Experience the nextEXPERIENCE THE NEXT A BUILDING BLOCK APPROACH TO SECURITY

AXXON NEXT 4: WHAT, HOW, AND WHY ONVIF: S & G AXXONSOFT AROUND THE WORLD

AUTOMATIC VIDEO SEARCH EDGE STORAGE SUCCESS STORIES

2 / 2016

AxxonSoft

www.axxonsoft.com / www.axxonnext.com

Email: info@axxonsoft.com

3

The AxxonSoft team presents a new issue of the corporate magazine featuring company news and achievements. In this issue, we continue our overview of prevalent problems in various business sectors. You will also find an analytical review of Axxon Next features, an analysis of current approaches to video search, and much more.

dear friends!

Experience the next / contents Experience the next / Experience the Next

Happy reading! We look forward to hearing from you.The AxxonSoft team

Experience the Next. Go ahead and try our new product Axxon Next 4

A Building Block Approach to Security: NEXT

Axxon Next 4: what, how, and why

Ahead of the rest. ONVIF Profile S & G

AxxonSoft around the World

Automatic video search

Edge Storage: every minute counts

Success Stories

AxxonSoft Calendar: Upcoming Industry Events

3

4-10

11-16

18

20-21

22-29

30-31

32-37

38

We want to assure you that the wait was worth it, because now Axxon Next 4 is a brand-new high-tech product with a set of powerful functions, among which is face search in recorded footage that is included in the price of the channel. For the first time, every-one can afford to use this func-tion, even for personal purposes at a facility of any scale. Among other key features of Axxon Next 4 are vehicle license plates search in video footage, prevention of data loss if one of the servers fails, quick visual search in re-corded footage, working with the on-board storage of video cam-eras, and simultaneous viewing of video from cameras belonging to

independent CCTV systems. And this is only a small part of the sys-tem's new capabilities — it imple-ments a total of 136 new features and 560 improvements!

Great attention was paid to large-scale multistage testing before the official release of the system. For this we used special-ized techniques to optimize the software's operation under ex-treme loads and when working with archives in the hundreds of terabytes. We also ensured the system's resiliency when oper-ating with insufficient hardware resources, in an unstable net-work infrastructure or with low bandwidth. In addition to this, we

Experience the next

Murat AltuevPresident

created a stand in the office with 1300 cameras for debugging large configurations. Thanks to such a laborious testing process, we can now confidently release Ax- xon Next 4 on the general market. And even though the product has only now been released, it has been operating at several impor-tant facilities as part of the pre-re-lease testing phase, where it has shown itself to be very effective and reliable.

We have done everything we could so that users would not just like Axxon Next 4, but be truly delighted with it. So go ahead and try our new product Axxon Next 4! Experience the Next!

Most of our recent material is devoted to the new version of the Axxon Next 4 VMS. It is important to note that in this product we did not just fix bugs and improve stability. We wanted to include all the newest advancements in video surveillance in Axxon Next and perfect their operation.

DATA

Audio stream

Video stream

Objecttracking

Receipts

Faces

License plates

MomentQuest

Time Compressor

Detectiontools

Events

TimeSlice

Face search

ANPR searchА123А123

SEARCH AND ANALYSIS

GUI

Data storage

4 5

Experience the next / A Building Block Approach to Security: NEXT

Material provided by: Andrey Khristoforov, Corporate Sales Director

Experience the next

In the previous issue of Experience the Next, we began a discussion of the most widespread problems for business owners. This proved to be a very broad and interesting topic. We began with general security industry chal-lenges and touched on trade, marketing, banking, and public gathering places. Now we'll take a closer look at rail and road transport, the oil and gas sector, and security systems for entire cities.

A Building Block Approach to Security:

Rail transport

Railways have problems specific to this sector as well as issues that are shared with other business spheres. Specific problems include the theft of loads from rail cars and even the cars themselves. After leaving the loading bay at facilities, a train usually travels some distance to a station, where it is received by Russian Railways. It is during this part of the journey, when the train is already outside of the facility but not yet within the responsibility of Russian Railways, that all kinds of crime occur. With an intense daily flow of rail cars, it is extremely difficult to quickly find information about the loss of car contents using manual methods. This problem is solved by introducing the Rail Intellect sys-tem. It detects the number of every rail car upon entry and exit from a facility, and also automates tracking cars and monitoring loading. All the information collected is transmitted to the facility's industrial control systems (ICS). Once this system is set up, it is easy, first of all, to check the video recording and see what state the car left the facility in, since the theft could have occurred on the premises. Secondly, it is possible to match the car numbers to the time they exited the facility, and then find the work shift and the responsible employees in order to identify the offenders. Besides preventing such situations, automated rail car tracking can monitor whether cars are left standing at hubs or on the fa-cility's premises, how long it takes to get from one technological process to another, and so on.

Rail Intellect is equally as useful in marshalling yards. Before au-tomated systems were introduced, operators manually logged the numbers of all cars that passed through. The human factor was un-doubtedly an issue, and errors were sometimes made. Automated detection of car numbers minimizes the role of operators and im-proves rail car monitoring.

Arguably, the most widespread problem in the rail sector is mak-ing sure hoppers and tank cars are properly loaded with products such as coal or gasoline. In this regard, our customers often encounter

A thermal imaging camera is a device for getting a visual image of objects that emit invisible heat (infrared) ra-diation. The temperature distribution is displayed as a color image where different colors correspond to differ-ent temperatures. Thermal cameras are most often used as night vision devices or for getting the temperature field of an object. In the rail sector, thermal cameras are used for check-ing the fill level of petroleum products in tank cars and for detecting people on the tracks in the dark.

