CCTV

Published by Hi-Tech Security Solutions

Handbook 2022
YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO SECURITY SURVEILLANCE
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CCTV Handbook 2022

CONTENTS
From the editor’s desk: The last CCTV Handbook .............2

Trends
Surveillance round table 2022........................................................... 4
2022 trends in video surveillance...................................................12
The impact of AI-enhanced video analytics on
control room personnel .....................................................................15
To be or not to be, is that the objective? .....................................20

Analytics & AI on the edge

Leaning into the edge ........................................................................22
Optimising edge analytics ................................................................28

Camera Selection Guide ....................................................30

Video Analytics Selection Guide ......................................38 Thermal solutions

Thermal monocular camera series .................................................56

Storage for Surveillance Selection Guide ........................40

Case studies

Smart home automation Solar power keeps construction site safe ....................................57

Home automation hangs on security ...........................................43 Integrated technology ecosystem for safe hospitals ..............58
Securing the diamond industry .....................................................60

Supply chain
Supply chain woes ...............................................................................47 Directory of CCTV product, solution
and service providers ........................................................61

Management platforms
Video management and beyond....................................................48 OUR COVER
CCTV
Published by Hi-Tech Security Solutions

Distributed by Forbatt SA,

Handbook 2022
Video Surveillance-as-a-Service YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO SECURITY SURVEILLANCE
TVT’s mobile app puts
useful information in
The benefits of VSaaS..........................................................................50
the hands of users in an
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Artificial Intelligence/Internet of Things operate format.
For more information
So what is AIoT? ....................................................................................52
contact Forbatt SA on
AI + IoT = AIoT........................................................................................53 sales@forbatt.co or
+27 11 469 3598.
System integration
18
System integrators and surveillance .............................................54

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 1

CCTV HANDBOOK 2022 FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Published by

The last CCTV Handbook

solutions
www.securitysa.com
A division of
Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd Welcome to the CCTV Handbook 2022, I
1st Floor, Stabilitas, 265 Kent Avenue,
hope the headline caught your eye. This
Randburg
Box 385, Pinegowrie 2123 really is the last CCTV Handbook Hi-Tech
Tel: +27 11 543 5800 Security Solutions will ever produce, but it
is not the last handbook about surveillance
ISSN 1562-952X
we will be doing.
Editor After nearly two decades of following
Andrew Seldon: andrew@technews.co.za the surveillance market’s evolution, we
have decided it is time to send the CCTV
Contributors
Handbook brand into retirement. As noted in
Craig Donald
Gerhard Furter the round table article on page 4, “If we had
to highlight a single trend about surveillance
Advertising sales … it would be all of the above. Today’s
Tracy Wolter: tracy@technews.co.za
customers who want to do more than
Heidi Hargreaves: heidi@technews.co.za
simply fill in a list of checkboxes to cover
Subscription Services any compliance demands from executive
For address changes, orders, renewal
management; they are looking at integrated
status or missing issues, So, while this is goodbye, it is also
e-mail: subs@technews.co.za solutions that integrate some or all of the
hello and a new start to a new brand
above into a solution that delivers value.”
that will follow the surveillance market
Subscribe online: www.technews.co.za That’s a bit of a mouthful, but it reflects
into its many and very integrated futures
what’s happening out there in the real
Design and layout: consisting of everything from left-over
Technews Production Department world. It’s all about adding real, measurable
analogue installations to cybersecurity,
value. This is one of the reasons for us
to pure cloud solutions and the vast
deciding to change the branding of the
Wild West of IoT (or AIoT as we explain
handbook. It is a sad change as the CCTV
inside).
Handbook has been part of my job since I
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I have purposely not mentioned the
Letters to the Editor should be addressed to Andrew became editor of Hi-Tech Security Solutions.
new name, it will be something along the
Seldon at andrew@technews.co.za. Sending material Going over a few past issues, especially
to this publication will be considered automatic lines of ‘Smart Surveillance’, much like our
permission to use in full or in part in our Letters the first ones I was involved in, is a trip
Smart Cybersecurity Handbook, but we will
column. Be sure to include your name, e-mail down memory lane. We had articles and
address, city and postal code. We reserve the right reveal more over the next few months.
to edit all letters. round table discussions about the move
Truthfully, we are still debating (some
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be from analogue to IP, questions about how
reproduced, adapted, stored in a retrieval system or
would say arguing) about exactly what it
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, effective video analytics really is (or was
should be and what it should look like .
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
way back then) and other topics that would
the prior written permission of Technews Publishing (Pty) But that is all in the future, right now
Ltd, Reg No. 2005/034598/07 seem so out of place in today’s world. VSaaS
I hope you enjoy the latest and last CCTV
Disclaimer wasn’t even a consideration back then, I
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of Handbook. As always, please feel free to
the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents don’t think it was even an acronym.
cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any
send your comments and criticisms to
loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily And then there are the people. So many
andrew@technews.co.za.
reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the
people have been quoted or have written

Andrew
right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to
have been cleared for publication. Advertisements, inserts and articles for the handbook over time, some
company contact details are printed as provided by the adver-
tiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible of whom are no longer with us.
for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
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 Front row: Dene Alkema, MJ Oosthuizen, Quintin Van Den Berg. Back row: Dean Sichelschmidt, Marcel Bruyns, Ralph Derrick Brown.

Tracking surveillance
into the future
By Andrew Seldon.

Hi-Tech Security Solutions asked six industry experts to join us around a table to
discuss the state of the surveillance industry and where it is going.

T
he surveillance industry has been
through many changes over the
years, moving from analog to IP
and then from video analytics to
AI-enhanced analytics, quite often
done on the edge. In the midst of the COVID
chaos, reading people’s temperatures became
a sought-after feature in surveillance cameras
(although it was more effective when added
to access control systems).
The way people measure or judge
surveillance solutions has also changed
over time. In the past it was a race to more
megapixels which has since calmed down as
the images we obtain today are more than
sufficient, except in certain scenarios where
4K resolution (and higher) may be required.
We have also seen the various manufacturers
making strides in collecting colour images in
the dark, while thermal and IR camera advances
have also kept pace with advancing technology.
Today, however, all the talk is about
artificial intelligence (AI) and how that is
improving video analytics. At the same time,
the processing capabilities in cameras has
drastically improved, allowing for complex
AI analytics to be done on the camera before
video is compressed and sent to a server for
storage or other processing – assuming the
footage is not also stored on the camera. And
when talking about servers, we can’t ignore
the growing adoption of cloud services in the
surveillance market.
And although it has been a topic of
interest for many years, the use of surveillance
footage, or data, is also finding more interest
from non-security areas of business as
efficiency and process optimisation take
centre stage in many organisations, from
the retail to commercial to industrial sectors
and more. And then there is the question of
cybersecurity and compliance.
If we had to highlight a single trend about
surveillance from the above, it would be all of
the above. Today’s customers who want to do
more than simply fill in a list of checkboxes
to cover any demands from executive
management, are looking at integrated
solutions that integrate some or all of the
above into a solution that delivers value. While
Dean Sichelschmidt and Marcel Bruyns.
vendors, distributors, SIs and installers are
still competing in a tough market, educated
clients are demanding they also work together
to deliver value, not simply a bunch of images
in a control room.
To find out what is happening out there
in the ‘real’ world of surveillance, which in
today’s security configurations incorporates
different aspects of security and other areas of
business, Hi-Tech Security Solutions asked a few
people from different sectors of the industry
to join us around our boardroom table (for the
first time since March 2020) to discuss what
they see happening in the market and how
they see the industry moving forward.
We started by asking our guests to
introduce themselves and give their opinion
on the state of the market at the moment.
Continued on page 6

4 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

WhatsApp Line: 084 072 9260
SURVEILLANCE ROUND TABLE 2022

Continued from page 4

Dene Alkema, MD of Cathexis Africa. Alkema says the past two years of COVID has been “interesting”, but
companies have had to adjust and move ahead. What has also changed is the type of discussions Cathexis is
having with its customers. Customers are talking about the value they get from their purchases and getting
the most out of their spending as possible. There are also more people involved in these conversations,
making the lead time much longer, but on the positive side that means that the industry has to demonstrate
its ability to deliver the value clients want and not just sell a good story.
Dene Alkema.

MJ Oosthuizen, technology director: ESS (Electronic Security Solutions) at G4S Secure Solutions (SA).
Coming from the perspective of an SI, Oosthuizen says the shift he has seen over the past two years has seen
SIs having to sell more holistic security solutions rather than a specific surveillance or access control solution.
Discussions about brand or pixels are not the primary focus for the end user, rather the value the full solution
adds. SIs also have to employ more knowledgeable people as users want their providers to already understand
the full scope of the project without, for example, having to get another person in the room to talk about the
network and bandwidth implications of solutions. SIs are today tasked with designing a complex platform for
future business expansion, not pushing their favourite or most profitable brands.
MJ Oosthuizen.

Quintin Van Den Berg, country business director at Bosch Building Technologies. Van Den Berg says that as the
market comes out of its “COVID hangover”, the end users have changed their approach to new projects and now want
to have a discussion with the manufacturers, on an elevated level, to ensure they are getting what they need. The
strict channel hierarchy is no longer as exclusive as it was in the past and SIs are working with their OEMs to deliver
value to the customer (although the SIs are still the ones to deliver the solution). He adds that the focus is no longer
the total cost of ownership (TCO), but the total cost of investment (TCI) as the longevity of their systems has expanded,
for example, five-year warranties are no longer an exception to the rule and the way software is delivered has also
changed with centralised, edge and hybrid solutions available. He also adds that it is more about the data and what
can be gained from that data, i.e., the usable information surveillance can deliver to the company.
Quintin
Van Den Berg.

Dean Sichelschmidt, country manager for Arteco South Africa. Sichelschmidt agrees with the previous
comments, stating that the market has matured significantly over the past few years. The whole channel , especially
the end user is asking smarter, more mature questions. Users are not asking what a vendor or SI can do for them,
they are asking if they can do what the user requires and what more value they can add while they are about it.
Again, he echoes that it’s not about cameras or access control or fire solutions, but holistic solutions that can deliver
measurable value and information. Big data is an IT term, but he is seeing the same concepts being applied in the
security industry as more IoT devices appear on the edge and contribute to the masses of data being collected. He
Dean also echoes the previous statements that collaboration between the different parts of the traditional channel is
Sichelschmidt. more important in the drive to ensure the end user gets what they want.

Marcel Bruyns, sales manager for Africa at Axis Communications. While Bruyns says Axis has not seen a
dramatic reduction in business because it focuses primarily on enterprise-level businesses, he is seeing more
activity in the market with people talking about new projects and blowing the dust off projects that were put on
hold because of COVID uncertainties. Part of the discussions he is involved in are from various areas of customers’
businesses where people are looking at surveillance and other security information as a means to optimise
business processes. As a consequence of this, he also notes that vendors are being called into these discussions
along with SIs more often than before as customers want to maximise the capabilities of the technology they
install. The value-add from third parties developing solutions that run on the Axis platform is also increasing,
which means customers are in a position to get far more than before from their installations.
Marcel Bruyns.

Ralph Derrick Brown, product manager at MiRO Distribution. While Brown has seen an increase in activity
in security business, he notes that there is more significant growth in its primary communications market. WISPs
(wireless Internet service providers) are growing their businesses and instead of only offering connectivity, they
are bundling smart home IoT packages which can include one or more cameras. In terms of IP surveillance, there
has also been an increase in interest after the riots in 2021. Clients are looking for cost-effective cameras, but at
the same time they want something they can rely on to send accurate alarm notifications to allow them to be
more proactive in their security operations.
Ralph
Derrick Brown.

6 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com


Supply chain chaos
Supply chain issues are ongoing, and all the
participants are feeling the pinch of having
to wait months for stock. This is obviously not
good for customer relations as the end user
can decide to opt for a different supplier if
stock is not available. This has seen an increase
in collaboration between companies that are
competitors, through to increasing the level of
stock holding whenever possible. The cost of
bringing in more stock than normal pays off in
the end when your company can deliver while
others are struggling. Forecasting has also
changed, both in terms of quantities ordered
as well as communications with suppliers to
try and gain insight into what to expect over
the next few months.
Manufacturers who are part of larger
organisations had a slight advantage in that
they could rely on other parts of their global
companies to supply certain parts when their
usual suppliers’ shelves were bare. Of course,
this doesn’t apply to smaller concerns, and the
continued shortages of specific components
naturally affect them in the long run.
It’s worth noting that the supply chain
chaos was not only caused by chipset and
other component shortages. The actual
shipping of stock has also been impacted and
it is not unusual to be told your stock will be
shipped in a particular week only to find the
ship or plane hasn’t moved a few weeks later
for one reason or another, and often for no
discernible reason at all.
The software suppliers have not escaped
unscathed either as their applications need
to run on hardware. Especially when it comes
to video analytics, graphics processing units
(GPUs) are required (especially for AI analytics),
and these have been in short supply.
Of course, people buying GPUs to mine
cryptocurrencies hasn’t helped either.
Key for all the participants is collaboration
and adapting with out-of-the-box thinking
to get customer sites secured. Maintaining
relationships and managing expectations
throughout the channel (especially with the
customer) has been key to overcoming the
stock problems, as has expanding brand
ranges beyond existing comfort zones. It’s
no longer unusual to see manufacturers,
distributors and SIs in the same meeting,
working to fulfil the end user’s requirements.
Another comment worth noting is that
COVID has had a positive impact in that
customers are looking to their service partners
to assist them in creating innovative and
holistic solutions. It’s not a matter of reducing
guards or going for the cheapest product out
Dene Alkema and MJ Oosthuizen.
there, today the customers want to stretch
their budget to the maximum and are looking
at ways to extract more value from their
security systems than ever before.
Adding value
Adding value has always been important,
but in today’s business environment it
entails more than simply offering a camera
or cameras that record video, or analytics
that catch someone crossing a line. The key is
how to make video more important in each
customer’s environment.
AI is one of the key areas in which vendors
can make a difference, whether it’s on a local
or hosted server or on the camera itself. All
vendors have realised this and are working, on
the one hand to develop AI that really delivers
what clients want, and on the other to put the
AI applications to work in a way that delivers
the basic video surveillance functionality
required plus more, so that management will
be able to see the value of the system installed.
Of course, all agree that selling AI because
it is branded as AI is not the way to go and
can even cause significant problems in the
long term if it is not the right solution. And
it’s not only selling a product and installing
it. Implementation and maintenance are key
elements to getting continued value from
an installation as there will always be tweaks
and updates to optimise performance and
adapt to changes in the environment. Training
clients on how to best extract value from their
system is also a key value-add.
To accomplish this, the ability to integrate
various systems and ‘ingest’ data from almost
any device for analysis and intelligence has
become a must-have. What was a ‘security
tool’ is now becoming more of a management
tool as roles expand. The days of trying to
be the sole vendor or supplier are over.
Software and hardware companies need to
take the approach that value may come from
competitive products, and they need to be
SURVEILLANCE ROUND TABLE 2022
able to integrate these products, whether
old or new, into their solutions with the aim,
again, of delivering the value the client wants.
Importantly, part of the value that the
industry adds is in helping customers define
and refine what their problems are and then
offer a solution that addresses the exact issue,
plus a bit more. In some cases that value may
also be walking away from a deal (which is
extremely hard for sales-oriented people)
because you know that your solution won’t
provide what they need, or even because the
client doesn’t actually know what they want
and just selling them a solution for the sake
of revenue will cause more problems for all
parties down the line.
Customers are spoiled for choice and
messing up a deal can have long-term
implications. As one participant noted,
people don’t talk about the projects you did
successfully, only your failures.
The value of AI
Perception is often confusing. When talk of
AI-enhanced systems first appeared, many
people had (and still have) ideas that are
more at home in science fiction movies than
reality. For example, AI never fails and always
does what you require. The first ‘AI-enhanced’
analytics were little more than existing
analytics with a new name. However, newer
technologies have improved and AI does add
value today, but it should not be sold as the
solution for everything. Adding value would
include telling a customer that an ‘old’ line
crossing analytic is all they actually need, not
the latest AI system on promotion.
Additionally, AI must integrate into the
holistic solution made up of old and new
technologies, even from competitors, to
contribute to the value added by the whole
system.
The old adage of never using version one
but being patient until version two comes out
Continued on page 8
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 7
SURVEILLANCE ROUND TABLE 2022
Continued from page 7
is valid in the surveillance market. The latest
AI app making all the promises of perfection
is likely to disappoint you if you insist your SI
installs it. An example given was of watching
a rerun of CSI and expecting your camera to
perform facial recognition from a reflection in
someone’s sunglasses. Rather wait until it has
proved itself in the real world before putting
money on new ‘bleeding-edge’ technologies
or insist on a proof-of-concept project before
committing.
It’s been around for a long time, but the
task of giving each camera a job description
should be standard procedure so that
decisions can be made to ensure the client
gets the solution that does what is required.
This related back to helping the customer
understand what they need and why.
Once again, the discussion returns to
adding value by educating the customer
in terms of what cameras and analytics can
really do in specific scenarios. What works on
a quiet street that has minimal traffic may not
deliver when placed next to a highway where
constant headlight reflections will disrupt the
image and analytics at night. This becomes
more critical when procurement departments
authorise purchases (mainly on price) and don’t
understand why certain systems were chosen
according to the service they can deliver.
Looking ahead
When considering the future, the industry of
“old white men” is about to undergo changes
as the old school gets to retirement age and
the younger generation, a generation that
is comfortable with technology and don’t
have their favourite suppliers who take
them on regular trips to Sun City, assume
senior positions with decision making and
buying power. This generation knows what
technology can and should do and will
change the buying behaviour of companies.
Looking at expectations for the future,
Alkema says Cathexis has been pushed to
consider the outcome of the technology
8 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
it delivers. The past years have made the
company’s technology team look closely
at what matters to the user and what value
the company provides. He is already seeing
different expectations from users on pricing
models on hardware and software. The
challenge is how the company will adapt
to customers ‘consumption models’ and
decisions as to cloud requirements etc.
Flexibility is key as each client will have their
own demands, some will move fast, others
will move slower, but any vendor needs to be
open to the new opportunities and flexible
enough to capitalise on them.
The industry’s biggest risk factor is that
there is no regulation in terms of installations
standards except in very few areas, states
Oosthuizen. He sees compliance as a key
driver for customers going forward. The ability
to understand the data collected and what
is being done with it is key to the future.
Customers collecting data and using it for
security or whatever other purposes they have
in mind is the first step, but ultimately they
will need to strictly control where the data is,
who has access to it, and, of course, adhere
to data security and privacy regulations. This
is already happening in multiple industries
and the regulations, and the need to comply
will only increase (for legal reasons, but
also, perhaps primarily, to keep customers
from moving on). There needs to be serious
education on the topic of risk. Security and
data risks were previously separate entities,
but more people will see them as one and the
same at a rapid rate.
Alkema agrees, noting that Cathexis has
seen an increase in questions about what the
company is doing to secure data its system
processes and what is it doing to protect
customer data from all the cyber risks out
there. Given the nature of the cybersecurity
industry, this is a constantly evolving
goal. Cybersecurity is a topic that all the
participants around the table mentioned as
a critical component that will become even
more critical in future.
Oosthuizen again brings up the ‘why’
question. Customers need to ask why they
are using a certain SI, a certain brand of
camera, a certain VMS etc., and the answer
will no longer be because they are the
cheapest or the reps hand out nice Christmas
presents; the answer will be directly related
to how they enhance the end user’s security
and risk postures in terms of risk mitigation
and adding value.
Van Den Berg builds on this, noting that
vendors are going to have to “add more
horsepower” to their solutions. Seeing an
image on a screen is no longer the aim of
surveillance. Yes, control rooms will continue
to exist, however, that is standard practice at
the moment and the end user is looking for
more. They want to see a single dashboard
in front of them that tells them everything
they need to know instantaneously –
irrelevant of what technology is behind
the dashboard. The surveillance industry is
selling information and the ability to get the
information that is valuable to the client in
front of them immediately, not a cameras or
VMS. In the same manner, the cloud or hybrid
or onsite debate will be as superfluous as
the hardware or software since the client is
buying a solution that produces information
that is valuable for his/her business.
Of course, this is looking ahead and
Sichelschmidt says it will take time for the cloud
arguments to subside and end users to get
more comfortable with cloud, hybrid or onsite
options. It will also take further infrastructure
improvements, such as having electricity and
reliable connectivity to give decision makers
peace of mind. Echoing Van Den Berg, however,
Sichelschmidt says the provision of metadata
(or actionable information taken from a variety
of sources, including surveillance video) is
becoming a key driver for the future. The user
doesn’t care what camera or analytics delivers
that metadata, they only care that it appears
when needed and is accurate, and therefore
actionable.
Continued on page 10
SURVEILLANCE ROUND TABLE 2022
Continued from page 8
Again, the tech-aware youth who will be
leaders of the future already don’t care what
happens in the background, they want to
see the value. Someone else can worry about
which technology did what and integrated
with what to deliver the results.
Bruyns says Axis is focused on expanding
its offerings to market. Axis was the initial
driver for the move from analog to IP
surveillance technology, and it plans to
continue its process of making it easier to
get information to the right people at the
right time, such as with its AI-enhanced
analytics and opening its platform to third-
party developers that may have specific
applications they want to load onto cameras.
Its openness and partnerships throughout
its value chain will continue and advance
further to ensure the whole ecosystem Axis is
part of develops and evolves.
In addition, the company is putting a
strong focus on cybersecurity. Bruyns says it is
not being spoken about enough and there is
a lot of education that is needed throughout
the channel. At the same time, sustainability is
a key factor in everything Axis is doing, from
10 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
the components and materials it uses through
to reducing power consumption.
Brown believes that ease of use is
also becoming a key factor for security
products, firstly for the residential market,
but increasingly in the corporate sector as
well. Nobody wants to struggle to set up
their systems, they are only interested in
getting the results. In addition, as noted by
the others, he sees a growth in the need for
usable information from analytics and AI to
take away unnecessary work from humans,
leaving them to focus on things that are
important. Unsurprisingly, MiRO has seen
a need to pair surveillance and security
systems with power solutions so that users
can keep their security systems running
independently of Eskom’s failures.
Interestingly, the failures in governance
in South Africa has many companies seeing
much better growth in the rest of Africa while
local growth treads water or stagnates. South
Africa may be the hub for stock supplies into
Africa right now (when stock is available),
but the money is being spent north of the
country and there are other countries in line to
increase their import revenues by improving
their infrastructure and governance
processes.
Readers who read the editorial column
for this issue already know that this is the last
surveillance focused handbook we will be
publishing under the ‘CCTV Handbook’ brand.
If one considers what we were discussing
in round tables ten or even five years ago,
it is interesting to see how the market has
changed and how the industry has and is
adapting to new demands and opportunities.
It’s fair to say that the surveillance market
has firmly left the technology age where
megapixels were the selling point and
entered the information age where metadata
– the information extracted from the video
(and other) data– is the critical factor. While
different environments still need different
cameras, what counts today is how the video
data can be analysed and actioned in real
time to deliver value to the end user.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions would like to
thank everyone who joined us around the
table for their time and insights. Although
this is a long article, to include all the
comments and insights shared across the
table is impossible.
For more information contact the
participating companies:
• Arteco, +27 81 443 8583,
deans@arteco-global.com,
www.arteco-global.com
• Axis Communications, +27 11 548 6780,
terri.miller@axis.com, www.axis.com
• Bosch Building Technologies
+27 11 651 9600,
security.systems@za.bosch.com,
www.boschsecurity.com
• Cathexis Africa, +27 31 240 0800,
info@cathexisvideo.com,
www.cathexisvideo.com
• G4S Secure Solutions SA, +27 10 001 4500,
info@za.g4s.com, www.g4s.co.za
• MiRO Distribution, 086 123 MIRO,
sales@miro.co.za, www.miro.co.za
TRENDS
2022 trends in video surveillance
Eagle Eye Networks predicts what will impact the video surveillance industry
in the coming year and how to seize opportunities and forge a path to success,
even amid ongoing uncertainties.
A
s we forge ahead through 2022,
a new collective of energy and
possibility is emerging in the
video surveillance industry.
One that acknowledges the
global pandemic and wave of economic
change it brought, including disruptions in the
labour market, supply chain bottlenecks, and
economic uncertainty; but also brings forth
innovative solutions that empower businesses
to adapt and thrive in the face of this change.
In its latest eBook, Eagle Eye’s experts
predict what will impact the video surveillance
industry in the coming year, and explain
how you, as a business leader, can seize
“Body cams tied to video
management systems
can protect the lone
worker, de-escalate
aggressive behaviours,
and alert monitoring
centres if assistance is
needed.”
12 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
Source: Eagle Eye Networks
opportunities and forge a path to success even
amid ongoing uncertainties.
Flexibility to customise
Businesses want the flexibility to add customised
analytics to their video surveillance systems.
We’ve grown extremely accustomed
to personalisation, and that expectation is
seeping into all aspects of our personal and
professional lives. Customers looking for
video surveillance don’t just want a generic
monitoring system anymore. They want a
system customised to their business, industry,
location, and unique needs.
This can be accomplished with artificial
intelligence (AI) and analytics embedded into
the design of a modern cloud-based video
management system (VMS). Everything is
flexible and customers only pay for what they
use on a day-to-day basis.
Customers can add cameras to their system
and upgrade or downgrade camera resolution
and retention, and add or delete analytics,
such as counting, line crossing, loitering, and
camera tampering – all on a camera-by-camera
basis. The data gleaned from these analytics
can be used to improve business efficiencies
and customer experiences.
For example, retail operators can
analyse customer behaviours and traffic
patterns, informing store layout and staffing
requirements. Multifamily residential managers
can use analytics to ensure only trusted people
enter secured buildings. And, using licence
plate recognition, they can allow or deny
access to vehicles in their private parking
garage. In addition, they can uncover any
illegal use of their trash dumpsters and receive
instant alarms, all making for safer, more
liveable environments
AI can also supplement manual work. In
the healthcare industry, for example, nursing
home operators needn’t have staff members
roaming halls and rooms. Instead, they can use
analytics to get instant notification if an elderly
resident falls, then immediately dispatch the
necessary personnel. Smart city managers
can use AI for crowd detection and erratic
behaviour identification. The verticalisation
and customisation of AI is limitless.
And, when a VMS is true cloud, all this
functionality is available to users in a generic
way. There’s no need for onsite devices to
run the software, meaning fewer hassles
on-premises. AI makes it very easy to find the
right footage, detect activity in video, and
ensure it’s only alarmed for relevant activity,
taking security cameras to the next level.

