September 2, 2026
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How technology is making school buses safer

Ensuring the safety of the millions of children that ride school buses daily is a top priority. New and more advanced technologies are helping school districts protect students both on and off the bus.
Izvor: a&s International
E-mail: redakcija@asadria.com

School buses are one of the safest modes of transportation on the road. In fact, students are 70 times more likely to arrive safely at school if traveling by school bus rather than by car, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Even so, recent school bus accidents, such as the 2016 Chattanooga, Tennessee, bus crash that resulted in the deaths of six students have highlighted the need for stronger safety measures.

Today, a combination of public awareness, driver and student bus safety training, and installation of integrated onboard safety technologies are essential for modern school bus safety management, according to Justin Malcolm, Director of Product Management for Safe Fleet. By deploying a combination of different safety solutions, school buses across the U.S. can better ensure the safety of the precious cargo they transport.

Using Cameras and GPS Tracking
Nowadays there are many different types of safety and security solutions for school buses. Cameras are a common safety measure, and in the past have mostly been installed inside buses to monitor and keep track of what is happening aboard. However, advancements in camera technology and accompanying software can now offer school districts real-time video footage of what is happening both outside and inside the bus. This is important since students are most vulnerable during the loading and unloading process.

While the deployment of stop arms and crossing arms have helped reduce student injuries and fatalities over the years, implementing stop arm cameras on the outside of the bus is helping penalize drivers overtaking stopped school buses.

“Stop-arm cameras track any illegal passing and some states allow districts to use these cameras to issue tickets to those drivers,” said Gene Ballard, Smart Bus Program Manager at Kajeet. “Rearview or backup cameras provide drivers another point of reference to ensure there are no pedestrians walking behind the school bus. Additionally, bus drivers have a silent alarm or panic button, which they can press to alert their transportation department of an issue or emergency on their school bus,” he added.

Leslie Kilgore, VP of Engineering at Thomas Built Buses (TBB), explained how using a 360-degree camera, such as TBB’s PV360, could provide a 360-degree bird’s-eye view of the exterior of the bus. “Unlike other cameras in the market that provide images on split screens, the PV360 camera shows full visibility all the way around the bus with screens that are stitched together to create one image,” she said. The PV360 uses four cameras to provide bus drivers with real-time video images of everything that is happening outside the bus, without constantly switching views. “If the driver needs a closer look, he or she can toggle between cameras for a closer look. This technology is especially important since most accidents involving a school bus happen outside the bus.”

GPS tracking is another popular solution used for school bus safety. Through GPS tracking, school districts can know the exact location of all buses in its fleet. “GPS technology also provides speed reports, such as the posted speed vs. the actual bus speed. So if bus drivers are speeding, transportation departments can now see who is speeding, where they were speeding, and by how much,” Ballard explained.

Installing GPS telematics units also provides school transport managers with important information ranging from real-time bus location; school bus driver’s driving behavior; geofencing alerts when vehicles exit and enter predefined areas or routes; and maintenance, according to Morgan Minster, Marketing Manager at Wireless Links.

How Wi-Fi Changed the Game
Aside from improved camera and GPS telematics technology, companies have developed a wide variety of solutions to enhance school bus safety. Much of this development has been brought on and made possible by the increased availability of Wi-Fi networks and the overall IoT revolution.

“Technology is bringing more and more safety solutions to the school bus. The first solution to bring school buses into the 21st century is internet access,” Ballard said. “As school buses become well-connected vehicles, there needs to be a factor that ties all of the technology together. And that connecting piece is internet access. With Wi-Fi on the school bus, districts get the access they need to keep moving forward in the connected world while saving money and expanding their capabilities to integrate any Wi-Fi enabled solutions.”

Kilgore observed, “Cellular data and Wi-Fi has enabled apps to function and to be accessible. In addition, cellular data also enables some technologies like onboard telematics to receive over-the-air updates much like a standard computer update. This saves the fleet managers and technicians time and money and makes the school bus safer overall by allowing communication with the transportation department.”

Malcolm noted that adoption of live streaming, which offers the ability to tap into installed video cameras to assess onboard emergencies, has been hampered by the high costs of cellular data plans. “Deployments of mobile Wi-Fi will help reduce the adoption barriers to live video streaming, by sharing data plan costs across applications.”

Additionally, filtered Wi-Fi — meaning students can only access educational, safe sites — on school buses allows students to focus on their homework or educational games, which keeps them entertained and reduces the chances of fighting, according to Ballard. “They won’t be spending their time on social media or watching TV. And students can gain an additional 20 days of instructional time with Wi-Fi on their school bus,” he explained.

New Technologies Creating Safer Buses
There are many new and innovative technologies on the market today that are being deploying on buses to increase safety and security in and around the bus.

“When developing technologies for our industry, we strive to hit the right balance, bringing to market only the innovations that make sense for the customers. In other words, the right technology at the right time. We don’t innovate for the sake of innovating,” Kilgore said. “Instead, we try to address problems in the industry and work to make school buses safer, more efficient, easier to maintain, and to provide a lower total cost of ownership.”

