Aberdeen Group announced the publication of a new study called The Eyes Have IT: How Video Analytics is Driving a Proactive Approach to Physical Security. Aberdeen found that with the same number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, the top performers in the study are able to support 3.3-times more cameras and 21-times more alerts requiring evaluation and action by guards or operators. In addition, by investing in enabling technologies such as video analytics, the top performers are actually spending about 67 percent less than all others on a per-camera basis, and their guard force is assessing, prioritizing and taking action on 5-times more alerts per camera per day.

The report says that top performance at video surveillance means higher probability of detection, lower rate of false alarms, and a shift towards ardently managing and responding to situations as they unfold, rather than reactively figuring out what happened after the fact.

 

According to the report, technologies such as video analytics and physical security information management help to automate video monitoring, filter out irrelevant information, and provide operators and guard forces with the data they need to make more intelligent decisions -- typically referred to as "actionable data" in the language of IT; "situational knowledge" in the language of public safety; and "total domain awareness" in the language of homeland security.

 

"Rather than investing in still more passive cameras and still more people that together provide very limited value, Aberdeen's research shows that the top performers in video surveillance are investing in enabling technologies such as video analytics that provide more value by recognizing and acting on anomalous behavior before the incidents occur, rather than after," commented Derek Brink, vice president and research fellow for IT Security, Aberdeen. "In this way, they are moving beyond a purely forensic approach and driving a dedicated approach to physical security."

 

A complimentary copy of the report is at http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=5721&camp2.