By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines
June 24, 2010

A proactive video surveillance gateway solution may soon find its way along Philippine shores, as a German manufacturer of video gateway products recently partnered with a local distributor to offer professional video alarm monitoring solutions to Philippine companies.

Unlike DVR (digital video recording) systems which stop at merely video-recording incidences at the premises for future use, German firm HeiTel’s video gateway products offer proactive ways to respond to crime, either through immediate retrieval of video recording, video intervention through bi-directional communication, or by simply making sure that the system is up and running.

“[Our solutions] do not just record crime, they prevent crime,” shared Michael Meissner, managing director, HeiTel Digital Video, who was in the country to orient partners of iCSi (InterConnect Systems, Inc.), the local distributor looking to sell the product to the local market.

The system works, Meissner explained, by connecting the gateway to the firm’s network, where a central monitoring center can keep an eye on the premises and act accordingly during incidents or emergencies.

Usually, consulting the DVRs for evidence happen only after the fact; with the solution, he shared, users can get insights on activities in real-time.

The gateway also offers bi-directional communication, which means officers monitoring the site can communicate with a potential intruder through a microphone.

Rex Luis Goquingco, president of iCSi, said they see the point and beauty of HeiTel products being proactive, because “in 15 to 20 minutes after the crime has been committed, immediate response is crucial, otherwise [one] cannot do so much about it already,” adding that the chances of locating felons only amount to 50%.

HeiTel’s products address this by sending an alarm to the monitoring center for any irregularities. Additionally, a triggered alarm can be verified to be false or real by simply consulting the real-time video feed, reducing false positives and unnecessary movement of authorities.

Interestingly, Meissner shared, the video gateway is capable of self-diagnosis, which means it is possible to check from a remote site if the monitoring devices are working properly, helping increase confidence in the video surveillance, and ensuring that all activities within the site are monitored.

Cost-effective
Goquingco said such a solution is ideal for the banking and manufacturing sectors, which have high-risk assets that would benefit from foolproof monitoring solutions. “Banks often have one or two alarm systems attached only to their safes and vaults,” he explained. “Normally, the videos recorded by the DVRs stay on the branch only.”

Having a solution that monitors the premises 24/7 would also translate to less need for security manpower, Goquingco said. Interestingly, firms would not have to invest on expensive network connectivity to transport the data, because the solution uses a homegrown compression method called “HT Compress,” which can provide superior framerates even at low bandwidths.

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