One such technology being developed is pedestrian detection. TBB is currently developing its own pedestrian detection solution, which will be comprised of LED ground lights on the cross-view mirrors as well as multiple radar units on the 77 GHz frequency band installed around the exterior of a Thomas Built bus. “These higher frequency radars, which are used for autonomous vehicles and high-resolution meteorological observations, will allow for more precise detection and measurement of a pedestrian or object within 10 feet of the front, back or side of the school bus. The entire traditional danger zone will be visible. When a pedestrian is detected, the system will alert the driver on an in-cabin tablet, as well as through caution lights on the cross-view mirrors,” Kilgore explained.

Safe Fleet is also working on smart pedestrian detection technologies that use a combination of video, sensors, artificial intelligence and deep learning, which will help analyze and reduce future accidents. “Safe Fleet is currently working on a number of school bus danger zone safety technologies that both improve visibility around the bus and analyze and alert both students and drivers of any hazards in the danger zone. These technologies working together will analyze whether an oncoming vehicle is likely to pass illegally, and warn students and drivers not to cross. These technologies will improve visibility and send both visual and audible alerts to drivers when motion is detected near the school bus at a stop to reduce collisions,” Malcolm said.

Lane departure and collision avoidance warnings, which can alert the driver before an impending accident occurs, are also being adopted by school districts.

While technologies like collision avoidance and pedestrian detection are considered new technologies for the school bus industry, Kilgore pointed out that they are not necessarily new to the transportation industry.

Challenges to Safety and Security
One of the biggest challenges school districts face when wanting to deploy new technology is budgetary. “School budgets are limited and when it comes to purchasing multiple school buses or equipping just a few buses with state-of-the-art technology, most school districts opt to purchase more buses rather than a few with the latest in safety technology,” Kilgore said.

“Budget is consistently a roadblock to advancing school buses with the latest technology,” Ballard said. To meet this challenge, Kajeet has reduced the upfront cost of its solution with a new program, SmartBus Select. “This program brings the first-year cost down to US$840. This fixed monthly rate for this all-in-one program includes: SmartBus hardware, installation kit, installation services, data plan with 4G LTE connectivity on six North American wireless carriers, and GPS services,” he explained.

Urgency, as observed by Minster, is another challenge. “Although schools and districts are aware of the benefits, they are not urgent to pass the necessary budget to equip school buses with these types of technologies or they do not feel that they should invest in these solutions at the moment. This causes delays in the implementation in these solutions which is a shame as all can benefit from these types of technologies to ensure student safety.”

Malcolm noted connectivity challenges, high cost data plans, and IT networking infrastructure knowledge as obstacles preventing faster adoption of newer technologies. “Also with the proliferation of data from all these technologies, school administrators are overwhelmed by system operations and data analysis,” he added.

Seon, a Safe Fleet brand, has tackled these problems by offering a completely integrated out-of-the-box solution for school transportation that combines video, route operations, tracking and student ridership technology to make it easier for administrators to pull meaningful data that improves student safety. Additionally, its Certified Wireless Network Administrators can help districts architect their wireless networks to handle the demands of video transmission.

A Future of Smart School Buses
Despite budget limitations, school buses will continue to become not only safer and more secure, but also smarter. With regulations changing to better ensure student safety, along with increased connectivity and advancements in technology, school buses are bound to become smarter — not just because of available technologies, but because student safety will demand it.

Deadly school bus accidents are driving US lawmakers at both the federal and state levels to strengthen the regulations that govern school bus safety.

New regulations are oftentimes an unfortunate result of tragic accidents. For example, the death of a two-year-old girl in New Jersey resulted in Abigail’s Law. This law requires school buses in the state to be equipped with sensors to detect objects in the front and back of the bus. Then earlier this year in May, a school bus accident in New Jersey, which resulted in the death of one student and a teacher, brought increased attention to school bus safety. In response to the accident, state lawmakers passed a bill requiring all new school buses to have three-point lap and shoulder belts – previously school buses were only required to have two-point lap belts.

Nationally, school bus safety is governed by strict regulations set forth by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). “School buses must meet 42 FMVSS requirements, more than any other vehicle on the road,” explained Leslie Kilgore, VP of Engineering at Thomas Built Buses (TBB). “Beyond the federal requirements, individual states have their own safety regulations, plus the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) make recommendations on regulations and restrictions to further enhance the safety of school buses.” According to the NHTSA, in a single day more than 104,000 school bus drivers observed 77,972 vehicles illegally passing school buses in 2017. To combat this, the NCSL reports there are currently 15 states that allow local governments or school districts to use cameras to capture images and issue tickets to drivers illegally passing stopped school buses.

Recently, the NTSB recommended all US school buses be equipped with lap-shoulder belts and electronic stability control. While some states take these recommendations to heart, others are still considering the recommendation. Currently, only eight states — Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Texas — in the U.S. have laws requiring school buses to have seatbelts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Electronic stability control, which assists school bus drivers by detecting when a school bus is unstable and corrects the path of the bus before a rollover or loss of control occurs, can help eliminate accidents before they happen. Kilgore noted Canada requires all new school buses be equipped with electronic stability control. “With time, more and more of these safety features will become standard on school buses. Today, our new Saf-T-Liner C2 school buses already come equipped with electronic stability control and engine telematics as standard equipment. More features will follow, due to regulations or needs within the industry. But it will take time and further education before all school buses across the United States and Canada feature all these technologies,” Kilgore said.

