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Installation Europe

December 2007

Staying Vigilant:
Security Considerations For Commercial AV Installations

Issues abound when trying to keep security lines safe. Bandwidth and geography play a major role for installers, who need to be aware of networks on and off the IP.

Joy Zaccaria presents the various issues to consider.

When it comes to evoking an emotional response from an audio/video system installation client, security considerations tend to strike deeper than the wow factor from projector lumens or audio fidelity. When it comes down to the safety and wellbeing of those gathered in a school, office or retail environment, no one wants to take any chances. IP technology makes it possible to integrate security components such as CCTV and emergency paging along with audio and video on the same network lines, monitored by unified interfaces. But staying safe has made for a harder sell when hooking up various components over IP lines.

In addition to maintaining the integrity of their data on various networks, clients are looking for a central interface that provides access to everything – including audio, video and security – over the IP lines. While true convergence is expected, there are many instances of security applications remaining independent of network traffic. The acceptance of integration on the IP lines can depend on whether the security information is on audio or video, and whether the local bandwidth infrastructure is adequate.

Since audio requires less bandwidth to transmit over the IP lines, that arena is seeing a faster rate of convergence. “IP infrastructure is an ideal basis for a security system,” says Johannes Rietschel, CEO and founder of Barix in Zurich. “It is well understood and can be implemented with high reliability and manageability.” When installing audio paging and intercoms, running the gear over IP lines can boil down to plugging right into the network. “It prevents us from running a lot of additional cables,” says Ian Bridgewater, TOA technical sales manager in the UK. “We just plug into the network and take the system from there. That’s a great advantage of using IP technology.”

Barix manufactures generic devices and doesn’t build specific security functionality into the audio gear. “People use our devices for security functionality,” Rietschel says.
“That goes very far up to securing intercom applications in nuclear power plants and steel factories. That’s all IP-based. It’s all certifiable and working well.” Universities with widespread campuses all linked on IP networks are a market for Barix’s classroom or lecture recording. The same physical hardware that is used for emergency evacuation, paging and intercom capabilities can also be used in the classroom. “This is true convergence,” Rietschel highlights. “You have one device doing both. In hotels you have one device playing music for background music. At the same time it can be used as a security device.”

Bandwidth considerations

As we’ve said, when it comes to running video components over IP, uptake varies depending on the part of the world involved and the video quality required for the job. David Hammond, general sales manager for Europe’s Samsung Techwin, believes that the market is not completely ready for video over IP, but will be soon. “For video surveillance like CCTV, camera quality is only starting to become good enough in a format that can be delivered over an IP network,” he says. “There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace because many things are now able to be connected to the internet through IP. The benefit of IP is the gathering of information quickly. The downside is the quality of that information.”

Even if a camera is not on the IP network, it can link to a central digital video recorder that is. This means that access to the video is available on an IP network even though each camera is not accessible directly. Hammond believes there are conventional CCTV products in the marketplace that still outperform IP products in visual performance: “IP technology cameras are now just starting to come to a quality position.”

Henk Goudsmits, the director for business line public address and congress at Bosch, has a different view on the security issue. “We see a demand for interoperability and integration using common infrastructures,” he says. “But we don’t see a real integration of the security products and audio/video products.”

Goudsmits still sees the importance of maintaining security on its own dedicated lines in order to prevent the network from being compromised. “Security devices have to be there always and cannot be interrupted by any other traffic on the network,” he remarks. “Our CCTV activity, for example, has a number of products where they run the video signals and controls on an IP network. But that same network is not being used for office applications or is not used for audio distribution. It’s the network facilitating the transport of audio, video and data. There we clearly see a trend toward utilising standard IP solutions.”

This convergence of systems has manifested itself in corporate structure as well. Bosch’s acquisition of Telex last year was due in part to the fact that security and audio/video are growing together using common infrastructures. “We have to prepare for having similar user interfaces and using the same types of networks in order to provide those benefits for the customer,” says Goudsmits.

