important to get valuable information to the central monitoring
station as quickly as possible.
“Intelligent video distribution allows a central
monitoring station to send video footage to federal, state and local
law enforcement simultaneously for a more coordinated and effective
threat response,” says Verint Vice President of Global
Marketing Mariann McDonagh.
Thirdly is the systems integration factor. True situational
awareness in a centralized command center requires an integrated
approach to monitoring all of the data generated by disparate alarm
systems, access control sensors and other surveillance and enterprise
systems throughout the critical infrastructure organization.
“By integrating all of this information through a
networked video management platform, automatic actions can be triggered
in accordance with the established security procedures,” adds
McDonagh. “If a virtual video perimeter is breached and an
access control alarm is triggered, the video management platform can
set in motion a series of events that may include locking doors,
raising barriers or adjusting camera angles, as well as increasing
video recording rates and quality levels to isolate and focus on the
threat.”
Communication
Alternatives Abound as AMPS’ End Nears
Another tasty item on the new central station menu is in
the area of communications. While the industry is still very entrenched
in its main core POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) communications
systems, many exciting new communication paths are being rushed into
service.
As more and more of the POTS lines are being converted to
digital high-speed VoIP services, the challenge for dealers become
providing reliable alternative paths to the central station.
Central stations have always relied heavily on radio