 

Hikvision: Using waste to gain time

Waste management has become a hot topic in a world where managing resources is crucial to the future of the planet. In fact, earlier this year the scientific community warned that the Earth was heading to ‘the point of no return’ unless immediate action to reduce harmful emissions is taken. In this political environment reuse is more important than ever.
Affald Plus in Denmark is a waste disposal company that treats waste from South and West Zealand regions of Denmark to create a valuable resource. It turns the waste into materials for reuse, like biofuels, copper, paper, and ‘upcycling’ of construction waste.

But there are risks involved in these activities – for example, waste silos can produce flammable gases which could ignite if the temperature gets too high. To manage this risk, Affald Plus turned to SeeSafe, a leading Danish security provider – and SeeSafe used Hikvision products to build the solution, including thermal cameras and a decoder managing a video wall for the control centre.

Challenge
Since many of the silos are unmanned, it’s important that the company has an accurate oversight into what is going on at each of them. Not only do they need to be able to see that they are safe, and that there are no unauthorised persons ‘hanging around’, but also that the temperatures inside are within an acceptable range. Operators are looking out for ‘hotspots’ – areas where the temperature has risen to a level where they need to carefully monitor them, or act. Hotspots are static, but if they move, then it’s likely that there is actually a fire – the nature of flames is much more random, moving around.
Since all of the silos are monitored for a central security office, it was also important to bring in all of the information to the same place and make it easy to see. In order to make swift decisions, the data needs to be clear, accessible and current. In past, this task was very time consuming, with security personnel completing two rounds of the whole plant every day. This also meant that they could not react as quickly to any potential issues.

Solution
The complete solution took the form of a mix of Turbo HD and IP cameras, DVR and encoders. But the hero products were several thermal network bullet cameras (DS-2TD2136-10) and a decoder device (DS-6910UDI) that managed a video wall in the central security office.
The thermal cameras were chosen specifically for their ability to detect a potential fire through temperature measurement. They can measure temperature between -20°C to 150°C, with an accuracy of ±8°C. Each camera can support 10 fire points, and when the temperatures reach a predefined level at one of them, an alarm is sent directly to the control centre.
Here all the information from the cameras is combined, so operators can easily see what and where the risk is and act accordingly. The decoder displays the decoded video stream on the video wall by directly linking the cameras in the solution. It also allows the video wall to display temperature measurements, dynamic fire source detection and VCA information in live view and playback.
With thermal cameras constantly on the lookout for rising temperatures and a video wall to make it easy to see the status of the silos, Affald Plus Operating Manager Jeppe Steen Elvang can rest easier. He says: “With these new thermal cameras we can constantly monitor the heat of the large amount of waste we have in silos. We get alarms when it approaches dangerous temperatures. We can now follow all processes effectively and monitor critical sites in the plant and at our unmanned locations.”
With the help of SeeSafe and Hikvision cameras, Affald Plus can contribute to recycling targets in a safe and sustainable way. And, hopefully, with the continuing efforts of companies and projects like this, the point of no return predicted by scientists will be pushed further away.

Find out about the thermal cameras
Find out about the decoder

ISE connects the world’s AV community

ISE 2019 shows how technology and creativity deliver experience
The 16th Integrated Systems Europe, which ran at the RAI Amsterdam from 5-8 February, was the biggest, broadest-reaching and most exciting edition of the show ever – confirming it as the international destination of choice for AV professionals.

As well as hosting 15 halls containing the latest technologies and solutions for pro AV and systems integration, the show provided its widest-ranging professional development programme to date, extending its coverage of major vertical market sectors.

The largest ever ISE show floor – 56,100 net square metres – housed 1,301 exhibitors. Of these 225 (17%) were companies taking space at ISE for the first time. At the close of ISE 2019, 92% of the available floor space at ISE 2020 had already been sold.

The overall number of registered visitors to ISE 2019 was 81,268 – another record figure for the show. Of these, a remarkable 32% were attending ISE for the first time. Wednesday saw the largest ever one-day attendance figure for any show at the Amsterdam RAI, and the number of attendees on Friday passed 20,000 for the first time.

A key theme of the show was how AV technology enables creative imaginations to produce rich experiences. This was explored in both the Opening Address from master projection designer Bart Kresa, and the Closing Keynote given by Tupac Martir, creative director and co-founder of Satore Studio. They were part of a professional development programme involving 300 international thought leaders, subject experts and creative minds.

Mike Blackman, Integrated Systems Events Managing Director, commented: “As an exhibition, as an unbeatable source of education and professional development, and as a destination for a global industry to come together and do business – ISE 2019 has delivered. Our Opening Address, Closing Keynote, and our two projection mapping features were fantastic showcases for how event professionals and others can harness AV technology to better realise their creativity.”

The day after his Opening Address, the world premiere of Bart Kresa’s latest projection mapping sculpture, Sviatovid, took place at the RAI. Constantly changing, highly detailed imagery projected all around the 5m-high figure, synchronised with a dynamic soundtrack, made for a compelling and memorable AV experience.

