Milestone Systems, a leading provider of open platform video management software, announced that it is celebrated its 25th anniversary on 23 February 2023.

The company was founded in 1998 by engineers John Blem and Henrik Friborg Jacobsen. The pair started the business from a basement and had approximately USD $11,500 in seed funding.

Today, Milestone has annual revenues over USD $140 million and employs more than 1,200 people around the world.

The first version of XProtect – Milestone’s open-platform video management software – was sold in 2002 to an end user in Canada. Since then, Milestone’s technology has been deployed in more than 500,000 installations and the company became a global leader in that area of the security industry. The company now has a presence in 26 locations around the globe.

“During the early 2000s, together with three or four other companies, we revolutionized the security industry by leading the transformation from analog to IP (digital) technology,” said Thomas Jensen, Chief Executive of Milestone Systems.

“Looking ahead, we are preparing to innovate again. We see a future in which data-driven video technology is a game-changer that will help to make society safer and a better place for us all to work and live.”

One of the five largest theatres in the Netherlands, Theater & Concert Orpheus, has selected Bosch’s Praesensa for its new evacuation system.

The theatre has three halls with a seating capacity between 242 and 1,286 and a restaurant.

The requirement was to upgrade the current solution to meet the necessary regulatory requirements for public buildings and ensure it received the required EN certification. As an advanced and extremely cost-efficient fully IP-based system, featuring a smart-power concept and integrated redundancy, Praesensa is perfect for both centralized and decentralized network topologies.

The main challenge was the integration of the house PA and background music system with the voice evacuation system. The aim was for a solution that would give the theater complete control over all of its Dante-based audio facilities from one interface. Achieving this aim relied on Praesensa’s built-in OMNEO networking architecture. OMNEO is an IP-based architectural approach to connecting devices to exchange information such as audio content and device control. OMNEO is able to seamlessly integrate with Dante networks ensuring the voice evacuation system and the communications operate together.

The evacuation system needed to be able to completely take over from the house PA and background music system in the event of an emergency, but also give sufficient flexibility on the background music channels when the system is in normal operation.

A 32-channel Dante matrix sits at the heart of the solution, allowing the user to manage the entire house system without effecting the Praesensa public address and voice evacuation system.

The result is a combined solution that delivers what the client required. “Due to the very good cooperation between all involved parties, the migration went very well, without hiccups,” says Henry Bax from Connect AV, the systems integrator responsible for the project. “The goal of upgrading the evacuation alarm system to the latest regulations have been achieved.”

Real-time monitoring and the ease of data retrieval for advanced physical and digital security are driving the need for security sensors. This is according to Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Sensor Technologies Impacting the Physical and Digital Security Market.

The research found that by 2025, there will be a significant increase in the use of contactless sensing technologies for physical and digital security applications, including cameras, Lidar, and terahertz (THz) image sensing. Critical assets like personal identity and biometrics are protected by security sensors integrated with other emerging sensor technologies, like Lidar and THz.

“Sensor technologies, drones, robotics, and internet of things (IoT)-enabled devices will fuel the adoption of security systems, offering safety and security advantages,” said Varun Babu, Techvision Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Additionally, security sensors integrated with other emerging sensor technologies, such as Lidar and THz sensors, provide highly safe and sophisticated security to critical assets like personal identity and biometrics.”

Babu added: “Sensor technology providers must work closely with security software solution providers to build a robust, user-friendly security management system. Further, they should build strong partnerships and jointly develop video surveillance management systems to overcome internal technology development barriers in the next two or three years.”

According the study vertical markets’ wide adoption of sensors in security applications will unlock vast opportunities for industry players, for example:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): With AI, security professionals can pre-emptively spot defective equipment like security cameras and analyse alarms from defective devices. It helps lower the chances of cyber attacks.
• Machine learning (ML): Physical and digital security manufacturers and service providers can create security and video monitoring systems that dynamically notify users of abnormal activity using ML.
• Robotics and drones: Mobile drone surveillance can monitor criminals on the road and help avoid or reduce deadly pursuits. Drones are also safer and offer a significant investment return over traditional surveillance.

HID has acquired Guard RFID, a leading provider of real-time location services (RTLS) hardware and software solutions in the healthcare space.

“Bringing Guard RFID and its innovative RTLS technology into the HID family allows us to enhance our healthcare presence to better protect patients and staff,” said Björn Lidefelt, EVP and Head of HID. “As incidents in healthcare facilities continue to rise, these solutions will help providers do what they do best – making their patients feel better, faster.”

Guard RFID’s suite of active RFID tags, readers, exciters and software support four primary use cases important to the healthcare market, including:

• Infant Security: The Totguard infant security system prevents infant abduction and mother-baby mismatches by providing wearable tags for mothers and infants. The system works in conjunction with both a hospital’s access control and network video systems.
• Staff Duress: 44% of nurses experience physical violence in the workplace, according to the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses. Small, lightweight active RFID tags equipped with a call button can be worn on a wristband or lanyard to help protect healthcare workers in the event of duress.
• Asset Tracking: RFID tags are used to provide the real-time visibility of healthcare assets and enable staff to quickly find the equipment they need. This improves asset utilisation, saves labour costs, and reduces theft.
• Patient Wandering: At-risk patients, such as the elderly or those struggling with mental health, are tagged and become instantly detected at exit doors, stairwells, and elevators. The doors can be configured to lock and sound alarms when the tags are detected in proximity, offering an extra level of protection to these patients and their caregivers.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Guard RFID is now part of HID’s Identification Technologies Business Area led by Marc Bielmann. The Guard RFID offering will merge into HID’s Internet of Things (IoT) Business Unit and benefit from HID’s sales and other global functions to support its offering.