Andrey KhristoforovCorporate Sales Director

next

6 7

dishonesty and fraud among operators, who enter the wrong number when weighing a car and then steal part of the load. There is no way to later track down these violations manually. Rail Intellect offers a solution to this problem with automated car number recognition at the time of weighing and simultaneous video recording of the loading process. This is how it works: The car is moved onto a special weighing station, where its number is recognized and the loader begins pouring the product, such as coal. Cameras are focused both on the car number and on the car content from above, in order to record the level that the car was filled to. Bearing in mind, that industrial sites load hundreds of cars a day, so when a half-filled car is discovered, it is practically impossible to trace whether the car was initially not filled completely or whether part of the load disappeared after the car left the weighing station. When this process is automated, we can check the car number and immediately find the video of loading it to see when the violation occurred.

Another issue specific to the rail sector is washing the rail cars. Due to the scale and the amount of water, detergents, and personnel re-quired, this is an expensive operation. For this reason, the number of cars washed must be monitored. We know of cases when Rail Intellect helped to identify dishonest employees who were sending the same car to the washing station three or four times in a row, and creating a sepa-rate invoice each time.

The railway serves not only cargo transportation needs, but millions of passengers as well. One of the most important tasks of this sector is controlling safety and preventing accidents, terrorist threats, or vandal-ism. The security system must be able to detect an object on the rails in any weather and at any time of day, and immediately alert the operator. But it is important to understand that conventional solutions using pe-rimeter protection systems can't be applied on the railway. AxxonSoft offers customers video analytics in combination with thermal imaging for detecting objects on the rails. A monitoring zone is created in the sys-tem, which tracks any movement in this zone, the appearance of foreign

Experience the next / A Building Block Approach to Security: NEXT Experience the next

objects, changes in the background, and anything crossing its bounda-ries. If one of these situations is detected, the system immediately noti-fies operators of the threat.

Since railway stations often have crowds of people, an obvious prob-lem is long lines to ticket windows, especially during vacation times and summer months. To solve this problem, AxxonSoft provides tools for analyzing ticket lines in order to optimize the work of cashiers and the number of cashiers needed during different seasons. In addition, Axxon-Soft products offer access control systems for restricted employee areas of train stations, along with tools for counting people at the entrance and exit. We should note that these issues also apply to other business sectors such as retail and marketing. Our tools can be used successfully in large supermarkets and shopping centers.

Safe City projects

When talking about safety at the level of an entire city, we'd like to fo-cus on transportation. City streets have a huge number of vehicles and at least as many pedestrians, and all sorts of accidents happen every day. A critical issue today is recording traffic violations. This can become a reality using Auto Intellect for recognizing license plate numbers and detecting the following violations in real-time:

• Speeding

• Running a red light

• Crossing into the intersection on a red light

• Stopping in the crosswalk on a red light

• Crossing into the oncoming lane.

Rail Intellect made it possible to catch dishonest employees who were sending the same rail car to the washing station three or four times.

8 9

Experience the next / A Building Block Approach to Security: NEXT Experience the next

When a violation is detected, the system alerts the operator of the event and the vehicle data is recorded in the database.

Tools for recognizing license plate numbers and quick video search can also be used for law-enforcement investigations in order to quick-ly obtain information about where and when a vehicle of interest was seen.

The analytics developed by AxxonSoft also help city authorities to optimize traffic. Auto Intellect gathers statistics by counting vehicles on the road and classifying them by type (car, van, truck, and so on). These statistics are used for making decisions about redirecting traffic and, consequently, relieving the strain on certain roads.

Freight trucking

If we consider freight trucking, the first issue that comes to mind is size and weight restrictions. An overload of the roadway caused by trucks heavier than the allowed weights has several consequences:

• Premature road surface failure

• Potential accidents if an overloaded vehicle blows a tire

• Possible traffic jams if an overloaded vehicle has difficulty climb-ing a hill.

The poor condition of Russian roads is not one of our best-kept secrets. So the Federal Road Transport Agency (Rosavtodor) has taken on this challenge and adopted a system for checking weight and size on highways. Interestingly, using this system in practice revealed that

often freight trucks on our high-ways really do carry twice as much cargo as allowed.

The checks are performed in special freight lanes at Road Patrol Service stations, which work like a scale. When a cargo vehicle enters this lane, it is weighed, the license plate number is recognized, and the process is recorded on video. Then all of this information is syn-chronized. The system is also in-tegrated with the database of the traffic police, where the license plate is immediately matched to the car owner. If the maximum weight is exceeded, the owner of the vehicle is automatically issued a fine just as for any other viola-tion. These systems are becoming even more automated and the weight of trucks can be checked without even involving the traffic police. If a driver decides to avoid the weighing station and takes an alternative route designated for passenger vehicles, a different fine will be issued for using a road where trucks are not allowed.

1110

Experience the next / A Building Block Approach to Security: NEXT

Oil and gas

The issues of the oil and gas industry can be classified according to stages in the life cycle of oil and gas products. In upstream operations, the main issue is the remoteness of sites and unstable connections with the central monitoring hub. We solve this problem by creating a unified security system that supports a connection even between the most re-mote sites. For transmitting video when the connection is poor, Axxon-Soft products can adapt the bitrate to the available bandwidth. If the connection is lost temporarily, data is recorded to remote storage and then uploaded to the main sever when the connection is restored.

Oil and gas products are distributed through service stations. We dis-cussed the problems related to service stations in the previous issue.

The final stage is processing the gas and oil products. An example here is a problem faced by many refinery managers — difficulty in set-ting up equipment and training personnel to work with this equipment. As is well-known, cameras from different manufacturers have very dif-ferent interfaces for configuration, and the user has to master each of them. The same is true of access control systems, which can have very confusing configuration interfaces. AxxonSoft products solve this prob-lem by giving the user a unified interface for configuring equipment from different manufacturers, access rights, and so on. This makes the job much easier for security system operators.