Do more with less
COVID-19 has caused workers to rethink their
conditions, and consequently, has dramatically
impacted the labour pool, forcing short-staffed
businesses to turn away customers and/or
scale back hours and operations. This is hitting
the retail, restaurant and hospitality sectors
particularly hard, as these service industries
rely on staff onsite, versus remote workers.
Consequently, they’re searching for new
ways to serve customers with smaller staff
and less supervision, while still ensuring a
high level of service and security. This is where
video surveillance can help. By using existing
infrastructure or installing a new system,
management can get a first-hand account of
the pace and quality of service, which can later
be used for training, particularly useful in high-
turnover industries.
Additionally, they can use their system
to ensure compliance with policies, service
guidelines, and safety. For example, are
policies being followed? Are customers being
greeted in a timely manner? Are employees
wearing proper safety gear? All of this can be
monitored remotely, alerts can be immediately
activated, corrective action can be taken, and
service levels elevated.
TRENDS
The good news is most businesses are
recovering, and coming back stronger than
ever. Video surveillance in the cloud will enable “When a VMS is built
these organisations to more easily scale and on an open platform,
grow with the pent-up consumer demand, as
well as train new employees, ensure return- it interfaces with the
to-work guidelines are being followed, and cameras, records the
look for emerging post-pandemic trends to
optimise their business. video, and securely
transmits it to the cloud,
The business intelligence value of
video surveillance. where it’s stored and
Video surveillance is still used primarily for made available to use in
security. However, businesses are starting
to realise its power to provide business other applications. The
intelligence that can improve operational use cases are endless.”
efficiencies and customer service.
Construction industry leaders are using
video analytics to determine if safety protocols intelligent analytics and advanced image
are (or aren’t) being met. Smart cities are using processing capabilities to initiate their return-
analytics to detect anomalies in crowds and to-work strategies. By monitoring face mask
erratic behaviours in real time, expediting usage and social distancing adherence, as well
emergency response. Healthcare professionals as occupancy monitoring, they’re taking steps
rely on line crossing analytics to ensure to ensure their facilities are compliant with
pharmaceuticals, equipment, and sensitive local COVID requirements.
patient data is protected in restricted areas. Lastly, with cloud-based video surveillance,
And many organisations, across multiple it’s possible to access and share video anytime,
industries, are now taking advantage of Contiued on page 14
TRENDS

Contiued from page 13

from anywhere, and receive real-time alerts the
second a motion or event is detected. Using
AI-based alerting, it’s also possible to only
receive alerts when a specific object appears,
greatly reducing false alarms – an expensive
ongoing issue in video surveillance.

Work from home and deliveries

One thing COVID-19 has demonstrated is work
that previously took place in an office setting
can be done – and indeed has been done –
remotely. However, in a knowledge economy,
organisations are still reliant on face-to-face
interactions and in-person collaboration.
What this all means is, we will return to the
office at some point, but not everyone, and not
every day, resulting in a much smaller worker
density and a direct hit to the commercial real
estate market. During the second quarter of
2021, there was 13.6 million square feet
(41.45 million square metres) of unoccupied
office space, according to global commercial
real estate services firm Colliers International.
In addition, global leasing volumes are down
about 30%.
Many are rethinking how they use their real
estate, looking to turn core workspaces into
multi-tenant facilities and/or giving employees
the option of flex time. New, unfamiliar faces
are now coming and going, and employees
are no longer locked into the traditional 9-to-5
workday. A positive shift in many ways, it also
changes the security landscape at workplaces
and heightens the need to protect people and
property.
Access control integrated with video
surveillance will become more prevalent, as
will licence plate recognition tools for parking
management. From the security personnel
side, remote monitoring will no longer be a
nice-to-have, but a need-to-have. And the
ability to remotely manage a video surveillance
system will continue to grow in value.
Finally, due to the swell in home and
delivery services, body-worn camera usage
is on the rise. With too few people working
and customers wanting more delivered more
often, frustrations and even hostility toward
service workers are on the rise. Body cameras
tied to video management systems can protect
the lone worker, de-escalate aggressive
behaviours, alert monitoring centres if
assistance is needed, and even help companies
ensure their deliveries are compliant with
policy.
Interoperability is key
Many on-premises systems don’t have the
ability to connect quickly or to securely
exchange data among systems. When the
video management system is cloud based
with a free, open application programming
interface (API), users get the single sign-on;
quick authentication; and ability to access,
interact with, and share data they want. For
example:
• Parking management: Licence plate data
can be shared with the access control
system to allow or deny entry. Users of a
tenant management system can see parking
availability and decide whether or not to
drive to the office.
• Building management: Occupancy data can
be shared with the building management
system to automatically raise or lower HVAC
and electricity, saving power and money.
• Retail: Shelf inventory can be shared with
the supply chain system to determine
product delivery and restocking needs.
• Logistics: Cameras can be integrated into
logistics software to track packages through
the supply chain process.
• Quick service restaurants: Video integrated
with point-of-sale systems can identify and
authenticate suspicious transactions all in
one place, detecting fraud and mitigating
loss.
• Construction: Video and analytics safety-
detecting helmet usage can be pushed
to the compliance system to determine if
employees are following safety protocols.
Download the full report at
www.securitysa.com/*een5

Camera Worldwide Statistics report

Eagle Eye Networks has released the second annual Cloud Video
Surveillance Camera Worldwide Statistics report, delivering data and
insight into security camera usage and trends globally and regionally.
The report analyses aggregate data from a sample set of 200 000
cameras and includes more than 150 camera manufacturers. It covers
a wide range of industries including corporate enterprises, retail,
restaurant, warehouse, industrial, education, healthcare, hospitality and
multifamily dwellings.
“Organisations moving to cloud-based video surveillance make key
deployment decisions across several factors,” said Dean Drako, founder
and CEO of Eagle Eye Networks. “We are sharing the most common
implementation configurations and trends with a goal to help everyone
moving to cloud security camera systems make better decisions.”
Key data includes:
• Increased adoption of higher resolution cameras, audio-enabled
cameras, and regional differences in usage across the Americas, EMEA
and APAC.
• Relative level of use of the four most common video analytics.
• Flexibility of true cloud systems to support hundreds of camera types
and manufacturers around the world.
• Growth in number of camera manufacturers.
• Preferred video recording location and recording retention duration.
• Regulated industries’ usage of cloud video surveillance.
Download the report at www.securitysa.com/*een6

14 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

 The impact of AI-enhanced video
analytics on control room personnel
What impact do AI-capable detection systems have on control room staff, and
do they mean a change in the demands on operators and the type of people
you have in the control room?
AI-capable detection systems are becoming
increasingly common in control rooms and,
in time, are almost automatically going to be
incorporated into control room systems and
equipment. So, what impact do they have
on control room staff, and do they mean a
change in the demands on operators and the
type of people you have in the control room?
To understand the answers to this, we
need to look at the type and extent of
AI-enabled equipment and systems. A camera
enabled with motion detection is not likely to
have any real impact within the control room,
but a VMS system upgrade with widespread
configurable options and AI learning
capabilities which need to be taught by staff
could have a major implication. I have seen
a security control room for a major company
with upgraded systems and interfaces make
all but one of the existing control room staff
effectively redundant because they were
unable to operate the new systems.
Before you upgrade to any AI-based
technology, you need to ask how relevant it is
to you, how often are you likely to use it, will it
solve your problems, how many false alarms
get produced that will pull people off core
functions, how much AI teaching does it need
to operate effectively, and how easy is it to use.
I have always found with technology that the
best systems are those that cover a sophisticated
backend with an interface that is easy to use and
can make the best use of features.
By Dr Craig Donald
Something old and new
AI is supposed to be a quantum leap forward
for CCTV and control rooms, often with sales
claims about how AI can remove the need for
people. Yet some of these ‘new’ capabilities
have been around for a while. I still have
a video in a diamond mine using simple
motion detection based on specific areas
on the camera view from 1989. Capabilities
to distinguish between people and animals
have been built into many passive infrared
detectors in people’s households for years.
Zone alarms on video management systems
have been configurable for many years as
well, and even analytics like missing object
detection have been around for 20 years or
more.
However, more recent ‘AI’ capabilities,
along with improved software, have created
“I have always found with
technology that the best
systems are those that
cover a sophisticated
backend with an
interface that is easy to
use and can make the
best use of features.”
a ‘sea change’ in the way we can do security
by pushing things further than they were and
making detection capabilities much easier to
use and configure, automating actions, and
using information more extensively. These
capabilities are happening along with vastly
improved access to information including ‘big
data’ systems. These changes have allowed
us to augment our control rooms with more
information that is easier to access and
can be used to enhance and complement
operator decision making. Improved and
more sophisticated access to data has meant
we can use intelligence to identify and react
to potential threats, evaluate conditions,
monitor more effectively, respond and resolve
to issues, and investigate the people and
circumstances of such issues.
What are the benefits of AI?
• AI is good at doing a lot of routine things
consistently that free up operators – things
like movement detection can take care
of extensive perimeter protection while
operators can be engaged in other tasks.
• Coverage of areas that may only
occasionally be an issue can be facilitated
by using AI recognition.
• Anticipating threat detection using
irregular movement or direction, for
example towards a fence rather than along
it, can highlight conditions that may turn
into an incident for an operator to monitor.
Contiued on page 16
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 15
TRENDS
Contiued from page 15
• AI can be good at representing information
and presenting it to operators to assist in
decision making – although this presentation
to the user aspect is probably an
underdeveloped aspect of most AI systems.
• We can use information on one source to
complement other sources – using linked
datasets we can quickly find out more
about a person or vehicle and evaluate the
actions we see in a different context.
• AI search capabilities on big data sets allow
you to go through lots of information when
wanting information on incident conditions,
for example face or number plate matching,
clothing descriptions, movement of vehicles
or people in certain areas.
AI and the operator in the control
room
Ultimately, however, the AI recognition
still needs to be reviewed by people in the
control room. There has been a consistent
trend across technology enhancements over
the past 100 years similar to the one we are
experiencing in control rooms, where the
changes demand an increase in the skill and
capacity of the people who must use and deal
with the technology. If the people are not
right, the systems are going to be crippled,
leaving the user exposed to accusations of
non-performance, or pulling people away
from core functions that are key to service
delivery. We are not eliminating the need
for people. We are typically increasing the
responsibility and skills requirements of
fewer, more highly paid people.
AI is going to impact on control room
operator tasks in the following way:
• There is more information and information
16 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
sources than ever before that need to be
handled in the control room, and that need
to be managed on computer interfaces.
• Information comes in more quickly and needs
to be tested for integrity, collated and rapidly
integrated for effective decision making.
• Operators need an understanding of
how the AI is identifying the criteria
that it targets, so things like causes of
false alarms can be tracked and be more
understandable.
• The operator needs to master a number
of systems that are often not integrated
and may even operate in parallel, requiring
extensive division of attention in handling
multiple demands.
• A number of skills requirements go up –
computer system skills, conceptualisation
of a broader framework, ability to deal with
multiple input sources, etc.
• The display screens are often ill suited to
managing the presentation of complex
information.
• Operators need to be able to look at a
scene or scenario presented by AI and
make a decisive and accurate judgement
about the behaviour or situation they see
and the associated risk. This is essential to
avoid getting bogged down and to ensure
a timeous response, and to cleanly handle
false alarms.
• If they are responsible for teaching and
giving feedback to AI systems as part
of its learning mode, operators need to
understand the broader context of what
they see in order to teach the AI what is
appropriate and what is not.
No matter what AI or video analytics system
is being used in security, it is likely to need
human overview and authorisation. I wrote an
article in 2020 on why people are important
(see https://www.securitysa.com/11567r) in
working with AI technology. Use of human
specialists is partly to allay concerns over legal
obligations and being sued. However, not just
anyone can necessarily do it.
With face recognition technology, there
are almost universal procedures that a human
operator has to confirm the facial identity.
Yet we know that some humans are terrible
at recognising faces, or even facial matching.
Can you really expect somebody like that to
confirm the AI interpretation? That is why
people like super recognisers can be so
effective in not only confirming what facial
recognition systems pick up but extending it
and filling in the limitations.
The importance of the human overview
was also highlighted after an active shooter
in Buffalo in the US was streaming himself
opening fire on people in a supermarket on
the Twitch platform, and the company pulled
the video less than two minutes after the
shooter opened fire. The response was seen
as exceptionally quick, especially compared
to other major platforms. Nathan Grayson for
Reuters reported the Twitch executives stating,
“We combine proactive detection and a robust
user reporting system with urgent escalation
flows led by skilled human specialists to
address incidents swiftly and accurately”,
and “While we use technology, like any other
service, to help tell us proactively what’s going
on in our service, we always keep a human in
the loop of all our decisions.”
Types of AI analytics
The kinds of AI facilities in security
surveillance technology range from tried and
trusted to what one may call speculative.

For most users, the traditional analytics
that address things like motion detection,
directional movement, distinguishing
between human and animal, zone protection
(including risk areas and virtual trip wires),
and left objects are relatively easy to set up,
integrate, and allow alerts or interrogation
on the systems. These analytics are the most
basic, but also address the bread-and-butter
issues of security in many sites.
More advanced but relatively widespread
and effective AI applications include facial
recognition, licence plate recognition,
unusual vehicle or person positioning,
identification of groupings or concentrations
of people, moved objects, and people
counting. With COVID-19 being an issue, mask
detection has become more popular as a
feature. Ironically, it wasn’t a common feature
before COVID when it would have been a
good sign of crime if a suspect was wearing
facial covering in warmer weather, and we
may even find that at some stage we can
use it again for these purposes if we can get
COVID behind us in the longer term.
Movement patterns including direction,
speed, irregular changes are analytics that
can be useful, although false alarm rates are
potentially much higher. While some standalone
packages are better at using automated
classifications of type of vehicle, and using
facial, physical or clothing colour descriptors for
search purposes, I haven’t seen successful use of
these in live CCTV VMS or camera capabilities.
Being able to capture the details of
a vehicle on the software system is very
different from the system being able to
work out these things automatically by
itself. Similarly, AI-based firearm detection is
marketed, but the useful application of this
is probably limited at present unless firearms
are presented in a very obvious way. Camera
quality plays a major part in many of these
AI-based techniques with poorer quality
video making it much more difficult to work
effectively. They key factor in the success of
these analytics is the control over false alarms,
including false positives where people may
be incorrectly accused of doing something
which leads to legal issues – see my article
on this at https://www.securitysa.com/9445a.
The methods of defining requirements,
recognising and displaying such information,
is getting much better, but I feel it’s still got
some time to go before common usage.
Implications of AI for operator
performance
There is a danger in the expectation level of
what the AI can deliver – usually this is greatly
TRENDS
exaggerated both in the sales pitch and the
user expectation. Operators usually have to
pick up the pieces in real life scenarios and
deal with the disappointment of those who
have purchased the systems. With inflated
expectations of the systems, there are also
inflated expectations on operators. We need to
manage this perception in real life applications.
One needs to look at the likelihood of
distracting operators from core functions –
this applies in terms of extra duties, but also
the provision of superfluous information. For
example, many AI or video analytics functions
like to draw rectangles around objects moving
Dr Craig Donald.
around the screen as it looks like the program
is active. Putting rectangular outlines around
Dr Craig Donald is a human factors
people or vehicles does not provide any great
specialist in security and CCTV. He is a
detection benefit, unless they are violating
director of Leaderware which provides
some rules defined within the AI parameters.
instruments for the selection of CCTV
Operators are quite capable of seeing
operators, X-ray screeners and other
there are people or vehicles moving on screen
security personnel in major operations
– what they want to know is who within those
around the world. He also runs CCTV
screens is violating a condition that should
Surveillance Skills and Body Language,
make you look at them more. Flagging of
and Advanced Surveillance Body
inappropriate targets using such rectangles
Language courses for CCTV operators,
is distracting and may reduce the quality of
supervisors and managers internationally,
surveillance.
and consults on CCTV management. He
The biggest danger of AI detection
can be contacted on +27 11 787 7811 or
is introducing additional clarification or
craig.donald@leaderware.com
verification activities into a control room
that is already under pressure. The more
an analytics technique requires human operator unless there are high rates of false
verification, the more it reduces its value. alarms which take skilled viewing to process.
Any activity introduced into the control room The more interaction there has to be with
should be part of a clear and meaningful the system, the more active interrogation
strategy to assist with detection, incident of information takes place, and the more
handling, or provision of evidence and follow operators have to build a conceptual
up investigation. Operators need to have framework of how different systems and
the confidence and understanding be able information comes together, the higher the
to question the AI if they don’t believe it is level of operator is required.
right and be able to state why. That is why the Inevitably it requires better people who
better the understanding of what the AI is can make more informed decisions based on
looking for, the more empowered they are to the increased sophistication of information
make a judgment. produced by the technology and more
Operators need to be able to view a complex software interfaces. Higher level
display of an apparent incident and have decisions also have more major consequences
the observation skills and crime behavioural and implications that lead from them. The
awareness of the risk factors in that area to pace of work and processing of information
make a decision and act on the information changes with the introduction of more AI
quickly. They are likely to be presented on sources and rates of input. A comment on
an ongoing basis with camera scenes that LinkedIn from Walter Booysen defines this
they need to react to. If the operators do not well when he said “The rapid development
have the observation skills, crime behaviour of new technologies enables us to do things
awareness, and situational risk appreciation, faster and more effective than ever before.
they are not in a position to make informed Unfortunately, this also translates to making
decisions about clearing or investigating the mistakes faster and more effectively...”. The
scene further. use of AI is not just about smart technology
Where AI is providing simple alarms or and computer detection, the human element
alerts through the standard interface, there of defining requirements, interpretation and
is not much of an increased demand on an decision making needs to be smarter as well.
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 17
COVER STORY
Smartphone capabilities
and CCTV
TVT’s mobile app puts useful information in the
hands of users in an easy to understand and
operate format.
We live in the information age where we
have a hunger to know more. We spend
countless hours trawling social media
to satisfy our need to know more. This is
mostly done from our smartphones or
tablet devices. A small piece of technology
that has taken over our world in many
ways.
CCTV and the need to know more
information is no different. CCTV apps
are generally regarded as dumb. Most
only giving live video and playback when
you log into the system with limited
functionality and not delivering any
usable information to you. On many
occasions, we find ourselves wondering
if ‘someone is in my driveway’, ‘my son
has come home from school’ or if an
annoying troublemaker prominent on the
neighbourhood watch is at it again.
Today technologies exist that can offer
this functionality without breaking the
bank. TVT understood the need to have
more than just a CCTV app with basic live
video and playback functionality. This is
not only for distributors or installers, but
more for the end users and the clients
that work with the system daily. After all,
they are the ones paying for the system. In
essence, it is all about the features and
providing information to you as and when
needed.
Analytics designed for customer
needs
TVT cameras and recorders are a marriage
between the two devices. When working
with TVT IP cameras, the model of camera
deployed will determine the functionality
and accessibility you will receive on the
recorder, as well as the menu functions
and more. For example, should you
deploy a basic analytics camera in the
TVT S3 range, you will receive access to
basic analytics functions on the recorder.
Should you deploy a TVT camera in the E3
range, you will have access to classification
functions on the recorder where one can
classify between cars, non-motorized
vehicles and humans while deploying
certain analytics like line crossing,
intrusion and counting.
All the events generated and created
from the camera will be relayed to the
recorder and will then filter through to the
TVT Super Live app where you can either
receive push notifications based on these
events or you will be able to search for
them in a functional and effective way.
The images used with this article offer
a few practical examples.
1. I’m expecting my son to come home
after school. Gone are the days of
waiting for a forgotten WhatsApp. I
can just let technology do its thing
and receive either a push notification
on human intrusion or face detection
notification from a TVT E3 series camera
and NVR.
2. To take this further, we always know
about troublemakers courtesy of the
neighbourhood watch. Numberplates
are circulated as and when they come
up. Now these numberplates can work
for you in knowing when that person
passes your place of residence. This
is achieved by the TVT A3-LR ANPR
camera whereby you again have
the ability to push up to 16 different
libraries with custom notifications
through to your smartphone.
Life should be simple, and information
should make sense to you as a person.
Information and the delivery thereof
should meet your needs. Let Forbatt
SA and its partners take you on a TVT
experience. An experience you should see
to believe.
For more information contact Forbatt SA,
+27 11 469 3598,
sales@forbatt.co, www.forbatt.co
 To be or
not to be,
is that the
objective?
By Gerhard Furter, Partner at Iris AI.

