Public transport is a segment of the video surveillance market that has been giving more and more dynamism to the electronic security sector, therefore, manufacturers, integrators and the end users themselves, bet on these systems as an effective alternative for the different problems of insecurity in the cities of the region.
by Santiago Jaramillo Hincapié
The CCTV market has grown very strongly in recent years and is placed as the largest and fastest growing niche in the security market, an issue that is already more than known by the industry, however it is worth noting that this is mainly due to two factors: The demand for more accessible security systems, since camera and video surveillance systems have migrated to remote viewing systems via mobile devices which has made it possible for many more people to access cameras in their business and home, and the second factor has been the proliferation of urban security projects, including those that have to do with public transport, which are mostly based on citizen video surveillance.
This is explained by Jorge Armando Carreño Hernández, who is part of the company Inalarm, and who also states that this is reflected in an expectation of general growth in video surveillance of 25% (approximately) and that for many security companies it will become their main line of products or the most important complement in monitoring services.
Cristian Barraza, electronic security business manager of the company Videocorp, a company that participates in several countries in the region (Chile, Peru and Colombia), reaffirms the above and ponders the importance of the CCTV market and warns that for 2013 they expect a growth of at least 15%.
On the other hand, it indicates that it also expects the demand for CCTV systems based on IP technology to continue to increase and be much closer to analog technology.
Now, regarding the general projection of this industry this year, Barraza comments that it is necessary to highlight the demand for IP technology, specifically in Chile, today it is being considerably higher than the rest of our other offices in the region.
On the other hand, Alessandra Faria, regional manager of Axis Communications for South America, states that the importance of the CCTV market "is total", because today only her company is dedicated to this market and from it they have achieved all the growth that in recent years the company has achieved in the region.
Therefore, he highlights, "we have a business model of direct sales through channels that allows us to be present to end users to offer video solutions for every need." Similarly, Faria points out that the behavior of this industry in South America has remained in constant growth and they expect that in 2013 this trend will continue.
Reaffirming this trend, Omar Murillo, sales director of Samsung Techwin America, ensures that the CCTV market in Latin America is projected to grow by 20% annually in the next 5 years. "There are many infrastructure and commercial projects in the region that will positively impact the operations of the industry, and especially Samsung Techwin in the region."
Public transport, a challenge
As stated by the representative of the company Inalarm, video in public transport will always be a challenge, since the equipment will be exposed to different difficult environments, which is why "it has to be designed to withstand the vibration involved in a moving object (conventional systems are designed to be static), both storage systems and cameras; which also have to be designed to withstand vandalism attitudes since they are exposed to users in general."
Another issue of great importance according to our guest, is access to recordings, because it is a moving object, real-time transmission will always be a difficult issue, most equipment is designed to be able to "upload" to mobile data networks, but they will always be subject to the bandwidths and service of these networks.
"What in many places is used as a solution, is that the storage is downloaded daily once the unit is in its parking site, for this the different recorders can count on wi-fi network cards to download in a parking yard without the need to physically access the recorder, "- Jorge Armando Carreño Hernández, .
Another advantage that warns the representative of Inalarm is that these systems can be integrated into location and telemetry systems which allows to have a total monitoring and vision of all aspects of the vehicles, from fuel consumption to integrated emergency buttons.
Similarly, our guest from the company Videocorp states that analyzing the security needs for public transport and considering the available technology (without forgetting technical and economic factors), a fundamental part of the implementation and operability of a system is the communications network, an element that he calls "basic" to design any video surveillance solution.
The representative of Axis Communications ponders, for her part, that when we talk about public transport we have from a bus to a metro station. "This type of facilities require adequate cameras for each of the needs, with the necessary image quality for each case, in public transport there are priorities from facial recognition to detailed monitoring of each of the places included in the system, to provide security to both users, workers and heritage," says Faria.