Experience the next / Axxon Next 4: what, how, and why

Material provided by: Yakov Volkind, Head of AxxonSoft Saint-Petersburg

axxon Next 4what, how, and why

The next generation video management system, Axxon Next 4, is not just one of the major products of AxxonSoft. It is the result of deep analytics and painstaking development. It was with this product that we began our entrance to the international market almost 8 years ago. From that time forward, we have been constantly working to improve it and add new functions, thus earning our name as a leading world devel-oper of smart integrated security and sur-veillance systems.

Yakov VolkindHead of AxxonSoft Saint-Petersburg

In this issue of our magazine, we would like to share some of the background for why certain new features were added to the Axxon Next VMS, whether driven by requests from clients, trends in technology, or the desire to be the best at what we do.

Over the years, we have successfully solved all these problems for our clients with the rigorous development of our own products, which have evolved into truly world-class mul-ti-functional security systems that can meet any demands.

12 13

Experience the next

Failover System reliability is always our number one priority. But a reliable file system isn't

all there is to it — besides software, there is hardware reliability. From a logical point of view, the more equipment a system has, the more likely it is to fail. When a situation like this arises at a site, a professional has to immediately travel to the facility and fix the problem. Since it is impossible to eliminate the potential for breakdowns, we have de-veloped a way to minimize their impact on the overall system performance. Our Failover technology lets you add a backup server that continually monitors the system. If one of the servers goes down, the backup server automatically takes over its functions. This is how we prevent data loss.

Configuration backup and restore

This feature is a logical extension of the previous one. Sometimes the failed server cannot be repaired and has to be replaced. To restore the server configuration as quick-ly as possible, we added the ability to automatically copy all settings to a removable drive or cloud storage so that you can later "upload" them to a new server.

Working with recorded video Continuing the topic of data security, we should note that it is strongly determined

by the storage media used. The more professional the storage media and the less it involves "intermediaries," the more reliable it will be (RAID, NAS, and so on). In addition, being able to copy the video of any events to long-term remote storage is a chance to prevent data loss if hardware fails. For this purpose, we introduced a feature for repli-cating an archive between network storage devices with access to archived information.

Experience the next / Axxon Next 4: what, how, and why

Edge storage

During short-term loss of connectivity at sites, video can be saved directly to a SD card in the camera itself. Actually, support for on-board storage is not a novelty in video surveillance, but there is one caveat. When connectivity is restored, the video recorded on the camera storage remains there, while the video following it is saved in the security system's archive. The video from embedded storage can later be moved to the archive, but it will remain separate from the main recording. In contrast, we use the same data replication system described above to merge the video stored on the camera to the archive recorded by the system. The result is a seamless recording. This means the op-erator doesn't ever need to think about which recording is stored where.

HYPERVISOR HYPERVISOR

HYPERVISORHYPERVISOR

!

Backing up to failover server

Automatic restoration of backup copy of the configuration of an offline server

Server failure

14 15

Cross-System Client Users often face a problem when they inherit either a huge distributed system that

is difficult to administer due to a variety of product versions, different keys, and so on, or a bunch of small separate systems put together by different integrators. We thought about how we could help users solve these problems. As a result, we developed the Cross-System Client for monitoring and managing sites in different subnets. The user doesn't have to put specific computers in the same domain or worry about which net-work a certain computer is in. The unified monitoring center provides access to any computer, regardless of the installation date, the activation key, or the product versions installed at the site.

Motion Wavelet transcoding There was a time when the Intellect PSIM was the number one system on the mar-

ket because in addition to integrations, it had a unique analog compression algorithm. When transmitting data over a poor connection, this algorithm allowed to prune the data, and also to send footage to the network with a lower quality and record it with a higher quality. Due to our competence with the network and our ability to transmit data where others couldn't, we conquered the analog market. Then the IP revolution led to digitizing information on the cameras themselves using manufacturer codecs, and the algorithms changed. However, the volume of video is constantly growing and meta-data is also being added (for more on metadata, see page 22). All of this points to the fact that even advanced networks simply do not have the bandwidth to grow with the content they need to transmit. We thought that for sites that absolutely need content delivery, but are prevented by low bandwidth, it makes sense to sacrifice performance for the sake of stream recompression. Then you can send it using our Motion Wavelet codec, which has already proven itself in analog systems.

Export

We would hear countless stories of customers who were having trouble exporting re-corded video, so we decided to add this easy-to-use function. Now the operator doesn't need to make any settings, because the administrator pre-defines the folder and format for saving the file. What is more, you can export to any format supported by the client's installed codecs, or in EXE format, which includes both the video player and codec so the client doesn't have to install anything in order to view the video. We also added the ability to automatically edit video and then export. For example, footage of an object's move-ment can be assembled from a sequence of clips taken on different cameras. The point is that we get one video file without needing to search for clips from the recordings on multiple cameras. This also makes the operator's job much easier.

Experience the nextExperience the next / Axxon Next 4: what, how, and why

LDAP authentication Imagine that you are installing a system for a company that already has an employee

database — an access control system, an address book or phone book, or any other LDAP database. I'm sure you'll agree that it's much easier to connect the existing data-base and then just distribute user roles than to re-create thousands of new users. We have made this possible in Axxon Next. Besides the obvious time saved when instal-ling and configuring the system, this also prevents any errors from being introduced by manually entering information in the database.

