Looking around at the beginning of the 21st
century, one would almost get the impression that we should become
paranoid. CCTV is everywhere and that's a strong statement compared to
just five years ago.
So what? Does it really belong
everywhere? As a matter of fact, if properly applied, CCTV is advancing
significantly enough, that it does have an application in almost every part of
our lives today.
Lets look around and find and discuss some of
the various applications of CCTV systems, outside, in the real world today.
Today is the day that I have to go the
dentist for my annual check up and cleaning. At 5.30am, I wake up,
shower, shave and do the rest of the routine when the dog lets me know that
she wants out. Living in the country, I used to just step out into
the cold dark morning and tie the dog down without a second thought.
However, three months ago, I walked out my
back door to find myself confronted by a wild dog pack sniffing around the
back porch. Luckily my dog went berserk and I escaped back into
the house without a problem.
The next day, a small camera was installed,
complete with infrared lighting to view the back area before we open the door
in the early hours. This morning I let the dog out after taking a look
around in the safety of my home. Even more importantly, I don't worry
about my wife or children running into the same problem in the dark of the
night when I am gone.
On my way to the office (trying to forget my
dentist appointment), I decide to stop and pick up a quick cup of coffee at
the local convenience store. Not being the type to carry cash, I write a
check for the few odd items that I purchase.
Using a CCTV camera tied into the banking
network, the clerk is not only able to identify my account as being current,
but is given a visual image of me on the screen for personal verification that
I am who I say I am. Having had my checks and credit cards
fraudulently used in the past, I am really happy about this next step of
protection.
Outside the store, a city bus is backing up
and parking in the spot directly in front of my car. A little nervous
at first, I then notice that the driver is using a camera, attached to the
back of the bus to see the exact distance between the bus and my car.
I'm impressed! Five or six years ago I might have been fighting the city to
repair my front bumper.
Continuing on my way to the office, I gain
access to the interstate. Usually at this time I'm early enough to avoid
any major traffic problems, but, this morning there has been an
accident. How do I know? I was warned by a road side sign too exit
at ramp 49 and follow detours.
This was accomplished by the CCTV system
installed on the highway. The cameras mounted on the various bridges and
ramps count the number of cars and also determine the speed of traffic.
In the event of a slow down, the interfaced computer automatically
alerts the control centre and a quick scan of the problem area is
done. Even before emergency crews are able to arrive on the scene,
traffic is being rerouted.
To top that, I read yesterday about a new
section of bypass that is being constructed. It was determined through a
study of traffic patterns as recorded and analysed by CCTV and computers that
the bypass would be necessary in two years. The same amount of time
necessary to budget the money and complete construction.
Coming to the toll booth, I remember the days
when I had to carry tokens. Not any more. I breeze through the
gate as a camera scans my car and reads my prepaid toll identification
tag. The bill is paid and I continue on my way. Looking back I
notice the line of those not using the system start to grow in the morning
rush.
One more stop and I'll be at the office.
I need to go to the ATM and transfer some funds. I remember, as I punch
in my pin number, two years ago...I was looking over my bank statement when I
noticed that someone had withdrawn two hundred dollars from my account at this
very ATM.
When I went to the bank to complain, the
security officer was able to pull up the video of that day's
transactions. Sure enough, there was a person taking money from my
account. Mine and three others. The bank apologized to me,
refunded my money into my account, and put out a notice to the police with a
full colour picture of the culprit. I was glad that it went as smoothly
as it did. Based upon my past experience in such situations, the CCTV
camera saved me a major hassle.
Arriving at my office, I enter the vestibule
and turn off the security. Since I am very early and the only one there,
I relock the door and go into my office in the back of the building.
About thirty minutes later, I hear a noise at the front door. With the
push of a button, an image of the front vestibule comes up on my computer
screen. I can clearly see that the noise is being caused by the arrival of the receptionist. I feel comfortable and safe in my environment and
continue with the day.