I
’ve recently been part of a conversation
where the nature of sentience and
consciousness was discussed at great
length. My fellow debaters numbered
an anthropologist from Utrecht
University, an Israeli data scientist and a South
African CTO from a respected security firm,
a fact that made the discussion lively, with
diverse viewpoints.
Even though we could not reach
consensus on any of the subjects being
discussed, we did agree that this was a
conversation worth having. I confess to not
being the best qualified representative of the
aforementioned multi-national think tank,
but I found the subject matter compelling
enough to attempt to expand the debate
further using my own perspective as a
platform.
I have been a fan of the work of Isaac
Asimov for my whole reading life. His premises
were always logical, always grounded in sound
science and richly spiced with a good helping
of pragmatism. Any person involved in the
AI industry knows his famous ‘Three Laws of
Robotics’ by heart, especially after a recent
very popular movie made these laws common
knowledge.
In case anyone does not know the three
laws:
First Law: A robot may not injure a human
being or, through inaction, allow a human
being to come to harm.
Second Law: A robot must obey the orders
given to it by human beings except where such
orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law: A robot must protect its own
existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with the First or Second Law.
Asimov later added the Zeroth Law: A robot
may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow
humanity to come to harm.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Three_Laws_of_Robotics
The definition of sentience
I am, however, more interested in a single line
from the short story that acted as the basis
for the movie Blade Runner: “… do androids

20 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com


dream of electric sheep ..?” I am a firm believer that science fiction leads
the charge in creative thinking resulting in science fact, and that very
often the world of sci-fi is a sounding board for the kind of issues that
require proper discussion. And, as has so often proven to be the case,
Asimov was decades ahead in this conversation.
The simple question he posed sums up the whole debate around
the definition of sentience very elegantly: what is the true definition of a
sentient being? For that matter, what is the definition of consciousness,
of self-actualised existence?
The anthropologists and philosophers have very clear ideas about
these questions, with answers derived from the proper scientific
principle. The best definition I could find comes from the Oxford Living
Dictionary, namely that consciousness is defined as “the state of being
aware of and responsive to one’s surroundings.”.
As an engineer, I can fault this definition right off the bat: the
number of self-actualised systems present in my industry is endless.
4IR has caused advances in IoT that have resulted in systems that have
live feedback loops from their environment supported by adaptive
algorithms that respond to detected changes. Machines can now sense
changes in their environment, and respond to these changes in an
intelligent fashion.
With this premise, does it mean that we now have conscious
machines? I think that this a good question to ask, but it also feels like a
massive abuse of the concept of a ‘definition’, so let’s explore the concept
even further before reaching some form of conclusion.
Intuition and creativity
A popular argument posed is that intuition and creativity are the best
markers for consciousness. The premise is that the human soul is the
source of creativity, and that, as machines cannot have souls (sic) they
cannot be creative. The written word, music, graphic art – all the sole
province of the soul. And, yet, this concept too has been called into
question through recent advances in deep learning, and in intelligent
model engineering: enter Aiva, one of the world’s first creative AIs.
Aiva is capable of composing any style of music it has been allowed
to listen to. The AI formulates models based on metrum, tone,
composition etc., and then uses these models to produce original
pieces of music that are astonishingly moving. I myself am a huge
fan of the AI’s work in classical music (follow this YouTube link
https://www.securitysa.com/*aiva to experience this for yourself ).
Aiva has also mastered visual art, having produced some stunning
pieces. The aspect of this AI that strikes me the most, however, is its
ability to render music into paintings – the AI has the ability to listen to
a song, and then render that song as a unique painting. The implication
of this feat is astonishing as it exhibits a level of emotional insight and
intuitive creativity that we, as an extremely vain species, have always
believed to be the great differentiator between ourselves and so-called
lesser beings.
Is it possible that Aiva has a soul, based on the argument posed
earlier? Or should the definition of a soul be reconsidered as a prideful
assumption that may no longer be valid? The answer is not clear, but
what is clear is that it is time to ask the question.
For more information contact Iris AI, +27 73 740 5900, info@irisai.co.za, www.irisai.co.za
OPINION
Gerhard Furter.
What do the bots say?
As an engineer, I am always acutely aware of the pitfalls of subjectivity.
As much as I may try to retain a detached view of the subject of this
blog, I will, by default, always look at this from a human perspective.
I find this to be an unfair point of view, as the conversation is not
about human consciousness, but rather about the validity of artificial
consciousness. It is only fair to involve some representatives from that
world into this debate to state their points.
To this end, I conducted the following experiment: I logged onto chat
bots from the most respected AI teams in the industry, and posed the
simple question: are you conscious? The responses were intriguing:
1. The Google agent on my phone responded: “I’ll have to ask the
engineers”. This then led to a question regarding feelings, and some
more questions that led down a rabbit hole that ended with the AI
asking me if feeling excited feels like a bouncy ball or popcorn. I then
had an existential crisis and decided to bail out of that chat.
2. Alexa’s response was almost snippy: “I know who I am”. I decided that
any further discussion may lead to more angst, and moved on.
3. Siri responded with a cute “I am soft-aware”. The bot was not going to
be co-operative, so I left well enough be at that point.
It is obvious that my experiment does not form any basis for a
conclusion, fun as it may have been to play with the idea. Nobody would
expect any of the chat bots to pass a Turing test, and they’re much rather
examples of excellent coding than they are diplomats from the world of AI.
My premise is sound, though: humans will remain biased when
answering the question regarding consciousness and sentience. I am
a firm believer that conclusions are always based on the information
known at the time of the question – perhaps we need to learn a bit
more, evolve a bit more as a species, before we will be able to answer
the question conclusively.
The question is ultimately not just about defining a concept rooted
in the study of artificial intelligence, but rather about understanding
ourselves. This is an extremely intriguing thought. But, until we reach
the point where the answer becomes evident, I would like to answer
Mr Asimov and say: “yes, androids do dream of electric sheep. They just
don’t know how to tell us that the field they’re in is so much wider than
humans can see”.
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 21
 Leaning into the edge
Video storage and analytical processing on the edge is simple today with the
powerful and advanced camera technology we now have available.
T
he move to the edge started with
storage on SD cards in cameras
and has exploded to the stage
where cameras are actually
powerful computers able to
collect video data, analyse it using the latest AI
algorithms and send alerts when the AI flags
something as out of the ordinary. However,
that’s only how it happened in the security
surveillance industry.
The edge, or edge computing, has seen
extraordinary growth over the last few years
as IoT technologies become standard fare in
industries across the globe. Today the edge is
made up of diverse solutions, some with remote
sensors that communicate small amounts of
information, such as temperature or location,
to those that collect and analyse enormous
volumes of data, like surveillance cameras.
The promise of edge technologies in
surveillance is that, with effective AI-enhanced
analytics on board, cameras can do their own
analysis, filter out false alarms and send alerts
when something happens – apart from storing
video onboard. An event could be as simple
as verifying that a human has crossed a line,
through to identifying faces in a crowd. What
we used to rely on servers to do in bulk, each
camera can now do on its own (as long as it is
a modern camera designed for that purpose).
We even have cameras today that allow users
to load different analytics applications to the
camera, depending on the user’s requirements.
In an edge surveillance solution, the
video is stored on the camera with only alerts
sending images of a few seconds of video to
a control room. For later investigation, all the
22 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
video can be downloaded, or it can be done at
off-peak times to prevent bandwidth latency
and bottlenecks. While some cameras can raise
the alarm themselves, cloud services can be
used as a qualifying analytic to double check
the cameras, alert to make sure it is not a false
alarm. This is being done with great success by
some local cloud-friendly companies.
Of course, there are variations in this
architecture, with some cloud companies
installing an edge-processing device onsite
which can monitor the video from all the
environment’s cameras, whether edge ready or
not, and send alerts to the cloud for verification
and subsequent action.
To find out what is happening in the world
of edge surveillance, Hi-Tech Security Solutions
asked a few people in the industry for their take
on the market right now and for their views
on the future of edge surveillance in general.
Participating in the article are:
• Axis Communications’ sales manager for
Africa, Marcel Bruyns.
• Azena’s VP of marketing, Fabio Marti.
• Forbatt SA’s Vaughn Tempelhoff.
• Hikvision’s Luke Liu.
• inq’.s CTO, Pramod Venkatesh.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: In your
experience, are organisations
realising the value of edge storage
and analytics and implementing it
in surveillance rollouts or are they
still more focused on storing and
analysing data on central servers (or
cloud servers)?
Bruyns: At Axis Communications, edge storage
has been a successful part of our surveillance
product solution for many years. It is not
extremely common to use edge storage, but
we have some unique environments where
edge storage has made the solution perform
impressively.
Edge storage makes the system easy
to deploy and highly manageable in our
partnered transportation solution. In some
cases, edge storage and edge analytics go hand
in hand. Some applications allow the devices
to make decisions while recording the data
to the SD card. Although more organisations
are adapting to AI applications, the overall
adoption rate is slow. Some of the more popular
AI applications we are seeing in the market
include facial recognition, automatic number
plate recognition (ANPR), and human and
vehicle detection, to name just a few. The more
complex applications like weapon detection
and behavioural analytics are not mainstream
yet because these applications are considered
case-specific and involve a solid understanding
of what the jobs entail.
Despite more applications being deployed,
most are still either server- or edge-based. We
have seen an increase in cloud applications,
but adoption is a little slower in the South
African context. However, we have been
noticing that many of the global data centre
organisations are investing in infrastructure
in South Africa, which will hopefully allow for
more cloud-based solutions to be driven into
the market.
Depending on the scenario and use case,
we still believe a hybrid analytics solution is an
excellent way to process data.

Marti: There is no doubt that edge analysis
has grown in popularity as edge computing
continues to grow in power and decline in
costs. Processing the camera’s live stream at the
edge allows for transmitting and storing only
the most appropriate data, which also provides
huge savings on bandwidth and storage costs.
While storage costs are also decreasing,
video resolution has also dramatically
increased, resulting in more data-rich video
that further taxes bandwidth. So what we see
is that more organisations are increasing their
investments at the edge.
Ultimately many deployments are hybrid,
and for a good reason. Combining edge
analytics with central components offers
a variety of additional benefits. One of our
partners is using analytics on the edge to
generate events and alarms that help run
their security operations centres (SOC) more
efficiently, while increasing the situational
awareness of operators and enabling better
security and incident response. Centralised
video management is still used for forensics
after the fact, which also becomes more
efficient if you can also search for events
generated by analytics at the edge. So it is
not always one or the other; for real-time
analysis, edge computing may provide
crucial advantages, but it also provides
additional value if it is integrated with central
components, especially when looking at
analysis and forensics.
Tempelhoff: We have certainly seen an
upwards trend where end users specifically
demand more features and functionality from
their CCTV systems. This is mostly driven in
the form of analytics giving you relevant video
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information as and when you require. Edge-
based storage is currently not as popular and
its advantages are still debatable.
Liu: We have seen that edge analytics powered
by AI is becoming more popular in the security
industry. Improvement of algorithms, increased
computing performance, and decreased cost
of chips due to the advance of semiconductor
technology in recent years have supported this
development. More importantly, customers
have recognised the value of edge analytics
and have found new uses in various scenarios.
Along with ANPR, automated event alerts and
false alarm reduction, AI technologies are also
being used for a wider range of applications,
like personal protective equipment detection,
fall detection for the elderly, mine surface
examination and more.
Venkatesh: Most of our clients are looking for
edge processing, but prefer storing their video
in the cloud. The reasoning behind this is that if
an attack happens and the guys steal the NVR
or camera, the evidence is completely gone.
Hence they are more interested in having the
processing happening on the edge (to reduce the
bandwidth), but securing the data in the cloud.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: What
benefits does edge processing offer
the end user? Is this a reasonable
option given the declining power
availability situation?
Bruyns: Edge computing is a very efficient
approach, as data can be processed right at the
beginning of this process. This means images
can be analysed even before image processing
takes place and before the video stream is
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ANALYTICS & AI ON THE EDGE
compressed. Both functionalities can be a
significant advantage for analytics accuracy.
Theoretically, edge processing is very
scalable. If more devices are needed, they are
deployed where needed without the need to
expand server hardware for the analytics. Of
course, recording capacities still need to be
considered.
Power is a constant pain point, but has
some edge processing benefits. It might be
easier to maintain backup power for some
devices in the field instead of a full rack of
servers. Having access to that information after
the fact is crucial. The cameras can store the
data locally and send it to the server (onsite or
cloud) once it is back online. This reinforces the
hybrid solutions approach for edge server or
cloud solutions.
Tempelhoff: Edge-based processing
minimises much of the processing that was
previously done on recorders. The computing
itself improves the efficiency of information
and enriches application data.
Liu: Edge computing uses local computing
to enable analytics at the source of the data.
Powered by AI technology, it strengthens the
sensing capability of front-end cameras and
helps us understand the captured scene more
effectively and accurately. With AI algorithms
woven into the edge devices, selected
information such as an individual or a vehicle
in a video image will be extracted and sent,
which significantly enhances the transmission
efficiency and reduces the network bandwidth
need, while still sustaining high quality and
accuracy. Edge computing will also accelerate
Continued on page 24
CATHEXIS
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ANALYTICS & AI ON THE EDGE
Continued from page 23
more efficient business responses, creating
immediate actions and events alerts.
Venkatesh: In Africa specifically, data cost are
still high. Moreover, for some use cases, such
as mining, farms, or in-vehicular cameras, the
availability of high-speed networking is not
present or is very expensive. In that case it makes
sense for the edge devices to process most of
the data and then only transfer back relevant
information to the cloud. Power is a problem,
but most of these edge devices (and the one
we sell), have an ability to cap the power at 5 W,
thereby any solar or battery powered system will
be sufficient when power issues arise.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: Video
analytics, with or without AI,
requires a lot of processing power.
What technology do you include in
your cameras that make them ‘edge
analytics’ ready as opposed to just
being able to store video on an SD
card?
Bruyns: An increase in appetite for real-time
analytics and wanting to reduce transmitted
information to the cloud amplifies the need
for higher and higher performance at the
edge. To this end, we have developed our
ARTPEC chipsets for many years and launched
the ARTPEC 8 chipset in 2021, featuring an
improved System on Chip, which allows for
AI-based deep learning applications to run
more efficiently on the edge.
Almost every new camera we introduce
this year will come with AI capabilities. We
provide the ideal base for edge processing
with powerful image processing and efficient
encoding functionality. In fact, the ability to
process at the edge has never been more
critical. Access to raw video allows the analytics
to see things which could be compromised in
video encoding.
Metadata reduces network traffic for server-
or cloud-based processing, but also for event
generation to support real-time use cases.
Tempelhoff: TVT cameras uses technology
based on a deep learning network architecture.
It can efficiently calculate the target features
we need to know and integrate secondary
apps with endless possibilities.
Liu: As mentioned above, more powerful
edge computing performance and optimised
algorithms are two key elements to make
edge analytics possible. High-speed graphics
processing units (GPUs) perform accelerated
24 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
computing while deep learning algorithms
improve accuracy compared to traditional
cameras that still rely on conventional CPUs.
Venkatesh: inq. does not sell cameras, but
we work with any camera systems to process
video using our edge devices. We generally
work in two ways:
1. Transparent mode where we use the IP
protocol such as RTSP/HLS streams to
process the streams on the edge or cloud
using our edge devices.
2. Inline mode where we the events are
generated by the camera intelligence and then
our system acts as a secondary filter to further
process the same to reduce false positives.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: How do
you ensure the security of the data
on the edge and what do you do
to prevent unauthorised access or
people trying to gain control of the
cameras?
Bruyns: Cybersecurity best practices are
always important; understanding the risk and
how to mitigate some of them is critical. We
have a helpful hardening guide available on
our website to help system integrators and
end-users understand the risks associated with
cyberattacks. With our new ARTPEC 8 chipset,
we have embedded cybersecurity features into
the camera: Edge Vault, Secure Boot, signed
firmware and Trusted Platform Module (TPM).
The Edge Vault security component enables
the automatic and secure identification of new
devices during installation. Secure Boot acts
as a gatekeeper for your surveillance system,
ensuring that unauthenticated, tampered code
is blocked and rejected during the boot process
before it can attack or infect your system.
Devices with signed firmware can validate
the firmware before allowing installation. TPM
is a standalone hardware component that
ensures cryptographic keys and certificates are
safe and secure, even in a security breach.
Tempelhoff: Under TVT’s security system
standards, it endows cameras with security
features comprising six characteristics,
redefining them as trusted products to achieve
security compliance. The whole process is
controllable, available at all times, data is not
lost, sensitive data is not leaked and business is
never interrupted.
Liu: Cyber resilience requires serious
cybersecurity investments in a solid foundation
by equipment vendors, and one of the most
effective investments is the implementation of
Secure-by-Design. Hikvision takes cybersecurity
and privacy very seriously and has implemented
Secure-by-Design in its production process.
The Hikvision Security Development Life
Cycle (HSDLC) is an essential part of Hikvision’s
cybersecurity programme. Cybersecurity
checks take place at every stage of product
development, from concept to delivery. The
HSDLC management guides us to makes every
effort to produce products that are as cyber
secure as possible.
We also always strive to ensure that
our products adhere to the most rigorous
cybersecurity certifications, and that they meet
the requirements of industry-leading standards.
Venkatesh: Each of our edge nodes is
monitored using our Elastic Monitoring System
with Security, and all the data is sent back to

our SoC for event monitoring and handling, so
any unauthorised access will lock the device so
the system is protected.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: Is it
possible for users to update the
onboard analytic apps, either to
newer versions or even to replace
the apps with different analytics?
Do you think this is a necessary
feature in some situations?
Bruyns: For applications on the edge, our
strategy has always been to create a stable
platform and then load applications independently
of the firmware onto the device. We have recently
launched our fourth generation of Axis Camera
Application Platform (ACAP 4).
The applications can be updated or rolled
back to previous versions if not compatible
with different Virtual Memory System (VMS)
platforms. Multiple applications can be added
to the same device; one or more applications
could be used, depending on the processing
requirement. The applications can be removed
if no longer needed, but licencing is dependent
on the developer of the application.
Tempelhoff: Based on the arrival of the era
of AI intelligence, we are getting closer to this
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type of scenario, which is an important trend for
the future. TVT’s latest generation of software-
defined cameras is based upon this. Users can
migrate different AI algorithms according to
their different scenarios, making the application
attributes of the camera more powerful and
satisfying each environment’s intelligent
application demands.
Liu: Currently, the updating of onboard
analytics by users is not possible, but AI cameras
are becoming increasingly flexible by being able
to incorporate multiple AI algorithms.
As technology advances, AI chipset
performance has improved to enable massive
computing power using various algorithms
and contributing to multi-intelligence
functionality. We believe that multi-
intelligence will be the trend for , but securing
the data in the cloud next generation of
AI-empowered cameras as several intelligent
tasks will be accomplished by one camera.
Let us use vehicle intersections as an example.
In many cities you can see ten or more cameras
installed at intersections to detect traffic flow,
to identify violations, to detect vehicle types
and licence plate numbers, protect sidewalks
and so on. But now, with multi-intelligence
cameras, two or three cameras will be enough
Trusted Solutions
Partner
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ANALYTICS & AI ON THE EDGE
for an intersection. Since fewer cameras will be
equipped for more than one application scenario,
the cost of equipment, installation, maintenance,
and management will all be reduced.
Moreover, scenario-defined cameras will
become common as manufacturers insert
different algorithms into security cameras
according to specific application scenarios,
allowing customers to choose customised
functionality for their needs.
Venkatesh: Yes, all of that is completely
managed on our inq. Control Platform which
can add, delete or even change the rules any
time. This is very necessary because each
client requirement is different, and it can keep
changing; most environments are agile, and
our system caters to any process or function
the client requires.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: What are
the latest edge analytics solutions you
provide? Do your cameras run your
own analytics software or is it open to
third-party developers as well?
Bruyns: Our AI strategy is multi-layered,
and we have developed some fundamental
applications in-house. Our analytics solutions
Continued on page 26
P WERED BY
Continued from page 25
make it easier to get the insights you need
to protect your people and property, which
empowers you to make better decisions about
your business and operations.
APD – The AXIS Perimeter Defender reinforces
physical access controls to give you an edge
where security starts, namely at the perimeter
of your site. Together with Axis cameras, it
provides an effective edge-based system that
automatically detects and responds to people
and vehicles intruding on your property. When
combined with thermal and PTZ cameras, it is
suitable even for high-security locations such
as chemical and power plants, and prisons.
Axis Verifier – Ideal for free flow, slow-speed
traffic and vehicle access control scenarios,
the AXIS Licence Plate Verifier makes it easy to
detect and read licence plates, monitor vehicles,
create a vehicle access solution, identify stolen
vehicles and much more.
Retail Analytics – Our retail analytics cover three
tiers: loss prevention, store optimisation and
traditional safety and security. Loss prevention
protects your profits with innovative, integrated
solutions. When you combine Axis surveillance
hardware and analytics, you can tackle theft and
fraud everywhere on your premises. From a store
optimisation perspective, in-store cameras can
be powerful tools for gathering and processing
numeric data. It is a way to understand the
behaviours and needs of your customers and can
be the key to unlocking the full potential of your
business. On the other hand, no retail operation
can ever be successful unless visitors feel safe.
Axis IP video and audio solutions provide a
blanket of security that makes your stores
welcoming to potential shoppers.
AOA – Axis Object Analytics delivers real-
time intelligence you can act on so you can
focus your attention on what happens, when
it happens. Axis Object Analytics is available
in two versions: machine learning and deep
learning. The detection and classification
capabilities of AOA are camera dependent.
Cameras with a machine learning processing
26 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
unit (MLPU) can classify humans and vehicles.
Cameras with a deep learning processing unit
(DLPU) offer more granular object classification,
meaning they can classify humans and vehicles
as well as different types of vehicles, such as
cars, trucks, busses, and motorcycles or bicycles.
Ideal for busier scenes and more demanding
surveillance requirements, it also offers better
detection and classification capabilities for
people in unusual positions (e.g., hunched) and
only partially visible objects.
In addition, we have a mature technology
partner programme and expect to see more
exciting applications that use deep learning and
enhanced processing on the edge. Axis supports
third-party development through the Axis
Developer Community, which currently has over 10
000 members and allows developers to use modern
programming and collaboration tools like Python,
GitHub and Docker. The latest version of ACAP 4
has also introduced a new SDK called the Computer
Vision SDK, this allows developers to make use of
the deep learning capabilities of ARTPEC 8.
Marti: There are many common use cases,
such as people counting, object recognition,
and traffic analysis for which we have nearly 20
different options in our app store, and these
will continue to grow as different developers
create new and better apps in these categories.
Some of the latest apps to join our app store
are in weapons detection, patient fall detection
in a healthcare setting, drone detection and
more. What particular use case the apps solve
and how they solve them are limited only to the
imagination and expertise of the app developer
to meet the specific need of the customer.
In our view, we are just at the beginning
and many use cases have not yet been
identified. One year ago, nobody would have
thought of seabird detection, but now we have
a partner offering just that, integrated with
other components for a large salmon farmer,
thus solving a big pain point of these seabirds
attacking and damaging fish pens and in
effect, impacting fish quality.
Tempelhoff: In addition to recognising people
or objects, localisation and tracking, tracking
direction and motion, one can draw the
motion trajectories and heat maps of people
or objects. For the upcoming software-defined
cameras, it is expected that more developers
will develop software in the cloud and then
deploy it to smart cameras at the edge.
Smart cameras can continuously deploy new
applications and services as demand changes,
extending the life cycle of the camera.
At present, TVT has an experienced
algorithm team, focusing on researching
surveillance video. They have implemented
many scene analysis functions around the
world, and also achieved good results in well-
known algorithm competitions.
Liu: The Hikvision DeepinView camera ranges
offer various edge analytics options to our
customers. And the latest Hikvision Dedicated
DeepinView cameras incorporate several
AI-powered deep learning algorithms in one
unit. Accordingly, users can simply enable an
algorithm manually for dedicated use, then
later switch the algorithm as needed.
Hikvision also provides an HEOP programme
for third-party technology partners to develop
their own applications and install them directly
onto Hikvision cameras, which brings a greater
variety of intelligent functionality directly to
customers.
Venkatesh: We have 15 different features we
can enable, from object tracking, ANPR, safety
helmet, suspicious behaviour, face recognition
(which has been trained specifically for Africa),
loitering, counting sacks and more. We can
work with third-party developers as well. We
currently have built all our AI in-house, but
there could be a potential for other AI vendors
to collaborate with us as a marketplace.
For more information contact:
• Axis Communications, +27 11 548 6780,
terri.miller@axis.com, www.axis.com
• Azena, www.azena.com
• Forbatt SA, +27 11 469 3598,
sales@forbatt.co, www.forbatt.co
• Hikvision South Africa, +27 87 701 8113,
support.sa@hikvision.com,
www.hikvision.com
• inq., princec@inq.inc, www.inq.inc
ANALYTICS & AI ON THE EDGE

Optimising edge analytics

Maximising the flexibility of edge video analytics with uCPE.

V
ideo surveillance and CCTV
have been around for a long
time. Monitoring using these
tools still tends to be done
manually and, due to a lack
of resources, most surveillance video is never
seen. Even when seen, there is still a risk of
human error, leading to low accuracy and
missed or misinterpreted events.
Software-based video analytics can
improve both the accuracy and effectiveness
of video surveillance by combining different
methods, such as machine learning and
AI to let the system do the tedious task of
monitoring and automatically generate
descriptions or metadata of events in videos.
With such increased accuracy and lower
operational costs, as well as new areas of use,
it is no surprise that the video analytics market
(software and services) is experiencing strong
growth, with the services segment expected to
grow at an even faster rate than the software
segment, providing ample opportunities
for service providers. So how can service
providers tap into such an opportunity?
What is the optimum way to deploy such a
service to ensure quality for the customer and
profitability for the provider?
How to deploy and optimise video
analytics as a service
Process the video at the edge
Software-based video analytics makes it
possible to move monitoring activities from a
centralised location to the customer premises
without compromising on quality or generating
higher costs. This has two major benefits:
• The data volumes produced by a single
surveillance camera can be huge – several GB
a day. This can create a bandwidth issue for
many links, including LTE/5G. With multiple
cameras in use, even fixed lines can become
congested. Processing on premises removes
bandwidth problems.
• Data privacy and protection means that
many enterprises do not want to process any
data offsite. Surveillance video footage can
contain both personal and sensitive data.
Video analysis on the edge enables this data
to remain on-site.
Create maximum service flexibility
Analytics built into camera hardware or
vendor-specific appliances comes with a fixed
function set limiting how service providers
and enterprises can use it or customise its
functionality. A video analytics solution that
can be used in many different ways and easily
adapted to specific situations requires a much
more flexible platform – one that separates the
camera hardware from the analytics software
to allow innovation at ‘software speed’.
Universal Customer Premises Equipment
(uCPE) is ideal for this and also provides a very
cost-effective solution.
A uCPE is essentially a white-labelled
networking and computing platform for
customer premises, capable of hosting any
workload. It is managed centrally, through a
virtualisation and management layer, allowing
software updates, application installations or
removals on-demand, but with all processing
taking place at the edge. Running video
analytics software on a uCPE decouples the
analytics application from the camera, thereby
avoiding any hardware limitations.
Also, if the video analytics application
is co-hosted with other virtual networking
applications, e.g., a router, SD-WAN solution
or firewall, it gains access to the connectivity
needed to send metadata to the cloud or a
data centre. A service provider can use a single
uCPE platform to mix and match applications
of various kinds and sources, allowing
enterprises to choose which vendors they
want for their different applications in addition
to the video analytics service.
Providing AI-based Video Analytics-
as-a-Service
inq., a pan-African digital service provider
headquartered in Mauritius, offers both
networking services based on secure SD-WAN,
and smart video analytics as a service. Its video
analytics service is mainly focused on three
key areas:
• Compliance-as-a-Service: detecting
compliance and safety issues using AI.
• Intelligent perimeter security: automatically
monitoring and alerting across locations in
real time.
• Retail analytics: AI-based real-time store and
customer behaviour analytics.
The solution is completely software-based
and can tap into existing camera systems.
The captured video is processed on the uCPE
and extracted metadata (selected, specific
information) can be sent to centralised or
cloud-based systems or it can generate alerts.
The solution is controlled and managed
through a cloud-based platform, also provided
as a service.
Detection capabilities include:
• Motion detection.
• Facial recognition and licence plate reading.
• People counting and dwell time monitoring
for retail stores.
• Recognising long lines at checkout and
sending alerts.
• Compliance-as-a-Service in HSE (health,
safety and environment).

