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Posts Tagged ‘video’

Innovative smart video use cases in healthcare

The use cases for video in healthcare settings stretch far beyond the typical security applications, according to Ty Miller, business development manager for healthcare for Genetec, one of our partner vendors. Miller recently shared a number of innovative healthcare use cases for video on the Dell PowerChat podcast.

Video is powerful tool for enhancing the patient experience, says miller. Hospitals and other provider facilities are becoming increasingly focused on the patient experience and are recognizing patients as consumers. Just as retailers are using video to enhance the consumer experience, health care providers are now using video to enhance the patient experience. Here are a few of the ways video can be used to enhance the patient experience:

Detecting drug diversion. Drug diversion – the theft of drugs from facilities – cost health care payors and others an estimated $75 billion a year. Those costs eventually get passed on to the consumer in a variety of ways, including higher costs for services. Video can be used in concert with other security systems to control access and deter diversion.

Optimize safety. “Being able to limit wandering patients is one example of how we can optimize safety in [healthcare] environments,” said Miller. It’s not unusual for patients suffering from dementia or other issues to become confused and find their way out of facilities and into dangerous situations. Integrated access control and safety systems can use tags to detect patient location, confirm location with video and redirect patients back to safety quickly before they are at risk.

Fall risk reduction. Thermal cameras can detect if a patient has fallen or is about to fall without revealing their identity or compromising their dignity.

“Thermal imaging technology protects privacy,” says Miller, and doesn’t violate HIPAA, all while preventing further injury or summoning help quickly.

Offers context with integrated systems. Systems designed to prevent infants from being kidnapped from hospital maternity floors are sensitive and often produce false alarms. Video instantly offers contextualization that can help reduce false alarms by work seamlessly with other systems to verify identity at key access points, says Miller.

Hands-free access control. Video cameras can also offer facial recognition for workstation sign on and access control. In a facility where workers may be pushing carts or wheelchairs, carrying supplies or trying to limit the surfaces to reduce the spread of infections, hands-free sign on offers increased efficiency and safety.

Interested in exploring innovating new use cases to improve the customer experience? We’d be happy to chat.

Is video surveillance a marketing tool for college campuses?

When it comes time to select a college, you might think that prospective students and their parents focus on factors like academics, cost, beauty of the campus and even the quality of the football and basketball teams. Another important factor? Safety.

Campus safety is a significant factor in choosing a college, particularly for parents. A recent poll conducted by CollegeBoards.com found that 86 percent of parents ranked safety high on their list of requirements, edging out even academics.  

It’s not surprising that 28 percent of colleges and universities highlight their video cameras in their marketing material, according to the 2018 Campus Safety Magazine Video Surveillance Survey.

Video plays a crucial role in campus safety, expanding the reach of campus safety officers into nearly every physical space on campus. A solid 96 percent of survey respondents use video surveillance daily or weekly to keep campuses safe. Top use cases on college and university campuses include theft, crime from community members coming from off campus, and incidents during evenings and off hours.

Video surveillance is used in real time, and for later review. According to the survey, 59 percent of campus security professionals report using video to investigate crimes, while 26 percent report that they are used to deter criminal activity in the first place. Video surveillance is also used by 52 percent of respondents to monitor live events where safety and security issues could arise, like concerts, sporting events and protests. Thirty three percent of respondents find video surveillance to be a force multiplier.

Given those use cases, image quality and reliability are key factors in choosing video surveillance tools, along with integration with other systems and data analytics tools to extend the reach and insights even further.

ECT Services partners with leaders in video surveillance cameras like Axis. We build integrated systems that connect seamlessly with other tools like access control solutions offered by HID and active shooter alert systems like The Guardian by Shooter Detection Systems.

Want to learn more? Contact us at (800) 567-1180 for a consultation today.

Axis finds ‘sweet spot’ for reducing storage needs while maintaining image quality

There’s no question that 360 degree panoramic cameras deliver excellent coverage and rich image detail.

But those qualities come at a price, and for 360 degree video, the cost comes in the form of higher bandwidth and storage usage.

Photo credit: Axis

For many end users, finding the sweet spot between the need for coverage and quality and the desire to keep bandwidth and storage costs low has been a challenge. Axis Communications, one of ECT Services trusted partners, is meeting that challenge with the release of updates to its Zipstream compression technology.

Zipstream analyzes and optimizes the video stream in real time. The technology automatically detects low value areas like walls, lawns and vegetation, and ‘smooths’ them out, saving bandwidth and space. At the same time, the technology automatically detects important forensic details such as faces, tattoos and license plates and isolates and preserves them. A dynamic rate controller is enabled automatically when a camera is panned, tilted or zoomed. The result is a 50 percent decrease in bandwidth and storage requirements for surveillance video with no loss in frame rate or resolution.
“Storage and bandwidth make a significant part of the total cost of a surveillance system. Axis developed Zipstream to address the specific needs of the security industry. That is, to minimize these requirements without losing forensic details,” said Johan Paulsson, Chief Technology Officer at Axis Communications in a company press release. “We are happy and proud to announce that the enhancement of Zipstream now embraces both panoramic and ultra-high resolution cameras.”

Two new Axis compact fixed mini dome ‘fisheye’ network cameras, AXIS M3047-P and AXIS M3048-P, take advantage of the enhanced Zipstream technology to deliver 360-degree coverage on a budget.

AXIS M3047-P, with a 6-megapixel sensor, and AXIS M3048-P, with a 12-megapixel sensor, both deliver full frame rate video, according to the release.

Zipstream also works with Axis’ fixed and fixed dome, PTZ, thermal and explosion-protected cameras as well as door stations.