Hurricanes, heavy rains, earthquakes, droughts, forest fires and high temperatures are some of the natural disasters we face today in various parts of the world.
By Security Sales
During the past year, we witnessed several natural incidents that arose in Mexico and that undoubtedly became a watershed for companies, government and some institutions to work hand in hand to devise and implement systems and programs of prevention, reaction and recovery or, in other words: before, during and after this type of situation.
The issue of prevention covers many areas such as the safety and well-being of people who are not safe from the environmental inclement weather that has been developing and that today are more constant, such as hurricanes on the coasts of Mexico and as the earthquakes in The CDMX and surroundings. Official figures dictate that from 2013 to 2018, 433 emergency declarations and 177 disaster declarations have been issued.1
Technology, an ally of prevention systems
In the preparation and prevention phase, choosing the right technological tools for the right reasons is of the utmost importance. For example, we could upgrade the technology in the alert systems by equipment that has self-testing capacity, with integrated amplification components and lower energy consumption, which could not only save significant sums to citizens but also offer timely and accurate detection of equipment that may have a fault and increase the chances of efficiently alerting people. Network megaphones project clear and long-range voice messages, their installation is very simple and they use less infrastructure, in addition to offering compatibility with other past and future technologies.
In many of our cities, strong winds and constant rains are an inconvenience to the safety of businesses, employees and people in general; we can consider the filtration of sewage to businesses, companies and homes; flash flooding in coastal areas or near bodies of water; unpredictable earthquakes and other phenomena where technology plays an important role in coping with these inclement weather. For example, IP video surveillance cameras and an intelligent system that can provide valuable information for companies and business continuity, as well as contribute to the security of citizens.
"It is common to put surveillance cameras on elevated poles or on traffic signs on busy roads or exposed to the scourge of wind, rain, hail or road traffic, which can make the video look blurry," says Manuel Zamudio, Industry Associations Manager of Axis Communications for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean; and adds: "In these situations, the electronic image stabilization available in some cameras, significantly improves the quality of the video when the camera is subjected to vibrations, guaranteeing a fluid and high-quality live viewing that will also consume less bandwidth and storage, features that can be better used in the transmission of useful information."
Undoubtedly, this allows the government to maintain communication and the flow of information from affected areas as well as companies and businesses, not lose visibility in any situation beyond its control; likewise, it can continue to monitor everything that is happening around avoiding further damage by staying forewarned even during recovery processes, says Zamudio.
For the Axis executive, both for government and for companies, it is vital to have intelligent solutions designed for the safety of people and businesses. Network cameras that have electronic stabilization provide a series of benefits such as clear, fluid and stable image even during days of high wind or in environments with a lot of road activity or in construction areas without degrading the quality of the video, since being less sensitive to vibration both for its function and for the available mounting options, fewer cameras will be required to meet surveillance requirements.
Image stabilization makes the entire video surveillance system more versatile and cost-effective by making better use of the potential of each camera, for example by maintaining image quality in zoom shots when vibrations may have affected video quality.
Hardware and software development is making video stabilization techniques affordable for an ever-growing range of network cameras. This progress not only ensures smooth and comfortable live video monitoring. It also improves image usability, improves camera operability, makes installation more flexible, and ultimately improves the overall cost efficiency of a network camera surveillance system and reduces monitor fatigue.
Other technological features to consider are the ability to display in color even in poor lighting conditions, a quick focus on moving objects and without distortion even when the camera moves over the horizon line, which has mechanisms that reduce maintenance costs for example, after a rain, where water droplets could dry on the dome of the cameras and cause less clear images and, of course, that I can also see in conditions of backlight.
With teams that have the ability to analyze what is happening in their environment (audio and / or video), that transmit only metadata and alerts with the corresponding evidence, we can evolve from obsolescent systems that transit huge amounts of audio and video to a central point for processing and be much more effective and efficient in the attention of what really matters, which is our security.