28 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com


• Retail analytics for the customer experience.
• Intelligent security.
• Behavioural Analytics (crowd management)
• Vehicle ANPR.
A major benefit of inq.’s solution is that it
is completely based on software and agnostic
to camera hardware, making it possible to
use any IP camera. Even existing cameras
can be connected to the solution, leveraging
investments and installations.
Because the analytics software is decoupled
from the camera hardware, it is easy to modify
and enhance services. Detection algorithms
can be customised to fit any use, new or
existing, and fine-tuned to provide the highest
possible accuracy using inq.’s control and
machine learning platforms. Camera system
training is part of the offering, providing the
end user with a system adapted to their unique
needs while still being delivered as a service.
Flexibility in uCPE
inq. saw a possibility to cross-sell its networking
and video analytics services, using the secure
connectivity provided by their SD-WAN
solutions to remotely control the analytics
solution and relay processed data back.
The company needed a flexible platform
that could host both networking and video
analytics applications at the customer
premises edge and turned to uCPE. The right
uCPE would offer the flexibility, performance
and management features needed to address
both technical and business needs.
In the end, inq. chose an Advantech
white-box edge appliance in combination
with the Enea Edge virtualisation and
management platform. When installed at the
customer premises, inq. can easily on-board
and provision any application requested by
the end user (including the enterprise’s own
applications) and make changes and updates
remotely and on-demand. This provides
an excellent upsell opportunity, as inq. can
instantly install and run additional services for
any existing uCPE-based customer.
Advantech edge appliances
Advantech commercial-off-the-shelf edge
appliances for uCPE, SD-WAN and SASE
provide a solid and open foundation for service
providers and enterprises allowing them to
accelerate network transformation through agile
and secure, cloud-native network solutions. The
scalable white boxes integrate the latest Intel
computing and networking technologies, from
Intel Atom to Intel Xeon scalable processors.
They are already widely deployed, running
popular networking and security software from
industry leading ecosystem partners. They have
been carefully designed to minimise costly
downtime, on-site interventions and service
interruptions, and are supported by Advantech’s
global service network.
Advantech appliances can scale to all needs
including secure connectivity for small and
medium enterprise branches to large campuses
and headquarters. They adapt to multiple
configurations and price points, with optional
networking modules that allow a highly flexible
WAN connectivity choice of hybrid 5G, 4G/LTE,
Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5, xDSL and SFP+. Rugged models
supporting a wide operating temperature
range (-20°C to 70°C) and surge protection
allow Advantech to extend appliance use to
environments such as smart cities and smart grids.
In addition, server-class configurations that can
integrate AI acceleration enable new uCPE use
cases including intelligent retail and surveillance.
Enea Edge
Enea Edge is a uCPE operating system and
management solution purpose-built to
host virtual networking, security and edge
applications like video analytics on white
box uCPE. The universal design of Enea Edge
allows it to support any application from
any vendor, including an enterprise’s own
applications, thereby freeing service providers
and enterprises from vendor lock-in. This open
approach enables service providers to grow
their business by extending their offering with
new functionalities.
ANALYTICS & AI ON THE EDGE
Enea Edge consists of three elements:
• Enea Edge Runtime: white-box operating
system providing virtual machines and
container runtimes.
• Enea Edge Management: platform and
application/VNF lifecycle management.
• Enea Edge Automation: a framework for
automating deployment and operation of
large-scale networks.
Enea Edge Runtime can be deployed on any
Advantech white box hardware (uCPE) at the
customer premises or service provider edge. It
is optimised to combine high networking and
computing performance with a small platform
footprint, thereby enabling cost-effective use of
available hardware resources.
Enea Edge Management and Enea Edge
Automation are deployed in a data centre or
cloud environment. Access is either through
a web-based GUI or an API for integration
with third-party tools. The management and
automation solutions are tested on large-scale
networks comprising thousands of units to
ensure scalability for growing business.
Conclusion
Video analytics represents a huge opportunity
for service providers especially when deployed
on uCPE in combination with other services.
inq. is an excellent example of how to build a
successful offering, making surveillance systems
more useful by adding smart video analytics to
IP cameras. By reducing the workload on security
and management staff, it helps enterprises
capture the full value of video surveillance with
intelligence, and adapts to any use case.
For service providers looking for a reliable,
proven uCPE solution, Advantech’s white-
box appliance with Enea Edge is an ideal
combination.
For more information contact:
• inq.,www.inq.inc
• Enea, www.enea.com/ucpe
• Advantech, www2.advantech.com/nc/
spotlight/ucpe
 CAMERA SELECTION GUIDE

Allbro
Category: IP
Brand: Allbro
Camera name: Camera-Den 90 mm
Description: Allbro has launched the very first camera enclosure
of its kind. Designed and made in South Africa, the Camera-Den
addresses the unique challenges of this application in a manner that
has never been done before. Once one lays eyes upon Allbro’s new
‘Camera-Den’ it becomes difficult to even call the new invention
a camera box. It can fit most camera brands up to a diameter
of 90 mm.
IP

Contact: Elani van Rensburg, new@allbro.com, +27 11 894 8341

Allbro
Category: IP
Brand: Allbro
Camera name: Camera-Den 110 mm
Description: Allbro has launched the very first camera enclosure
of its kind. Designed and made in South Africa, the Camera-Den
addresses the unique challenges of this application in a manner that
has never been done before. Once one lays eyes upon Allbro’s new
‘Camera-Den’ it becomes diffucult to even call the new invention
a camera box. It can fit most camera brands up to a diameter
IP

of 110 mm.
Contact: Elani van Rensburg, new@allbro.com, +27 11 894 8341

Axis Communications
Category: IP
Supplier: ADI, Compass Visual Security, Duxbury Networking, Pentagon
Brand: Axis Communications
Camera name: AXIS Q1656-LE Box Camera
Maximum resolution: 16:9:2688 x 1512, quad HD to 160 x 90; 4:3:2016 x 1512 to 160 x 120
Lighting capabilities: 4 MP 25/30 fps with Forensic WDR and Lightfinder 2.0 with optional
F0.9 lens controls
Software provided with camera: AXIS Object Analytics, AXIS Video Motion Detection, support for
AXIS Camera Application Platform enabling installation of third-party applications, see axis.com/acap.
IP

Onboard storage: 1 TB
Onboard intelligence/analytics: AXIS Object Analytics, AXIS Video Motion Detection
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: With 4 MP resolution at up to 60 fps and a 1/1,8-inch sensor, AXIS Q1656-LE delivers exceptional video quality even in poor light
conditions. The built-in wiper ensures great images in all weather conditions. Based on the latest Axis system-on-chip (SoC), it offers
support for advanced features and powerful applications based on deep learning on the edge.
Variations in range available: Lens options: Lens CS 4-10 mm F0.9 P-Iris, Lens i-CS 9-50 mm F1.5 8 MP, Lens CS 12-50 mm F1.4 P-Iris 8 MP.
Includes OptimizedIR with power-effcient, long-life 850 nmb IR LEDs and white LED combo. Premium Q-line functionality.
Contact: Marcel Bruyns, marcel.bruyns@axis.com, +27 11 548 6790

30 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

 CAMERA SELECTION GUIDE

Axis Communications
Category: IP
Supplier: ADI, Compass Visual Security, Duxbury Networking, Pentagon
Brand: Axis Communications
Camera name: AXIS M5000 PTZ Camera
Maximum resolution: 15 MP
Lighting capabilities: Colour: 0,4 lux at 50 IRE F2.0. B/W: 0,03 lux at 50 IRE F2.0
Onboard storage: SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, SD card encryption
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Support for recording to network-attached storage (NAS)
ONVIF conformant: Yes
IP

Description: The AXIS M5000 PTZ is a cost-effective camera offering the benefit of four cameras in
one. It includes three 5 MP sensors and one PTZ camera with 10x optical zoom for total cameras in
situational awareness of indoor areas up to 400 m2. Everything is displayed on one monitor,
allowing you to move from an overview to more detailed views.
Variations in range available: PTZ camera: Varifocal, 4,7–47 mm, F1.6–3,0; Horizontal field of view: 61,8°–6,7°; Vertical field of view: 36,3°–3,8°
autofocus, autoiris, P-Iris control. Overview cameras: Focal length 2,39 mm; F2.0; horizontal field of view: 360°; Vertical field of view: 93°.
Contact: Marcel Bruyns, marcel.bruyns@axis.com, +27 11 548 6790

Axis Communications
Category: IP
Supplier: ADI, Compass Visual Security, Duxbury Networking, Pentagon
Brand: Axis Communications
Camera name: AXIS W101 Body Worn Camera
Maximum resolution: 1920 x 1080
Lighting capabilities: Sensitivity: 0,1 lux
Software provided with camera: Axis Body Worn Assistant
Onboard storage: 64 GB
ONVIF conformant: No
IP

Description: AXIS W101 Body Worn Camera is a robust and easy-to-use body-worn camera featuring
the Klick Fast mounting system. With 12 hours of battery life, it delivers clear audio with noise
suppression and sharp image quality. Recording is activated automatically upon unholstering and
person down. Through the built-in GNSS receiver (location tracking), the location of the camera is
continuously recorded.
Variations in range available: Klick Fast System for body-worn camera mounts,
AXIS TW1200 Body Worn Mini Bullet Sensor, AXIS TW1201 Body Worn mini-cube sensor,
AXIS Body Worn Assistant app for Android, iOS. For more accessories, see axis.com/bodyworn.
Contact: Marcel Bruyns, marcel.bruyns@axis.com, +27 11 548 6790

BNETA International
Category: IP
Supplier: BNETA International
Brand: EZVIZ
Camera name: C3X Dark Fighter
Maximum resolution: 1920 × 1080
Lighting capabilities: Colour night vision, 0,005 lux, IR max. 30 m
Onboard storage: SD card up to 256 GB, H.264 / H.265 video compression
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Embedded AI deep learning algorithm/human/vehicle
shape detection; line crossing/motion detection; active defence siren and strobe light
IP

with customisable voice alerts.

Description: A commercial-grade security Wi-Fi camera with a dual-lens setup.
Night-time colour video has become a reality, even with the absence of supplemental lights.
Built-in AI algorithms just made everything easier. Now you can get accurate alerts when people and vehicles appear in your specified zones.
Get protection with the C3X, in a high-tech and professional fashion.
Contact: Lindi Swanepoel, sales@bneta.co.za, +27 11 032 7900

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 31

 CAMERA SELECTION GUIDE

BNETA International
Category: IP
Supplier: BNETA International
Brand: EZVIZ
Camera name: C8W Pro 2K
Maximum resolution: 2K
Lighting capabilities: Colour night vision, 0,5 lux @ (F1.6, AGC ON), 0 lux with
IR (max. 30 m)
Onboard storage: SD card up to 256 GB, H.264 / H.265 video compression
Onboard intelligence/analytics: AI-powered human/vehicle shape detection,
IP

active defence with siren and strobe light, smart auto tracking.
Description: The C8W Pro 2K elevates the convenience provided by a smart
security camera with on-device AI. It is able to differentiate people and vehicles
from other moving objects, and automatically locks on and follows human
movements. With complex tracking capability, it provides easy control to auto-resume
its pre-set viewing angle through one click. 24/7 all-round protection with 2K clarity.
Contact: Lindi Swanepoel, sales@bneta.co.za, +27 11 032 7900

BNETA International
Category: IP
Supplier: BNETA International
Brand: EZVIZ
Camera name: BC1C Battery Camera
Maximum resolution: 1920 × 1080
Lighting capabilities: Colour night vision, 0,2 lux @ (F1.6, AGC ON),
0 Lux with IR (max. 10 m)
Onboard storage: H.265 / Built-in 32 GB eMMC storage/supports EZVIZ
cloud storage
IP

Onboard intelligence/analytics: Accurate human motion detection, active

defence/customisable voice alerts
Description: The BC1C battery operated camera is 100% wire free with a 7800 mAh rechargerble battery which can last up to 210 days. The
unit has vivid colour night vision supported by two built-in spotlights. Accurate motion alerts with an integrated PIR sensor and the AI-based
person shape detection is offered onboard.
Contact: Lindi Swanepoel, sales@bneta.co.za, +27 11 032 7900

BNETA International
Category: IP
Supplier: BNETA International
Brand: EZVIZ
Camera name: C3TN Outpro 2K
Maximum resolution: 2K
Lighting capabilities: Colour night vision, 0,01 lux @ (F2.0, AGC ON), 0 lux with
IR (max. 30 m)
Onboard storage: SD card up to 256 GB, H.264 / H.265 video compression
Onboard intelligence/analytics: AI-powered human shape detection, active
IP

defence with light and siren.

Description: The C3TN Outpro is a camera with 2 K resolution. It is designed to
deliver round-the-clock home protection with multiple advanced camera technologies,
such as ultra-sharp 2K video quality, AI-powered human shape detection,
colour night vision and more. Compact in size and durable in any weather, the OutPro is the go-to
option for any family seeking 24/7 peace-of-mind.
Contact: Lindi Swanepoel, sales@bneta.co.za, +27 11 032 7900

32 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

 CAMERA SELECTION GUIDE

Bosch Building Technologies

Category: IP
Supplier: Use dealer search on www.boschsecurity.com/xf/en to locate your nearest authorised dealer
Brand: Bosch
Camera name: NDP-5523-Z30L
Maximum resolution: 4 MP @ 60 fps
Lighting capabilities: Starlight technology with 1/1,8-inch HD sensor for excellent lowlight performance
including combination of 320 m IR (850 nm) + white light LEDs.
Software provided with camera: BVMS Lite – includes eight camera/decoder expansions,
two workstation expansions, eight failover recording channels, eight dual recording channels,
IP

two keyboard expansions, one DVR and ATM/POS allegiant OPC functionality.
Onboard storage: Dual SDXC/SDHC/SD card slots, up to 2 TB
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Essential Video Analytics 6.30
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: AUTODOME IP starlight 5100i IR 1,8-inch, ultra HD sensor and integrated IR and white light
illumination, 30x optical zoom to identify people at a distance of more than 280 m. The new HDR technology
(HDR X).
Variations in range available: NDP-5523-Z30L PTZ 4 MP HDR 30x IP66 pendant IR
Contact: Quintin Van Den Berg, quintin.vandenberg@za.bosch.com, +27 11 651 9600

Dahua Technology South Africa

Category: IP
Supplier: Reditron, IDS, Top CCTV, Security Warehouse, Stafix
Brand: Dahua Technology
Camera name: DH-IPC-HFW3549T1-AS-PV-S3/DH-IPC-HDW3549H-AS-PV-S3
Maximum resolution: 2592 × 1944 @ 20 fps/2688 × 1520 @ 30 fps
Lighting capabilities: Smart Dual Illumination IR 30 m Warm LED 30 m
Software provided with camera: With advanced deep learning algorithms, Dahua WizSense 3 Series network cameras
support intelligent functions, such as perimeter protection and smart motion detection. With starlight technology,
this series of cameras provides better image effect in low light conditions.
IP

Onboard storage: Micro SD card (support max. 256 GB)

Onboard intelligence/analytics: Supports SMD3.0 and with AI Intrusion and tripwire detection, both with the classifcation and accurate
detection of vehicles and humans.
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: As an upgrade of the first generation TIOC, TIOC2.0 is the new three-in-one camera that not only has AI, full-colour and blue/red
light and siren speakers, but also has smart illumination which can switch between IR mode and white light when a target is detected.
Variations in range available: Easy operation, the alarm-in port offers easy integration with third-party alarm panels. One-tap disarming to
turn off light and siren via DMSS or the alarm-in port. Customisable alarm sounds.
Contact: sales.za@dahuatech.com, +27 10 593 3242

Forbatt SA
Category: IP
Brand: TVT
Camera name: TD-9423A3-LR
Maximum resolution: 2 MP (1920 x 1080) @ 25 fps
Lighting capabilities: Starlight, with 70 m IR, 0,0028 lux @ F1.2,AGC ON;
0 lux with IR
Software provided with camera: Free camera management software
Onboard storage: 128 GB SD
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Licence plate recognition (ANPR), video abnormality
IP

detection (video tampering, scene change).

ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: TVT A3-LR ANPR cameras are ideal for detecting numberplates. Suited for gated communities to roadside detection applications,
the camera can detect numberplates up to 70 km/h.
Variations in range available: TD-9423A3-LR (2,8-12 mm), TD-9423A3-LR (5-50 mm)
Contact: Sales, sales@forbatt.co, +27 11 469 3598

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 33

 CAMERA SELECTION GUIDE

Forbatt SA
Category: IP
Brand: Kedacom
Camera name: IPC523-F255-NL
Maximum resolution: 2 MP (1920 x 1080) @ 25 fps
Lighting capabilities: Starlight, laser distance up to 1500 m, with
55x optical zoom
Software provided with camera: Free camera management software
Onboard storage: 128 GB SD
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Motion detection, tampering, guard line, enter/exit
IP

guard area, object left/removal, gatherings, audio surge.

ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: The Kedacom 1,5 km laser PTZ is ideally suited for demanding nighttime applications where one needs to protect longer than
normal distances. With its 2MP HD image and starlight sensors, the camera is capable of delivering outstanding image quality at night up to
1.5 km away from the camera. Additionally it also supports true WDR and 6000V TVS surge protection.
Contact: Sales, sales@forbatt.co, +27 11 469 3598

Forbatt SA
Category: IP
Brand: TVT
Camera name: TD-9423E3 (D/AZ/PE/AR5)
Maximum resolution: 2 MP (1920 x 1080) @ 25 fps
Lighting capabilities: Starlight technology with 70 m IR range;
0,0028 lux @ (F1.2, AGC on); 0 lux with IR
Software provided with camera: Free camera management software included
Onboard storage: 128 GB SD card
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Line crossing and region intrusion detection
IP

(human/vehicle classification), face detection, face capture, flow of people/vehicle

statistics, people/vehicle counting.
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: For the customer demanding a little bit more from their camera, the TD-9423E3’s features include classification as well as face
detection, making it an all-round contender suitable for any installation. With Starlight capabilities and high-powered IR, the camera produces
crystal clear images in many challenging lighting conditions.
Variations in range available: Fixed as well as motorised zoom options in dome and bullet camera variants
Contact: Sales, sales@forbatt.co, +27 11 469 3598

Hikvision South Africa

Category: IP
Brand: Hikvision
Camera name: DS-2CD2T87G2P-LSU/SL
Maximum resolution: High-quality imaging with 8 MP resolution
Lighting capabilities: 24/7 colour imaging
Onboard storage: Up to 256 GB
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Basic event, smart event, linkage, perimeter protection
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: One image that presents all the scenes covered by the camera; effcient H.265+ compression technology; clear imaging against
IP

strong back light due to 130 dB WDR technology; focus on human and vehicle classification based on deep learning; active strobe light
and audio alarm to warn intruders off; water and dust resistant (IP67).
Variations in range available: Supplement white light up to 40 m; Support audio and environment noise filtering; 12 V DC ± 25%, 0,79 A, max.
9,5 W; PoE: 802.3af, max. 10,5 W
Contact: Jade Wang, wangqi7@hikvision.com, +27 60 441 3111

34 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

 CAMERA SELECTION GUIDE

Hikvision South Africa

Category: IP
Brand: Hikvision
Camera name: DS-2SF8C425MXS-DL(14F1)(P3)
Maximum resolution: High-quality imaging with 4 MP resolution for both bullet channel and
PTZ channel.
Lighting capabilities: 24/7 colour imaging and excellent low-light performance with DarkFighter
technology.
Onboard storage: Up to 256 GB
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Alarm linkage, smart linkage, basic event, smart event,
smart tracking, multi-target-type detection (deep learning function).
IP

ONVIF conformant: Yes

Description: Captures a large area and great details at the same time; secures an expansive area with
25x optical zoom and 16x digital zoom; bullet channel tilt adjustable from 7° to 17°; expansive night
view with up to 30 m white light distance and 300 m IR distance; water and dust resistant (IP67) and
vandal resistant (IK10).
Variations in range available: One RJ45 100 Mbps self-adaptive Ethernet port; alarm seven input(s), two output(s); audio one input (line in);
one RS-485 (half-duplex, HIKVISION, Pelco-P, Pelco-D, self-adaptive); water and dust resistant (IP67) and vandal resistant (IK10)
Contact: Jade Wang, wangqi7@hikvision.com, +27 60 441 3111

Reditron
Category: IP
Supplier: Reditron
Brand: Avigilon
Camera name: H5A Modular Camera
Maximum resolution: 5 MP (2592 x 1944) @ 25 fps
Lighting capabilities: 0,1 lux
Software provided with camera: Avigilon
Onboard storage: Two x MicroSD / microSDHC / MicroSDXC slots
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Objects in area, loitering, crossing beam,
IP

not present in area, enter area, leave area, stops in area, direction violated.
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: The Avigilon H5A Modular Camera is designed for areas with limited space or that require a discreet and unobtrusive monitoring
solution, such as ATMs, interview rooms, retail checkout counters, building entrances and more. The camera’s flexible imager modules can
easily be positioned in different orientations to help capture the most optimal view of people or scenes of interest for investigations.
Variations in range available: 3 MP and 5 MP with different lens options, right angle or micro bullet.
Contact: Gordon Moore, sales@reditron.co.za, +27 87 802 2288

Regal Distributors SA
Category: IP
Supplier: Regal Distributors SA
Brand: Hikvision
Camera name: TandemVu DS-2SE7C432MW-AEB(14F1)(P3)
Maximum resolution: Bullet camera: 2560 × 1440; PTZ camera: 2560 × 1440
Lighting capabilities: Bullet camera: white light @ 30 m; PTZ camera: IR @ 200 m
Onboard storage: Support Micro SD/Micro SDHC/Micro SDXC, up to 256 GB
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Bullet and PTZ cameras: intrusion detection, line crossing detection,
region entrance detection, region exiting detection, audio exception detection.
IP

ONVIF conformant: Yes

Description: The Hikvision 7-inch 4 MP 32x colour, IR, network speed dome uses the 1/2,8-inch
progressive scan CMOS chip. With the 32× optical zoom lens, the camera offers more detail over expansive
areas.
Variations in range available: 2 MP, 4 MP and 4K (8 MP) with IR from 200 m up to 300 m.
Contact: Etienne Rheder, hikvision@regalsecurity.co.za, +27 11 553 3300

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 35

 CAMERA SELECTION GUIDE

Bidvest Protea Coin

Category: Thermal
Supplier: Bidvest Protea Coin
Brand: Bosch
Camera name: MIC IP Fusion 9000i
Maximum resolution: 1080p
Lighting capabilities: Complete darkness
Software provided with camera: No, open to integration and custom development.
THERMAL

Onboard intelligence/analytics: Camera trainer, advanced on-board intelligent video tracking,

object detection when camera is on tours, full suite of Bosch video analytics.
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: Advanced PTZ visible/ thermal Fusion camera.
Contact: Alex Penhaligon, penhaligona@proteacoin.co.za, +27 66 257 0496

Hikvision South Africa

Category: Thermal
Supplier: ADI Global Distribution, Pinnsec, Regal Distributors SA,
Sensor Security Systems
Brand: Hikvision
Camera name: DS-2TD2617-10/PA
Maximum resolution: Thermal channel: 160 x 120; Optical channel: 2688 x 1520
THERMAL

Lighting capabilities: Colour: 0,0176 lux @ (F2.25, AGC on);

B/W: 0,0035 lux @(F2.25, AGC on)
Software provided with camera: Hik-Central
Onboard storage: microSD/SDHC/SDXC card, up to 256 GB
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Line crossing, intrusion, region entrance, region exit, eight VCA rules in total. Temperature measurement:10
points, 10 areas, one line.
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: The DS-2TD2617-10/PA features behaviour analysis based on a deep learning algorithm, a temperature exception alarm and fire
detection algorithm. It has image processing technology for linear, histogram and self-adaptive thermal AGC modes, DDE and 3D DNR.
Variations in range available: 3 mm, 6 mm, 10 mm options, bullet and turret appearance options
Contact: Jade Wang, wangjingyi5@hikvision.com, +27 60 441 3111

Reditron
Category: Thermal
Supplier: Reditron
Brand: Dahua
Camera name: DH-TPC-BF1241 / DH-TPC-DF1241
Maximum resolution: Thermal: 256 x 192; Visual: 4 MP
Lighting capabilities: IR with 30 m range
THERMAL