16

New interface When developing the Axxon Next family of products, we always think about the op-

erator and system user and strive to create a truly innovative interface. In Axxon Next 4, we put serious thought into the tasks faced by our partner, the system integrator and installation engineer, and completely redesigned all the interfaces related to sys-tem configuration. We created a configuration wizard so the system can be launched with default settings in just a few clicks. Later, everything can be fine-tuned or the set-tings can be changed completely, if necessary. At the same time, we haven't stopped thinking about the user, so the entire UI was revamped and streamlined. Navigation is now much simpler, and the interface responds faster than ever. A typical problem in all the VMS products on the market is the delay when opening the archive for a large number of cameras. For us, the same operation is hardly noticeable. And the interface for multi-camera face search and license plate search is a complete reinterpretation and fresh perspective on the user experience in security systems.

The next issue will cover other equally important features of the Axxon Next VMS: face search and license plate search, Tag & Track, using video walls, and more.

Experience the next / Axxon Next 4: what, how, and why

18

Experience the next / Ahead of the rest

Ahead of the restAxxonSoft enterprise solutions, Intellect PSIM and Axxon Next VMS, are the first video surveillance systems in the world to make it to the ONVIF Profile G compatibility. ONVIF is an open standard that makes it easier to integrate surveillance software with third-party cameras.

This ONVIF integration requires Intellect or Intellect Lite version 4.9.7 or later, and Axxon Next version 4.0.

ONVIF Profile G defines the requirements for onboard video storage and retrieval. There are currently more than 360 ONVIF Profile G com-pliant cameras, NVR and encoders listed at www.onvif.org. Intellect and Axxon Next clients can effectively talk to the edge storage on these IP devices.

Now with ONVIF Profile S and Profile G incorporated in the Intellect PSIM and Axxon Next VMS, all devices conforming to ONVIF can be ad-ded to video surveillance systems powered by AxxonSoft products.

S G

Material provided by: Diana Vasilieva, Integrations Team Leader

St. Petersburg+7 (812) 441-33-22Yakov Volkindyakov.volkind@itv.ru

Moscow+7 (495) 775-29-29Andrey Khristoforovandrey.khristoforov@itv.ru

Mexico City, Mexico + 52 55 216 77269Juan Manuel Vélezjuan.velez@axxonsoft.comMexico

São Paulo, Brazil+55 11 974 573 262Yuri Aksenovyuri.aksenov@axxonsoft.comBrazil

Nürnberg, Germany+49 911 431 810 00 Evgeny Germanevgeny.german@axxonsoft.comGermany

Barcelona, Spain +34 934 925 729Dmitry Lyulindmitry.lyulin@axxonsoft.comSouth Europe

Kiev, Ukraine+38 044 482 19 91Alexander Kurinnoialexander.kurinnoi@axxonsoft.comUkraine

Buenos Aires, Argentina+54 11 5279 4776Andres Quevedoandres.quevedo@axxonsoft.com Latin America except Brazil

AxxonSoft Mexico

AxxonSoft Brazil

AxxonSoft USA

AxxonSoft Spain

AxxonSoft Ukraine

AxxonSoft Latin America

SpainBarcelona

ArgentinaBuenos Aires

Brazil São Paulo

MexicoMexico

GermanNürnberg

United Kingdom

LondonAxxonSoft German

AxxonSoft France

AxxonSoft ItalyRome, Italy

+39 349 927 0519Pierfrancesco Giovene

p.giovene@axxonsoft.comItaly

MoroccoCasablanca

AxxonSoft PolandKrakow, Poland+ 48 12 393 58 01Paweł Trojakpoland@axxonsoft.comPoland

Paris, France + 33 6 12 02 02 55Murat Bzhinaevmurat.bzhinaev@axxonsoft.com France

Pravets, Bulgaria +359 7133 5020Fedor Mendelevfedor.mendelev@axxonsoft.comCentral Europe

AxxonSoft Eastern EuropePravets, Bulgaria +359 7133 5020Alexey Mendelevalexey.mendelev@axxonsoft.comEastern Europe, Baltic States

FranceParis

ItalyRome

Denver, Colorado, USA + 1 720 635 40 81 Michael Davismichael.davis@axxonsoft.comUSA and Canada

USADenver, Colorado

London, United Kingdom + 44 114 299 92 39Juri Knjazevjuri.knjazev@axxonsoft.comUnited Kingdom

AxxonSoft United KingdomMinsk, Belarus+375 17 395 2008Dmitriy Lisovskydmitriy.lisovsky@axxonsoft.comBelarus

AxxonSoft Belarus

AxxonSoft MoroccoCasablanca, Morocco+ 212 667 790 728Rhizlane Etteraryetterary.rhizlane@axxonsoft.comMorocco

Krasnodar+7 (861) 255-15-46Maxim Rasulovmaxim.rasulov@itv.ru

Nalchik+7 (8662) 40-92-43Zalim Tlapshokovzalim.tlapshokov@itv.ru

AxxonSoft Russia

Novosibirsk+7 (383) 334-08-86Igor Shukshinigor.shukshin@ipdrom.ru

Rostov-on-Don+7 (863) 333-20-28Dmitriy Vasilecdmitriy.vasilec@itv.ru

Omsk+7 (3812) 66-00-91Vladimir Chemerinskyvladimir.chemerinskiy@itv.ru

Samara+7 (846) 273-35-40 Anton Bekrenevanton.bekrenev@itv.ru

Ufa+7 (917) 759-46-09Artem Nikitinartem.nikitin@itv.ru

Ekaterinburg+7 (343) 344-28-88Alexander Zolotarevalexander.zolotarev@itv.ru

Sydney+ 65 8346 9812Durairaj Gireraj

raj@axxonsoft.comAsia-Pacific region

Singapore + 65 6536 9102Durairaj Girerajraj@axxonsoft.comAsia Pacific Region

Shanghai, China+ 86 15217 538 404 Ryan Ongryan.ong@axxonsoft.comChina, Taiwan, Hongkong & Macau