In ISE 2019’s other projection mapping first, the façade of the soon-to-open nhow RAI Amsterdam hotel, just next to the exhibition centre, became a projection mapping canvas, with video shot that day at the show forming part of each evening’s display.

Presented under the slogan ‘Learn. Discover. Be Inspired’, ISE 2019’s professional development programme featured strong involvement from the show’s co-owners AVIXA and CEDIA, as well as conferences organised by vertical market specialists.

For the first time, the nearby Hotel Okura was used as an ISE venue, hosting five of the show’s ten conferences. New additions for 2019 included Hospitality Tech Summit by HTNG; Digital Cinema Summit, produced in conjunction with Digital Cinema Report; AGORA, for the sports venue market, produced by MONDO | STADIA; and visitor attraction and theme park specialist blooloop returned to ISE for a second year with its new attractionsTECH conference.

AVIXA hosted two of its ‘What’s Next’ conferences, both of which had sold out before the show opened. These two strategy and technology conferences focused on integrated AV experiences in higher education and in enterprise. The association also ran a series of free 20-minute FlashTrack education sessions on its stand.

CEDIA, which used ISE 2019 to begin its 30th anniversary celebration events, had a four-day professional development programme with over 36 different courses, covering pertinent subjects under the headings of Technical Skills, Emerging Trends, and Business Success. Additionally, its stand hosted free CEDIA Talks on topical industry issues each day of the show.

An innovation for ISE 2019 was the Main Stage theatre in Hall 8. This was the venue for high-level thought leadership presentations, best practice case studies and expert-led panel discussions, many of which were ‘standing-room only’. Content was provided by AVIXA, CEDIA, AV Magazine and ISE itself, and the presentations were live-streamed to the ISE website.

ISE’s beating heart is its show floor, and ISE 2019 exhibitors once again made the most of the opportunity to launch new products and showcase their latest solutions. Among the technology trends in evidence were 8K displays; smart building technology, including the Internet of Things; AI-equipped devices; the continued progression of conferencing and collaboration technology; 3D projection mapping; a wider-than-ever choice of curved, flexible, transparent and ever-smaller-pitch LED displays; and further developments in AV over IP and audio networking.

For AVIXA and CEDIA, the event offered the perfect opportunity to showcase their various initiatives for 2019 in the areas of professional development and industry representation.

Dave Labuskes, CTS, CAE, RCDD, Chief Executive Officer of AVIXA, commented: “Congratulations to everyone involved with ISE on another record year. But let’s not lose sight of the many connections – both personal and professional – that were made in 2019.

“AVIXA defines success as being a catalyst for the growth of the global AV market and a hub for the profession and its practitioners. We certainly saw those twin goals become reality in Amsterdam. All of the focused conferences throughout the week, including AVIXA’s sold-out ‘What’s Next’ conferences for higher education and enterprise technologists, and networking opportunities, such as those held for AVIXA’s Women’s Council and EMEA members, help bring people together in order to propel this industry forward. Our FlashTracks stage of training opportunities was buzzing, and special programmes, like ISE’s student programme for fostering workforce development, demonstrated some of the many ways the show continues to be a dynamic, critical gathering of industry professionals.

“As always, it is our privilege to work with the talented team at ISE, CEDIA and the RAI. The commercial value of a trade fair like ISE cannot be overestimated nor over-celebrated.”

Tabatha O’Connor, CEO of CEDIA, commented: “We’ve enjoyed an amazing ISE 2019! CEDIA chose this year’s show as the kick off point for our 30-year anniversary celebrations and what an awesome week it has been.

“Our professional development programme has exceeded expectations, with delegates from around the world taking advantage of the excellent and varied training opportunities on offer. A number of classes, including our new full-day Home Cinema Design Masterclass, even sold out – which was great. The free CEDIA Talks on our booth also proved popular and we were delighted to showcase CEDIA Award winning projects with support from integrators and industry brand members on the ISE Main Stage.

“Above all, ISE is a great place for the CEDIA global community to connect not just with the many exciting, new technologies on display but with their industry friends and peers as well. We met with many new and existing international members on the CEDIA booth, giving us the chance to share progress on our three-year strategic plan and talk about the many initiatives we have coming down the pipe. We also welcomed over 200 guests to the Heineken Brewery for our annual CEDIA Party and 30th birthday cake cutting – a fantastic evening enjoyed by all comers.

“The show has been a terrific success and we can’t wait for ISE 2020!”

ISE 2020 will be held at the RAI Amsterdam from 11-14 February 2020.

Interview: Mr. Anton Mladenov, AxxonSoft

Mr. Anton Mladenov, could you present yourself to our readers: when did you start working for AxxonSoft, what duties are your performing, your educational and professional background, etc.?

My name is Anton Mladenov, I am a Regional Sales Manager at AxxonSoft since 2017. The territory that I am currently responsible for is the Balkan region. Before joining the current team I was representing Russian Access Control Systems – Castle, as Regional Sales Manager for Bulgaria. At university I studied Business Information Technologies. My first steps were in Bulgarian company for software solutions for the retail sector, as Partner Manager.