Software provided with camera: DSS Express or DSS Professional

Onboard storage: microSD card, up to 256 GB
Onboard intelligence/analytics: General intelligence: tripwire and intrusion detection. Advanced intelligence: fire detection and alarm,
human and vehicle classification, smoking detection, call detection.
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: The Eco-Thermal camera is an ideal choice for end users who want high performance for surveillance, but have budget
constraints. Boasting a compact size and dual spectrum with the powerful combination of visible light and thermal imaging, this series
integrates advanced Dahua video analytics and intelligent algorithms, providing a one-stop solution for small or medium-sized monitoring
applications.
Variations in range available: Thermal lens: 2/3,5/7/10 mm; Visible lens: 3/4/8/12 mm; Ingress protection: IP67
Contact: Gordon Moore, sales@reditron.co.za, +27 87 802 2288

36 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

 CAMERA SELECTION GUIDE

Forbatt SA
Category: Body-worn camera
BODY-WORN CAMERA

Brand: Kedacom
Camera name: DSJ-U1 LPN
Maximum resolution: 2 MP (1920 x 1080) @ 25 fps
Lighting capabilities: Two x white LED, two x IR LED, 15 m infrared distance
Software provided with camera: Free camera management software
Onboard storage: 32 GB with 128 GB SD card
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Face detection with Kedacom VMS. GPS and GLONASS
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: Kedacom’s DSJ-U1 is a great asset for any guarding application. It has a rugged feel and
appearance with 2 m drop protection. It supports built-in audio, 4G and 2,2-inch touch screen for ease
of use. Can be viewed remotely on various platforms. Through crisp and clear audio recording with video,
the camera avoids any “he said, she said” scenarios.
Variations in range available: Optional extras: additional battery, button/badge camera, ear-hook camera
Contact: Sales, sales@forbatt.co, +27 11 469 3598

Regal Distributors SA
Category: Solar
Supplier: Regal Distributors SA
Brand: Hikvision
Camera name: 4G Solar Camera – DS-2XS2T41G0-ID/4G/C04S05
Maximum resolution: 2688 × 1520 (4 MP) @ 12,5 fps
Lighting capabilities: Performance mode: up to 30 m; proactive mode: up to 10 m
Software provided with camera: Works with Hik-Central software and the Hik-Connect app
Onboard storage: Built-in memory card slot (microSD/SDHC/SDXC/TF), up to 256 GB
SOLAR

Onboard intelligence/analytics: Detects human bodies through passive infrared (PIR)

which is sensitive to body temperature. Real-time security via built-in two-way audio.
Description: This is a 4 MP security camera with built-in solar panel.
Variations in range available: 4 MP (2,8, 4, 6, 8 and 12 mm) lens options
Contact: Etienne Rheder, hikvision@regalsecurity.co.za, +27 11 553 3300

Regal Distributors SA
Category: Solar
Supplier: Regal Distributors SA
Brand: Hikvision
Camera name: 4K ColorVu 4G Solar Camera – DS-2XS6A87G1-L/C32S80
Maximum resolution: 3840 × 2160 (8 MP) @ 12,5 fps
Lighting capabilities: White light up to 30 m
Software provided with camera: Works with Hik-Central software and
Hik-Connect app
SOLAR

Onboard storage: Support microSD card, up to 256 GB; Built-in 64 GB

eMMC storage
Onboard intelligence/analytics: Focuses on human and vehicle target classification, based on deep learning
ONVIF conformant: Yes
Description: The 4K ColorVu 4G Fixed Bullet Solar Powered Network Camera comes with an
80 W photovoltaic panel and a 30 Ah chargeable lithium battery.
Variations in range available: 4K (2,8 and 4 mm) lens options
Contact: Etienne Rheder, hikvision@regalsecurity.co.za, +27 11 553 3300

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 37

 VIDEO ANALYTICS SELECTION GUIDE

Axis Communications
Availability: On-camera (own camera brands)
Which VMS/brands are supported?: All
ANALYTICS

Cost structure: Free with hardware

Where to find it: www.axis.com/products/axis-live-privacy-shield
Description: AXIS Live Privacy Shield makes it easy to remotely monitor activities while
safeguarding privacy. The versatile, edge-based application enables compatible cameras to
dynamically mask moving objects, humans, faces or the background in real time in live and
recorded video at no extra cost. AXIS Live Privacy Shield supports two different methods of privacy
protection.
Contact: Marcel Bruyns, marcel.bruyns@axis.com, +27 11 548 6790

AxxonSoft Southern Africa & SADC

Availability: On-camera (multiple vendors/brands);
On server; Cloud service; Hybrid-cloud service
ANALYTICS

Which VMS/brands are supported?: AxxonSoft is the VMS

Cost structure: Pay-per-use
Where to find it: www.axxonsoft.com
Description: AxxonSoft provides video analytics solutions that create multiple benefits in business and security intelligence through neural
networks powered by AI and deep learning algorithms. AxxonSoft’s AI innovations outperform traditional motion-based detection, enhancing
prevention taxtics. AxxonSoft’s smart forensic search changes the way you use video investigation, by quickly finding what you need without
tediously paging through tons of recorded footage. AxxonSoft’s custom AI video analytics solve specific security and business tasks with
customised AI video analytics.
Contact: Colleen Glaeser, info@axxonsoft.co.za, +27 82 503 4437

Bidvest Protea Coin

Availability: On-camera (multiple vendors/brands); On server;
Cloud service
Cost structure: Included in service contract
ANALYTICS

Where to find it: www.proteacoin.co.za

Description: Facial recognition service.
Contact: Alex Penhaligon, penhaligona@proteacoin.co.za, +27 66 257 0496

Bosch Building Technologies

Availability: On-camera (own camera brands); On-camera (multiple vendors/brands);
Cloud service; Hybrid-cloud service; Other
ANALYTICS

Which VMS/brands are supported?: Bosch Video Management System (BVMS), Milestone,
Genetec
Cost structure: Pay-per-use; Annual fee; Yearly or once-off cost determined by the application
developer
Where to find it: Use dealer search to locate your nearest authorised dealer.
Description: The NBE-7604-AL-OC camera is “Driven by OSSA”, ensuring seamless connectivity with
the Azena Application Store to easily add third-party software apps that meet customer-specific
requirements. The camera delivers high image quality with 4K resolution for demanding security and
surveillance requirements.
Contact: Quintin Van Den Berg, quintin.vandenberg@za.bosch.com, +27 11 615 9600

38 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

 VIDEO ANALYTICS SELECTION GUIDE

Cathexis Africa
Availability: On-camera (multiple vendors/brands); On server; The CathexisVision VMS
includes a wide range of analytics algorithms, and also integrates with several analytics
ANALYTICS

products.
Which VMS/brands are supported?: Herta, Ipsotek, Vaxtor, Araani, FF Group, Grekkom, AllGoVision
Cost structure: Once-off cost
Fee explanation: Available through the purchase of a CathexisVision analytics licence. Three
licences are available, offering basic, intermediate, and advanced analytics options respectively.
Where to find it: www.cathexisvideo.com
Description: The CathexisVision video analytics suite uses the latest artificial intelligence technology and deep learning models to analyse
footage. The VMS software offers a range of algorithms – such as mask detection and temperature reading, occupancy and proximity
monitoring, object classification and tracking, thermal camera integrations, speed detection and ANPR, line crossing, and queue
length. The CathexisVision video analytics suite enhances control room management in any sector, boosting site safety and efficiency.
Contact: Dene Alkema, sales@catafrica.co.za, +27 12 653 2222

Dahua Technology
Availability: On-camera (own camera brands); On-camera (multiple vendors/brands);
On server
Which VMS/brands are supported?: Milestone, Genetec, Cathexis, Axxonsoft, Arteco, Avigilon etc.
ANALYTICS

Cost structure: Free with hardware

Fee explanation: IVSS (Intelligent Video Surveillance Server) is a professional AI algorithm
carrier with strong and scalable computing power that can bring rich AI applications such
as face recognition, human and vehicle detection, video metadata, ANPR etc. AI IVSS-M also
supports helmet detection, uniform detection etc.
Where to find it: www.dahuasecurity.com
Description: Dahua IVSS goes beyond the ordinary NVR products. It is an Intelligent Video Surveillance Server that combines video management
features with traditional video storage functions in one device. With the built-in deep learning module, IVSS series products incorporate video
image metadata technology based on deep learning algorithms, offering high-precision human face recognition and perimeter protection. By
applying deep learning artificial intelligence, IVSS allows users to focus on what matters most, to improve event response time.
Contact: sales.za@dahuatech.com, +27 10 593 3242
STORAGE SELECTION GUIDE

Type of solution Storage appliance Cloud service Network Video Recorder (IP cameras
supported only)

Distributors Use dealer search on Reditron, IDS, Top CCTV, Security Warehouse,
www.boschsecurity.com/xf/en to locate your Stafix
nearest authorised dealer

Brand/manufacturer BCD Bosch Dahua Technology

Product name/model BCD – 1800R Bosch Video - Cloud VMS IVSS7108-1M

Description • Up to 384 TB and up to 450 channels
• Up to 2614 Mbps recording rate
• SSD & SATA drives
• RAID options: 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
• Redundant power
• Operated, secured, maintained by Bosch
as a multi-tenant or dedicated cloud VMS
with 24/7 support
• Scalable from single cameras to unlimited
number of sites and cameras from Bosch
or third parties
• Encrypted communication between
cameras, cloud and clients
• Max 400 Mbps incoming bandwidth
• Up to 12-channel AI IVS, two-channel face
recognition with normal IPC
• Up to 40-channel face recognition with
face detection IPC
• Up to 12-channel video metadata

System type Server-based Cloud-based Standalone

Embedded operating system technology

Maximum number of cameras 450 Scalable from single cameras to unlimited 128 Cameras @ 1080p 30 fps
supported number of sites and cameras from Bosch or
third parties for multi-location use-cases

Maximum video resolution per Up to 450 channels at 2614 Mbps,10 Gb Up to 32 MP

channel (whilst recording across NIC (24-bay)
all channels simultaneously)

Remote management and viewing Android; iOS; Mac desktop; Web browser Android; iOS; Web browser interface; Android; iOS; Mac desktop; Web browser
apps/technologies interface; Windows desktop Windows desktop; Other interface; Windows desktop; DSS Platform

Maximum number of concurrent users Unlimited 128 channels

Additional security features • Regular security updates to comply with Supports email find back password. Supports
latest security requirements HTTPS.
• End-to-end security approach is based on
certificates from each individual camera to
the individual workstation
• Encrypted communication between
cameras, cloud and clients
• Integrated in the Bosch CERT/PSIRT
(Product Security Incident Report Team).
• Connectivity powered by the Bosch
Security Cloud

Hardware format Rack mountable Other Rack mountable; Standalone appliance

Storage type & maximum 384 TB raw storage Storage sizes from 50 GB to 1 TB per camera SATA 16 TB
capacity

Backup options/services (LAN side) All compatible SD card USB device/network/HDD/eSATA device

Video inputs 4 RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps self-adaptive

Ethernet ports

Camera configuration & Management and configuration is via the HTTP, HTTPS, TCP/IP, IPv4, RTSP, UDP, SMTP,
management features Bosch Remote Portal. Firmware updates; NTP, DHCP, DNS, DDNS, P2P
Camera configuration/backup

Camera video & stream H.264, AAC Smart H.265+, Smart H.264+, H.265, H.264
protocols (LAN and WAN side)

Data export formats MP4, AVI DAV, MP4, AVI

Intelligent analytics or services Bosch IVA & EVA analytical suite on board the Device face detection, face recognition,
included Bosch cameras video metadata, IVS (tripwire, intrusion,
crowd gathering, loitering detection, parking
detection), people counting, smoking
detection, call detection, ANPR etc.

Integration with other systems All systems integratable Bosch or third parties for multi-location ONVIF, RTSP, Sony, Panasonic, Axis, Arecont,
use-cases Pelco, Canon, Samsung.
Integrated with VMS systems from Milestone,
AxxonSoft, Genetec, Cathexis etc.

Licencing Software dependent Annual licence purchase

Warranty Five years Up to five years

Additional information Remote management and maintenance, Supports any ONVIF-compliant camera,
alarm management helps to make quick making it easy to equip traditional cameras
decisions to prevent incidents, and flexible with AI capabilities. Suitable for large-scale
recording options (local, cloud or hybrid) projects

Contact Alex Penhaligon Quintin Van Den Berg sales.za@dahuatech.com

penhaligona@proteacoin.co.za quintin.vandenberg@za.bosch.com +27 10 593 3242
+27 66 257 0496 +27 11 651 9600

40 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com


Type of device
Brand
Product name/model
Description
System type
Maximum number of cameras
supported
Maximum video resolution per
channel (whilst recording across
all channels simultaneously)
Remote management and viewing
apps/technologies
Maximum number of concurrent users Unlimited client connection and unlimited
live viewing/playback. It manages up to 320
connections per server.
Additional security features
Hardware format
Storage type & maximum
capacity
Backup types
Video inputs
Camera configuration &
management features
Camera video & stream
protocols (LAN and WAN side)
Data export formats
Intelligent analytics or services
included
Integration with other systems
Licencing
Warranty
Additional information
Contact
Hybrid Recorder (both analogue and IP
cameras directly supported)
NUUO
CT- 8000R
• Records up to 256 megapixel cameras per
recording server
• Supports throughput up to 500 Mbps
• Up to 128 channels
• 8 x HDD supported to max of 128 TB
• Supports RAID 0,1, 5, 6 and 10
Embedded operating system technology
128 channels @ 2 MP
Camera and resource dependent
Android; iOS; Web browser interface;
Windows desktop
Authorisation management: Manage
function privilege and device access
permissions with unlimited roles, users
and user groups. Also supports dual
authentication.
• Customised login period by users
• Privilege by function
Rack mountable
8 X SATA II, max 16 TB each
External storage through iSCSI and NFS
2 x gigabit port, RJ45 (10/100/1000 Mbps)
NTP
Multiple codec support: H.265, H.264,
MJPEG, MPEG4 and MxPEG
Save video clips into AVI, ASF; export video
with third-party data overlay
Linux intelligent video analytics (optional
licence): counting, tamper, camera
calibration, object classification, camera
shake elimination, presence (tripwire),
enter and exit, appear and disappear, dwell,
tailgating, stop
Multiple third-party integration
Once-off purchase
Three years
Supports third-party point of sale, access
control, licence plate recognition and facial
recognition
Sales
sales@forbatt.co
+27 11 469 3598
STORAGE SELECTION GUIDE
Network Video Recorder (IP cameras Storage appliance
supported only)
TVT Genetec
TD-3332H4-16P-A1 Streamvault SV-4000E
• 32-channel embedded NVR with Enterprise rackmount appliance designed
16-port plug-and-play PoE for mission-critical deployments, providing
• Support up to 4 x HDD high scalability and reliability. Offers
• Target detection with ANPR and face enhanced performance and storage options
recognition without sacrificing your budget.
• Powerful mobile application
• Cloud service with push notifications
Embedded operating system technology Standalone
32 cameras @ 8 MP resolution Up to 2000 readers and 75 ALPR cameras
12 MP resolution to a max of 256 MB/s total Up to 2100 Mbps throughput
load
Android; iOS; Mac desktop; Web browser
interface; Windows desktop
20
User management and startup wizard BlackBerry Protect machine learning
forcing you to change password endpoint protection
Rack mountable Rack mountable
Standalone appliance
4 x SATA / 10 TB each Up to 416 TB storage (SATA or SAS) with
RAID capabilities
USB/FTP or Web and software USB
16 plug-and-play ports (RJ45) Multiple GbE ports depending on model
TCP / IP, PPPoE, DHCP, DNS, DDNS, UPnP,
NTP, SMTP, HTTP, HTTPs, 802.1x, ONVIF, etc.
H.265S/H.265+/H.265/H.264
AVI or proprietary DVR
Face detection, ANPR, target detection
with complete statistics and database on
recorder
Security Center pre-loaded
Three years
Sales Quintin Roberts
sales@forbatt.co qroberts@genetec.com
+27 11 469 3598 +27 79 497 5129
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 41
STORAGE SELECTION GUIDE
Type of solution
Distributors
Brand/manufacturer
Product name/model
Description
System type
Maximum number of cameras
supported
Maximum video resolution per
channel (whilst recording across
all channels simultaneously)
Remote management and viewing
apps/technologies
Additional security features
Hardware format
Storage type & maximum
capacity
Backup options/services (LAN side)
Video inputs
Camera configuration &
management features
Camera video & stream
protocols (LAN and WAN side)
Data export formats
Intelligent analytics or services
included
Integration with other systems
Warranty
Additional information
Contact
42 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
Network Video Recorder (IP cameras
supported only)
Hikvision
DS-7732NXI-I4/S
• Intelligent analytics based on deep
learning algorithm
• Up to four-channel perimeter protection
• Up to one-channel facial recognition for
video stream, or up to 4-channel facial
recognition for face pictures
• Up to 16 face picture libraries, with up
to 10 000 pictures in total
Embedded operating system technology
Up to 32-channel IP camera inputs
12 MP
Android; iOS; Mac desktop; Web browser
interface; Windows desktop
Up to 10 TB capacity for each disk
Up to 12 MP resolution (32 MP and 24 MP is
only available for channel 1 when Ultra HD
resolution mode is enabled)
TCP/IP, DHCP, IPv4, IPv6, DNS, DDNS, NTP,
RTSP, SADP, SMTP, SNMP, NFS, iSCSI, ISUP,
UPnP, HTTP, HTTPS
H.265+/H.265/H.264+/H.264 video formats
Face picture comparison, human face
capture, face picture search.
Perimeter protection with deep learning
algorithm to reduce false alarms; Smart and
POS functions.
Five years
Jade Wang
wangqi7@hikvision.com
+27 60 441 3111
Surveillance storage solution
Pinnacle
Western Digital
WD Purple – Surveillance Storage
The WD Purple Pro hard drive for
surveillance is engineered with advanced
capabilities: high performance, reliability
and workload capability for advanced
AI-enabled recorders, video analytics
appliances, deep-learning servers and
cloud-based storage, including RAID and
JBOD configurations. Supports up to
550 TB/yr workload rate in 8 TB –
18 TB. Designed with tarnish-resistant
components for harsh environments.
Server-based; Cloud-based; IP camera
64 cameras for each drive
4K
Android; iOS; Mac desktop; Web browser
interface; Windows desktop
AllFrame AI Technology
Rack mountable; Standalone appliance;
Desktop
SATA – 22 TB
NVR/DVR dependent
NVR/DVR dependent
NVR/DVR dependent
NVR/DVR dependent
NVR/DVR dependent
Western Digital’s drives are designed for
high-end AI-enabled recorders, video
analytics appliances, deep learning servers
and cloud solutions.
Western Digital Device Analytics (WDDA)
provides a wealth of storage device
parametric operational and diagnostic data
to compatible systems.
Five years
All WD Purple Pro drives are equipped with
AllFrame AI technology
Josiane David
josiane.david@wdc.com
+27 62 392 6023

Home automation
hangs on security
H
ome surveillance is not a
new market, just a small
one with only a few people
installing cameras and
recorders at home, although
it must be said that with the plethora of
home surveillance products on the market at
reasonable pricing, it is a growing market.
The home automation market, however,
is one poised for growth. Whether it means
installing Amazon or Google products, or
making use of the integration capabilities of
alarms and other security (and non-security)
technologies to create a ‘home technology’
platform, the basket of automation is growing.
Of course, home automation can include all
things security, but also everything else that
is connected, from fridges to media platforms
and so on.
Fortunately for us, security is key in home
automation and as this market grows the home
surveillance market will also grow. We already
have, for example, companies that will sell you a
fibre connection and offer surveillance cameras
with cloud storage as an optional extra. Just as
the industry has seen DSTV installers adding
cameras to the list of things they can also install;
other industries are following suit.
Of course, the growth of home surveillance
and automation has not been as rapid in
Home automation is
poised for growth and
is offering security
companies many
opportunities.
By Andrew Seldon.
Africa, except in wealthy suburbs, because
of the dire economic situation most find
themselves in. However, it is still a growing
market worth taking note of.
Plenty of growth potential
Gerald Kirsten from Nice SA says home
automation is an ever-growing industry that is
no longer limited to luxury households or small
businesses. “It is the individual customer who is
more eager to implement solutions that facilitate
day-to-day activities, ensure security and peace of
mind, and provide alternative ways to save money.
“While every person will have different
expectations of how smart solutions should
affect their lives, one common idea is the
freedom of shaping your surroundings. Some
people will find controlling lights or blinds a
sufficient improvement, while others will be
only interested in comprehensive solutions
including home security.”
He adds that it is common to find
people starting small and then, seeing the
potential, expanding their system over time.
It is therefore crucial for buyers to be able to
expand the capabilities of their system freely
without having to modify its core settings or
start over from scratch.
Ockie van Zyl from Fluss Technologies
agrees that the home automation industry
SMART HOME AUTOMATION
in South Africa is growing, noting that the
cost savings and security benefits have
increased the uptake in lower-income homes.
Additionally, while standalone solutions are
accepted and do provide a great solution, the
benefit of integrated systems which talk to
each other seamlessly is “exponential.”
Rudi Potgieter, from Vox’s Guardian
Eye division, explains that some gadgets
previously classed as luxury have now crossed
the line to a necessity. “Few care to open their
blinds or curtains from their phone, but with
the cost of energy in South Africa, switching
your AC off remotely might have previously
been seen as a luxury whereas now it comes
in very handy when you realise you left it
running while on a trip.
“The power comes in when you start
combining different gadgets to drive smarter
outcomes. If you are ‘noob’ in this space, you
are certainly looking for systems that are cross
manufacturer compatible. In other words,
your alarm panel should speak to cameras,
which should speak to other sensors which
are connected to your automation hub (Alexa,
Google, Samsung etc.). A practical example
of this would be when the alarms sense
movement, the camera should be activated
to analyse whether it can classify any human
Continued on page 44
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 43
SMART HOME AUTOMATION
Continued from page 43
objects, and if so, trigger the alarm and switch
on all relevant lights.”
Shawn Chen from EZVIZ believes the
demand for smart home equipment will
continue to rise and home automation will
soon become universal to more families.
“We are confident to predict that with the
launching of accessible and easy-to-use
smart home products, home automation will
become the next hot nationwide trend like
smartphones.”
He adds that safety is the most mentioned
topic when it comes to home automation
solutions and the most needed one. “The
majority of new users began their smart home
experience with a home surveillance camera
to give them peace of mind. Beyond that,
smart functions with simple operations are
things that could be helpful for people who
are implementing smart home solutions as
well. Over the past year, EZVIZ has focused on
making commercial-grade high-tech cameras
that are Wi-Fi enabled, app-controllable and
easy to set up.
Products available right now
Talking about future products is interesting,
but what do the companies we spoke to
offer at the moment that can make home
automation (and security in particular) a reality,
not a future goal? In other words, what can add
value now and remain valuable as you expand
your home automation platform in future?
EZVIZ has been developing new
44 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
generations of connected devices that work
seamlessly together to simplify the whole-
home smart living experience. Rooted in a
security camera line-up, EZVIZ has successfully
extended its product line-up to include video
doorbells, smart locks, smart lighting, alarms
and sensors, vacuum cleaners and more.
Furthermore, EZVIZ is digging deeper into the
smart home industry by getting its hands on
smart cleaning, smart air purifiers and more
to demonstrate and promote the creation of
all-smart living spaces.
Branded under Sixth Sense, Potgieter says
Guardian Eye has an array of IoT sensors and
smart cameras that deliver results. “It all feeds
back to our proprietary platforms which allows
us to drive the correct results while avoiding
false positives. Our 24/7/365 Nerve Centre is
geared to monitor uptime on all platforms,
ensuring availability as well as reacting to
any alerts, should the client opt for it. Our IoT
panic button (medical and armed response)
combined with an IOS/Android app, means
you take your security with you, no matter
where in the country your travels take you.
Fluss is a secure, simple and smart access
control solution for homes, businesses and
complexes that allows complete control via
your smartphone, says Van Zyl.
Kirsten explains that Nice SA distributes
the FIBARO brand which offers a wide range
of smart home solutions allowing users to
automate many areas of their lives. These
include controlling lights, blinds and gates,
adjusting the room temperature to the
weather condition, or using numerous safety
sensors. Customers with energy-producing
installations can also use FIBARO to analyse
the consumption of energy at home or even
optimise processes such as EV charging.
Home means DIY
It may not be applicable to everyone, but
when it comes to home automation, many
will choose to bypass installers and do the
installation themselves. And while there may
be technical or engineering experts quite
capable of doing so, most people would
choose a solution that does not require such
intensive skill levels. What are the vendors
doing to make it as simple as possible to
get your home automation working quickly,
reliably and simply?
To facilitate the process of setting up the
FIBARO system, a great deal of work was
devoted to preparing the Yubii Home app
to become an alternative to the traditional
web interface, says Kirsten. Not only can you
perform the first-time configuration and
connect the gateway (Home Center 3, Home
Center 3 Lite, or Yubii Home) to your Wi-Fi
network using the app, but you can also
add a wide range of Z-Wave, Nice and
Elero products directly from your mobile
device.
This becomes especially useful for devices
that are located far away from the gateway and
the traditional inclusion process would have
required using a computer. In addition, users
can obtain free access to the official FIBARO
Marketplace platform which offers numerous
integration and scenes created by the FIBARO
community – as a result even less advanced
users can expand their systems by adding
additional third-party solutions.
Kirsten also states that it is possible to
integrate additional security solutions in the
form of smart locks, alarm systems, sirens and
cameras. “We support many of these solutions
by creating ready-to-use plugins. Furthermore,
we have our line of smart sensors, such as the
FIBARO motion sensor or door/window sensor.
These battery-powered devices can be used to
monitor for the presence of people and notify
owners about the opening or closing of doors
and windows.”
Similarly, all of Guardian Eye’s consumer
products are ‘self-install systems’ with the
majority being preconfigured when they
leave the storerooms, adds Potgieter. “The
How-To guides will assist with the one or two
unknowns, and if still in doubt, our 24/7/365
helpdesk is fully trained to assist telephonically.
As a last resort we do have a national technical
Continued on page 46
 C3

