Defender Rewind: AXIS Communications on Visual Intelligence

In this Defender Podcast Rewind - David Marsh and John Callahan from Axis Communications discusses the change from traditional Video Surveillance to Visual Intelligence, providing businesses operational efficiencies unimaginable before advancements in chipsets, analytics and artificial intelligence. John brings up a good point. It wasn’t long ago that electronic security was thought of as an insurance policy, without the legal requirements of fire and life safety. Like insurance, purchases were scrutinized and seen as a burden, until an incident. Camera sensors are performing more than visual identification, they’re providing visual intelligence, from detection, to operational efficiencies with AI. This changes the way we design camera systems, from being reactive “witnesses of a crime”, to active deterrents of crime, and productive assets for the organization. This requires asking new questions. For example, if I were speaking with a physical security manager responsible for a production floor, they were typically concerned about security of that space, worker safety, and ensuring they’d have video footage of any accidents for legal. Today, we could include the production manager into the conversation, to determine what a good workflow should look like, if they would need to be alerted to production slowdowns, or mechanical issues. Security is now able to incorporate additional stakeholders when budgeting for security initiatives. This lessens the justification when requesting better equipment, because these systems can provide more value. While having additional stakeholders involved can add time to the review process, and potentially cause design changes. Security can lead the project to ensure the design ultimately protects people, property and information. Wait a second, did I just say information? Today information is a key asset that must physically be protected by security, not just cybersecurity. The most effective sabotage, or infiltration efforts require getting past physical security departments, but that’s for another article. Thanks for reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.defendervideo.com/subscribe