Nine o'clock and my wife calls. My
middle son is having problems with his eyes. Because of other medically
related problems this is serious enough that I contact the doctor immediately
and we are given clearance to come in right away.
Once at the eye doctors office, it is
determined that my son has (as a side effect of medication) developed an
advance case of Glaucoma. Using a specially designed camera system, my
son looks into what appears to be a pair of binoculars. With the aid of
a low intensity, infrared light and two cameras the doctor is able to study my
son's optic nerve at the base of his retina.
He is scheduled for emergency surgery two days
later and his eye is saved because of the CCTV camera. Ten years ago, my
son would have lost his eye because the doctor could not determine the extent
of the damage. Thank you CCTV.
One o'clock and I'm back on schedule. A
little shaken but back at work. I have a meeting at my oldest son's
school. The finance committee is meeting to review the latest figures
and determine the cost of next year's tuition.
Last year, a CCTV system was installed on the
perimeter of the buildings, enhanced with digital video motion
detection. The objective was to stop or catch those perpetrators that
were breaking into classrooms and stealing the PC's. Conventional
security systems were fine in the old days when the office and hallways were
the main centre of concern, but the new computers in all the lower floor class
rooms made it too expensive for total protection.
This was to be the meeting where the figures of
prevention were compared to the cost of doing nothing. Success!
The number of attempts and successful entries
to the school had dropped in the past year by over 85%. There had been
only one PC theft and the perpetrator was captured. The savings to the
school compared to the previous year turned out to be enough to pay for 2/3's
of the cost of the installation of the CCTV system. In addition, there
had been no further attempts to break into the school for over five
months. This was very good news. The cost of education would not have
to be raised due to senseless vandalism and theft next year.
Before leaving the school, I look over the
results of the three classrooms that have been fitted with CCTV cameras.
These are the rooms where teachers in training are located. With this
particular program, the teacher is allowed the experience of seeing and
hearing themselves and the students on video tape.
With the interaction of an educational expert,
the teaching style can be analysed and the teacher is provided with input or
suggestions for improvement. The purpose is to help teachers become
aware of reactions and responses to their style and method of teaching. The rooms are used by both new and experienced
teachers throughout the year.
An experimental process, it was developed
to assist in providing input toward educational processes in an effort to
raise the level of eduction as presented by the staff of the
school.
Primary results have shown an overall increase
in grade scores of the students being taught by the teachers involved. I
am pleased that the school system in charge of educating my children is
concerned enough to keep itself current with modern applications of
technology.
Three o'clock rolls around and I find myself,
reluctantly, in the dentist's chair. Amazingly the dentist swings a
monitor around to where I can see it comfortably. He says that he wants me to
see what he is going to be working on. He also points out that because of
the new CCTV system for teeth, he won't have to stretch my cheeks so far
trying to see into the back spots. I'm impressed again and I open
wide. I think that, based on what I saw, I will have to go for my next
annual check up a little sooner than five years from now.
Back on the road and stuck in traffic once
more. This time I get to watch as an officer checks out a potential
problem. I notice that the officer is wearing a belt pack of some sort
and then spot the camera in the front window of his car. Obviously he is using
a CCTV camera with remote audio to record the proceedings. No chance of
procedure being challenged in court with this case. I also know that in
some states, the police department's central stations are equipped with
equipment that gives them the ability to see what is happening at the scene of
a crime through the police car's CCTV system.
What a comforting thought that must be to the
ones who put it on the line to keep us safe. If they get into trouble,
the central station can see what's going on and respond, whether the cop had
time to call for help or not. Far out!
Taking a quick side trip, I stop in on a
friend of mine who is involved in an experiment utilizing CCTV cameras and a
computer interface on his farm. I am curious as to the initial outcome
figures on this program. When I arrive, Dave takes me out back to his
livestock barn where his female pigs are rearing the new born pups.