Almaty, Kazahstan+ 7 727 323-61-61

Dmitriy Zagorodskiydmitriy.zagorodskiy@axxonsoft.com

Kazahstan, Kyrgizstan

Tehran, Iran+ 98 21 885 20 335

Mehdi Taabemehdi.tabe@axxonsoft.com

Iran

Dubai, UAE+ 971 55 412 0204 + 7 926 569 65 75 Yury Akhmetovyury.akhmetov@axxonsoft.comMiddle East and North Africa

Lahore, Pakistan+ 92 333 8403497

Sajjad Arshadsajjad.arshad@axxonsoft.com

Pakistan

AxxonSoft MENA

AxxonSoft Pakistan

AxxonSoft APAC

AxxonSoft ChinaAxxonSoft Kazahstan

AxxonSoft Iran

AxxonSoft Asia-Pacific

New Delhi, India+91 98 8400 4256

AxxonSoft India

Moscow

Krasnodar

Nalchik

NovosibirskOmsk

Ekaterinburg

Rostov-on-Don

Almaty Kazahstan

Kiev Ukraine

Belarus Minsk

TurkeyIstanbul

PolandKrakow

SamaraUfa

Kazan

St. Petersburg

Iran Tehran

ChinaShanghai

KoreaSeoul

MalaysiaKuala Lumpur

Saudi ArabiaRiyadh

UAEDubai

AxxonSoft Baltic StatesDaugavpils, Latvia+371 270 414 00Vladislav Truskovskiyvladislav.truskovskiy@axxonsoft.comLatvia, Lithuania and Estonia

AxxonSoft KSARiyadh, Saudi Arabia

+ 966 5561 853 27Alaa Mahmoud

alaa.mahmoud@axxonsoft.comSaudi Arabia

AxxonSoft MalaysiaKuala Lumpur, Malaysia

+ 603 773 323 24Yiing Ong

yiing@axxonsoft.comMalaysia

Singapore

AxxonSoft KoreaSeoul, Korea

+ 82 10 3117 81 08Alex Oh

alex.oh@axxonsoft.com Korea & Japan

AxxonSoft TurkeyIstanbul, Turkey+ 90 530 664 29 86Ozgur Sahinlerozgur.sahinler@axxonsoft.comTurkey, North Cyprus

BulgariaPravets

Krasnoyarsk

NEW

LatviaDaugavpils

Kazan+7 (843) 519-46-86Vladimir Gorbovvladimir.gorbov@itv.ru

Krasnoyarsk+7 (391) 270-23-41Ruslan Goncharovruslan.goncharov@itv.ru

Experience the next / Axxonsoft around the world

20 21

22 23

Experience the next / Automatic video search

Material provided by: Igor Falomkin, Director of Development

Automaticvideo searchSearching for information in recorded video is not an easy task, since recordings contain a huge volume of data. Moreover, this task is critical because we believe that storing information and then analyzing the video archive is the best way to get the data the user needs. This is why AxxonSoft product development focuses on creating and improving tools for fast and convenient search in video footage. We would like to share the results of our efforts in this area.

The role of metadata and how it is generated

First of all, we would like to explain how the video archive is created in AxxonSoft products. While saving the video stream, we simultaneous-ly collect metadata. Metadata represents a formal description of what is happening in a camera's field of view: the position of an object in each frame, the size, color, and type of object (such as a person, a group of people, or a car) and the trajectory it is moving in, biometric vectors of

Experience the next

faces, license plate numbers, information from POS terminals, and so on. All this different information is stored in a database, since search-es will later be performed across the metadata, not in the video itself. The metadata that is related to objects and their trajectories is stored in its own highly specialized data management system called VMDA, de-veloped by AxxonSoft. VMDA is used in the Axxon Next VMS and the Intellect PSIM for indexing and storing descriptions of a scene. The ad-vantage of using our own DBMS is that in contrast to a conventional rela-tional database, it is optimized for storing geometric data, which allows fast data retrieval for queries involving the trajectories of moving ob-jects. For example, you can use VMDA to quickly find all the trajectories that moved from one polygonal region to another, or all the trajectories within a certain polygonal region. A conventional database would pro-cess these types of queries extremely slowly.

There are two ways that metadata is added to VMDA. The first way is when metadata is generated on the server. The camera streams video to the server, where it is decompressed and processed. The resulting metadata is stored in the database. However, video decompression and analysis is a complex task with a high CPU load, especially in the case of high definition video. For this reason, we also use a second method, in which metadata is transmitted to the DBMS directly from the cam-era. In this case, we don't have to decompress and analyze the video. We only need to get the compressed video stream and metadata from the camera and store them in the archive. We can get data this way when using cameras from certain manufacturers that are able to di-

Igor Falomkin Director of Development

rectly generate the metadata we need "on board". We can also get metadata from Axis and VIVOTEK cameras even though they don't have this capability, because they allow uploading executable code from third-party developers. To do this, we implement the same algo-rithm on the cameras that we use on the server. As a result, we get the metadata we need, generated using our own algorithm.

We offer customers several tools for fast video search and analysis.

24 25

Experience the next / Automatic video search

MomentQuest

MomentQuest, a forensic search tool, searches for events by trajec-tories. You can set the desired criteria: crossing a line, moving between two polygonal regions, or moving within or loitering in a zone. You can use filters for faster and more refined searches, with criteria such as the object size, type, or color, the speed and direction of movement, and so on. Since the search is performed on metadata that is already stored in the database, the speed is fast enough that the first search results appear on the operator's screen in just a couple of seconds.

Case study

A shopping area had one of its booths wrecked over the weekend. A search in the video footage used the zone around the damaged booth as criteria. Search results showed all the cars that were near the selected zone. As it turned out, one of these cars backed up into the booth. The entire search process only took a few minutes.