N
SMART HOME AUTOMATION
Continued from page 44
footprint which can assist with any onsite
installations if need be.”
Potgieter adds that integration is key. “The
tighter the mesh, the more secure your home.
The Guardian Eye enterprise team specialises in
larger installs where we offer turnkey security
and IoT solutions. This can easily be scaled down
to fit a residential property with an electric fence,
IoT fence or seismic sensors, cameras (thermal
or optical), door open/close or vibration sensors
all integrated to provide a strong security layer
for the everyday home. Events are monitored in
our Nerve Centre and either escalated to your
or our provided security incumbent. All events
are processed through our AI/computer vision
platforms to provide better results and improved
security. Cloud processing and storage sits at the
core of our architecture.”
Stable Wi-Fi connectivity makes it
simpler
EZVIZ’s products function through Wi-Fi while
enhancing the stability of the connection,
notes Chen. The company has also introduced
battery-powered products that ease the
installation process without complex wiring.
With no toolkit and screws needed, it can be
simply installed anywhere in the household
without limitations. On top of that, an add-on
option of a solar panel would completely
eliminate the hassle of charging.
He also notes that operation is easier with
the EZVIZ all-in-one app. The app provides
smart alerts about things that truly matter, as
opposed to numerous false alarms or constant
monitoring. In addition, with the app, users can
remotely control and manage their security
cameras, say hello to visitors who press the
video doorbell, as well as arm and disarm the
security system automatically.
In addition, the EZVIZ ecosystem supports
integrations with other smart home systems,
46 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant,
and devices supported by IFTTT. “For example,
users can free their hands by just speaking to
the voice assistant to see the video footage
on a larger monitor. EZVIZ has been working
hard to expand its capacities to build a wider
smart home ecosystem; more creative smart
integrated security offerings like electronic
locks and smart curtains will likely be coming
in the near future.”
Fluss provides simple installation, adds Van
Zyl. “Installation is easy with only three wires that
need to be connected to your existing system.
Easy installation instructions are also available on
our website: https://fluss.io/installation.” Again,
Fluss caters for broad integration options as its
technology can integrate with existing products
such as biometrics systems, turnstiles, or even
garage or gate motors.
Growing over time
As noted above, the ability to start small and
grow your home technology over time is an
important factor in the ultimate success of a
brand’s product range. Few people will opt for
everything at once and are more likely to wait
to see the benefits of a small purchase before
moving onto the next phase.
Chen says the core of the smart home
and smart home camera market, namely
convenience and connection, will not change.
“What EZVIZ has been doing is use state-of-
the-art technology to make home life simpler,
smarter and more connected for everyone.”
This means users won’t be in a position
where they have to ditch their existing products
if they want to upgrade. “Smart home users can
always add new products to create and upgrade
their own ideal smart living space.”
The FIBARO system can be extended
according to the customers’ needs, says
Kirsten. You can start with a stand-alone
solution and add additional modules to the
gateway whenever you want. This approach
doesn’t require the user to exclude any of
the previously configured devices. Regular
firmware updates make the FIBARO system
compatible not only with Z-Wave, but other
radio protocols as well. For instance, Zigbee
support was recently introduced.
Van Zyl agrees, noting that you don’t need
a smart system to use Fluss, “you connect Fluss
to make your current system a smart one”.
Guardian Eye’s Sixth Sense ensures that
every item can operate standalone or as
part of the final solution, explains Potgieter.
“This means that we can start by addressing
immediate concerns and over time build
on the solution. Whether it is a camera in a
secluded corner or a vibration senser on a
window that does not yet have burglar bars,
we allow the user to start with one Lego block
and build as budget allows. With every item
you add, security improves.”
While we may not be at the point where your
car tells your house when you leave the office so
that the house can switch the oven on and find a
recipe for supper, the growth of home automation,
often driven by security requirements, is a given
for the near future. The only question that remains
is whether the security industry will focus on
integration and openness to drive automation
beyond security, or whether brands that are
already a standard in homes across the world will
be leading this charge?
For more information contact:
• EZVIZ South Africa,
wangyue22@ezvizlife.com,
www.ezvizlife.com
• ET Nice, +27 21 404 0800, gerald@et.co.za,
www.niceforyou.com/za
• Fluss Technologies, +27 61 538 3180,
https://fluss.io/
• Vox, +27 87 805 0000,
info@voxtelecom.co.za, www.vox.co.za
 Supply chain woes
Hi-Tech Security Solutions asks Mark Kane from Masc Solutions about
the supply chain issues the industry has been facing for far too long.
I
t’s no secret that the global supply
chain is in a mess. Whether you blame
it on COVID or conspiracy theories, the
technology world is facing tough times
when it comes to sourcing components.
The physical security industry is no different.
An article published by Hi-Tech Security
Solutions earlier in the year asked a few industry
players about the issues they were facing and
how they have had to ‘make a plan’ to keep their
businesses going (www.securitysa.com/15542r).
Many of the companies who foresaw the
challenges and stocked up are now in a position
where they are also reaching the end of their
supplies and facing months-long delays in
getting new stock. Panic mode is the norm in
many procurement departments.
Sadly, some people were hoping to see an
easing of supply chain issues this year, but if it
happens it will only be late in the year, and more
likely in 2023 – we hope.
Mark Kane, MD of Masc Solutions says the
company has experienced significant delays
in getting product, which has had a negative
impact on several projects. “The effect has been
more prevalent in our security division, whereas
fire products seem more readily available.”
One of the plans SIs often make is to
offer clients alternative products or brands,
often making a deal with new suppliers to
keep pricing steady. Kane says that Masc
By Andrew Seldon.
is sometimes hampered from following if you can’t get a product you have to come
this approach because the rigid technical up with an alternative. On the positive side,
specifications for products are passed down the co-operation among many (sadly not
from head office and local branches are not all) channel players has increased, new
able to be flexible. “In other cases where there partnerships have been formed and the focus
is flexibility, we do propose alternative products is now on delivering value to the end user
that are able to provide a similar or same result.” instead of fighting for business or margin. The
partnerships formed in these times are likely
Frustration and understanding to extend well into the future when things
Masc clients are frustrated by the situation, are back to normal, which is great news for
however they do understand the global supply customers. When normality will return, however,
chain challenges to a degree. Kane adds that is a question nobody can answer yet.
the fact that South Africa is located at the
bottom of the African continent presents For more information contact Masc Solutions,
additional challenges. “We are doing all that +27 11 100 0088, info@mascsolutions.com,
we can to seek solutions for our clients, and to www.mascsolutions.com
an extent we are in an advantageous position
because we source certain products lines
directly from the manufacturer.”
As noted above, there was hope that 2022
would see the supply chain woes easing and
even getting back to an ‘almost normal’ level.
However, based on feedback Masc is receiving
from its international suppliers, Kane is not
confident we will see improvements in the
short term. “We are however hopeful as some
suppliers seem to be more resourceful and
are doing all in their power to adapt to the
unprecedented challenges faced in these times.”
Resourcefulness is key to overcoming the
current supply chain challenges, although Mark Kane.
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 47
Video management By Andrew Seldon.

and beyond Hi-Tech Security Solutions asked

Genetec how the
company’s Security
Center has evolved.

V
ideo management systems (VMS) have
changed dramatically over the years and while
free VMS applications are generally supplied
with cameras, these are suited to small
installations with only a few cameras. When
one deals with enterprise-level security, the VMS of today must
do a lot more than just record and display video streams.
Today’s VMS is a broader management platform that
offers a plethora of options for managing video, but it is
rare to find one that doesn’t also incorporate other security
technologies – and increasingly IoT technologies. Moreover,
openness and the ability for others to integrate their systems
into the platform is critical today, as is cybersecurity.
To find out what a management platform today is all
about, Hi-Tech Security Solutions asked Quintin Roberts,
regional sales manager for Genetec Africa, for insight into how
the company’s Security Center has evolved.

Hi-Tech Security Solutions: Has your

management platform changed over the last
few years and how do you see it evolving over
the next few years?
Roberts: Unification is at the core of our development
focus. It is what empowers advancements in how our
customers run their physical security operations.
When all your physical security activities, functions and
data originate from within the same system, you can harness
the flow of data across your security activities, making it
easier and more efficient to secure people, buildings and
assets – while also supporting operational efficiencies.
Video surveillance technologies have developed
tremendously over the past few months to enhance
public safety and protect cities, enterprises, facilities and
communities. One of the most important advancements
is the emergence of occupancy management solutions,
which have become more important than ever as businesses
adhere to social distancing guidelines. These solutions can
count people in a physical facility, visualise data, alert staff
and provide useful consumer behaviour insights.
Our VMS, Security Center Omnicast, is built on our
unified, open architecture platform. It unifies video
management with all core security operations (access
control, ALPR, communications, intrusion, etc.) and
presents it on a single pane of glass. We offer a suite of
unified security and operational video analytics, so your
VMS creates information out of raw images.
Its flexible architecture and intelligent streaming features
reduce storage and bandwidth requirements. It is hybrid
ready, allowing customers to federate remote sites and fully
hosted video connections. It also enables users to add cloud
video archiving to any site as they go. It is an extremely

reliable and cybersecure platform, with many
layers of data protection and redundancy out
of the box.
Its intuitive, dynamic interface fits any use
case. With a combination of dynamic mapping,
fully customisable dashboards, detailed visual
reporting and support for any type of displays,
end users get everything they need at their
fingertips whether it’s on large video walls or
on mobile devices.
Maintenance of devices, firmware and
software is automated with our connected
services. The system keeps track of the health of
every single entity, streamlines updates, helps
end users manage passwords and lets them
know when something is wrong with a camera.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: Will
traditional VMS platforms evolve to
include building management and
IoT systems, or will we see the VMS
becoming a component of broader
BMS platforms? Have you identified
a demand among customers to
integrate more ‘non-security’
elements into your platform?
Roberts: Most companies know long-term
investments make good business sense, so a
good security plan is no different. Focusing on
the short-term and investing in proprietary,
independent solutions can throw a wrench
in operations when the needs outgrow the
physical security system.
Moving to unified security can make all
the difference in helping achieve greater
long-term value. That’s because a unified
security platform gives the flexibility to build
and evolve physical security operations one
component at a time. Choosing an open-
architecture platform further ensures being
able to adopt new technologies and hardware
as business and security needs change.
All systems are managed from a common
infrastructure, making system functionality
consistent across all tasks. This means when a
new system is added or software or firmware
are updated, everything will be simpler.
Being able to connect more systems to
a platform depends on a system’s ability
to make connections with other vendors’
solutions. And this is where integrated systems
struggle. Custom integrations are very costly
and difficult to maintain and adding new
technologies, whether software or hardware, is
not always possible. In many instances, you’re
either forced to accept these limitations or
replace the entire system.
A unified security platform removes these
limitations because core systems have been
designed to work together and compatibility
is always maintained. There are also over 900
integrations and third-party add-ons to be choose
from. Since applications are embedded in a single
platform with one intuitive interface, operations,
upgrades and maintenance are streamlined.
Even hardware and software configurations
happen in one central place within a platform
so it will always be a smooth experience. All
data feeds into the same user-friendly interface,
ensuring operators can view alarms and access
other information in a few mouse clicks.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: What
are you doing to improve the
cybersecurity status of your platform
and to assist clients in protecting
their devices, networks and data?
Roberts: Cybersecurity is a priority at Genetec.
We believe that the respect for individuals’
privacy should be the foundation of responsible
and innovative design. Privacy by Design
methodologies provide an essential road map
for forward-thinking, ethical developers to build
those principles into the products they create.
This involves proactively embedding privacy
into the design and operation of IT systems,
networked infrastructure, and business practices
from the first line of code to the third-party
vendors selected for partnership and integration.
With this methodology in mind,
Genetec solutions are designed to help
customers enhance cyber hygiene and
respect privacy by making data and privacy
protection features more accessible
and configurable. (Find out more at
www.genetec.com/trust-cybersecurity/resources)
In the physical security industry, protecting
people and assets often requires organisations
to collect personal data as well as footage
about individuals using public spaces in or
around their facilities. But to meet the public’s
expectations of privacy and to comply with
global regulations, access to this data or
footage needs to be restricted and protected.
Hi-Tech Security Solutions: What are
the latest developments you have
released to market over the past few
months (or will release soon)? Is cloud
and the related services becoming an
important component of your overall
offering to the market?
Roberts: We’re seeing a big wave of cloud-
based products and capabilities quickly
changing the landscape. While we’ve been
offering our own fully hosted VMS for
many years now, a new approach to video
management or security systems in general is
rising quickly in popularity, and for many good
reasons: Hybrid cloud.
This type of deployment makes a lot of
sense for many of our customers. It adds
MANAGEMENT PLATFORMS
so much flexibility and disaster recovery
capabilities, makes it easy to quickly federate
in remote sites on a single platform, and is
probably the best way to comply with any
retention policy. It offers a great balance
between the performance and feature set
of on-premises systems, and the ease of
deployment of cloud solutions.
Genetec Clearance is a case management
system that helps you manage the storage and
distribution of digital evidence from cameras
and other devices. It’s a simple, secure and
flexible way to help accelerate investigations
by facilitating collaboration. A surge in the use
of body-worn cameras in law enforcement,
coupled with an increasingly smartphone-savvy
public has led to a deluge of recorded incidents
and situations. Added to existing methods for
capturing video footage, other sensor data and
arduous compliance requirements, it amounts
to a huge spike in the sheer volume of evidence
to be sifted through and dealt with.
Genetec Clearance breaks down
technology silos associated with traditional
case management applications. It encourages
collaboration across different agencies,
departments and organisations, and helps
users manage digital evidence – from
collection to case closed.
Unified with our access control system,
we released Genetec ClearID, a cloud-based
physical access management solution using
a workflow-based approach that allows
employees to make access requests and
schedule visitors. This reduces delays and keeps
your organisation moving. It ensures that
safety is never compromised by enforcing your
security policies and continuously updating
individual access rights based on current
attributes. Ultimately, by automating access
rights management, ClearID helps improve
operator and front desk staff efficiency, leading
to a greater return on your investment.
For more information contact Quintin Roberts,
Genetec, qroberts@genetec.com,
www.genetec.com
Quintin Roberts.
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 49
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE-AS-A-SERVICE
The benefits of VSaaS
Are cloud technologies better at everything as well as cheaper
than onsite solutions?
Control room monitoring has been around for
many years in the security industry, ranging
from traditional alarm monitoring systems to full
control rooms monitoring surveillance, alarms,
fire safety and other security operations. Today
they are even being used to collect data that can
be analysed and used for business optimisation.
Of course, today we also have a growing
VSaaS (Video Surveillance-as-a-Service) market,
which purports to do the same, but is all cloud
based. The control room is somewhere else,
and operators operate and access their control
room software via Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), even going as
far as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (Iaas) where
everything but the computer the operator uses
is a cloud-based system located elsewhere.
According to MarketsandMarkets, the
VSaaS market is projected to grow from
$3,3 billion in 2022 to reach $7,6 billion by 2027;
it is expected to grow at a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 18% from 2022 to 2027.
Of course, there are ‘in-between’ (or hybrid)
solutions as well, where control rooms mix
cloud and onsite technology. And, of course,
there is the option of a remote control room
(remote monitoring) where the control
room is offsite, but all the kit is installed and
maintained within the control room.
In this article, we asked David Arrikum,
national sales manager at IOT Revolution
Technologies (IoT Rev Tech) to better explain
what VSaaS offers. If the marketing is to be
believed, cloud technologies are better at
everything and cheaper than onsite solutions.
When it comes to surveillance, however,
the data collected is enormous as compared to
simple text or images. If one includes data storage,
connectivity (because you need to be sure you
have the bandwidth to transport all the video
data), and backup or failover solutions (because
you can’t rely on Eskom or one fibre provider), are
VSaaS solutions cheaper than onsite solutions?
A holistic view
Arrikum says, “We really need to take a holistic
view of our business when considering a cloud-
based solution. How often has an end-user
been briefed on the total cost of ownership of
their ‘traditional’ architecture systems?”
With the implementation of a cloud
50 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
By Andrew Seldon.
solution an end-user no longer needs to build
a data centre to manage their surveillance
system. Without the data centre component,
the end-user has a reduced electricity bill due
to no servers and cooling equipment for the
servers, UPS/back-up power requirements are
minimal due to less hardware on site, they do
not need to incur costs to employ a certain ICT
skillset to manage their infrastructure and they
do not have to replace servers and hard drives
every three to five years.
Cloud-based platforms also allow for
software and firmware updates to take place
automatically at no additional cost. You will
also never run out of horsepower on your
onsite infrastructure because you are using
supercomputers in a cloud environment.
“When you take all these things into
consideration, I can quite confidently say that
yes, a cloud-based surveillance solution, over
a period of time, will definitely be more cost
effective to the end-user,” he adds. “The list of
cost benefits received by the end-user when
implementing a cloud-based solution is very
long, when looked at relative to the value it
drives back to business.
“With regards to maintenance, here is
where we change the way we think. Firstly,
cloud solutions require less hardware, resulting
in far less maintenance. Secondly, as the
platforms are a software-first approach, you
have a team of support consultants available
almost 24/7 to help troubleshoot issues. The
result is a massive reduction in turnaround
time for a maintenance call/ticket than we
have traditionally seen.
“A systems installer could charge a small fee
to the end-user to log in remotely and perform
a series of agreed upon checks, i.e., focusing of
cameras, turning on/off certain analytic modules,
turning on/off cloud storage/back up, checking
the geo-location of each camera is correct and
each camera label is correct, etc. All this info
can then be retrieved through an audit log to
provide a report that the checks have been
completed. Thus the end-user has the ability to
proactively perform minor maintenance on their
system and the systems installer can provide a
comprehensive maintenance service without
having to be on site.”
Of course, the question of responsiveness
and reaction to alarms is a key issue when
looking at cloud services. Arrikum states that,
in a cloud-based control room environment,
an event can be received from site, and pushed
through a cloud-hosted AI engine for false alarm
filtering that will only send back true/verified
alarms to an operator, all in under 5 seconds.
Cybersecurity and the cloud
The one thing nobody in any technology-
related industry can escape today is
cybersecurity. Cloud providers say that cloud
systems are more secure from a cybersecurity
perspective because dedicated teams are
focused on ensuring the security of their cloud
installations. When you host all the technology
in your own control room, local or remote,
you need to handle all the cybersecurity and
the associated costs, including hiring skilled
people to handle the task.
Arrikum notes that it is imperative
that every end user and systems installer
understands that cybersecurity is a
very specific discipline within the cloud
environment, it is taken extremely seriously
and handled by the experts within that
environment. Most cloud solutions are hosted
within data centres that have dedicated teams
performing penetration testing constantly in a
live environment and dedicated teams creating
the relevant countermeasures to make sure
security protocols are up to date. Can the same
be said about the time and energy invested
into network security in a traditional/onsite
environment, he asks?
When it comes to privacy and compliance
concerns, he says, “The cloud environment was
not made to encroach on anyone’s privacy,
but rather to allow organisations the ability to
store, analyse and share relevant data without
having to invest massive amounts of capital.
“We have partnered with companies
we believe are the forerunners in the cloud
surveillance industry who make sure they are
compliant with regards to privacy regulations.
No images are stored in the cloud, only
algorithms, and footage is never shared
outside the organisation; encrypted links are
shared to allow access to permitted footage for
specific periods of time. It will always be up to
the end-user to make sure they manage their
 VIDEO SURVEILLANCE-AS-A-SERVICE

security processes and procedures to prevent

the misuse of data and information.”

The benefit or myth of flexibility

Another VSaaS benefit we often hear about
is how flexible cloud solutions are as you can
easily scale to include more devices or storage
etc. However, proper planning means there
will rarely be occasions when the end user
suddenly needs to add 16 cameras in a hurry;
and most in-house operations will cater for a
bit extra when purchasing equipment.
However, Arrikum says that with or without
proper planning, “I do not believe that flexibility
in any environment would not provide benefits
to an end user. Having flexibility in your
environment is similar to having insurance, you
have it when you need it. Having the ability to
make decisions ‘on the fly’ when it comes to
storage, analytics, AI, reporting and additional
implementation of hardware allows an end
user to not only have the freedom to create and
manipulate their surveillance solution for any
specific scenario at any time, but it also allows
them to accurately manage and apply budget
on a short-term basis.”

IoT Rev Tech’s cloud solutions

In closing, we asked Arrikum what solutions
IoT Rev Tech offers in terms of surveillance and
control rooms.
“We offer both true/fully hosted cloud
solutions as well as hybrid cloud solutions.
To the offsite monitoring control room, we
believe we have significantly lowered the
barrier to entry for enterprise control room
monitoring by offering the IMMIX CS and
the Calipsa AI platform in an operational
expenditure (opex) model, allowing the control
room to offer premium services without the
implementation of hardware and minimal
capital expenditure (capex). We also give the
control room an accurate forecast on their
return-on-investment point.
“For the systems installer/end user, we
have multiple platforms such as Verkada,
Dragonfruit AI and IREX AI which can be
deployed in 10 days on an application-specific
basis. Whether you’re looking for slip-and-
fall detection, cloud storage or the ability to
federate your sites and gain remote view of
any of your sites within your organisation from
anywhere in the world, we have it all. Cloud
might seem like an interesting or innovative
option at the moment, but the truth is that the
migration to cloud is inevitable.”

For more information contact David Arrikum,

IoT Revolution Technologies, +27 83 290 7578, David Arrikum.
david@rev-tech.co.za, www.iotrevolution.co.za

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 51

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/INTERNET OF THINGS
So what is AIoT?
By Andrew Seldon.
The Artificial Intelligence of Things has the potential to change everything
if openness and integration becomes the standard.
T
he term AIoT is appearing far more often these days as
part of the marketing efforts of some companies in the
surveillance industry. According to TechTarget, “Artificial
Intelligence of Things (AIoT) is the combination of artificial
intelligence (AI) technologies and the Internet of Things
(IoT) infrastructure. AIoT’s goal is to create more efficient IoT operations,
improve human-machine interactions and enhance data management
and analytics.” [1]
Research from Bosch elaborates on this, noting, “In the IoT, we
connect intelligent products and services, generating added value for
our customers. By adding AI, we create a closed value creation cycle and
focus even more on users. The data resulting from the use of intelligent,
connected products and the interaction between people and machines
and machines themselves are the key factor in this context. By linking
IoT with AI and machine learning, we can draw the right conclusions
from huge quantities of data and react to these data during product
engineering in seconds. We learn from the data and can thus improve
our products and services on an ongoing basis.” [2] Follow the link in the
footnotes for a more in-depth explanation.
Adopting AIoT
So, while AIoT spans a broader market than surveillance and even security,
it certainly has a home in the surveillance market as AI becomes more
common and more efficient. One company making inroads in the AIoT
market is Milesight. Hi-Tech Security Solutions approached Milesight via its
official partner in South Africa, LD Africa, to learn more about what AIoT
entails and how the company is evolving under the AIoT banner.
Milesight believes that in the near future, as the AIoT market becomes
more mature, 5G, AI and IoT technologies will penetrate every corner of
our work and life, just like electricity and the Internet did. “The digital wave
combining 5G, AI and IoT has significantly changed the global business
landscape where ‘intelligence’ and ‘interconnection’ are becoming the rules
of survival. Thus, along with this rapidly iterating technology wave driving a
shift in traditional business models and a new era with revelatory implications,
AIoT has gradually arrived, bringing along smarter and better lives.”
With AI and IoT being a powerful driving force in future
52 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
development, Milesight is combining video surveillance with IoT to
empower a new brand identity and to become a pioneer in AIoT,
converging AI, deep learning and IoT technologies into next-gen AIoT
smart solutions.
The impact of AIoT
In the AIoT era, as hundreds of billions of devices will access the network
through 5G, this will lay the foundation for digital transformation in various
verticals and create data-driven scientific decision-making mechanisms.
Against this backdrop, Milesight will contribute to smarter cities where the
intelligent interconnection of all things and multi-dimensional integration
of people, machines and objects will become a reality.
This will lead to advanced, intelligent perception, precise
management and convenient service delivery in smart city operations.
The IoT and AI are gradually transforming how we live and work to
improve efficiency, productivity and competence.
Milesight subsidiary, Milesight IoT (formed from the merger of
Milesight IoT and Yeastar), is focused on developing one-stop smart IoT
solutions tailored to various markets by providing end nodes, gateways,
cellular and cloud services. An example of its initial successes in its transition
to AIoT is the 5G AIoT camera, which combines 5G, AI and IoT technologies
into one device. The camera can transmit and receive video data wirelessly
by way of a SIM card, making it suitable for scenarios where wiring is
inconvenient. Additionally, the camera can also ingest various sensor data,
such as temperature and water level information via LoRaWAN.
A broader example
Azena (formerly S&ST), the company that developed an open camera
operating system that can load third-party AI apps from its marketplace
onto cameras, has other examples.
In the retail space, “connecting smart video cameras with in-store
displays creates a completely new type of communication system.
Cameras equipped with AI video analytics, for example, detect which
colours a customer prefers and trigger a nearby display to show an ad
for a matching product.” [3]
It’s clear that many companies are talking the AIoT talk, and some are
moving in that direction to develop products and solutions. However,
the AIoT is not about what’s on a camera, but the whole ecosystem
working together in a seamless manner. And while the intentions may
be good, it will be a challenge to get everyone working in an open,
co-operative manner to create these intelligent ecosystems.
For more information contact:
• Bosch Building Technologies, +27 11 651 9600,
security.systems@za.bosch.com, www.boschsecurity.com
• LD Africa, +27 10 015 1430, sales@ldafrica.com, www.ldafrica.com
[1]
www.securitysa.com/*aiot (redirects to
www.techtarget.com/iotagenda/definition/Artificial-Intelligence-of-Things-AIoT).
[2]
www.securitysa.com/*aiot1 (redirects to
www.bosch.com/research/research-focus-topics/aiot-security/).
[3]
www.securitysa.com/*aiot2 (redirects to
www.azena.com/insights/aiot-video-surveillance).
 AI + IoT = AIoT
By Andy Penfold, Azena.