According to Hammond, many companies don’t want their security systems to appear on a network that is being used by employees for their day-to-day work. “Even though you can give a camera an IP address and put it on to an existing network, many organisations don’t want that to happen,” he points out. Finance directors and IT managers, for example, are happy for other peripherals to be added to the infrastructure, but not a security product that sends high-volume broadband images down the line. “In the retail and banking sectors, they would add a new infrastructure for security gear, but that is kept separate from the existing IP infrastructure that looks up at the wages and the running of the business,” says Hammond. “They like the flexibility of the LAN and the WAN connectivity but what they are nervous about is technology interfering with the day- to-day running of the business.”

Geographical differences

It’s a general feeling that adopting video over IP for security is inevitable. As infrastructures become stronger around the world, those who resist are going to come around. “In Scandinavia and the northern European countries, their percentage of IP adoption is quite high because they have the infrastructure available in those countries to add IP products and it does not cause a major problem,” says Hammond. “In more mature, established markets like the UK, the USA, France and Spain, the bandwidth is not that strong, not that wide.”

Western countries like these have been working with telephone landlines for many years and are in the process of overhauling the pipes. With more narrow bandwidth, high-quality CCTV that could be 50 or 60 kilobits is too cumbersome for the network. “In China now and other Asian countries, the bandwidths are huge in comparison with anywhere else in the world,” Hammond remarks. “For them, real-time video is not a problem.”

Rietschel sees that IP technology has become much more reliable due to requirements from the business and commercial side over the last 10 years. “It has the same reliability level as dedicated security systems typically demand,” he says. This reliability has meant greater confidence on the part of clients in schools, offices, and retail applications there. “A couple of years ago, everyone was afraid to put security applications on the network infrastructure,” Rietschel points out. “If security was on the network, it was a separate network, separate wiring, separate everything. That sort of thinking is falling apart.”

As an example, Barix installed an access control solution in the European Parliament 15 years ago on the IP network. It was one of the first such systems. “Using a virtual LAN (VLAN) on an infrastructure, security was run in separate traffic even though it is running on the same cables and the same fibre,” declares Rietschel. “At the end where the devices are connected, they have no way to talk to each other because the switch separates them into virtual networks.”

Using the VLAN – together with traffic shaping or bandwidth assignment – means that a network can be generated that is completely untouched and uninfluenced by the others on the same physical infrastructure. “The concept behind running the VLAN is like a big pipe with many small pipes inside,” Rietschel says. “They run together through one pipe, but there’s no way to get oil from one into the water pipe.”

Another feature of these networks is emulation, similar to virtualisation on a PC where Linux can run on Microsoft Windows. “A physical network can emulate any kind of logical network,” states Rietschel. “That means you can have multiple networks. You would think of networks being a physical thing with switchers, wires, and cables. But one physical network can behave like multiple, completely separate networks.”

The acceptance of the separation of virtual networks will allow clients the necessary peace of mind. One may believe that if the security equipment runs on the same addresses as the commercial network, somebody on a commercial PC may hack into a security device. “With the VLAN, even though it shares the exact same infrastructure, in terms of switchers or fibre or routers, it’s completely invisible and there’s no way to get from one to another,” exclaims Rietschel.

Lines of choice

With PCs on the same cabling as CCTV along with audio over IP, many vital systems are travelling on the same lines. “We’re using Cat-6 now as well as Cat-5,” says Bridgewater. “It gives you faster transmission speeds and allows greater flexibility of the system. It’s actually increasing the system, but it is being done all over the one existing cable so it’s a great cost savings.”

Looking at the cost of components, an IP-based system will seem more expensive on paper. However, looking at the total cost of ownership reveals an efficient return on investment. “It’s not necessary to install many different cables,” Bridgewater highlights. “We can integrate a lot of systems together with one PC running many different softwares. Or software can be written using the protocols to implement different systems on to one screen.”

The cost of troubleshooting is also reduced since there are common tools to use for diagnosis. “If there is a broken wire somewhere, there is expensive equipment to figure out where it is,” says Rietschel. “IP- based systems are very simple to manage. In a larger company, you have the people with all the tools and technologies in-house that can do that. Typical existing security systems protocols are not really standardised and they waste wire.”

Running security systems over IP networks, the convenience and reassurance of gaining access to the system remotely is a common request from clients. If an alarm comes up, it can flag a PC anywhere, even on a mobile phone. There doesn’t need to be a dedicated monitoring point. “For many particular applications at schools we’ve done, they have off-site monitoring of the schools on the CCTV,” says Bridgewater. “We’ve also implemented audio so they can remotely talk to the schools. If there’s an intruder or if there’s somebody ringing the doorbell and it’s out of hours, they can alert people to clear off or [let them know] that the police have been called.”

