11 May 2015
Jasco
has added a range of body worn surveillance solutions to its security
portfolio. Worn by security and guarding personnel in a number of South African
deployments, the vest has been proven in the local market. The technology enables
real time tracking with geotagging and streaming of visuals, and has enormous
potential to improve management, safety and cost and operational efficiencies
in a number of industries, including security, transport and logistics,
emergency response, law enforcement and facility management.
The
solution will be launched at Securex South Africa which runs from 12 – 14 May
2015 at Gallagher Convention Centre. The product will be demonstrated at the
Jasco stand - J17.
The
solution combines GPS location and tracking technologies with a body-worn
camera that sends real-time images, even in low bandwidth conditions, to a
dedicated centrally hosted server. Clients who subscribe to the service are
issued with the vests for their personnel and are enabled with their own client
monitoring software. The vests are activated and the client is provided with a
secure log-in to a securely hosted environment to view images and control each
vest – i.e. activate audio, visuals or tracking as needed.
Says
Eckart Zollner, Head of business development at the Jasco Group: “These
integrated body worn tracking and surveillance solutions offer the security and
other industry sectors the capabilities they need to better manage personnel,
improve service delivery, lower costs and meet Service Level agreements with
their customers. The solution has been tested in the market over the last four
years and has proven its efficacy in terms of the model and the technology
being used. With the support of the Jasco Group – our security and technology
expertise, and national footprint – we believe this product has the potential
to gain significant market share locally and in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Differentiators
“The
solutions portfolio presents a good fit with our security, networking,
communications and other businesses. While there are similar products in the
market, few are able to steam real-time visuals, provide geotagging and enable
remote control of features. The differentiators in detail are:
·
The real-time image and video streaming technology
includes advanced compression algorithms that enable use even in low bandwidth
environments. A copy of the footage is stored in the vest unit, but is
simultaneously streamed live to the cloud, to a server on the client’s premises,
and to the data centre.
·
The cameras on the vest can be controlled remotely
by authorised personnel and managers. If the camera or tracking is switched off,
an alert is generated at the control room. A number of additional functions are
supplied as standard, such as a panic button, audio surveillance, geo-fencing
and no movement alarms.
·
The range of solutions are locally developed and
locally manufactured.
·
Full support is provided nationally by Jasco’s sales
and technical teams, covering activation and maintenance of the vests,
technical support to manage the vests and access to the control room for live
viewing. In addition, with a full software development team, Jasco is able to
respond to customers bespoke development requirements.
What’s it good for?
In the security and guarding
industry:
·
Monitoring guards to ensure they stick to schedules
and routes means the company no longer needs to deploy a supervisor to
physically spot check personnel.
·
In dangerous situations or when responding to an
incident, activating the body cameras will provide real-time footage to provide
irrefutable evidence of conditions at arrival, support actions taken and inform
decision-making as the situation develops (e.g., potentially alert monitoring
agents of the need for backup). This will minimise disputes (was the window
broken at arrival, or not), ensure security staff abide by regulations in their
actions and that staff are better protected.
In the transport and
logistics industry:
·
Drivers can be tracked via GPS to ensure scheduled
routes are followed;
·
That drivers take the required rest stops; and
·
That no illegal passengers are in the vehicle.
In the law enforcement:
·
That police action meets legal restraints and rights
are not abused;
·
That police receive the backup they need; and
·
The actions of perpetrators are fully recorded.
In facility management:
·
In shopping centres, railways, bus stations and
terminals, the vests can be worn by security personnel to record actions and
incidents, improve apprehension and identification of perpetrators, limit
collusion and monitor traffic flows.
Industry, mines and
utilities – maintenance and troubleshooting:
·
Where oversight of sensitive or complex projects in
the field is required, the vest provides a set of eyes to supervisors.
·
Where maintenance needs to be performed remotely,
the real-time visuals will enable engineers or other experts to provide
informed, hands-free guidance. (well, there would need to be a means to
communicate added and potentially need to chat about sensitivity of the cameras
– do they function well in low light, is there infra-red?)
High-value goods transport:
·
Security guards wearing these vests will, in the
case of incidents, be able to record their view of events, potentially
improving the quality of evidence.
·
Vests will limit collusion.
Emergency rescue:
Teams on the ground wearing the vest will provide