Due to the excessive fat on the mother pig,
many pups are smothered or crushed by her during feeding. Dave's stalls
have been installed with two cameras each. A computer scans the images
from the cameras and keeps constant vigilance on the location of the twelve or
fourteen pups in the pen. If the computer fails to see all the pups for
longer than five seconds, it send a signal to a collar around the mother pigs
neck. This signal triggers a small electric shock and causes the mother
pig to rise.
Seemingly insignificant to the rest of the
world, however, the loss in pig production to the state of Iowa (due to smothered or
crushed pups) was in excess of $144 million in 1992.
Dave is very excited about his new system and
reports that his losses in the first six months of this project have already
been cut by 85%. His cost of production is cut significantly and his
potential profit is rising daily. Good news for all the citizens of the
US. We look things over for a while, have a quick cup of coffee and then
I'm back on my way.
Finally back in the office and I have a
message relating to a problem in our New Jersey branch. Sitting at my
computer, I push a call button and I am immediately in contact with my New
Jersey manager. Thanks to a small camera on the top of my PC, I am able
to speak with her, face to face.
This particular application of CCTV has
allowed us to cut our overhead in several departments. Many of our
employees now work from home and communicate with voice and image thanks to the
integration of CCTV and computer. After talking over the problems, it is
decided that we need to have a general meeting of the upper management.
We settle for five PM and I leave the arrangements to my NJ manager.
Five PM arrives and I am in the conference
room, alone. My upper management crew is spread out over six states and
so was not able to respond to my emergency meeting needs...Ah, but for the
invention of CCTV, this would be a truism.
Thanks to having cameras installed in each of
our six locations, we are able to have a meeting with both visual and
sound. Very important that visual when discussing sensitive
matters. Overall the meeting is a huge success and we all go back to
work with a unified direction.
Eight o'clock arrives and I'm on my way
home. Along the way is the home where my good friend Harvey is.
Harvey is very old and suffers from severe arthritis. The home where he
is staying is specially designed for just his type of case. I was the
one to recommend it to his wife because of their advanced technology and care
for their patients.
While visiting with Harvey in the front group
room, I notice that one of the patients is walking toward the door. A
camera installed at the door and interfaced with an on board computer does an
iris scan of the person and announces to the nurses that Patient Edwards is walking
toward the front entrance. Even before I can go to help, the aids are
with the patient escorting him back to the main facility. What a neat
application for CCTV. It wasn't so long ago that this man could have
walked out the door, unnoticed, and into harms way.
Once done visiting Harvey, I stop to see his
wife. She is in her seventies and alone, so we keep an eye on her.
Upon arrival, I ring the doorbell. Maggie is watching TV when an image
appears in the upper corner of her screen. Without leaving the safety
and comfort of her chair, she is able to see it is me and even says hello
through the built in intercom system. Pushing a button, the door is
released and I enter the living room.
Had it been someone she didn't know at the
door, she could have asked them to leave or pushed her panic button for
help. If she had pushed the button for help, an image of the person at
the door would have been transmitted to the CCTV central station at the same
time as the alarm. The operator at the central station could then
intervene and see and speak to the person at the front door. Cool!
I'm really glad that CCTV is growing up and keeping my family and friends
safe.
It's late when I get home and unfortunately
the boys are already in bed. Although not a totally typical day, it has
been one of routine interaction with CCTV. Over the next few years, it
is easy to imagine that the average person will come in contact with as many
as ten or fifteen cameras and applications of cameras on any given normal day.
We are a world that is fast becoming dependent
upon our visual tool in ways that are only left to the imagination and quick
technical advance of the CCTV industry. With continued growth and
development, the camera is becoming smaller and more affordable. With
the expansion of the computer in our everyday lives, the CCTV camera is a
natural in assisting, through visual reference, a huge host of problems that
have, in the past, required large amounts of money and resources.
AUTHOR: Charlie Pierce is President of
L.T.C. Training Centre and L.R.C. Electronics Company in Davenport - United
States. He has been involved with the CCTV industry for over 30 years and is
one of the industries strongest advocates.
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