For installers of security systems, the challenge over the past few years has been in learning systems from the IT department’s perspective. The advantage for the installers, though, is the multitasking of gear. “In the past, a typical security installer would be armed with a soldering iron and wires. They glue everything together and then pull wires through houses and businesses,” Rietschel observes. “With IP, that doesn’t happen anymore. They use existing IP infrastructure. The installer needs different skills suddenly. They need to understand IP.”

There is a mindset in the industry that since the PC is an IP device, IP technology is susceptible to the same bugs. “But it doesn’t relate of course,” Rietschel exclaims. “As people understand and see the technology is not based on PC moving parts, it will be adopted more and more.” Rietschel sees about 20% of video surveillance happening over IP webcams at present. He predicts for it to be at about 80% in two to five years. According to Hammond, there is a greater flexibility coming. It’s the infrastructure and integrity that’s making it difficult at the moment, but that will change. IE

www.barix.com
www.boschsecurity.com
www.samsungtechwin.com
www.toa-corp.co.uk

Case study 1:
Barix IP components monitor city museum

The Amsterdam City Museum (Stedelijk Museum) relies on a security solution implemented by Tilburg-based solutions provider Secured by web. The system is composed of the company’s in-house CallNet software and the Annuncicom 1000 and Barionet components of the Swiss IP specialist Barix. Barionet is used for its contact closure functionality, and Annuncicom 1000 for intercom and monitoring. The solutions provide for remote surveillance and control of grounds and buildings from any location.

CallNet provides the user interface for the user in the alarm control room and all others involved in the security process, such as mobile staff of security companies or the police. In the event of an alarm, the software prescribes all the steps necessary for the user. The user can view recorded and live pictures from the surveillance cameras, make announcements, remotely control windows, doors and lighting or telephone others responsible for security. In addition, the software logs all alarm actions, records the camera pictures viewed and sends a message to the person in charge of supervision.

The Barix Annuncicom 1000 permits audio surveillance with an alarm signal and announcements in any area desired including IP intercom. Barix Barionet takes care of the remote control of the doors, surveillance cameras, windows and lighting of the building guarded. Both network-based and independent components are equipped with a 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet interface while communication occurs via the existing TCP/IP networks. A web server for each is integrated for control and configuration.

Case study 2:
Wireless emergency solution secures safety of staff in Scottish hospital

The State Hospital in Carstairs, Scotland is making use of TOA’s audio technology for wireless emergency communication via IP networks. Senstar Stellar, specialist in outdoor perimeter security, won the contract for the project and asked if TOA could offer a solution for staff panic alarms.

The hospital cares for patients with mental disorders who cannot be treated anywhere else because of their dangerous, violent or criminal propensities – so staff security is clearly a prime consideration.

TOA became involved with the project at the beginning of the year and provided a two-way system that has the ability to listen if somebody needs assistance and can respond too, via full duplex in real time. This was set up over a wireless network, as the hospital is about to undergo a major building project and no cabling could be installed.

The system uses the TOA NX-100 network audio adaptor, which allows transmission in duplex across the wireless network. Each ward is supplied with a rack which includes the A-1812 mixer amplifier for making calls; V-1000 modular mixer frames for the microphones required throughout the ward for listening to the staff; and the NX-100. The system is able to page to 24 individual buildings, listen to the individual ward via microphones and make global all-call announcements.

In the control room, two touchscreen computers were supplied: one for the Panic Alarm System – offering accurate pinpointing of the location of the alarm – and one to run the NX-100 operation software. The standard software was modified in Japan to allow easier operation, as it was in such a sensitive installation and could literally make the difference between life and death for the staff.

As soon as the button of the ward is touched on the screen, a two-way link is set up, sounding a chime and flashing beacons in the ward to allow staff to know that the system is working. A monitor speaker in the control room can hear the conversation and any noise, and control staff can ask if assistance is required. A global site paging call can be made to alert other staff, and give the information required to gain assistance.

Joy Zaccaria is a freelance writer in New York City.