AxxonSoft has been in the market from 2003. Now, it’s one of the most recognized VMS and PSIM software developers in security industry. What were the most important milestones, what helped you the most during these sixteen years, how many people do you employ, revenues, etc.?

The company’s initial success was due to the development of a proprietary video compression algorithm called Motion Wavelet and the concept of a universal security platform that was implemented in the Intellect software product. Motion Wavelet proved to be an effective codec in terms of the ratio of compression level to resource consumption. It paved the way for building large digital video surveillance systems with rational use of the resources on servers, clients and the network.

The idea of a universal platform assumed the need for a unified software product capable of effectively managing all major security systems: video surveillance, perimeter protection, access control, and fire and security alarms. Today, such systems are known as PSIMs.

In 2006, work began on the Next Generation Platform (NGP), which later became the basis for the Axxon Next VMS. The creation of this platform involved implementing new concepts for AxxonSoft, such as micro-modular architecture for increased fault tolerance, and a file system for storing the SolidStore video archive that completely eliminated data fragmentation.

In 2007, the company began international expansion. A number of international distribution contracts were signed, and representative offices were opened in Spain, Canada and Argentina. In 2008, the company emerged as the market leader for Open Network Video Management Software in the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), and third in the world in this category according to IMS Research, U.K.

Now AxxonSoft has about 50 offices across the Globe and operates in more than 100 countries through a network of certified partners that includes 5,800+ companies. Our portfolio for the Safety & Security market boasts over 150,000 projects with 2.5 million cameras installed. We employ over 400 people.

What are the most important AxxonSoft core technologies? Could you present your product portfolio in brief?

The company’s key products are the Axxon Next VMS and Intellect PSIM, which integrates with access control systems, perimeter protection, and fire and security alarm systems from numerous manufacturers. It also includes POS and ATM integration, face recognition, ANPR, and wagon and container number recognition. Among VMS vendors, AxxonSoft is one of the pioneers in Forensic Search technologies for recorded video. Forensic Search tools greatly reduce the time you spend searching for incidents recorded in the video archive. Moreover, AxxonSoft actively develops AI video analytics based on deep learning. In 2017 the company implemented a full cycle of creating neural network video feed analysis methods for the requirements of a particular facility.

Your premium product is Axxon Next open-platform video management software. Tell us about its system architecture and remote access?

Video surveillance systems based on Axxon Next can scale infinitely: there are no restrictions on the number of video servers, workstations or video cameras. The Axxon Next VMS includes a web client, iOS and Android apps and a free cloud service — AxxonNet. AxxonNet connects to your Axxon Next surveillance servers via the Internet. SSL encryption ensures that data is transmitted securely. You can use AxxonNet to: create users and roles, view live video streams and recordings from cameras, receive email notifications, send push notifications about certain events to mobile apps, store Axxon Next license files, etc.

Latest version, was released this year. Updated version brought a remarkable 43 new features and improvements. What are the most important ones?

Axxon Next 4.2.1 presents new features for video analytics and archive search, an enhanced web interface, and some more important improvements.

We introduced a neural network filter for Object Tracker that analyzes moving or abandoned objects to filter out false alarms from situation analysis detection tools. The filter precisely recognizes specified types of objects, e.g., humans or vehicles. We also added a false alarm filter for Facial Recognition. It filters out objects that are most likely incorrectly identified as faces.

We added a Large Number of Objects detection tool which triggers an alarm upon reaching a specified number of objects within a specified area.

In addition to Object Tracker, the basic Video Motion Detection tool now generates metadata that can be used for MomentQuest forensic search. Since the VMD requires much less computing power, you can lower the cost of your system by using more cameras per server.

The user security policy was expanded: it is now possible to set the password length, strength and expiration interval, store the password history and preventing multiple simultaneous sessions with the same user name. Privacy settings are now GDPR-compliant: in recorded video, you can now hide any static or moving object from specific user roles.

One can now view search results in two modes: TimeCompressor mode, or the MomentQuest forensic search. How do they work?

These two modes can be used for different tasks. If you know your search criteria, use MomentQuest. It is a customizable forensic search tool that quickly retrieves video footage based on object color, size, motion direction etc. Searching in MomentQuest is fast because it is based on metadata, which are calculated for all moving objects in the field of view. In case you need to simultaneously view multiple events that occurred at different times, use TimeCompressor. It allows you to set a time range for video footage and get a short video clip of all moving objects in the scene. Objects and events captured at different times are displayed simultaneously in a condensed “video synopsis”. When you spot an object of interest, click to play the corresponding video fragment in full.

One of the most important new features is the integration of fire and smoke detection tools. Tell us about it?

Our neural network-based fire and smoke detection tools are designed for early detection of fires in conditions where standard fire and smoke sensors are ineffective, such as in open areas or in large enclosed spaces with high ceilings or intensive air circulation. They are already applied for early detection of wildfire in Belarusian forestry.

 A Tag&Track Pro feature is also a new one. How does it uses PTZ cameras?

Axxon Next Tag&Track Pro feature allows you to get the «big picture» of everything that’s happening at a protected site while obtaining the detailed imagery of the objects moving around it, by locking onto them and continuing to track them across multiple cameras. The feature requires at least two cameras: a fixed one, and a PTZ camera. The fixed camera is configured with a tracker, which detects objects moving in the frame and calculates their coordinates. These coordinates are mathematically converted into the pan/tilt/zoom values necessary for the PTZ camera to automatically track the object. Both sets of images from fixed and PTZ cameras can be recorded, which is important for event investigation.

