The other day I was having a conversation with some colleagues and the topic turned to technology and mobile applications. At this point I brought up that many video management solutions either have or are working on iPhone and other mobile device integration. In other words: Video Surveillance? There’s an app for that.
Basically, these applications allow you to view video on your iPhone from your CCTV cameras. Two systems that currently have applications like this are Milestone Systems and OnSSI. Milestone has partnered with Lextech Labs on their application called iRa C3 and OnSSI has partnered with mobiDEOS on their application named MobileCamViewer. While I haven’t seen either of these applications in action, it brings up a question: what would you do with it?
Let’s say that you had the ability to see quality, live video streams over your iPhone and could deliver that stream securely over either a WiFi network (think iPod Touch) or cellular network; what practically applications could you think of for this?
We thought of two right off the bat:
- Guard Force Efficiency – Obviously the big reason to make this available is to give your guard force the ability to view video on the go. When was the last time you wanted a full time employee to sit behind a desk and do nothing but watch a video feed? By integrating remote monitoring with a VMS system, guards could receive alarms via text or email (depending on the system) and immediately log into the camera feed from their mobile device to check out what’s going on.
- Parking Lot Safety/Security – How convenient would it be for your employees to be able to log in to parking lot cameras from their personal iPhones to check on their vehicles or determine if the area is safe before leaving (especially useful after-hours or for high-risk employees)? And aside from the convenience, I don’t think I need to tell you how valuable that feeling of safety is.
We though of a few more, some practical, some not. Now I’ll pass the question along to you: What would you do with the ability to view camera feeds on your iPhone?
The following Microsoft Security Patches have been evaluated and approved by Lenel for computers running the Lenel OnGuard Software.
Approved:
MS10-001 - Vulnerability in the Embedded OpenType Font Engine Could Allow Remote Code Execution (972270) Critical
For past updates, log into Lenel's Customer Self-Service Center https://customer.lenel.com
Technical Support Tools > Microsoft Security Bulletins
By John Harlow
Welcome to a part of the Great Conversation focused on deploying security at a local, regional, and national level. My name is John Harlow. I will be facilitating the conversation. Over the past 10 years, I have had many conversations with Security Managers, Directors, and Senior Executive Officers as they have strategized, designed, and deployed their national rollout strategies. My goal for the Great Conversation will be to share with you the best practices from the front lines that comes as a result of the good, the bad and the ugly experiences we have all shared.
I would like to propose an initial security architecture in the form of a series of questions that I believe will stimulate some lively discussion. The key categories are:
Organization (Business) Baseline: We have found that the security teams that can answer the following questions are better able to design and deploy the programs they need to achieve strategic value within their organizations.
1. Given the mission of the organization, translated into a yearly strategic business plan with clear key performance objectives, what is security's role?
2. Should Security do a periodic, independent, objective executive assessment to understand how the Executive Management Team would:
a. define security
b. articulate its value to the company
c. articulate its value to the functional role of each key executive
Security Department Baseline: Creating performance goals without a baseline is a fundamental disconnect that can create an innacurate idea of success or failure within an organization. The following questions can be used to establish metrics that are meaningful to the security department and the organization.
3. Does security have a baseline of performance at a people, process, and tools (technology) level?
a. For instance, people have defined roles within a process using tools to gather, react, analyze, and manage to information within the context of key performance indicator (KPI) goals.
Security Architecture: Once the baselines are understood, strategies can put in place. An architecture is the manifestation of how the pieces should be constructed and why.
4. What is the overarching architecture that all future acquisitions will be measured against?
5. What are the benchmarking strategies for ‘proofing' the technology that will be acquired?
Security Standards that influence Security Outcomes: Industry best practices should align with corporate standards. Security should vet their partners (manufacturers, integrators, etc) as knowledgeable participants and stewards within this process.
6. What standards are in place to ensure uniformity, cost containment, sustainability, and performance across the organization including:
a. Security Design Standards
b. Security Deployment Standards
c. Security Performance Standards
d. People, Process and Tools
This type of general architecture is currently being used by many organizations both large and small, national and international in order to guide their security deployment and management. What about your organization? Have you asked yourself these questions? Do you know the answers? Leave your comments below.
