Cisco Fattens Up Its CCTV Range

According to Cisco, its latest offerings — an IPsurveillance camera, a scalable video recording and storage platform, and newvideo surveillance software — provide greater security scalability, and areeasily integrated with other security and business systems to enhance the valueof video. Additionally these products are designed to enable a smooth migrationfrom analog to network-based deployments, and interoperate with third-partystorage. “Today’s announcement demonstrates Cisco’s commitment tohelp organizations transform siloed systems and applications into a unitedsolution to enhance safety and security operations,” says Mark Farino, generalmanager of Cisco’s Converged Security Infrastructure Business Unit. “By utilizing the IP network, businesses can alignsecurity with overall corporate goals. Such a transformation makes securityorganizations more effective and strategic to their businesses.” The surveillance solution also allows live or recordedvideo to be accessed by authorized users from virtually anywhere at any timethrough the IP network. As a result, security professionals are given timelieraccess to information that fosters a more collaborative and comprehensiveapproach to security operations. “Improving the efficiency of traditional analog videosurveillance systems by adding new IP functions and services will dramaticallyimprove operational effectiveness and productivity in safety and security applicationsfor healthcare, retail, public sector, and the gaming industry to name a few,”continues Farino. As part of its expanded physical security portfolio,Cisco announced the following new products and enhancements: * Cisco video surveillance IP camera The IP camera supports motion-triggered, high-quality D1(720X480) resolution using MPEG4 encoding. It offers security features such as802.1X authentication. Flexible deployment options, whether wireless or wired,and Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) connection capabilities make it ideal for new andincremental deployments. * Cisco services platform for scalable mass storage The mass storage services platform provides a scalablerecording solution that can be linked (via SCSI or Fibre Channel connections)to external storage arrays. It can aggregate video in one location and utilizeIP networks to make it accessible throughout an organization. * Enhancements to Cisco Stream Manager Video SurveillanceSoftware Cisco Stream Manager Software version 5.0 delivers newfeatures for all Cisco video surveillance products: * Policy-based alarm handling, multicamera synchronizedplayback and display sequencing * Support for higher video compression ratios using H.264encoding, variable frame rate and resolution based on dynamic events, and videotraffic prioritization using quality-of-service mechanisms. * Granular control of user access to video surveillancesystem devices * Easier deployment and management of physical securitydevices on an IP network The new Cisco IP camera, and the scalable mass storagerecording services platform are scheduled to be available by the end of May2007. New feature enhancements in Stream Manager Software version 5.0 areavailable to existing customers at no extra cost and will be supported on CiscoIP gateways, services platforms and integrated services platforms.