Experience the next

Real-time detection toolsYou can use the same criteria (crossing a line, searching in a region,

or moving between zones) for configuring detection when configuring the security system. These detection tools are triggered in real time and immediately alert the operator. As a result, we can easily search record-ed video and find all the detection events.

Practical solutions using MomentQuest

The MomentQuest algorithm is based on searching for a specific type of trajectory, such as trajectories that crossed a line, that moved around within a certain zone for a long time, and so on. An example of using this technology is in a parking lot, where it is easy to find any people who have been standing there for longer than normal, since these people could potentially be looking for cars to break into. Here's another example: We know that the person we are looking for followed a specific path — exited one building and entered another. We set search criteria for moving from one selected area to another area in a specific direction, and in a few seconds we get results showing us all the people moving along this trajectory. Now it is easy to take the results and visually pick out the person, or refine the search criteria (such as adding the jacket color).

26 27

Experience the next / Automatic video search

Time Compressor

Time Compressor uses the same method of retrieving metadata from the proprietary database in order to quickly review events without fast-forwarding. Objects and events captured at different times are dis-played simultaneously in a condensed "video synopsis". When you spot an object of interest, select it to play the corresponding video fragment in full. The view is designed to minimize the overlap of objects during view-ing, and you can also limit the number of objects shown on the screen at once so the operator won't have trouble finding the relevant object. In addition, each object has a label under it showing the time when it was in the scene. Even though this search tool is not fully automated and does require the operator's direct participation, results can be obtained much faster than when visually searching video during normal playback.

Convenience when working with recorded video: selecting the relevant object, ease of display in the viewing tile, limiting the number of objects, and showing the time when objects were present in the frame.

Experience the next

Face search

Face search is another convenient tool for quickly finding what you need in a vast stream of events. This is a new feature in the Axxon Next 4 VMS that is truly innovative because the cost of facial recognition and search is included in the cost of video channel licenses. Previously, solu-tions like this were specialized and costly, so they could only be afforded by large companies, intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and so on. Thanks to AxxonSoft, facial recognition and face search in video is now available to any users, including use by private individuals for surveil-lance of homes or any other areas or objects.

The technology is applied when data is being transferred from the camera to the archive. At this stage, the system scans all the faces in a frame. For each face detected, the system chooses the most frontal position and creates a biometric vector (a brief description of the face) to store as metadata. When searching in video footage, we can give the system a reference image by uploading a photo of a person or selecting a face in a frame. A biometric vector is also built for the reference image, and then it is compared with the vectors already existing in the data-base. The search results on the operator's screen show all the people with faces similar to the reference image.

It is important to note the fundamental difference between Axxon-Soft face search technology and other relatively similar solutions, such as the ability to identify a person in the camera's field of view with an image previously uploaded to the surveillance system's database. This technology is often used for identifying criminals when they enter

crowded public areas. However, a solution like this only allows the system to give a simple answer — either "yes, the person in the cam-era's view exists in the database", or "no, this person was not found". In contrast, the Axxon Next face search technology focuses on searching for a person instead of identification. This allows us to develop different recognition algo-rithms and achieve better results. When performing a search, the op-erator sees results showing all the people who resemble the refer-ence image. Even if the person in question is not shown as the first match to the reference image, the operator can visually analyze the faces and find the right one. Using a reference image as the search criteria and generating multiple hypotheses in the search result allows us to apply faster recogni-tion algorithms. This significantly speeds up the overall search.

28 29

License plate search

Experience the next / Automatic video search

Comments searchSearching text comments is

also a fast way to find moments that have already been noted by an operator. Comments can be made on an entire frame, a select-ed area of a frame, a section of footage, or a specific alarm.

This feature is also new in the Axxon Next 4 VMS. Searching recorded video for license plate numbers uses a mechanism similar to face recognition and search. All captured license plates are stored as text in the da-tabase. In cases when the image isn't clear enough, the system builds multiple hypotheses with similar num-bers. You can enter a number as the search criteria, and get results with one or more matching license plates.

Time Slice

Time Slice is a convenient way to find an event in a video when you only know the approximate time it happened. You set a time interval during which an event supposedly occurred. This section of time is divided into as many equal parts as can fit on the screen (for example, 10). Images corresponding to each of these seg-ments are shown on the screen. The operator visually identifies the one the event occurred in and selects it. This segment is then divided into 10 parts in the same way. With each selection, the fragments become more and more detailed. In just a few clicks, you can determine the time of the event with accuracy to the nearest second, and view the event details as well.

Experience the next

A license plate number can be recognized and found, even if the image is blurry.

Events searchNaturally, video analytics are not only used for monitoring what is

happening in the camera's field of view, but also for monitoring the health of the system. Various camera tampering and failure detection tools are available that respond to camera out-ages and issues such as a camera being obscured, losing focus, or getting dirty. Detection triggers are registered in the system as events that we can easily search.

30 31

Edge Storage:every minute counts

When a camera is added to the Axxon Next VMS, embedded storage is detected automatically. If embedded storage is detected, Axxon Next automatically creates a child object under the camera's node. Configuration is really simple: the administrator activates the object and the data on the camera's SD card becomes available.

Experience the next / Edge Storage: every minute counts

Today more and more video cameras with SD cards are appearing on the market. This technology, which allows cameras to record video to embedded memory, is called edge storage. With the Axxon Next VMS, you can maximize the potential of edge storage for next-generation video monitoring.

Just what can you do with built-in storage?

First off, you can copy (replicate) video footage to the Axxon Next archive. This merges the video from the camera to the VMS. This function is extremely useful during a short-term connection loss in areas where every minute of the recording is important, for example, at access points, crowded areas, airports, or other major transportation hubs. As soon as the network is restored, the edge storage (on the camera) synchronizes with the central storage (on the server) in "one-way sync", resulting in a seamless, gap-free video recording.