You introduced Failover mode, what are its benefits for users?

Nobody wants to be in a situation when the server is down and the important video recordings are lost.To help avoiding that, we’ve introduced the Failover that takes the security system to the next level of stability and continuity. It is a crucial solution for the large and geographically distributed sites. If the main server fails, the standby server immediately steps in and automatically takes over all functions from the off-line or malfunctioning server.

Axxon Next features a number / license plate search algorithm. Which advanced heuristic methods it uses?

To identify as many potential matches as possible, our LPR search algorithm involves such advanced heuristic method as substitution of similar looking letters/numbers. If the license plate image is not clearly visible, the system builds several hypotheses. For example, the LP number ”AK 170 B” appears in the camera FOV but the number plate is dirty. In this case the system will create the variants “AX 170 B”, “AK 178 B”, “AK 170 H”, etc. Then the user enters the required number as a search criterion, and the system provides one or several corresponding options as a result. Our LPR works for USA, Canada, Mexico, Uk, Germany, Europe, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, India, latin america and other countries.

„Imagine a system that no longer needs a security guard to physically watch every camera, a platform that integrates all your security and business systems, a system that’s intelligent enough to interpret people, actions and events and enforces fast, automatic actions when necessary“ is the intro to your PSIM software. What is Axxon Intellect Enterprise?

Axxon Intellect Enterprise is a remarkably advanced distributed PSIM software platform that combines intelligent video analytics, universal IP connectivity and event-driven automation capabilities in a single environment. It supports integrated security systems of any level of complexity. One of the most compelling reasons to choose the Intellect ecosystem is the range of industry-specific vertical solutions that are tailor-made for the needs of specific businesses and client ranges, including banking, transportation, retail, government and infrastructure sites.

Intellect Enterprise forgoes classic client-server and three-tiered architecture for a distributed model. What are those three components, what is Intellect Enterprise built on, and with what types of security products can it work with?

Intellect Enterprise is built on an object-oriented architecture — because of that, the software is convinient to install, use and manage and can be easily scaled to match your changing requirements. It’s extremely flexible, so you get all the functionality and capabilities you need without paying for features you don’t want. And, because Axxon Intellect Enterprise is an integrated IP-based platform, it can help you increase the value of your existing systems and avoid the cost and effort of replacing legacy systems.

Axxon’s softwares have been used in number of verticals, for different industries’ properties and scale. Can you present or at least enlist some of the most important case studies?

Our most recent big project was the 21st FIFA World Cup 2018. The Intellect PSIM platform was employed in various areas of 10 out of the 12 stadiums where 49 World Cup matches were played. Over 9,000 Intellect-powered video surveillance cameras were used to monitor the security of over 2 million spectators who attended the games. AxxonSoft software was also widely used at training camps, fan zones, transportation infrastructure, and other sites where teams and fans arrived and moved around the country.

Regarding the earlier projects, the AxxonSoft software has been installed at the following sites: the facilities of Autonet Group, the leading provider of automotive components and spare parts in Central and Eastern Europe; the Grand Trade Business Center in Bosnia-Herzegovina; the AlbChrome company’s two ferrochrome plants in Albania; the Balticon transport terminal in Poland; the Academic Computer Centre Cyfronet AGH in Krakow, Poland; the Manuel Martínez Valero football stadium in Elche, Spain, and others.

As a software developer, how you do you battle an increasingly cyber security issue? You use SSL encryption to ensure that data is transmitted securely?

Recently AxxonSoft products successfully passed independent cyber security tests, and no critical or blocking vulnerabilities were discovered. Moreover, in the latest update of Axxon Next we introduced new security policy settings that strengthen protection of your VMS from unauthorized access. To help ensure data privacy and security, all data is owned by the end customer and data collection follows the compliance requirements of legacy security policies. AxxonSoft does not collect data from the platform, so we did not have any data breaches. Also, we use SSL encryption in the AxxonNet cloud service for remote video monitoring to ensure secure data transmission.

 What are the most important global trends that definy VMS and PSIM industry nowadays? What can we expect from AxxonSoft in the years ahead?

AI and deep learning have become the Big Things in the security market. Neural networks can learn to analyze images and solve difficult tasks in situations where creating a classic algorithm is either too expensive or nearly impossible. Since 2016, we’ve been actively developing deep learning-based video analytics tools. And now AxxonSoft has developed a process for adapting neural network filters to the needs of a specific site. To resolve issues of high resource consumption related to AI, AxxonSoft uses a blended approach with a neural network filter applied to an object tracker. This technology is applied to video that captures high movement from interference, such as trees blowing in the wind, light reflected off water, traffic, etc. In the years ahead we will continue working on the AI and deep learning technologies to make it possible for the surveillance cameras to analyze live video without involving human operators.

 Your opinion on Adriatic region security market and your company’s position in it? Do you have any special plans in this area?

