Security Sales & Integration April 2022 - 21

SMARTS & PARTS
Integrated Intelligence by Tim Brooks
Integrators
Dissect the State
of VMS & PSIM
▶ I RECENTLY INTERVIEWED Andrew
End users are
demanding
lower margins,
lower overhead
and fewer
labor hours
for each
deployment,
resulting in
lower profi ts
for the
integrator.
Tim Brooks is the vice
president of sales for PSA
Security.
tbrooks@psasecurity.com
securitysales.com
Lanning of Integrated Security Technologies in
Hawaii, Rich Lyman of Netronix in Silicon Valley
and Trevor Stewart of Security Control Integrators
in New Jersey. All are PSA members and
have unique perspectives on the state of VMS
(video management software) and PSIM (physical
security information management) solutions
in their markets.
For all three, they see little PSIM activity
with their clients. Lyman sees PSIM becoming
more PIAM (physical identity and access management)
as the need for more comprehensive
identity management grows. Th at's a topic for
another article.
In the area of VMS, while all platforms continue
to expand their off erings, artifi cial intelligence
(AI) is having the biggest impact. Over
the past several years, signifi cant advances have
been made in video analytics and AI for video
surveillance.
We're seeing the next generation of analytics
that can provide context and solve the problem
(as defi ned in the 2019 SIA article, " Artifi cial
Intelligence in Video Surveillance: Advantages
Over Previous Technologies " ) of " algorithms
[that are] unable to distinguish between objects
and behaviors that a human being would have
no problem classifying. " For example, a human
can instantly recognize the diff erence between
someone writing on a dry-erase board in a conference
room and a graffi ti artist spray-painting
the outside of a building. Next-generation AI is
now able to make this same distinction.
Stewart is seeing his VMS deployments gain
traction toward the Cloud. " Most of our clients
in the commercial and banking space are moving
to either a hybrid or full Cloud solution for
their VMS. And, while there is certainly interest
in AI, my clients are not yet deploying it on a
wide scale, " he says.
Lanning has observed limited adoption of
Cloud with his Department of Defense clitbrooks@psasecurity.com
ents.
" Th e DoD is still primarily on-premise
for their access and video solutions. While the
solutions are very high-tech and highly secure,
they're not yet moving to Cloud or even hybrid
off erings, " he notes.
Lyman says that AI is having a big impact
with his Silicon Valley clients. " It's a
game-changer. It's altering the way we do business.
Th ere are lots of AI, and specifi c to the
video space, one company is really changing
the game. Th at company is Ambient AI. A big
benefi t of Ambient AI is its ability to reduce
false alarms in PACS deployments. Doorforced
and door-ajar alarms are the nuisance
of our industry. With AI, companies can see as
much as a 90% reduction in these alarms. Th is
is signifi cant and in large systems can mean
hundreds of thousands to even millions of dollars
in savings any given year. "
Another AI game-changer is Alcatraz AI. It
has a facial recognition product for PACS that
greatly simplifi es setup and enrollment. Lyman
has several big-tech clients deploying both Ambient
AI and Alcatraz AI. Much of this next-gen
AI is being incubated at the Stanford Vision
and Learning Lab (SVL) at Stanford University.
Both Ambient AI and Alcatraz AI have their
roots at the SVL. Look for continued innovation
from this important research and development
facility.
Another advantage of the new AI platforms is
that they're " plug and play " by nature. According
to Lyman, " What used to require 20 hours of
setup time by a technician/programmer can now
be done in signifi cantly less time. Th is is a mixed
blessing for integrators as we now must show value
in diff erent ways. Integrators that don't adapt
will quickly go from being a value-added reseller
to just a reseller. "
Related and in
closing,
this
transition
to
self-learning, plug-and-play platforms requires
integrators to take note and adapt accordingly.
End users are demanding lower margins, less
overhead and fewer labor hours for each deployment,
resulting in reduced profi ts for the integrator.
Lyman off ers this advice: " Smart integrators
are moving to managed service off erings
where they can bring sustained value to their
customers while also building long-term RMR. "
Savvy integrators should pay close attention
to these developments and modify their strategies
accordingly.
APRIL 2022 Security Sales & Integration
21
http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration April 2022

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