Likewise, Alessandra Faria indicates that the most important thing to have an integrated CCTV system "is to define the need that the end user has and choose a system that allows them to cover it, taking into account aspects such as image, access control, among other advantages offered by IP solutions, since an analog system does not allow us to have greater coverage and efficiency of the installation in public transport, it is very important to keep this in mind to avoid the constant mistake of buying equipment that is not suitable and performing inefficient installations."
In this same sense, the sales director of Samsung Techwin America comments that to have an integrated CCTV system that serves the public transport segment requires a system with complete interoperability and open architecture. "The video system must have the ability to offer integrations with video analytics, a manageable bandwidth stream, and a simple interface of operation," he emphasizes.
Integration and benefits
How does having integrated safety subsystems benefit users of public transport systems and the CCTV system itself? Based on this question, Carreño Hernández, from the company Inalarm, emphasizes that the flexibility offered today by these transport security systems allows them to have active security and operation applications; since for example the system can be connected to the emergency buttons inside the units and send an alert to the central public transport and an image of the situation; in the same way, when integrated into a GPS location system, it can send the place where the unit is located. It can also serve (depending on the legal framework) as a form of evidence and support for abuses or events that occur.
And from the operational point of view, Carreño indicates that it serves as a way of control and care of the units since you can control and monitor various types of functions either consumption or even rates, all depending on the systems that are installed and the network to which they are integrated.
In the same sense, Cristian Barraza believes that the integration of various subsystems clearly benefits users in making sound decisions and generating a synchronized action plan. "It is not enough just to see an image of a certain event, but it is much more useful to be able to take that image, activate an alarm, detect the face of an individual, read the license plate of a vehicle, etc.", he stresses.
Alessandra Faria, for her part, warns in this sense that once the IP network allows the total integration of different security systems, the user gains a lot of scalability and flexibility in the project. "The advantage of having the entire scalable system allows subsystems to be installed as needed, thus making a more robust solution," he says.
Recommendations
On the other hand, and moving on to the recommendations that our guests could make so that users and / or integrators of this type of systems obtain optimal results, Omar Murillo, sales director Samsung Techwin America says that the most important thing is to have good learning courses or certifications so that users and integrators feel more comfortable when using and installing the systems.
Meanwhile, Alessandra Faria also recommends always being attentive to training and new technologies, "since the market is constantly changing, for example Axis in the last two years launched more than 50 products that provide different solutions, in addition the company offers very important training so that you can optimally take advantage of the advantages offered by technology. Because it is a new technology, there are many concerns that can be reduced if the integrator and the user are trained."
On the other hand, Jorge Barraza goes a little further and points out five points to consider, which he warns may be important.
First: Take into consideration the specific needs of the user
Second: Do not design a solution that is only characterized by delivering the lowest price. For example, designing a customized solution, and many times, from our experience providing details to the system to further improve the proposal, even if they are not in the initial requirement of the client. Many times this can be more expensive, but we know from our experience, that the long-term results justify it, because choosing an option only for price is not the most convenient.
Third: Not offering an oversized solution to the customer (the attributes of your product will not always mean a complete benefit for your customer).
Room: Design a solution in a serious and responsible way. Analyze the solution with specialized professionals. This may sound too logical, but unfortunately all of us who work in this industry know that many times things are not so "logical".
Fifth: And as a recommendation for the end user, I mainly recommend letting yourself be advised by a professional consultant. Do not design a solution based on specific brands or manufacturers (unless some requirement is met by few manufacturers).
Meanwhile, Jorge Armando Carreño Hernández points out that as in any security system, a risk analysis must be done, and a core point to take into account is the means of transmission and / or access to the recordings, this drastically impacts the scope and cost of the project and therefore is one of the core points to consider from the beginning.
Another fundamental point, by way of conclusion that Carreño Hernández expresses is to use equipment specially designed for transport since although there are systems that can be installed very well, in the end they are not designed for this type of applications they will tend to succumb to vibrations or mistreatment to which they will be exposed.
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