Our goal is to expand our partner’s network in the region. We are always looking for new partnership with ambitious companies. We are confident in our products and we know we can provide great world class functionalities.

 

VISIT SMART CITIES 2019 – get new technology first and expand your business network

The intelligent cities industry is spreading into new locations and involving new developers and startups, innovations and fresh ideas. Less than 2 months remain before the start of Smart Cities Expo (16-18 April 2019, IEC, Sofia, Bulgaria, organizer: Via Expo). It will demonstrate solutions for sustainable, safe and future-oriented urban development in South-East Europe. By linking creative developers with the audience of the event: investors, distributors, representatives of the public sector and clients, it encourages new business partnerships – some of the exhibitors are looking for distributors. Visitors can also learn firsthand about product launches and make their business more resource efficient through new investment. They will be impressed by the capabilities of compact devices and high-performance systems that work in real-time, reduce power consumption, and help users make an informed decision.

Some highlights of the exhibitors’ presentations
• Intracom Telecom is a global telecommunication systems and solutions vendor operating for over 40 years in the market. The company innovates in the wireless access and transmission field, offers a competitive portfolio: electronic energy meters, services for smart lighting, parking, metering, eHealth, IoT, etc.
• During the last years home automation became a market niche that will expand in SE Europe and will provide more and more sophisticated solutions. For years Comicon has been manufacturing a range of own developed ZigBee-based devices for reliable and secure wireless transfer of standard analogue, discrete and serial signals. The company will show solutions based on LoRa, EnOcean, ZigBee technologies; as well as solutions for home and building automation.
• Smart home and business automation is a reality with the VAiOS brand – hardware and software products. The company system is divided into Lego-type modules, which allows to quickly upgrade the existing main product to a specific design customized according to customer needs. The company will introduce some of the most interesting projects: the only Smart Fitness in Bulgaria, an innovative web-based remote system for facility management that is currently being implemented in the Netherlands. Combining hardware and software, it provides easy control over the building and resource consumption.
• Green Embedded Systems will take part in the exhibition for the first time. It is developing solutions mainly in the area of smart grids, smart meters, industrial and home automation. The emphasis of its participation will be on the company’s latest development, which is a novelty on the global market. This is a 60A direct energy meter for home use, with built-in Wi-Fi and with the size of a standard fuse.
• iSentinel® will be presented for the first time on the Bulgarian market. It is a smart earthquake protection system and saves the user’s life by triggering an early warning alarm seconds to tens of seconds before the destructive shock wave arrives and protects the buildings.
• Innovambiente® is without a doubt Innova’s key service today. It is an innovative management system for municipal waste collection processes, from startup to collection monitoring. The Italian company will present at Smart Cities fleet management services aimed at logistics or transport companies. It has already implemented Public Transport solutions in Matera, with intelligent Totem Poles advising customers on real-time bus arrivals at the various stops throughout the city.
• National Cluster for Intelligent Transport and Energy Systems are expecting different visitors at the Smart Cities: companies form the Region, state and municipal structures that have problems and are looking for new innovative technologies to solve them

Free entrance for the Conference „Sofia Knowledge City Marketplace“, organized by Cluster Sofia Knowledge City
The event will be held on 17 April. Bulgarian and foreign speakers will present the following topics: management capacity building and strategies for development of Sofia as a knowledge city, educational establishments and projects, technological solutions, scientific applications for Sofia. The focus will be on Western Balkans, Southeast Europe and Turkey – there are similar problems and different good practices.

Join Smart Cities 2019
Smart solutions are being developed at an incredible pace and their rapid integration into practice is a serious challenge. So let’s be active participants in the transformation of our cities – join the event. ¬¬

Parallel events: Energy Efficiency & RES, Waste Management
www.viaexpo.com

 

How easily can wireless locks extend the reach of your access control?

London, March 2019 — As building security becomes smarter, the need for electronic access control systems spreads further. Wired access points and security doors have long been the backbone. Yet at the same time, even buildings with extensive electronic systems leave mechanically locked doors unmonitored and unguarded — and certainly not “smart”. Mechanical locks cannot be connected. Thankfully, the latest generation of wireless locks can replace them easily and integrate them seamlessly within almost any access system.

A recent industry survey — cited in the “Wireless Access Control Report 2018”, from ASSA ABLOY and IFSEC Global — finds integration is an increasing concern. Over 90% of industry professionals polled for the report suggest integrating security systems with each other (and with other smart building systems) has increased in importance in the last few years.

Integration is a recurring theme in conversations among professionals. For 53% of survey respondents, easy integration with CCTV, alarms, time and attendance, lighting and HVAC would make them interested in upgrading to a particular product — more than any other factor. Forty-three percent said easier integration with existing access control systems would make them more likely to upgrade. But why the focus on integration? What are the advantages?

Why integrate?
Fewer security interfaces are easier to support and so require less training. Integration can also enhance the experience of building occupants. One credential opens the car park, then the building, and accesses their laptop and buys lunch in the café.
Integration across the business also means security systems — and security teams — contribute to business efficiency, not just the protection of people, premises and other assets. Integrate HR systems with your access control system, for instance, and smart access cards can be automatically revoked when people leave the organisation, reducing overheads and even headcount.
A majority of those polled for the “Wireless Access Control Report 2018” believe it very important (58%) that access control supports open standards in order to be flexible and future-proofed. A huge majority (91%) consider it at least somewhat important. Future-proofing is high on any list of procurement criteria.
Will your system accommodate a changing business and the evolution of functions within it? Can you extend access control with components that contribute to, rather than detract from, the flexibility of all your building systems?