By Scott Schmidt
One of the key drivers for any organization is their ability to focus on what adds value and why. Value is an elusive term, but experts agree that it starts with the mission of the organization, how that mission is articulated within their annual strategic plan, the core processes by which that plan is deployed, and the discipline of managing and reporting the metrics over time.
My name is Scott Schmidt, Vice President of Engineering and Professional Services, and a veteran of business process innovation and optimization for the last 15 years. I will be facilitating a conversation with key executives and change agents inside and outside the security industry through our new conversation platform, The Great Conversation.
My goal is to bring clarity to how security's people, processes, and tools are functioning. I would like to discuss with you various assessment approaches, benchmarks, executive dashboards, and case studies that can increase the productivity and value of security in your organization. But most importantly, I'd like to discuss your experiences as well as mine.
For now, let me define a key term in this discussion: Security Process Optimization.
Security Process Optimization™ is a methodology developed by ASG that recognizes that the structure of technology, roles, relationships, and processes are critical to directing and controlling outcomes within the organization in order to achieve the organization's goals.
Specifically, we have identified a number of assessment approaches that can quickly identify costly productivity gaps and value opportunities that security executives must know to adequately plan for the future.
We also are focused on leveraging enterprise software you might already have, but are not utilizing, to streamline your processes and communications.
Finally, we identify key benchmarking approaches that you can use to identify the true performance capabilities of technology before it is purchased or deployed. As well, we ensure these technology benchmarks are done through the filter of your strategic plan and the security architecture you have designed. If you are looking to fill gaps in the plan or the architecture, we can provide you with approaches for both.
In this blog, I will be going into detail on how to define an assessment and use it to create compelling value with your organization.
But let me end this post with a question: Are you using a performance dashboard to measure key performance indicators that are aligned with your organization's goals and performance? If so, can you share your experience, if not, can you share with us the obstacles that prevent you from doing so? Leave your answer in the comments below.
By Michael Rosa
If you manage a large fleet of vehicles you know what a pain it can be to coordinate and provide maintenance for those vehicles. Heck, even if you just own your own car it can sometimes be overwhelming. Oil change every three months. 40,000 mile service. Wait, or is that 60,000 miles? And what about the seals and gaskets, when do those need to be replaced? But despite the work and the cost you do it anyway. Why? Because you know that the last thing you want is to be stranded along side the road with the hood of your car propped open and smoke pouring out.
You’ve made a decision to balance risk versus reward. You’ve decided that the risk of ruining your whole day (and possibly your car too) outweighs the reward of saving that time and money that service costs you. So why aren’t you making that same decision regarding your security systems?
You do know they need maintenance right? Cameras need to be cleaned and adjusted, system databases need to be archived and purged, even intrusion detection systems need the occasional check-up to make sure they are still working properly. But a vast majority of organizations don’t provide any sort of maintenance for their systems. Oh sure, they’ll fix something when it breaks – but that’s like waiting to service your car until you need it towed off the freeway.
So in an effort to help keep your organization running along smoothly (and tow truck free) here are some guidelines to know when you should provide your system some much needed maintenance.
Video Cameras:
Video cameras (both analog and digital) require very little maintenance overall. At the minimum, you should provide a thorough cleaning of the lenses once a year, as well as camera view adjustments to ensure that the camera is still in the proper focus and the field of view hasn’t shifted. Exterior cameras and some cameras in harsh environments may need more frequent repairs, check-ups on heating or cooling systems, or housing repairs or replacement (especially if they are prone to scratching or vandalism).
DVRs:
DVRs are the most maintenance heavy of the Surveillance System components, with the exception of the VCR. Your DVR will need continuous maintenance to ensure that the software and firmware are up to date, camera synchronization and network connections remain stable, hard-drive problems don’t occur, and equipment temperatures remain ideal. Depending on your system, you may also need to frequently archive, backup, or purge information stored on your DRV. Fortunately, most DVR manufacturers provide on-board tools to monitor the system and alert you to any maintenance needs.