Material provided by: Igor Falomkin, Director of Development

Experience the next

Second, you can view the video directly from the SD card. After replication, you can also perform all of the operations that are available for the Axxon Next archive: search for trajectories, alarming events, etc. (for more on search mechanisms in the archive, see pages 4-11), make comments on video segments or frames, use keyboard shortcuts, and much more. And you can do all of this in the familiar Axxon Next interface.

Third, in addition to viewing and investigating the video, the Axxon Next VMS allows you to export data from edge storage. You can use all of the Axxon Next export features: privacy masking, exporting video frame fragments, images, comments, or a selected area of the frame, setting a maximum video file size, exporting both live and recorded video, and much more.

The advantages of integrating on-board storage with Axxon Next are clear:

1 Reliability. When recording video on a camera's SD card, you don't need to worry about network failures or data loss.

2 Ease of installation. You just need to install the camera and activate the embedded storage.

3 Ease of use. You can work with edge storage in exactly the same way as with recorded video in the Axxon Next user interface.

Axxon Next can access embedded storage on IP cameras using various protocols, one of which is the open industry-standard ONVIF Profile G. AxxonSoft PSIM and VMS solutions are the first in the world to officially support the ONVIF Profile G specification (for more information, see page 12).

AXXONSOFT DEPLOYMENTS

SUCCESS STORIES

AlbChrome, Albania. p. 34-35

Grand Trade Business Center, Republika Srpska.p. 33

Autonet Group, Romania.p. 36-37

Experience the next / SUCCESS STORIES

Material provided by: AxxonSoft Eastern Europe

Grand Trade Business CenterRepublika SrpskaIn Banja Luka, one of the largest cities of Republika Srpska, a modern business center has been built. The complex has 14 stories and a total area of 200,000 square meters.

"We are pleased that our com-pany was selected as the supplier of advanced and high-tech software products. This enables the installer company's specialists to design and deliver solutions for projects with the widest range of required functions us-ing a single platform for building secu-rity systems."

Fedor Mendelev, Sales Director, AxxonSoft Eastern Europe

There are a huge number of people in the business center every day — more than 1300 employees, visitors and technical staff. For this reason, the security of people and property in a building like this is a key issue. When setting the objec-tives for the installation of a securi-ty system in the Grand Trade Busi-ness Center, the customer outlined typical requirements: all the infra-structure of the Center — its terri-tory, office space, and utility areas, as well as entrances and exits  — must be carefully monitored.

The distributor of equipment for security system installation was Master B.C., one of the largest distributors in the market of the former Yugoslavia, focused on pro-moting and selling various hard-ware and solutions with diverse levels of complexity and scale.

The client selected AxxonSoft to provide software, which could meet its objectives. Its key prod-uct, the state-of-the-art Axxon Next video management system, was installed on 10 servers. Four remote client computers were also connected to the system, enabling uninterrupted recording of video from 186 cameras in all. Live video from cameras is viewed in a single monitoring center.

Once the Axxon Next security system was fully functioning in the Grand Trade Business Center, the customer noted that it had not had any technical problems or compli-cations in terms of use of the sys-tem. Thus, the installed AxxonSoft software fully satisfied all the cli-ent's wishes and requirements at such an important business facility as a business center.

Distributor

Master B.C.

32

More success stories at www.axxonsoft.com

33

34 35

AlbChrome produces premium chromite and ferrochrome (alloy of chrome and iron). Since 1948 this company has been the largest chromium producer in the region. In autumn 2015 MetalBulletin — British magazine writing about met-allurgical industry — ranked AlbChrome in the top 5 most quality producers of ferrochrome in the world.

Video surveillance system with several cameras has already been installed at one of ferrochrome plants in the city of Elbasan. However, the current system has experienced lots of performance and stability problems. That became a serious issue for AlbChrome management as the plants represent a complex industrial area which houses valu- able raw materials as well as end products. Moreover, another Alb-Chrome’s plant in Burrel needed a video surveillance system to be installed. In order to build a reliable and stable video surveillance system and resolve current issues the client addressed local system integrator — Synapse ATS. Synapse ATS suggested using a next-gen-eration open-platform video management software (VMS) — Axxon Next by AxxonSoft.

Solution

First of all, the Axxon Next video management software (VMS) re-placed the existing one at the plant in Burrel. At that time there was only 2 Mbps wireless internet connection at the site and integrators had to use it to stream video to a central monitoring center. They were immensely impressed by the fact that even using this low-speed

AlbChromeAlbania

Experience the next / SUCCESS STORIES

Axxon Next VMS handles:

2 plants

200 000 sqm

72 cameras

Experience the next

connection they managed to get video from 36 cameras. Moreover, Axxon Next UI appeared to be intuitive for security professionals. The flexibility of system configuration enabled easy and fast displaying of desired video streams.

Local servers with the Axxon Next VMS connected to a single do-main are now installed at both ferrochrome plants — in Burrel and Elbasan. One client machine to monitor local cameras was installed at each site as well. Video from all cameras is transmitted in a real time mode to the monitoring center in Tirana where it is displayed on the video wall consisting of 4 x 40-inch LED screens. Altogether the Axxon Next VMS handles 72 cameras covering an area of 100,000 square meters at each plant.

AlbChrome representatives were looking for easy to use and easi-ly extensible software capable to provide stable operation of a distrib-uted security system with cam- eras from different manufacturers. The Axxon Next VMS meets these requirements — the system has been working flawlessly since its in-stallation. Both the client and part-ner were impressed by excellent price-quality ratio offered by Axxon Next. Free built-in video analytics tools significantly help to optimize and automate the surveillance sys-tem for better performance.

Material provided by: AxxonSoft Eastern Europe

“Whether it is a simple video surveil-lance system with several cameras or a large-scale complex system — we will always choose AxxonSoft. This product delivers enterprise-level secu-rity controls even to small companies. We have been engaged in installing various video surveillance systems in Albania, but we have never seen such a reliable and powerful system as the Axxon Next VMS.“

Bernard Toci, CEO of Synapse ATS

36 37

Autonet GroupRomania

Experience the next / SUCCESS STORIES Experience the next

Material provided by: AxxonSoft Eastern Europe

Partner

Alphasonic Ltd.

AxxonSoft software has been installed at the facilities of Autonet Group, the leading provider of automotive components and spare parts in Central and Eastern Europe.

Autonet Group is a leader in the automotive industry in Central and Eastern Europe. Founded in 1996 in Satu Mare (Romania), today the company is one of the largest suppliers of auto parts in Hungary and Romania and provides its 9000 partner companies in these countries with seven million spare parts each year.

Autonet Group operates 3 distribution centers and 61 regional warehouses. A total of 1500 employees work at the company. As of 2015, the company's turnover came to about €280 million.

Security systems are a crucial part of any business, essential for its proper functioning. For this reason, Autonet decided to see to its own security. To find the best solution, the customer contacted the compe-tence center of Alphasonic Ltd, which provided all the necessary con-sultations, assistance in implementing a security system and technical support. Alphasonic Ltd is a partner of AxxonSoft in Hungary. It has ex-

isted for over 20 years and holds a leading market position in Hunga-ry in selling computer peripherals and providing IT and networking services, as well as consulting.

Autonet Group IT Manager At-tila Felso met with a consultant from Alphasonic Ltd. at one of the company's offices in Dunakeszi near Budapest and told him about the company's requirements for the future security system and his experience with AxxonSoft prod-ucts:

"The system really WOWed us! We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw that the system could combine such excellent performance, speed and a broad array of security tools! AxxonSoft software and VIVOTEK cameras were simply made to work together. We are absolutely satisfied with the outcome of installing the Axxon Next VMS, and in the future we are going to install it at our other facilities as well."

Attila Felso, IT Manager of Autonet Group

"We would like to mention that Alpha-sonic provided very competent con-sultation, implementation assistance, and presale tech support for Autonet Group. We also very much appreciate Alphasonic's services as a competence center which promotes AxxonSoft products on the Hungarian market."

Fedor Mendelev, Sales Director, AxxonSoft Eastern Europe

"First and foremost, we wanted to solve the problem of monitoring our mer-chandise. One of our most important criteria is that the products shipped for delivery have been thoroughly checked. Therefore, monitoring and protection of our merchandise is the most important requirement. Also, unfortunately, we have had cases of theft. We would like to eliminate the occurrence of such inci-dents using a security system.

We wanted our future security system to be installed in several stages, but still remain consistent. We therefore approached the selection of both the consultant company and the installer company very seriously. We were already familiar with Alphasonic; we had met at various security-related events, where we had the chance to get acquainted with AxxonSoft products, based on which we final-ly chose them. We are very satisfied with the installer company that carried out all the work on installation of the surveillance system."

Attila Felso, IT Manager of Autonet Group

To meet the established objectives, the Axxon Next VMS with 33 channels of video was installed at the Autonet Group facilities. Our part-ner did a test run of the software and cameras beforehand so that the client could choose suitable equipment. Then the installer company's specialists fully installed and debugged the software on the central serv-er, while Alphasonic advised the staff on how to work with the installed system.

Autonet Group representatives were very pleased with how the en-tire equipment installation process went and how the equipment works now. The installer company provided all parts necessary for installation and conducted several tests of the system, allowing greater flexibility in configuring it.

IFSECJune 21-23,London, United Kingdom

E+S+SAugust,Bogota, Colombia

InterSecSeptember 7-9, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Security EssenSeptember 27-30, Essen, German

All-Over-IPNovember,Moscow, Russia

Sicurezza ItalyNovember,Milan, Italy

SICURFebruary 23-26, Madrid, Spain

InterSec January 17-19, Dubai, UAE

MIPSMarch 14-17,Moscow, Russia

ISF SECUREXApril 25-28,Poznan, Poland

ISC West April 6-8,Las Vegas, USA

Expo SeguridadApril 26-28,Mexico City, Mexico

Segurex

May 6-9, Lisbon, Portugal

SecurityForumMay 25-26,Barcelona, Spain

SeguriTecMay 26-28, Lima, Peru

ISAF TurkeySeptember 29-October 2,Istanbul, Turkey

SecurexpoNovember 8-10,Nairobi, Kenya

Experience the next

Founder: ITV Group LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission of the editors. An exception can be made for citing quotations from the magazine in critical essays and reviews. Under the copyright law, this magazine or any portion thereof may not be reproduced for any purpose other than private use.

№2 / 2016Executive editor: Ekaterina Pankina

Editor: Vadim BelyakovDesign and layout: Pavel Cherenkov, Nina Slipchenko

Contributors to this issue:Murat Altuev

Andrey KhristoforovIgor FalomkinYakov VolkindDiana Vasilieva

Fedor Mendelev

The Experience The Next magazine is a specialized biannual printed edition dedicated to modern video surveillance technologies and security systems.

AxxonSoft Email: info@axxonsoft.com

www.axxonsoft.com

Please note, that the event dates may change. If you are planning on attending an event, check with the event organizer and make sure that the dates have not changed.

Please refer to our website to make sure that AxxonSoft takes part in an event at:WWW.AXXONSOFT.COM

2016 Axxonsoft’s expo calendar

Advertising and distribution department:Email: adv@axxonsoft.com

Print Run: 1000 copies.