The solution to extend access control
Expanding the coverage of traditional locks can be expensive and intrusive. But one fast, easy and cost-effective alternative enables you to forget about keys and the hassles of key management: wireless devices like Aperio®, battery-powered locks with integrated RFID-readers. The aforementioned report cites growth forecasts for the wireless access control market of around 8% annually through 2025. The ease and cost-efficient integration wireless offers is surely driving this growth.

Because Aperio® has an open architecture, it is flexible and modular, so those who already have wired access control and want to add more doors to their existing system find wireless is the solution. Aperio® wireless locks integrate with security systems from over 100 different OEMs worldwide, for new installations or to upgrade an existing system. Integration is seamless, extending the reach of an existing system with future-proofed devices. Security administrators operate the new Aperio®-equipped doors from the same interface as the installed system. Site users carry a single smart access card for all doors, and other functions like canteen payments or library loans are just as easy to integrate.

What if your security system uses mechanical keys, without electronic access control? Wireless locks like Aperio® can also be the right solution. Battery-powered Aperio® RFID-equipped cylinders, escutcheons, handles and locks can be fitted as a new access control system, or extend an existing installation by linking new doors to the same system wirelessly. There’s no need for staff to swap their key-cards, nor for anyone to carry more than one credential.

Aperio® locks work within almost every major access control ecosystem on the planet, from over 100 different manufacturers. They are energy-efficient, with batteries lasting an average of 40,000 cycles (typically 2 years) before they need replacing.

“It’s easy to start the upgrade process,” says Matthias Weiß, Aperio® Product Manager at ASSA ABLOY EMEA. “Your security or facilities manager only needs to contact their regular access control provider to find out if they offer Aperio®. We can upgrade nearly any system.”

Aperio® integrates access control — quickly and painlessly
Installing wireless locks is also more cost-effective than hard-wiring more doors, because there’s no cabling or invasive building work around the door. Changing door hardware is unnecessary. For example, it’s fast and easy to switch a mechanical handle for an Aperio® wireless handle with integrated RFID reader, to bring more doors into an access system. (Installation takes mere minutes: see https://youtu.be/lr6Sw95qqm8)

Aperio® devices with built-in RFID readers fit almost any opening or security level. Aperio® locks protect both exterior and interior doors, from fire and escape route doors to meeting rooms, labs and offices; wooden, glass or aluminium doors are no obstacle. The portfolio includes cylinders, escutcheons and complete locks for security doors, plus a revolutionary new wireless handle with integrated RFID reader, which recently won Intersec’s Access Control Product of the Year. Aperio® locks are compatible with all common door profiles: Euro, French, Finnish, Scandinavian and Swiss. Integration with your existing system can be Online or Offline, or both.

To discover if you can future-proof your access control with Aperio®, download a fast, free Compatibility Check at http://campaigns.assaabloyopeningsolutions.eu/upgrade-aperio

Edge AI software market predicted for a 26.5% CAGR to 2023

The global edge AI software market is expected to grow from USD 356 million in 2018 to USD 1,152 million by 2023, with the major factors fuelling market growth cited as the increasing enterprise workloads on the cloud and rapid growth in the number of intelligent applications. According to the Marketsandmarkets latest report on the subject, the increasing adoption of edge AI software in autonomous vehicles’ applications could provide growth opportunities for the edge AI software vendors in the market.

In this market the vendors offer edge AI solutions as software tools and platforms. The edge AI software tools are a combination of Machine Learning (ML) and edge computing technology, and automatically turn raw data into events, insights, and predictions, without big data and costly analysis. The software tools that are being offered in the edge AI software market are in the form of Software Development Kits (SDKs) and frameworks, which allow users to integrate AI capabilities in the application software.

Marketsandmarkets predicts that the energy and utilities vertical is estimated to hold the largest market size during the forecast period. This segment includes high-stake, technology-driven operations, which depend on real-time insights to provide proactive monitoring and protection against machinery and equipment failure. Most of the operations happen at a remote area and lack reliable network infrastructure; edge AI software provides data analytics on edge devices to enable real-time response, which is required for maximum production and safety.

The findings show that North America is the major revenue-generating region in the global edge AI software market. This region is witnessing major developments in the edge AI software space. Many AI solution providers in North America are experimenting in the edge AI software market by integrating AI and ML functionalities with their existing edge AI solutions. They are also adopting various growth strategies to strengthen their position in the edge AI software market.

The major vendors cited as being active in the global edge AI software market include IBM, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Nutanix, Tibco, Octonion, Swim.AI, Imagimob, Anagog, Foghorn Systems, Xnor.AI, Bragi, Invision.AI, Tact.ai, and Veea Systems.

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a&s Adria – professional security magazine for providing total security solutions is a monthly circulating publication and a licenced representative of Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media for Adriatic region, which consists of following countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, FYR Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia.