Visualize This

Remember the last time you saw a master crook in an action movie? Picture that scene where he plugs in a cable into a bank' monitor and freezes the image so cops won't detect him, then cleverly sneaks in past surveillance.

You'd be surprised by to which extent this can be true!

Most older surveillance technologies were based on transmitting an analog signal from CCTV¹ cameras. When experiments in the UK started during the 70's, this was enough to provide a certain degree of security.

However, CCTV cameras had many troublesome issue. Maintenance was difficult, especially when surveillance locations had to be changed. Laying new cables, rewiring the cameras, preventing line tapping are all but trivial tasks.

Now Try This

Things changed with the introduction of IP-based² cameras.

To put it simply, IP cameras are stand-alone devices that transfer video and audio data using network (instead of coaxial) cables, making the camera available via any IP network, regardless of its location. This means that all these cameras can be connected to using just a web browser, and that standard networking tools can be used to access the data the these cameras send.

IP cameras rid us of having to own special devices to convert analog feeds to digital, open up new "tapeless" storage solutions, and allow us to finally be able to connect and manage the cameras without tripping on any wires.

Axis Cameras

Our main partner in this field is Axis Communications, a Sweden-based company that provide us with high quality solutions.

Axis enjoys a vast product line, ranging from fixed and PTZ³IP cameras to video servers to video software. Axis focuses on having this wide range to make sure that no matter what your needs are, they are covered.

Video software that we provide with our solution is licensed independently, and it boasts many features such as motion detection, automatic recording when certain events occur, or based on a certain schedule, saving the recorded stream to remote locations, sending automatic notifications to selected emails, control of PTZ cameras, and best of all, real time audio and video while not recording.

Supported video formats include, but aren't limited to, MPEG-4 and Motion JPEG at high resolutions. On faster network, the frame rate can reach up to 30 FPS while viewing a live video feed.

Axis cameras can be controlled using either Axis's own Camera Station software, or using third party software such as Milestone's XProtect, depending your particular needs.

The advantages of Axis cameras don't stop here. Axis provides developers with development kits that allow them to build applications base on the video stream from the camera. This means that no matter what application you're looking for, it can always be built from scratch.

Extensibility

In some projects (such as Dubai Municipality), installed cameras can do just fine for monitoring non-critical locations, such as jammed streets. In such cases, we can install video servers on the site, which are devices that convert existing CCTV video to digital and sends it over the network, essential converting one or more CCTV cameras to IP cameras.

Axis cameras are designed with extensibility in mind, they support different types of connectors such as serial, Ethernet and even wireless. If you need the minimal number of connectors, you can always choose a camera with Power-over-Ethernet support, which removes the need to use a power cable.

In addition to hardware extensibility, software extensibility is crucial. Axis cameras have a built-in web server included with the firmware. This is the software that provides you with an interface accessible from a browser. This software can be developed further and built upon to end up with a tailored solution that fits your exact specific needs.

All camera connections can be wrapped in encrypted tunnels, making sure that wire tapping is completely useless.

Specialized Solutions

However, in very special cases, regular cameras, even with night-vision and IR support aren't enough, especially in extremely dark locations, underwater monitoring, or industrial factories. In certain situations, thermal detection is also required.

Thermal cameras are used in situations where motion is not enough information, where you need to know if a certain location is over-heated (or under-heated, for the matter). Many cameras cannot determine if there's a still object in the scene, while thermal cameras can.