IP Surveillance

LEVERAGE Video Management Suite Features

Distributed Viewing Architecture

Available with LEVERAGE Video Management Suite is QuickView - a powerful viewing and administration console. QuickView is built as a distributed viewing architecture to offer a high degree of flexibility. QuickView is currently offered in two options – QuickView Pro and QuickView Lite. Selection of one option over the other depends upon how the video will be viewed.

QuickView Pro provides the administrative capabilities necessary to set up the visual screen for viewing live surveillance camera feeds. Placing the street level surveillance cameras on the QuickView map provides one touch viewing access to operators. Operators can then rotate and zoom in cameras for precise views. The administrator has the ability to allow all operators to view all cameras or to logically divide camera viewing within a command center. Further, for smaller, more focused implementations, all cameras can be viewed via a single workstation console. QuickView Pro’s powerful capabilities allow operators to add significant value to Officers in the field by providing valuable real-time situational analysis (i.e. what is occurring, perpetrator and vehicle descriptions and, in many cases, exit routes).

QuickView Lite was developed to be used in conjunction with QuickView Pro. This version is designed for Public Safety professionals who are working in the field. Responding Police officers, Field Supervisors, Surveillance and Security Guards are just a few examples of professionals who would benefit QuickView Lite. The product provides these mobile professionals the ability to tap into the LEVERAGE VMS from their vehicle Mobile Digital Computer (MDC) or Tablet PC while out in the field. Operators using QuickView Pro at the command center push live video to a responding officer's QuickView Lite device. Now the responding officer has all of the information that he/she needs to effectively put a plan in place that allows for expedient and safe resolution of an incident.

Peer-to-Peer System Architecture

LEVERAGE VMS has been designed as a peer-to-peer architecture for increased reliability and uptime. Unlike previous client/server architectures, LEVERAGE's peer-to-peer architecture will not suffer from a single point of system failure. In the event of a single camera failure, the LEVERAGE VMS continues to function at capacity while providing instant alert notification to the system administrator of the individual unit loss. The peer-to-peer architecture not only stays online in the event of an unplanned camera failure, it also allows for easy maintenance or upgrade of any camera within the LEVERAGE VMS implementation. Existing camera nodes can be hot swapped out of the network for upgrading or maintenance and additional new camera nodes can be hot added for expansion purposes. Furthermore, the surveillance system is secure, offering central sign-on authentication, extensive auditing capabilities and video that is stored by the system encrypted and watermarked.

Redundant Video Recording

To ensure full surveillance video of any incident is readily available, LEVERAGE provides a choice of storage management options. Video can be stored via the NVR (Network Video Recorder) located in the surveillance node at the edge of the network and/or via one or more NVRs located in the command center. The most highly reliable configuration is storing video in both locations. The Primary NVR (PNVR) location is where the video is initially stored and managed. The Secondary NVR (SNVR) is the system's back-up storage which is immediately available upon an interrupt with the initial PNVR. Because of LEVERAGE patent pending peer-to-peer architecture, the surveillance camera records to the PNVR and the SNVR independently of one another using a method called Multicast. This is a far more reliable and efficient environment than traditional client/server TCP/IP-based surveillance models. With Client/server, all recording of video happens on the server, which is typically located at command center. If the network drops, no recording can take place during the time it takes to bring it back up, resulting in video gaps. For obvious reasons, these gaps can easily render recorded video useless.

With LEVERAGE, there is no interruption of recording due to network failures because a NVR can be optionally located within the LSN itself. Because of independent and redundant networking paths between the camera and the PNVR and SNVR, a network failure with one has no effect on the other. Furthermore, for availability reasons the PNVR and the SNVR have independent power sources. In the event the PNVR fails, the SNVR is brought online immediately as the new primary and continues to record. Upon problem resolution, each NVR assumes its original role as primary and secondary. During this entire event, no recorded video is lost.

Event Driven Incident Recognition and Handling

LEVERAGE supports an automated incident recognition, notification and response system that assists Law Enforcement in policing areas when officers are not present. Available as an option with LEVERAGE Video Management Suit (VMS), LEVERAGE Detect adds an additional level of automation to the tactical surveillance solution. Detect automatically rotates and positions one or more surveillance cameras to predetermined location settings (called presets) when predefined events occur.

Because of its high degree of automation, LEVERAGE Detect provides command center operators the freedom to efficiently execute other tasks while manning the viewing console – along with the ability to effectively monitor more cameras. Detect uses a rules engine that automatically executes predetermined camera behavior based on events that have been predefined within the system. When the system detects a previously defined event has occurred, a physical alarm sounds in the command center, a window pops up on the screen and associated cameras rotate and zoom to their predetermined settings. This action automatically provides immediate notification as well as a clear view of the cause of the incident.

By adding LEVERAGE Detect to a LEVERAGE VMS implementation, the expanded system becomes infinitely more powerful. The combined surveillance solution not only continuously monitors designated hotspot locations within a city; it also adds incident detection and location as well. Through LEVERAGE, Law Enforcement has increased its ability to maintain a safe community by utilizing technology as its force multiplier.

An incident definition (Detect Event) and response is added to the LEVERAGE Detect rules engine that will move the two closest surveillance cameras in the direction of a predetermined location (also called a preset) if the infrared beam is breached.