Hikvision announces a collaboration with Evercam, a construction time-lapse and project management software developer, to provide a joint solution that can help construction companies optimize performance and minimize risk on their large projects.

Evercam software gives construction managers an insight of what is actually happening on project sites, at any time. They can see how a project is progressing, providing crucial information to help them manage the project. For example, they can see how much earth has been removed, or if a delivery has been made.

The software uses Hikvision AIoT cameras and NVRs because they provide very high-resolution footages to capture what happens on site, like the 4K AcuSense Strobe Light and Audible Warning Varifocal Camera that is ideal for the Evercam solution.  The solution also makes use of the AI features in the cameras, such as ANPR (license-plate recognition) and people counting.

Evercam integrates information from video feeds into its ‘4D BIM plan’, a 3D CAD plan for a construction project that includes a timeline and key milestones. This gives a clear view of how the project is advancing compared to the delivery schedule.

“We see the construction industry becoming more and more digitalized, which is a great opportunity for our partnership with Hikvision”, says Marco Herbst, Evercam’s CEO. “Because Hikvision has a large range of products, we are able to continue expanding our capabilities quickly. Hikvision is also driving innovation in the intelligent camera space, and we are excited to incorporate even higher-resolution, smarter cameras with even more AI features in our solution in the future.”

“Now part of the Hikvision Technology Partner Program, Evercam is working with a large range of Hikvision products incorporated into its solution for construction companies worldwide”, says Adler Wu, Global Technology Partner Alliance Manager at Hikvision. “This is a good practical example of how Hikvision innovation can be a key component in AIOT solutions that provide real value in high stakes industries, such as construction.”

Eagle Eye Networks and Advancis have completed a technical integration that combines Eagle Eye cloud video surveillance with the Advancis PSIM+ (physical security information management) platform to deliver integrated cloud video surveillance for global enterprise customers. Designed for control rooms and security operations centres, the Eagle Eye-Advancis integration delivers a single unified interface for interactive monitoring and event-and-alert management.

The Advancis PSIM+ combined with the Eagle Eye Cloud VMS (video management system) delivers cloud video for use-case specific security solutions at large enterprise scale. Customers are taking advantage of Eagle Eye’s AI and advanced analytics to automate detection of problems, reduce operator needs, and improve security – all within the Advancis PSIM+.

Unlike most conventional PSIMs, the Advancis flagship PSIM+ platform, Winguard, offers comprehensive integration of an entire building and higher-tier mission control systems.

“Eagle Eye Networks enterprise customers have complex and changing business and security needs,” said Dean Drako, Founder and CEO of Eagle Eye Networks. “Our open API allows a seamless integration with Advancis Winguard, offering a great solution to customers with large-scale operations. Eagle Eye’s global reach and comprehensive camera compatibility delivers what these customers need for full deployment.”

The Advancis Winguard platform is open software with APIs that deliver fully redundant, hot-standby multi-tenant solutions, for both SaaS and on-prem environments, including integrated security, building automation, IT and communication systems. The Winguard platform is scalable from a single workstation system to a global operations centre solution.

The European Commission has instructed its employees to remove the TikTok app from their personal and business phones for security reasons, Politico reported.

It is expected that other EU institutions, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, will take similar steps in the near future.

TikTok, a social network owned by a Chinese tech company, is raising national security concerns in some countries, especially when a study by cyber security company Internet 2.0 reported that the app collects more data than any other social network or messaging service.

Previously, the US also banned the use of TikTok on devices used for public services.

The global burglar alarm systems market size is anticipated to reach USD 6.72 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 6.3% from 2023 to 2030 this is according to a new report by Grand View Research.

The demand for burglar alarm systems is expected to increase due to the growing popularity of smart homes, including intelligent security systems. According to the research, market players are likely to embrace business strategies such as partnerships, mergers & acquisitions to gain more market share. The increasing demand for a high level of security in residential complexes, commercial buildings, and industrial complexes is likely to fuel the need for the burglar alarm systems market in the coming years.

The wireless alarm segment is expected to exhibit the highest CAGR over the forecast period. Wireless security cameras have become increasingly popular due to their adaptability and ease of use. They are simple to put up and lower installation costs by eliminating wires or professional installation.

The hardware component sub-segment led the burglar alarm systems market in 2022. At the same time, motion detector sensors under the classification of hardware sub-segment are expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

In 2022, North America represented the highest revenue share. Security alarm systems in households in North America are required to be registered with the police department. For instance, in some regions, for example, Oklahoma city, the police department does not investigate alarms generated by unauthorized security systems.

Some of the key players in this field that are also mentioned in the report include, ADT, Assa Abloy, Banhams, Dahua, Hikvision, Honeywell, Inovonics, Johnson Controls, Napco, Risco, Securitas, and Siemens.