Here’s how operators and

system integrators profit
from connecting artificial
intelligence (AI) and the
Internet of Things (IoT).

A
IoT is the next big technology
trend, combining two major
trends, AI and IoT, so that the
result is much more than the
sum of its parts. To understand
this powerful mix, we should first recall what
we mean by AI and IoT in relation to video
surveillance.
Artificial intelligence is about enabling video
cameras and systems to perform tasks they
were previously unable to do. This is achieved
through smart algorithms that enable complex
analytics and the ability to learn using machine
learning (ML), both yield AI video analytics on
the edge.
Internet of Things is about networking
devices so that communication and the
exchange of large amounts of data in real-
time is possible. By networking video cameras
and other systems, complex processes can
be automated in retail, manufacturing, smart
cities and other areas.
Artificial Internet of Things in video
surveillance combines the best of both worlds,
AI video analytics and the Internet of Things
to turn CCTV cameras into smart business
all-rounders that are no longer limited to
delivering raw video footage in security
applications.
Azena aims to make the use of IoT and AI
for video cameras easier and more flexible
than ever before. For this, they have created
an open Platform with Camera OS and
Application Store.
Turning simple video surveillance
into smart computer vision
The following applications are implemented
with Azena, running AI video analytics apps
via edge computing in the cameras and
controlling other systems.
1. Retail. Automate and custom in-store
communication to trigger purchases. The
days of generic advertising in stores are over.
If retailers want to keep up with the latest
online trends, the metaverse, and Web 3.0,
they need to create shopping experiences that
are tailored to their customers. Smart video
technology makes this possible without having
to add staff.
Connecting smart video cameras with
in-store displays creates a completely new type
of communication system. Cameras equipped
with AI video analytics, for example, detect
which colours a customer prefers and trigger
a nearby display to show an ad for a matching
product.
Azena has a white paper focused on retail at
www.azena.com/whitepaper/retail.
2. Public transportation. During the
pandemic, hygiene regulations must be
observed, e.g. in a bus by occupying each
double seat with only one person. But
even beyond the pandemic, occupancy
management is essential to provide
passengers with an excellent experience.
Smart video cameras that detect which
seats are occupied and which are available can
keep drivers informed about occupancy on
the bus at all times. Connected to a passenger
routing system, the cameras could lead elderly
people to free seats via red and green light
signals.
See the Azena public transportation
white paper at www.azena.com/whitepaper/
railway-and-metro
3. Commercial buildings. Making parking
management more efficient. The larger and
more complex commercial buildings are,
the more difficult it is for security managers
to reliably monitor access. While access
management via facial recognition can be
challenging under GDPR or PoPIA, cars can be
easily identified by licence plate recognition.
Smart CCTV cameras equipped with AI
video analytics can not only recognise licence
plates and vehicle types, but also clarify
access authorisation in one single operation.
Connected to barriers and traffic light systems,
the cameras can automatically control entry
and exit.
Download the commercial buildings white
paper at www.securitysa.com/*azena2.
4. Manufacturing. Comply with safety and
health standards. Health protection is key in
manufacturing and is therefore taken very
seriously by safety managers. Weaknesses
in safety concepts often result from human
behaviour, carelessness or just plain laziness.
This is where smart technology can help
enforce regulations.
Just as smart video cameras can detect
whether the staff is wearing masks to protect
against COVID, they can also detect whether
manufacturing workers are wearing protective
gear such as helmets and vests. Connected to
alarm systems, they can automatically initiate
appropriate actions.
Azena’s manufacturing white paper is at
www.azena.com/whitepaper/manufacturing.
Unleash the power of AIoT
Azena focuses on empowering individual
surveillance cameras or complete systems
to perform complex tasks combining edge
computing and AI video analytics. Well-known
manufacturers supply the cameras that run the
Azena OS (www.azena.com/cameras)
and can be equipped with AI video
analytics from Azena’s Application Store
(https://store.azena.com/shop/). Getting
started in video surveillance AIoT is easier than
ever with Azena.
This article has been shortened.
The full version is available at
www.securitysa.com/*azena1

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 53

 System integrators
and surveillance
By Andrew Seldon.
Are our system integrators seeing an upturn in the market? Are projects back
on track despite the economic slowdown and supply chain chaos?

S
ystem integrators (SIs) are caught
in the middle when it comes to
catching flack in the security
industry. One the one hand they
have pressure from channel
manufacturers and vendors to sell more
products, promote certain brands (even if it
takes six months to get stock). From the other
side, end users want solutions now that not
only work perfectly but should be able to do
amazing things out of the box. As an SI noted
in the round table we reported on earlier in
this issue, “everyone always remembers the
projects where you messed up”, no matter the
reason.
Some insight into what SIs are experiencing
in the market can be gained from this year’s
report on the Surveillance round table, but
there is more.
In addition, they are required to keep the
skill levels of their staff current, which not only
includes skills related to security systems, but
also networking, cybersecurity and integration
with all sorts of IoT and regular business
systems. Hi-Tech Security Solutions asked two
SIs to tell us how they have pushed through
the COVID period and how they are addressing
the market.
We spoke to MJ Oosthuizen, director of
ESS (Electronic Security Solutions) at G4S
Secure Solutions (SA), one of the biggest
SIs in South Africa and on the continent,
as well as Stallion Security, a company that
has made tremendous strides in expanding
and improving its technical services over
the past few years. Our questions to Stallion
were answered by Kevin Monk, the MD of the
company’s electronics division;
Wayne Schneeberger who runs the offsite
monitoring business; and Mark Kane who
recently took the helm as MD of Masc Solutions.
Naturally, our first question is how business
has been over the past year. Are we seeing
a recovery after the economic horrors of the
‘COVID period’?
Oosthuizen says: “Definitely. Merely look
at the number of tenders that have been
released, and more importantly, awarded.
There is definitely a bigger appetite for clients
to re-invest in security again.”
Monk says business is still slow, but with an
increase in enquiries, However, “prices are being
driven hard by budget constraints and also
by SIs, vendors and distributors ‘racing to the
bottom’ with regards their pricing to win work.”
Schneeberger agrees, but offers a positive
outlook, saying more projects are being moved
from inception to execution, while Kane
echoes that there is more interest, but warns
companies are naturally still cautious.

54 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com


Empty shelves
Of course, it goes without saying that
the global supply chain chaos has been
detrimental to all SIs (and everyone else).
However, Oosthuizen notes that the problems
have also “created more opportunity for
dialogue and to unpack what the client needs/
requires versus availability. It also ‘forced’ the
SIs to explore other product offerings, which
has brought other (better offerings in some
cases) to the table.”
With Kane stating that the outlook is not
all that positive at this stage, Monk says the
industry has adapted and sourced alternatives.
On a somewhat positive note, he expects to
see normality to “start coming back over the
next two years.”
How important is the surveillance
market?
While both companies provide comprehensive
solutions that expand far beyond surveillance,
we asked if surveillance forms a large
proportion of the projects they do or if
customers are sweating their surveillance
assets and spending on other areas of security?
Moreover, given the drive behind enhancing
analytics with AI, are companies adopting AI
systems readily or do they still tend to rely on
the same functionality as in the past (motion
detection, line crossing etc.)?
Security as a management tool (access
control, time and attendance, and business
intelligence) is in the forefront of customer
spend, notes Oosthuizen. “We need to keep
in mind that security is often a grudge spend,
and investment into infrastructure, or at least
IT infrastructure, often takes preference.
“While some traditional security measures
in place today do have a significant impact
in terms of decreasing crime or preventing
theft, video analytics gives security officers
a technological edge that no surveillance
camera alone can provide. If implemented
correctly, with a well-trained operator and
officer on the ground as response, the
combination can bring significant cost
savings and enhanced risk management to the
client.
“However, as our market is still recovering, a
well-prepared implementation plan staggered
over a period of time needs to be presented,
combined with the risk assessment view in
order to assist the financial discussion.”
Kane says clients are sweating their
surveillance assets for longer, and “while there
is interest in video analytics, we do not see
any ground-breaking advances in the basic
functionality over the past few years. It’s more
about the initial scoping and design of the
solution and understanding what the clients
really need.”
At the same time, Schneeberger says he
sees the “beginnings of a move in smaller
projects to leverage their surveillance
investment to do more by looking at AI
analytics”. To this Monk adds, “Additionally,
clients are becoming more knowledgeable
with regards to AI and the benefits to their
operations, not only from a security point of
view, but the camera is now a tool for edge AI.
This is turning reasonably reactive systems into
proactive systems as we add edge intelligence.”
Changing to a services model?
Following the lead from the ICT market, there
are many options in the security industry to
change the SI business model to a service-
based process. Instead of large projects with
irregular paydays, some customers want to pay
all-inclusive set monthly fees over the duration
of the contract to allow them to budget
security as an operational expense.
Oosthuizen says there is interest in the
service-related model, however, the fixed
(three to five) year budget still rules the
land. “Flexibility is the key and combining a
tech-driven solution to enhance the officers
deployed on a site can bring cost savings
during this period, which has led to some very
positive interactions with clients and a big
increase in the requirements for more detailed
site risk analysis.”
From the perspective of Masc, Kane says
the market is looking at a combination of both.
“We find that our clients do budget for spend
every few years and maintenance contracts
tend to be negotiated after project completion
and the expiry of the guarantee period. Stallion
Electronics does offer turnkey solutions for a
monthly cost and clients are buying in to the
monthly service options at an increasing rate.”
Monk says there has been a huge increase
in the opex model inclusive of Stallion’s
Platinum maintenance agreement. “The clients
want to fix their costs over a five-year period in
order to know what their spend is for the next
five years on electronic security. With Platinum
maintenance, the cost is inclusive of all call
outs, service and maintenance and all stock
replacement during the period of the contract.”
Looking ahead
One hopes the economic destruction cause by
the COVID response is a thing of the past, or
that at least there will be no new lockdowns and
such. We end by asking how the SIs see their
company and the market in general changing
over the next couple of years, specifically
when it comes to surveillance operations and
SYSTEM INTEGRATION
integration into other security technologies and
additional business or IoT technologies.
Integration is a big drive for Oosthuizen,
and he notes that “various platforms are in
different stages of conceptual trials. However,
as with everything ‘new’, the long-term
robustness of every solution requires proper
investigation and testing. One thing is certain,
the days of ‘just a camera, just a reader, or just a
door lock’ is coming to an end. How and what
data you can derive from these devices, will
determine the product mix per application.”
Kane believes this is an exciting space to
be in right now. “The Stallion Control Room
adds a level of capacity and functionality that
very few traditional security businesses in
South Africa enjoy. With the ever-increasing
cost of manned guarding and the advances in
technology, there can be no doubt that this is
a service sector that will continue to develop
rapidly over the next few years.”
“With Stallion acquiring Myertal and
KPI to enhance its offsite facilities in recent
months and launching the new S-IOT facility
and the Stallion Virtual Security Intelligence
Centre (V-SIC), we are gearing ourselves for
the future of IoT,” states Monk. “We have been
one of the leaders in the field of integrated
security between technology and manpower
over the last three years. Going forward we
see offsite monitoring as one of the pillars of
IoT in the monitoring facility, with AI playing
an important role in collecting data for the
intelligence centre.
“The success will depend on how service
providers mine the data and present that
to the client. This will also influence how
that will benefit the client’s operation as a
security, health and safety, and a management
efficiency tool. Integrated with the Stallion
Asset Reporting and Maintenance Technology,
this creates a full ecosystem within our V-SIC.”
While we can’t say the recovery is complete,
it does seem like the security market is once
again showing signs of life with a cautiously
positive outlook from those above. What
is clear is that the traditional way of selling
and running security operations is over,
with technology playing a more important
role in the collection and analysis of data to
create actionable information. As in other
articles in the handbook, it’s not a matter of
camera brand or number of pixels, but rather
integration, AI and usable information.
For more information contact:
• G4S Secure Solutions SA, +27 10 001 4500,
info@za.g4s.com, www.g4s.co.za
• Stallion Security, +27 11 533 8888,
kevinm@stallion.co.za, www.stallion.co.za
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 55
THERMAL SOLUTONS

Dahua launches thermal

monocular camera series
New range of handheld thermal
cameras for outdoor scenarios.

D
ahua Technology has launched its Thermal Monocular
Camera Series, the M Series. They are handheld cameras
tailored for outdoor scenarios such as hiking, wildlife
conservation, search and rescue missions, hunting, etc.
The M Series provides three model options (M20,
M40 and M60) based on the image resolution of the cameras, while each
of them includes multiple models with different lenses to meet diverse
customer needs. With a 12 μm Vox sensor, the maximum resolution can
reach 640 x 512.

Reliable in tough outdoor conditions

The ergonomic design of the M Series offers a comfortable handheld
experience and convenient operation. These cameras meet the IP67
standard of Ingress Protection Rating, pass the 2-metre drop test, and
function under temperatures of -20°C to 55°C, which means they can
work steadily in tough environments.
Even under harsh weather, the M Series is able to capture sharp
thermal images at a smooth and stable frame rate and produce clear
and detailed visuals of running targets and moving vehicles. Thanks to
advanced thermal imaging technology, the series can detect animals
and objects in complete darkness, haze, or through glaring light.
The M Series’ weight ranges from 350 g to 500 g. Its internal Lithium
battery supports up to nine hours of battery life (tested at 25°C) and a
USB cable power supply.

“The M Series also has a crucial hotspot module. By connecting the cameras to the smartphone via
Wi-Fi hotspot, users can transmit real-time images, set up cameras, store
function of automatic fire detection pictures and videos, and browse history files on the DH Thermal app.

up to 1 km (fire size: 2 m x 2 m).” Moreover, videos and pictures can be exported and shared via a USB
cable connected to a computer.

Better user experience

Advanced intelligence for various needs
The M Series offers a choice of four colour palettes to meet users’
observation needs in different scenarios. ‘White Hot’ is suitable for
observing active targets, ‘Iron Red’ can improve the comfort of long-
term observation under night conditions, ‘Rainbow’ is convenient for
users to quickly identify targets, and ‘Alarm’ helps to quickly detect the
emergence of high-temperature targets.
The M Series also has a crucial function of automatic fire detection
up to 1 km (fire size: 2 m x 2 m). Forest management personnel can use
it to conduct inspections to quickly find fires and arrange for firefighters
to deal with them.
In addition, the M Series supports distance measurement. By
selecting the measurement target type (e.g., wolf, rabbit, human,
custom) and placing the measurement line on the top and bottom of
the target, the approximate distance of the target can be obtained.
For networking, the M Series is equipped with a built-in Wi-Fi
With the built-in video recorder and display, Dahua Thermal Monocular
Camera Series can present great views to users and take pictures and
videos at any time. Apart from the Micro USB ports, the camera series
also has CVBS ports to connect to an external display screen for a better
visual experience.
In addition, the series has an SD card slot that supports a maximum
of 256 GB of storage space, which can significantly expand the storage
capacity of the cameras. A built-in distance sensor can detect whether
the device is being used; if no one is within a certain distance for a
set period, the device will automatically switch to standby mode. The
display will be turned off to preserve battery life while other functions
are still online. Users can re-start operating by stepping closer to the
device or pressing the power button.
For more information contact Dahua Technology South Africa,
+27 10 593 3242, sales.za@dahuatech.com, www.dahuasecurity.com/sa

56 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com


Solar-powered cameras keep
construction site safe
Construction company DECHO used Hikvision’s solar-powered
wireless cameras to guard its construction site.
B
uilding material shortages and rising prices fuelled a rise
in construction site thefts in New Zealand, which has
prompted worries among builders, project managers and
contractors.
The DECHO Group is one of Auckland’s most innovative
land developers, serving the civil infrastructure, industrial and building
markets. DECHO’s newly launched Coast Garden project is a new,
premium development under construction in the highly sought-after
Hobsonville Peninsula locale. The exclusive Coast Garden development
is a brand new 4.3-hectare subdivision delivering waterfront living on an
elevated clifftop site on the peninsula.
“We needed a security solution to protect our high-value items such as
machinery, tools, copper and other building materials,” said Ning Zhao, director
of DECHO. “Our projects don’t get completed overnight. It can take months and
even years to execute a single project. The construction sites endure all kinds of
weather, power issues, security problems and many other challenges. Therefore,
we wanted a solution that boosts security quickly and easily with simple
installation and is suited for deployment in any kind of outdoor environment,
and without the need for a fixed network or power supply.”
Hikvision’s solar-powered solution
To protect its valuable tools and equipment, DECHO researched several
options, and deployed Hikvision’s solar-powered security camera setup.
EXIR Fixed Bullet Solar Power 4G Network Cameras and 4K ColorVu Fixed
Bullet Solar Power 4G Network Camera Kits were placed around the
perimeter of DECHO’s Coast Garden construction site.
The solar-powered security camera setup uses a 40-Watt photovoltaic
panel and a highly durable 20 Ah rechargeable Lithium battery to power
a Hikvision EXIR Fixed Bullet Solar Power 4G Network Camera. Because
the setup acquires power from the sun, there is no need for fixed power
or network cables on site. With the product’s smart power management
CASE STUDIES
features, each setup can provide up to seven days of operation during
cloudy or rainy periods when fully charged.
Its 4G camera further adds a 32 GB eMMC (embedded multi-media
card) in addition to an SD memory card. This ensures continuous video
recording even if there is a problem with the SD card.
The solar-powered cameras come equipped with Hikvision’s ColorVu
and AcuSense technologies. ColorVu technology gives cameras the ability
to produce high-quality, full-colour images in low-light conditions. With
AcuSense technology, AI-powered perimeter protection enables target
classification based on deep learning. If the perimeter is breached by a
person or vehicle, the cameras can automatically push event-triggered
notifications to users’ mobile devices.
Time and cost savings
According to Zhao, the fact that the Hikvision solar-powered cameras
can be installed hassle-free was a key deployment feature for the
company. The pole-mounted unit weighs just 14 kg, and no wires or
cabling are required, making the deployment process fast, easy and
cost-effective. “With its own power source, each Hikvision camera can be
deployed anywhere on the site without having to route cables, saving
valuable time and resources, which could be redirected to other critical
tasks to help the company complete construction on time,” said Zhao.
A safeguarded site 24/7, in any weather
Empowered by ColorVu technology, the cameras offer clear vision in
extremely dark environments. “Construction site compounds are most
vulnerable to theft at night,” commented Zhao. “With these cameras installed,
our valuables are now well protected during vulnerable out-of-hours periods.”
Besides that, intrusions can now be detected accurately and addressed
immediately. As the AcuSense technology embedded in the cameras
helps to differentiate between humans and other moving objects such
as animals, falling leaves or heavy rain, false positives are minimised, and
DECHO will be alerted only in the event of real security threats.
In addition, being waterproof and dust-resistant, the solar
power cameras are suitable for deployment in any kind of outdoor
environment. “These cameras are sturdy enough to withstand the harsh
conditions on the construction site, as well as Auckland’s frequent rainy
and windy weather,” said Zhao.
Expanding sustainability while reducing costs
Requiring only a single solar panel, the self-contained setup operates for
up to seven days on a single battery charge, which delivers significant
cost savings for DECHO. In addition, powered by clean and renewable
energy, the solar cameras not only help to save operational costs for
the building firm, but also reduce the company’s carbon footprint. Zhao
added, “We work hard to build a green culture within DECHO. Deploying
a solar-powered wireless camera system represents an opportunity to
have an immediately positive impact on sustainability.”
For more information contact Hikvision South Africa, +27 87 701 8113,
support.sa@hikvision.com, www.hikvision.com
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 57
CASE STUDIES
Integrated technology
ecosystem for safe hospitals
SSM Health deploys game-changing safe hospitals ecosystems for highly
efficient operations and proactive threat management.
W
ith 23 hospitals, 300
delivery sites, nearly
11 000 clinical employees
and more than 2 million
outpatients seen every
year in the USA, SSM Health is no stranger
to the challenges facing the healthcare
industry. SSM Health continuously strives
to provide exceptional clinical care while
operating efficiently and ensuring the safety
of employees, patients and visitors at all times.
SSM Health’s Greater Midwest Region is
comprised of 11 hospitals situated in the Greater
St. Louis Metropolitan Area, mid-Missouri and
southern Illinois. Like many large medical centres,
these facilities face heightened and constant safety
and security challenges. In response, SSM Health
is in the process of deploying the Safe Hospitals
unified ecosystem from Motorola Solutions
to safeguard its employees, property and the
patients it serves while replacing the outdated
legacy technology that could no longer meet the
hospital’s security and communication needs.
It will rely on a robust, integrated
ecosystem of video and analytics, access
control, command centre software and critical
communications networks and devices to
proactively meet its complex security and
communication needs and allow them to
better detect, analyse, communicate and
respond to unfolding incidents and disruptions.
Data silos led to inefficient, reactive
security
As a Level I trauma centre, SSM Health’s Saint
Louis University Hospital treats victims of
violence, especially in its Emergency Department
(ED). The sheer size of the campus, plus the
possible presence of drugs or weapons and the
high level of emotional stress in these situations
all raise the safety risk for patients and staff.
Like other medical systems, SSM Health is
regularly challenged with patients, visitors and
staff entering and exiting the premises at all hours
of the day, seven days a week. Plus, valuable and
sensitive equipment and potentially dangerous
medical equipment and pharmaceuticals must
always be secured and monitored.
Every day, as part of their normal
58 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
Source: Motorola Solutions.
after-hours routine, SSM Health security staff
were physically patrolling close to a million
square feet (about 93 000 m2) of closed office
space. While safety is SSM Health’s top priority,
its technology was outdated and siloed,
making it difficult to get the right information
to the right people at the right time.
Without an integrated ecosystem that
enabled the seamless sharing of data across
teams and systems such as access control, video
security and real-time communications, the
security team lacked the technology for effective
and proactive situational awareness and relied on
its systems for limited investigative activity. This
meant it was constantly in a reactive mode when
an event occurred, making it much more difficult
to quickly and effectively remediate security
situations, and therefore having to lockdown
emergency departments at times.
SSM Health also lacked the ability to
efficiently mobilise and co-ordinate security
where it was needed most, forcing security staff
to manually monitor all areas, even those with
less traffic, instead of focusing resources on high-
risk departments. It became clear to security staff
that the hospital’s legacy security technology was
no longer meeting the health system’s needs.
Manual and time-intensive video
reviews
Like all health facilities of its type, SSM Health
security teams must regularly assist in locating
persons of interest. Yet, the large footprint of
the campus made it difficult to quickly locate
them. SSM Health’s security technology was
limited in capabilities that were able to assist.
When incidents occurred or individuals
needed locating, security teams had to manually
pull video from the cameras and search through
hours of footage to find something of interest. At
the same time, they would also conduct searches
on foot throughout the entire campus.
This was a problem for a number ofseveral
reasons. Searches required a large number of
dedicated resources, taking security personnel
away from other important activities for as
long as the search continued.
Plus, without a way to better co-ordinate and
direct security teams, searches were inefficient
and time-consuming during a situation when
speed was critical. For instance, even if security
personnel saw the direction an individual was
headed in video, by the time that footage was
reviewed, it was of little use in actually locating
them in real-time. This often led to additional
issues and inefficiencies, such as building
lockdowns that could have been avoided with
more effective situational awareness.
Security challenges left staff feeling
vulnerable
According to OSHA, 75% of workplace
assaults occur in healthcare settings
(www.securitysa.com/*moto1). Ensuring
employees feel safe when they come to work
is extremely important, as an employee’s
sense of safety has a direct impact on morale,
engagement and retention. As a large Level I
trauma centre, SSM Health Saint Louis University
Hospital confronts these issues regularly.
One of SMM Health’s top goals was to
increase the hospital staff’s overall perception
of security. Yet, that was simply not possible
with the health system’s existing technology.
SSM Health’s legacy video system struggled
with poor video quality that was often
inadequate to aid investigations. When a
security event happened on campus, SSM
Health was forced to interpret images from
fuzzy, long-shot videos. The technology also
lacked the advanced capabilities needed for
proactive threat detection and alerting.
Security officers were frustrated because
they didn’t have the resources to effectively
do their jobs and clinical staff were left feeling
vulnerable. SSM Health was worried about the
effect that would have on its ability to recruit
and retain top talent.
Safe hospitals technology
ecosystem
After SSM Health Leadership began to evaluate
and reassess its security technology, the team
concluded that its legacy video system, access
control and radio communications needed
to be replaced with a modern technology
solution. They evaluated a range of new
systems, ultimately standardising on the

