CCTV Analytics - What is it?

CCTV Analytic's are a type of detection method for remotely monitored CCTV systems. Still Confused? Let me start from the beginning then.

If you have a stand alone CCTV system you can change this into a remotely monitored CCTV system by adding some hardware, obtaining a broadband connection followed by a little configuration.

One of the additional items of hardware would be external motion detectors. Now these are a bit like the ones you have inside for you house alarm but these are specifically designed for outside use but work in a similar way.

Like a house alarm, if the system is set and a motion detector is triggered then an alarm is sent to a monitoring station but the difference being the monitoring station are now able to view the live images from the cameras. The other additional feature is if an intruder has been seen, an audible warning can be sent. Now in most cases this will deter an intruder but if not, then the monitoring station can call the police.

Where analytics come in is they replace the motion detectors and have a number of advantages over them including lower false alarm rate and no need for additional detectors to be fitted on the house.

So what is it then?
  
CCTV analytic are software or hardware that use advance algorithms to analyse the incoming CCTV images to determine an objects size, direction and speed meaning you can configure it to differentiate between people, animals and vehicles. Still confused?

Ok, imagine you've sat someone down in front of your cameras and said "only call me if you see a person, so if you see a cat or the trees blowing just ignore it and carry on watching" You can take it one step further by saying " only call me if you see someone going into that door, not if someone goes out of it"

Now as you can imagine this is quite complicated and there are many factors that come into play when designing and configuring a system like the type and height of camera, viewing angle and night time infra-red coverage and that's all before the actual configuration so it’s very easy to get it wrong.

So which system to use then?

Now, as with most things there are good and bad systems on the market so finding a good system can be hard. Now, to simply the process the Home Office brought in the i-Lids Approval Scheme which sets the government’s benchmark for CCTV analytic systems.

https://www.gov.uk/imagery-library-for-intelligent-detection-systems

Currently only a small percentage of the systems on the market have been given this approval. Systems such as Xtralis, Honeywell and Agent Vi have been awarded the Primary Detection Award so they have been fully tested and evaluated against the scenarios set out by the Home Office so they can be used at banks, prisons and airports.

So do I need an i-Lids approved system?

In my opinion, yes.

Take your home alarm system for instance, would you use a non approved alarm company to install the system? Probably not, you'd more than likely want one that has an SSAIB or NSi certification so you know they have been checked to make sure they are doing everything correctly.

With a monitored CCTV system i think it should be the same so with an i-Lids approved system you know it has been tested and meets the governments requirements so you know its going to work correctly in all environments

Now, although an i-Lids approved system may be slightly more expensive i think its money well spent primarily because the system relies on the analytics to detect an intruder. If the system is non approved and not been fully tested in all environments the configuration could be difficult, or not work at all to the point of either to many false alarms where the monitoring station will omit the channel, or the parameters are that tight an intruder is not detected.

Unfortunately being an end user the only time you will know you have a problem is when something goes wrong, which in my eye is far to late!

R.Martin