The Key Differences Between Unified Security and Integrated Security
The inception of electronic security systems began in a world of card access and analog CCTV deployments, where the system operations, although straightforward, were fragmented and siloed. There were one set of monitors for video surveillance, another for card access and so on down the line depending on the complexity of the security solution. IT departments were smaller, and typically the equipment provider was heavily relied upon for service and support.
Facial Recognition Software is Not as Scary as You Think
It’s amazing how many imagined technologies from old science fiction books and movies are becoming realities these days. Recently, one of these “future-world” technologies exploded into tangible present-day prominence: facial recognition. As intriguing as the technology is, there is definitely controversy centered around facial recognition preventing many from taking advantage of its benefits for crime mitigation. In some cases, hesitation to utilize facial recognition could potentially cost lives. The purpose of this writing is to provide reassurance and guidance to those considering a facial recognition solution, and by doing so provide you with information to help you to move forward with confidence.
In this article, we would like to dispel a few myths surrounding security-based facial recognition software and increase your knowledge in this reliable and safe technology.
How to Conquer Vaping in Schools and Get Students Back to Learning
Kids will be kids. It’s their job to find ways to fit in and push back against authority. In the previous decades, this natural tendency has resulted in challenging trends ranging from ducktail hairdos, sagging jeans and disruptive toys, such as the “clicker-clackers” of the 1970s, to serious, illegal habits such as street racing, drinking, smoking and sniffing solvents. It’s a never-ending challenge for parents and educators.
One of the latest worrisome youth trends is e-cigarettes, or “vaping,” an activity that is putting kids in danger and taking too much focus off learning. Teachers and administrators are taking drastic, time-consuming action to fight the trend with little to no positive impact. However new technology, according to first-time users, has all but stopped vaping in some schools.
3 Things to Consider When Developing Your Emergency Plan: Starting with Your Technology
In our schools, workplaces and government buildings, we fear the unimaginable: an armed intruder.
Because these unfathomable scenarios are becoming more common, this increases the need for a fully-integrated emergency response plan. If disaster strikes without one, nothing goes to plan—the proper personnel are not alerted, radio frequencies are overcrowded blocking the transfer of messages, and delayed video footage prevents law enforcement from efficiently tracking and evacuating the scene. Each of these examples were a reality on February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The sales and engineering team from Prime Communications Inc. (PCI) recently completed a training session with Jerry Wilkins, PSP® NREMT®-EMR, and professional active-shooter emergency plan operations expert from Active Risk Survival, Inc. During the training he shared security footage from the scenario described above and the Virginia Beach shooting. No, it was not easy to watch.
“The most difficult aspect of the video,” said Shannon Neubauer, PCI’s Director of Security Engineering, “was the fact that the footage being monitored by first responders was 20 minutes old.” By the time it was used for situational assessment, the shooter already had left the area and some of the people in the video had lost their lives.
It’s not unusual for an organization to find it is not as prepared as it thought when a real incident happens. “I see so many companies who go through the time and effort to put together an emergency response plan but when I ask them how they are leveraging their technology with the plan, the response is I didn’t take that into consideration,” Wilkins explained.
As a society, we can do better. And we want you to know your technology integrator can help.
Securing Security: The Top Vulnerabilities and How to Solve Them
If you work for a large organization where it’s assumed that the business security solutions have been investigated and researched carefully or a small company with limited resources, as a security professional it’s unsettling to read headlines like, Equifax Data Breach Settlement: What You Should Know. Whether you had the foresight and funding to protect yourself from potential threats at the start or had to quickly respond to a specific incident when it arose, you’ve studied and purchased cameras, card access, electronic locks and cybersecurity software to establish a secure environment. But have you researched deeply enough to discover unexpected vulnerabilities that could allow your security solutions to be compromised? You should be actively, continually examining your system to protect it.