As we know it, CCTV has been around for about 20 years now. It gained prominence and much support in the early 90s, and was seen by many as the panacea to cure all evil.
Over the years, CCTV has also gained much public support, mainly due to some high profile results. Unfortunately, these systems were often poorly planned and designed, as the Stakeholders involved had little experience to call upon when implementing surveillance systems.
This problem was compounded by a lack of knowledgeable CCTV companies in an industry which is largely unregulated and has grown at a phenomenal rate.
As things stand, anybody can set up a CCTV business. There are some first class companies out there but, sadly, there are also a great many which bring the industry into disrepute.
Today’s world is a changed place. Global events have created a need for more sophisticated surveillance systems, and a tangible increase in public demand for safer environments.
The opening of borders and the shrinking world realised by low cost travel and rapid communications have all created new security risks. International terrorism has become a real and present danger. Home-grown activists pose real and genuine threats to safety and security.
Security’s accountability of paramount importance
These factors, along with rising levels of anti-social behaviour and violent crime, make security and its accountability of paramount importance. As the effects of recession take hold and life gets harder, experience tells us the risk of crime is likely to increase with stealing becoming a more attractive option.
It’s clear that yesterday’s technology cannot address today’s issues. Traditional CCTV technology no longer meets the needs of today’s organisations which require more data, accurate information and accountability along with secure but shared event monitoring and recording.
It’s imperative that those who require this crucial visual intelligence have easy and speedy retrieval of recorded information by way of database-type access methods.
Aside from the deterrent effect and comfort factor it provides, CCTV has two prime objectives. One is proactive, the other is reactive.
On the proactive front, monitored systems allow the spotting of potential problems and a speedy response at the correct level before they become incidents.
On the reactive front, surveillance systems provide post-incident investigative material for visual intelligence. In a car park scenario, for example, where a car is broken into and two figures are recorded smashing one of the side windows, it’s vital the CCTV recording is able to provide identifiable images.
CCTV operators: the focal point
There’s little doubt that CCTV is a powerful crime management tool producing huge amounts of visual data, some of which becomes valuable intelligence that can lead to successful prosecutions.
The focal point for this visual data is the CCTV operator. High responsibility is vested in the operator to decipher and process this information, and to take the correct action at the right time even if they have never had to take such action before.
The operator has a very stressful job to do. They’re often addressing a multitude of tasks, with phones ringing, radios going, something happening on screen and reports to log, etc. Inevitably, this often results in information overload.
In reality, CCTV isn’t always hugely efficient. Studies show that CCTV systems are sometimes limited and that operators often miss important visual data.
A report by Video Analytics developer iOmniscient advises that, when watching only two monitors, after ten minutes or so a given operator misses 45% of data and after 22 minutes they’ll miss 95% of data.
Organisations such as the Home Office and the CCTV User Group have addressed some of these failings by helping to improve the design of CCTV systems. They’ve also produced operational requirement documents which set out what a system is expected to achieve, and have assisted in improving the training of operators and their use of surveillance system.
However, it’s abundantly clear that there’s a need for more integrated and intelligent systems and a requirement for greater efficiency.
Let’s hear it for automated intelligence systems
The good news is that automated intelligent systems can be employed. These systems will not replace the operator but they do serve to increase efficiency in the Control Room.
How? By making CCTV more proactive as a preventative tool, alerting operators to events in real-time and therefore allowing them to take immediate and appropriate responsive action.
Fortunately, modern surveillance technology now provides many highly effective ways to improve security for everyone. In particular, the advent of network video or IP-based digital security solutions incorporating artificial intelligence software and megapixel cameras has made systems more powerful, sophisticated and flexible.
Network or IP video systems provide the next generation of video surveillance solutions, producing a host of advantages over existing CCTV systems and addressing most of the failings of the current solutions outlined in the national media.
Realising advances for CCTV
IP digital systems bring advances to CCTV. In terms of transmission, once a CCTV signal is digital it can be transmitted easily and fairly cheaply anywhere in the world via an IT network or the Internet. This brings great advances, as the system can then be used by various people for varying reasons.
In a shopping centre, for example, it can be used by the Security and Health and Safety Departments to monitor the environment, and by the Marketing Department for checking on shopping trends, etc.
It also means that streaming video images could be sent to a response team member’s PDA or mobile viewing device, giving them an insight as to what kind of incident is going to confront them.
IP/digital surveillance technology also provides an open platform for integrating CCTV with other elements of security provision (such as intruder alarm systems, access control solutions, Shop Watch or Help Points) based upon ‘Cause and Effect’ or ‘What if?’ scenarios.
For example, the CCTV could be integrated with a panic button in a bank or ‘tied’ to a door supervisor at a night club. Activation of the button could alert the CCTV operator to an issue and automatically send the CCTV cameras to preset views. This would trigger the recording in real-time and flag the recorded data for subsequent easy retrieval: all without operator intervention.
Well-designed and integrated CCTV systems and Control Rooms
A well-designed and integrated CCTV system and Control Room will achieve a high level of security, minimise staffing levels, maximise operator efficiency and provide accountability. This increased intelligence offers a wealth of management information that can be easily stored and accessed at any time by the appropriate person(s) within the end user organisation.
Noticeably, the most interesting development in urban surveillance of late is artificial intelligence. When coupled with video analytics, CCTV becomes a truly powerful and intelligent visual management tool. It can automatically alert CCTV operators to exceptions or unusual events.
What’s more, intelligent software will alert the user to events as they unfold such that they’re able to take immediate action and prevent incidents.
As is the case with humans, there are different levels of intelligence within CCTV solutions – some of which are limited, while others smack of genius. Inevitably, though, ‘Intelligent’ CCTV will help ease the human workload and extend the functionality of security systems.
Aside from Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), the video analytics market is still to be proven in the UK, but systems have been developed and are being used both here and around the world in numerous applications (such as facial recognition, intruder detection, people and vehicle counting, graffiti detection, theft and abandoned object detection in a crowd and behaviour analysis and tracking).
It will be interesting to see what the future might bring.
Peter Houlis is managing director of 2020 Vision Systems
