By Prince Osuagwu

LEADING technological solutions to the physical and technological security problems facing the nation was top talk at the recently held Physical Security and Building Management System Workshop organized by WECO Systems in Lagos.

Different security experts that participated at the event agreed that Physical Security has moved from proprietary legacy systems like Analog CCTVs and DVRs to high definition Internet Protocol, IP and video surveillance.

They also admitted that this has grown from dedicated architecture to Virtualized Architecture for Security, Applications and Storage and insisted that these technological innovations are practically aimed at preventing crimes.

WORKSHOP: From left to right; Alan Davis, Head of Systems Engineering, Quadrant Security group UK, Uchenna Obidike, CEO WECO Systems, Laurence Summers, National Sales Manager, Quadrant Security group UK, Steve Horne, Chief Technical Officer, UBA and Obinna Ekwonwa, Director Infrastructure Solutions, WECO Systems during the WECO Systems organized Physical Security and Building Management System conference recently.

For them, Physical Security and Building Management System have grown beyond just having someone stationed at an entrance of a building complex and so emphasis should be based much on preventive measures that reactionary responses.

They however noted that this trend has seen organizations and public sectors across the globe migrating from manual processes and geographically dispersed facilities and personnel to an Internet Protocol based video solution that provides clear video footage to detect threats or criminal activities.

Laurence Summers, National Sales Manager, High Security, Banking and Commercial Sectors Quadrant Security Group, United Kingdom, set the tone for the workshop when he noted that an Internet Protocol based video solution that provides clear video footage to detect threats would easily allow users to access, search and review footages from anywhere instantly. This he added is the new direction the management of Physical Security is headed.

He stated further that “adequate deployment of Internet Protocol based Closed Circuit Television System (CCTV), Electronic Access Control System (ACS), Intruder Alarm System (IDS) and Perimeter Detection System (PIDS) are some very important technological innovations that can help in the area of Physical Security and Building Management System.

He said that an organization or government agency that currently operates the analogue CCTV for instance, can upgrade to the IP based cameras for effective and real time recording.

This is because unlike the legacy CCTV, the IP based cameras have video analytic capabilities which means they can automatically analyze videos or images to detect and determine criminal events not just based on a single but multiple images and can also drill down to chain of events monitored.”

At the end of deliberations, Director of Infrastructure Solutions, WECO Systems, Mr Obinna Ekwonwa, charged participants to return to their various organizations with a security consciousness that goes beyond dedicated Architecture for Hardware, Applications, and Storage to Virtualized Architecture for Security, Applications, and Storage.