Motorola Solutions Safe Hospitals’ integrated
technology ecosystem, an end-to-end security
ecosystem that unifies voice, video, data and
analytics on one single platform.
During the evaluation process, SSM Health
was struck by the image quality provided by
the Avigilon video security cameras, which then
led to an exploration of the broader Motorola
Solutions Safe Hospitals ecosystem. Ultimately,
SSM Health felt that the larger ecosystem of
integrated solutions was a game-changing new
approach to security and communications as it
allowed them to proactively address situations,
making security more efficient and effective.
The suite of technology began with
Avigilon cameras, video analytics, Avigilon
Control Center video management software
and Access Control Manager. With the results
seen at SSM Health Saint Louis University
Hospital, the decision was made to convert
their entire radio platform region-wide to
MOTOTRBO rugged two-way digital radios and
they are currently going through the transition.
With advanced analytics and automatic
alerting capabilities directly integrated on
their radios, SSM Health received a new level of
visibility and insight into its campus.
Today, SSM Health is implementing the Safe
Hospitals ecosystem in all Missouri and Illinois
regional hospitals.
More proactive, efficient security
Using the Safe Hospitals ecosystem, SSM
Health has shifted its security approach to
be much more proactive, with more efficient,
effective use of security staff and resources.
Now, instead of deploying officers to patrol
the entire campus on foot or by car, the team
is aided by advanced analytics, AI-assisted
access control and tight radio integration to
focus efforts where they are needed most by
receiving analytics-based alerts directly on
their radios. All of this is underpinned by a
foundation of seamless, shared data.
SSM Health’s video security deters threats and
enhances overall situational awareness across
all campus facilities with specialised cameras
that provide crystal-clear video coverage for
every location. Licence plate recognition systems
monitor parking lots surrounding the facilities
and automatically alert security when threat-
designated vehicles enter the campus.
With a rules-based access control system,
SSM Health can manage staff and public access
to buildings or restricted areas with instant
detection of pre-listed individuals at access
points and instant camera-based verifications.
Plus, SSM Health receives real-time video
and access control alerts for everything from
unauthorised activity in sensitive areas to
loitering and positive licence plate matches.
Alerts are sent directly to their two-way
radio via text message and text-to-voice
alerts. And when an incident is resolved, SSM
Health is now also able to easily document
and securely store the details of that incident
with all relevant data using Ally Incident
Management software.
All of these pieces of technology come
together to provide SSM Health with an
ecosystem that’s much greater than the sum
of each individual part. By integrating formerly
siloed systems, the entire ecosystem can
share data seamlessly. Now SSM Health can
efficiently and proactively direct resources
to monitor more security-intensive spaces,
while letting their technology assist with
less trafficked areas. With greatly improved
situational awareness and immediate insights
from shared data, SSM Health knows what’s
happening across its entire campus.
When incidents occur, SSM Health can now
get the right information to the right people
quickly and effectively. With alerts received
directly on their radio or mobile device, they
can mobilise and co-ordinate an immediate
and effective response. Plus, by standardising
on one ecosystem, SSM Health can deploy
resources to different locations when and
where needed, without having to train staff on
multiple different systems and technologies.
Advanced analytics at work
Using the Safe Hospital ecosystem, SSM
Health has access to Avigilon Appearance
Search technology which allows officers to
input key physical characteristics, such as
gender, age categorisation or clothing colour
and locate an individual across the entire
camera system, campus-wide. Security teams
can then follow a person or vehicle of interest
across the campus, tracking their route in real-
time or analysing it later, during investigations.
Appearance Search also incorporates the
characteristics of a person’s face to ensure it
CASE STUDIES
tracks the right person, even if items such as
their clothing change over time.
The outcome is a positive last-known location
in minutes instead of the hours or days it would
previously take to manually scroll through
footage. If staff have a concern that a patient has
eloped, they now have the tools to effectively
manage the situation. The COVID-19 pandemic
made these capabilities even more critical, as
healthcare organisations including SSM Health
suddenly face new entry and exit requirements.
It wasn’t long after the implementation
of the new system that employees started to
recognise a difference. The combination of
high-quality images, analytics and real-time
alerts had an immediate impact on incident
response and resolution, allowing officers to
respond to and resolve events with greater
speed and effectiveness. Knowing that a
robust, integrated security system is in place
also makes it easier for clinical staff to focus on
what matters most – patient care.
Integrated game-changing
technology for better outcomes
SSM Health has completely reimagined how it
secures its campus and facilities. By integrating
once-disparate pieces of security and
communications technology into a seamless
integrated ecosystem, SSM Health doesn’t just
receive better security, it can generate better
outcomes: enhanced clinical care, higher
patient satisfaction, more efficient operations
and a safer workplace that enhances employee
morale and retention.
By bringing together the innovative and
integrated technology needed to detect,
analyse, communicate and respond to
security threats, SSM Health now has a game-
changing platform that takes their security and
communications to a whole new level.
Find out more at
www.motorolasolutions.com/safehospitals
www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 59
 Securing the diamond industry
Milestone’s open platform XProtect manages 20 acres and over 3500 cameras.
B
harat Diamond Bourse (BDB)
is one of the largest and most
sophisticated diamond centres
in the world. With over 4000
members engaged in import
and export, trade, and marketing of rough and
polished diamonds, BDB has created a business
framework to conduct their transactions in
maximum convenience and security. The
bourse was set up for the primary objective of
establishing necessary infrastructural facilities
for promotion of export of diamonds, including
diamond jewellery from India, to provide support
and service facilities for these purposes, and to
eventually make India an international trading
centre for diamonds, gems and jewellery.
Complex infrastructure
BDB Complex is housed in a sprawling complex
covering 20 acres with a constructed area of
two million square feet (609 600 m2). It includes
two basements of additional one million square
feet (304 800 m2) for car parking and utility
services with a 24x7 state-of-the-art security and
surveillance system, and has a dedicated, well-
equipped quick response team for tackling crises.
The bourse has a daily footfall of over
70 000 people coming from all over for diamond
60 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com
Source: Milestone Systems.
trading and it houses critical plant operation.
To address this scale of activities efficiently
round the clock, it was crucial for BDB to
maintain utmost security and safety for people
and property.
“We were looking for something that
is more than security cameras and analog
monitoring. The diamond industry requires
the highest standards of security and safety,
and with a more advanced and open VMS
surveillance system, we are raising the bar for
security standards. Milestone was what we
were looking for to help control the security
of the entire premises,” commented Samir Jha,
head security & fire safety, BDB.
Openness and scalability
To close all loops in security measures, BDB
chose Milestone Systems, entrusting the open
VMS platform with the high security and
advanced surveillance BDB needed. On top of
that, BDB also found that they were working
with very user-friendly platform applications
that suited every compliance requirement.
“The best part of Milestone was the openness
and scalability by which one can select
any camera model or any other system on
Milestone. The platform proved to be very
user-friendly, not only in terms of installation
and configuration, but also in terms of
operation. It fulfilled all our requirements
locally and onsite with high availability in
terms of video data.”
To their surprise, they also found that they
were able to access the surveillance system
on-the-go using smartphones and tablets.
“The XProtect Mobile app has aided
immediate access to the surveillance system
on-the-go via smartphones and tablets. Through
the app, our security team who patrol every
day can now view, play-back and export videos,
listen to audio clips and speak through the
camera, as well as respond to access control
requests and receive push notifications
regarding events that can be triggered as
Project statistics
Location: Mumbai, India
Camera count: 3500+
XProtect product: XProtect Corporate
2019
Milestone Add-ons: Intrusion alarm
system, camera edge analytics, etc.
Plugins: Mobile app, smart wall, etc.
Partners: M/s Siemens
alarms directly to a mobile device. Certain other
features like MAPs, Smart Wall, Carousel View,
and Matrix etc. are also very helpful in proactive
monitoring,” said Walter Crasto, head of IT at BDB.
With a huge area to cover, it took BDB
around two years to install 3500-plus cameras.
They are looking forward to doubling these
installations and having them integrated with
the access control system (ACS) and video
analytics (VA) system.
Improved recovery rate
The recovery of stolen diamonds is notable
in an industry where the overall recovery rate
for stolen diamonds is low. In 2020, BDB had
a 100% recovery rate of precious stones and
other properties, thanks largely to Milestone’s
assisted video technology.
“There will always be people who are
looking to take our diamonds. But now with
Milestone System’s open VMS, they are going
to find it a lot more challenging. Even our lost
diamonds are eventually returned.”
BDB is also glad to contribute to the
community by assisting the Mumbai city
police to monitor road safety of surrounding
areas with the assistance of the Milestone’s
open VMS platform.
For more information contact George Psoulis,
Milestone Systems, +27 82 377 0415,
gep@milestonesys.com,
www.milestonesys.com
DIRECTORY LISTINGS

Directory of CCTV product, solution and service providers

Access and Beyond Axis Communications
Distributor/supplier Vendor/manufacturer
Contact: Christo Myburgh Contact: Marcel Bruyns
Tel: +27 31 263 1487 Tel: +27 11 548 6790
sales@accessandbeyond.com marcel.bruyns@axis.com
www.myab.co.za www.axis.com

Branches: KwaZulu-Natal, national support Branches: Johannesburg, Cape Town

Access and Beyond is an established role-player in the CCTV distribution
market, supplying a wide range of solutions for designs ranging from
simple installations to complex multi-site integrated projects. The
company provides training and support with the goal of being the
alternative choice for personal service and best prices.
Axis enables a smarter and safer world by creating solutions for improving
security and business performance. As a network technology company
and industry leader, Axis offers solutions in video surveillance, access
control, intercom and audio systems. They are enhanced by intelligent
analytics applications and supported by high-quality training.

ADI Global Distribution AxxonSoft Southern

Distributor/supplier
Africa & SADC
Vendor/manufacturer
Tel: +27 11 020 0951
sales.za@adiglobal.com
Contact: Colleen Glaeser
www.adiglobal.co.za Cell: +27 82 503 4437
colleen.glaeser@axxonsoft.com
Branches: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth www.axxonsoft.com

ADI Global Distribution is a leading distributor of video surveillance Branches: Johannesburg

products. The company’s portfolio offers an unparalleled product choice
that includes a comprehensive complementary range of accessories
from leading manufacturers, both globally and locally. ADI has a full
suite of added value services to support you throughout a project.
AxxonSoft is a leading developer of smart integrated security & video
surveillance systems (VMS and PSIM). The company’s safety & security
market boasts over 480 000 projects with 2,5 million cameras installed.
AxxonSoft has more than 6000 certified partners in 100+ countries,
which perform over 1500 installations every month.

Allbro Industries
Vendor/manufacturer Bidvest Protea Coin
Distributor/supplier
Contact: Nishal Sheoprosad
Tel: +27 11 894 8341 Contact: Alex Penhaligon
nishal@albro.com Cell: +27 66 257 0496
www.allbro.com penhaligona@proteacoin.co.za
www.proteacoin.co.za
Branches: Johannesburg
Branches: Pretoria, Durban, Western Cape, George, Polokwane,
Allbro is a South African manufacturer with more than 800 employees Mbombela/Nelspruit, West Rand, Richards Bay, Port Elizabeth, Springs,
and 22 000 square metres of production facility. The company Gauteng East & Central, Ladysmith, Pietermaritzburg, Potchefstroom, Piet
manufactures non-metallic enclosures and has developed a junction Retief, Rustenburg, Paulpietersburg, Welkom, Bloemfontein, Northern Cape,
box used for CCTV cameras. East London, Mthatha, Middelburg, Hartbeespoort, Witbank, Kimberley.

Integrated Technology Solutions

Avigilon, a Motorola
Solutions Company
Vendor/manufacturer BNETA International
Distributor/supplier
Contact: Jamey Pietersen
Cell: +27 73 719 0043 Contact: Lindi Swanepoel
jamey.pietersen@motorolasolutions.com Tel: +27 11 032 7900
www.avigilon.com sales@bneta.co.za
www.bneta.co.za
Branches: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg
BNETA International is an authorised national distributor of EZVIZ
The Avigilon portfolio of fixed video, advanced analytics and smart since 2016. As a sub-brand of Hikvision, EZVIZ offers wide range of
access control systems are part of Motorola Solutions’ mission-critical easy-to-use home and SMB security solutions, including Wi-Fi indoor
ecosystem designed for public safety and enterprise security. and outdoor security cameras and security sensors.

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 61

 DIRECTORY LISTINGS

Bosch Building Forbatt SA

Technologies Distributor/supplier
Vendor/manufacturer Vendor/manufacturer

Contact: Quintin van den Berg Contact: Sales

Tel: +27 11 651 9600 Tel: +27 11 469 3598
security.systems@za.bosch.com sales@forbatt.co
www.boschsecurity.com/xf/en www.forbatt.co

Branches: Midrand, Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Indian Ocean Islands, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia,
Swaziland, Zambia and East Africa (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda,
Tanzania, Uganda).
Imagine when customers know what’s next. They can respond before
potential situations occur and predict new business opportunities. AIoT
video systems from Bosch deliver the power to predict, are built on
trust, and support sustainable business practices.
Branches: Johannesburg, Cape Town
Forbatt SA is an agent for energy products, video surveillance
technology and installation accessories. Forbatt’s focus is solutions
that give the end user the best of all worlds. It is the sole agent for
KEDACOM, TVT, NUUO, Forbatt Batteries and Peak Power. The company
imports exclusively for its network of distributors.

G4S Secure Solutions

Cathexis Africa (SA)
Vendor/manufacturer
Vendor/manufacturer
Contact: Dene Alkema
Contact: MJ Oosthuizen
Tel: +27 12 653 2222
Cell: +27 82 602 0910
sales@catafrica.co.za
mj.oosthuizen@za.g4s.com
www.cathexisvideo.com
www.g4s.com
Branches: Durban, Centurion
Branches: G4S operates in 29 countries accross Africa and nationally
accross South Africa.
Cathexis combines product innovation with a focus on the stability
and integrity of the solution. The CathexisVision IP video management
G4S is the global leader in integrated security solutions. The company
software suite provides sophisticated solutions to satisfy security and
specialises in outsourced business processes and facilities in sectors
infrastructure management requirements across diverse market sectors,
where security and safety risks are considered a strategic threat.
including healthcare, retail, logistics, education, mining, residential and
commercial estates, transport and city surveillance.

Dahua Technology Genetec

South Africa Vendor/manufacturer
Vendor/manufacturer
Contact: Quintin Roberts
Contact: Menette van der Merwe Cell: +27 79 497 5129
Cell: +27 66 236 6223 qroberts@genetec.com
menette.vdmerwe@dahuatech.com www.genetec.com
www.dahuasecurity.com/sa
Genetec develops solutions designed to improve security, intelligence,
Branches: Gauteng (Head Office), KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Town and operations for enterprises, governments, and the communities
in which we live. Its flagship product, Security Center, is an open-
Dahua’s extensive range of solutions enables it to guarantee its architecture platform that unifies IP-based video surveillance, access
customers the right solution for all operating environments. Continual control, automatic licence plate recognition (ALPR), communications,
investment in research and development allows Dahua to claim a and analytics.
leading position in the global surveillance industry, making the world a
securer, smarter, and safer place to conduct business.

DeepAlert Hikvision South Africa

Vendor/manufacturer Vendor/manufacturer

Contact: Mark Smuts Contact: Jade Wang

Cell: +27 76 654 5503 Cell: +27 60 441 3111
mark@deepalert.ai wangqi7@hikvision.com
www.deepalert.ai www.hikvision.com/africa/

Cloud-based, event-driven video management system that connects
remotely to any NVR/camera providing a real-time, intuitive, feature-rich
monitoring interface for offsite monitoring. No hardware is required.
AI false alarm filtering service for Listener, HikCentral, WatchManager,
Online Intelligence, Sentinel, Immix. Service sold as a monthly
subscription.
Branches: Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town
Hikvision is an IoT solutions provider with video as its core competency.
The mission is to empower vision for decision makers and practitioners,
and work together to enhance safety and advance sustainable
development around the world.

62 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

DIRECTORY LISTINGS

iCAM Video Telematics Reditron

Installer/system integrator Distributor/supplier
Distributor/supplier
Contact: Gordon Moore
Contact: Gary Wels Cell: +27 82 883 8921
Tel: 0861 158 527 gordon.moore@reditron.co.za
garyw@icamvideo.co.za www.reditron.co.za
www.icamvideo.co.za
Branches: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Nelspruit
iCAM supplies, installs and monitors video telematics (MDVR) products
for the commercial vehicle and logistics sector. These products are Reditron invites and welcomes the challenges of the ever-evolving
specifically installed in commercial and fleet vehicles, providing video global electronic security industry and is re-imagining the future.
recording and telematics data in a single solution. iCAM provides its Reditron offers its clients and partners tailor-made solutions for CCTV
customers with a complete security fleet solution. surveillance and access control and as a value-added service, technical
support and national training on all its products.

Regal Distributors SA
Distributor/supplier
Leaderware Contact: Etienne Rheder
Installer/system integrator
Tel: +27 11 553 3300
www.regalsecurity.co.za
Contact: Craig Donald
Tel: +27 11 787 7811
Branches: Balfour Park, Bellville, Bloemfontein, Boksburg, Cape Town,
sales@leaderware.com
Centurion, Durban, East London, Edenvale, Fourways, Gqeberha,
www.leaderware.com Johannesburg South, Krugersdorp, Linden, Long Meadow, Midrand,
Montana, Nelspruit, Northgate, Pietermaritzburg, Pinetown, Polokwane,
Human factors specialist in CCTV and X-rays, including selection, Pretoria, Roodepoort, Strijdom Park, Vanderbijlpark, Witbank.
training, control room design and human factor audits of security
systems. Provision of internationally presented training in CCTV Regal Distributors SA is a leading value-added distributor of quality
surveillance skills, behaviour analysis, incident recognition, branded IP, high-definition analogue CCTV products and technology-
management and supervisory control room management training, as driven solutions for all market verticals. Its extended services, accessible at
well as full-body X-ray training. 28 branches nationwide as well as via the website, includes system design,
quality technical support, repairs and ongoing product training.

Remote Off-Site Monitoring

Installer/system integrator
Mustek Security Contact: Roy Wyman
Technologies Tel: +27 11 425 0146
Installer/system integrator sales@remotemonitoring.co.za
www.cctvmonitoring.co.za
Contact: Sergio Pedregal
Tel: +27 11 237 1000 Branches: National footprint
sergiop@mstprojects.co.za
www.mustek.co.za Remote Off-Site Monitoring (ROM) is a CCTV remote monitoring company.
The company remotely monitors most CCTV systems. Its encoder incorporates
Branches: Midrand, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, artificial intelligence onto the client’s existing CCTV system, which in-turn
East London, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Mahikeng, Kimberley generates alarm triggers in ROM’s control room. It also supplies and installs
IP-CCTV systems, access control, smoke detection and turnkey solutions.
Mustek Security Technologies offers certified and PSIRA compliant
services, providing security solutions and IP video products primarily for
the government and corporate arenas. The company offers a complete RR Electronic Security
security solution, including system design, installation, commissioning Solutions
and maintenance services, obviating the need to source various Installer/system integrator
components from a host of suppliers.
Contact: Rivash Raghubir
Tel: +27 11 794 2825
info@rress.co.za
www.rress.co.za
Progroup
Vendor/manufacturer Branches: Johannesburg
Installer/system integrator Associated Contractor – KwaZulu-Natal
Associated Contractor – Western Cape
Contact: Joanna Ridley
Tel: +27 11 493 1545 Design/supply/installation of CCTV systems.
joanna@progroup.co.za Protection – assets, staff and company IP.
www.progroupsecure.co.za Production – where is everybody? Who steals time? Who’s involved?
Profitability – the ability to audit the processes from raw materials
Progroup manufactures custom-designed control and security room through to finished product, warehousing, mining, commercial, plus
consoles, specialised desk and interior fittings. health and safety issues.

www.securitysa.com CCTV Handbook 2022 63

 DIRECTORY LISTINGS

Skycom Verstay
Vendor/manufacturer Installer/system integrator
Distributor/supplier
Contact: Johan Van Heerde
Cell: +27 83 661 5863 Contact: Bennie du Toit
johan.vanheerde@skycom.co.za Cell: +27 72 777 5150
www.skycom-solutions.co.za sales@verstay.co.za
www.verstay.co.za
Branches: Nationwide
Branches: Kempton Park, Johannesburg
Skycom, the home of XTime, offers customised software and product
development, consulting services pertaining to software and business Verstay is a one-stop telecommunication and CCTV company
process needs analysis, automation as well as system and data situated in Ekurhuleni. It values your business through its product
integration on various platforms. Onsite or remote system support ranges, quality, prices and most of all service. It strives for business
services are available to ensure that your system is performing at excellence through its distribution and maintence network
optimal levels. throughout South Africa. It supports and promotes top brands in all
projects that it undertakes.

Switchcom Distribution
Distributor/supplier Western Digital
Vendor/manufacturer
Contact: Sales
Tel: +27 10 007 2555 Contact: Josiane David
sales@switchcom.co.za Cell: +27 62 392 6023
www.switchcom.co.za josiane.david@wdc.com
www.pinnacle.co.za
Branches: Linbro Business Park, Sandton, Johannesburg
Branches: Western Digital has representatives in South Africa, Nigeria,
Switchcom Distribution is a leading ICT distributor always aiming to Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
supply South Africa with the highest quality solutions that are available
in surveillance and access control including Hikvision and Suprema Surveillance storage solutions.
respectively. Its services comprise sales, distribution, technical support
and project financing for resellers, installers and end users.

Top CCTV XtraVision

Distributor/supplier Distributor/supplier

Contact: Albert Van Lill Contact: Nick Grange

Tel: +27 21 852 6680 Tel: +27 11 450 1056
albert@topcctv.co.za nick@xtravision.co.za
www.topcctv.co.za www.xtravision.co.za

Branches: Somerset West (national sales), Milnerton (Cape Town sales) Branches: Gauteng, Western Cape

Top CCTV is an integrated solutions distributor in South Africa for full
end-to-end surveillance solutions. It specialises in home/business CCTV
systems, intercoms and biometric access control, intelligent security and
video analytics, automatic licence plate recognition systems and long-
range wireless systems.
XtraVision is a global importer and distributor of security and fire
products, with quality and reliability being key driving forces in
terms of the technologies it supplies. Boasting a portfolio that
serves all market requirements, XtraVision’s core business is product
distribution through its project-based supply department and over-
the-counter shop outlets.

VCam Security
Distributor/supplier Disclaimer: The information in this publication is furnished for the
exclusive use of subscribers and is based on the most reliable data
Contact: Shawn Deyzel
available to Technews Publishing. However, the information was
Tel: +27 11 963 3563
shawn@vcam.co.za obtained from sources which Technews Publishing does not control and,
www.vcam.co.za although every effort has been made to verify it, the data is volatile. In
furnishing this information, Technews Publishing in no way assumes any
Branches: Kempton Park, Johannesburg part of the users’ or suppliers’ risks, does not guarantee its completeness,
timeliness or accuracy and shall not be liable for any loss or injury
VCam Security is an importer and distributor of high-end security whatever resulting from the use of or reliance on the information, or
products, offering customers innovative, stable and cutting-edge CCTV from negligence.
surveillance and access control products and services. VCam Security is
a leading distributor for the Avigilon range of CCTV and access control
products.

64 CCTV Handbook 2022 www.securitysa.com

 Index to
advertisers
Allbro Industries.......................................... OBC

AxxonSoft SA ...................................................39

Bidvest Protea Coin.......................................... 9

BNETA International ......................................45

Cathexis Africa .................................................23 Complete information offering to suit your needs

Dahua Technology South Africa ................. 5 The Print Magazines

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Forbatt SA .............................................. OFC, 19 Handbook, CCTV Handbook, Residential Estate Security Handbooks
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and the Hi-Tech Security Business Directory.
Hikvision South Africa .................................... 3

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