Access Control Devices:
Most card readers and door equipment requires little maintenance, but scheduling a yearly check-up to test reader functionality can often identify reader malfunctions before they become major issues. IP and wireless devices may need more monitoring to ensure their network and wireless connections remain stable. More importantly, your access control software will need continuous monitoring and support. These types of software systems often receive numerous patches, updates, and upgrades over the course of a year and improper installation may cause communication or system errors. Additionally card holder data and alarm data needs to be managed on a continuous basis, often needing to be archived, backed up, and purged on a monthly or semi-monthly basis. The first sign of trouble on any access control system is a slowing down of the system in general, which may indicate problems at the door, in the software system, or on the network. We recommend a yearly system check-up and full software upgrade coupled with monthly database management (depending on the size of your system) to keep your access control system running smoothly.
Now I have a question for you: How many of you have a schedule for regular maintenance of your security equipment? Why or why not? Post your answers in the comments, I’d love to talk about what you’re doing to balance risk and reward.
It isn’t any coincidence that in the year ASG launches its new Blog platform that our ASG Security Summit & Expo is themed “The Great Conversation.” In fact, the Great Conversation is exactly what we want to create with this blog. And it’s exactly what the Security Industry needs.
Last year's Summit proved something we have been noticing for some time now; the Security Industry needs communication. We need to be collaborative, we need to work together, we need to be reminded that we are not alone and the challenges we face are not unique. If there is one thing that is lacking in the Industry today, it is real communication. So we have tried to find a way to reach out to the people in our industry and bring them together in a way that can foster that greatly needed communication. We hope the ASG Blog can help to fuel that conversation and keep it going all year long.
Why do a blog? Simple, because a blog is the perfect medium to deliver valuable content that will allow us to share our knowledge and experience with our clients and the industry at large. And it allows us to be engaged in a dialogue through our readers’ comments that will continue the learning, growth, and collaboration that makes us Subject Matter Experts.
Sounds pretty ambitious right? We want to change the industry and create a kind of open communication that is unique in the Security Industry. That’s a pretty tall order. But we can do it – with your help. We encourage you to submit your comments, send us your questions, point out your concerns, challenges, and issues. In short, we want you, the reader, to be just as involved in this process as our authors are.
Speaking of authors, let me introduce you to three of our primary contributors: John Harlow, Michael Rosa, and Scott Schmidt. We have chosen three of our Subject Matter Experts to write on some of the most critical, most talked about, and most interesting (at least in our opinion) subjects in the Industry: National Security Deployment, Security Technology & Service, and Security Processes & Optimization.
John Harlow has been working with some of the largest companies in the U.S. deploying security implementations nation wide for the last 10 years. John has worked with Security Managers, Directors, and Senior Executive Officers as they have strategized, designed, and deployed their national rollout strategies. And his knowledge and experience has been critical in the success of those national rollout strategies. John will be contributing to the blog by sharing with you best practices from the front lines that came as a result of the good, the bad, and the ugly experiences we have all shared.
Michael Rosa has spent the last 30 years in security; from Service Technician, to Systems Engineer, to Director of Operations. He’s designed an implemented a variety of projects, small and large, as well as a wide range of technologies. Michael will be focusing on security technology and its role in providing value to security. Michael will also discuss ways you can improve the value of your security technology over time through proper maintenance and service.
Finally we have Scott Schmidt. Scott has over 25 years in the IT and Security Integration market. His experience spans Business Process Management, Enterprise Security Architecture and Workflow, Database and Application Integration, and he spent the last 4 years as a Senior Partner of a security program management company. Scott will discuss the tactics you can use to optimize your security policies and procedures to ensure that security is working efficiency, effectively, and in alignment with the vision, mission, and goals of your organization.
So, without further ado, let me be the first to welcome you to the Great Conversation. We hope you’ll enjoy the dialogue as much as we do.