Enhance Your Genetec System with These Solutions
Crowds of people can be challenging to manage. Fortunately, today’s technology gives us increasingly sophisticated, efficient ways to achieve successful people management. Genetec, a popular unified security platform, continually enhances solutions like Genetec access control, license plate recognition, and many more that make it easier, faster, economical, and more effective for organizations ranging from complex retail distribution centers to smaller venues with precious occupants inside, such as hospitals, schools, and daycare centers. We will share information about five Genetec security solutions that provide additional tools to take your system to the next level. If you have questions about any of these tools, or about getting started with Genetec, please contact us.
Genetec Security Solution #1: Genetec Clearance
Digital Evidence Management
With the proliferation of surveillance video from affordable security cameras, body cams and handheld devices comes a need to manage large amounts of video evidence. But what good is all this evidence if it takes too long or is too costly to share or receive, which means it may not even get used?
Evidence can be missed due to the sheer amount of time and attention it takes to receive and review video. And with increasing amounts of evidence, there is also an increased risk of evidence being mishandled—a risk exacerbated by the need to transfer files using USB drives or CDs. Mishandling can be the cause of lost court cases and criminals going free.
Genetec Clearance solves some of these problems by allowing easier, more secure transfer of evidence files—especially large files such as video footage. This capability facilitates collaboration between law enforcement agencies, security departments and the public and helps to close cases faster.
Because the program exists in the cloud, the exact same files can be accessed by all stakeholders—a great boon for organizations with multiple widespread locations. From the security department’s point of view, the ability to easily transfer files, share them, and keep them organized saves time, labor and money.
Any type of file can be uploaded using Clearance, and the faces of innocents can be redacted or unredacted.
“The whole purpose of this tool is case management, and the program has many functions to aid that purpose for any organization in a customized way,” said Dustin Graybill, Senior Systems Engineer of Prime.
Genetec Security Solution #2: Genetec Mission Control
Collaborative Decision Management
In “the old days,” a security event involved verifying a situation in-person, walking to and locking every door listed on paper or in a computer, and placing separate calls to first responders, organization leaders and affected departments. This clunky process was time-consuming and riddled with human error. In one fell swoop, Genetec ushered in a new era of organizational security with its new collaborative decision management tool, Mission Control.
This impressive system uses sensors, pre-loaded customized protocols, data collation, and map-style visualization to give security, facilities management, and operations professionals a stunning new level of situational intelligence. The system automates data collection and responses using Genetec security sensors, cameras and access technology.
“The capabilities of this system are broad, which means you can set up flexible responses to just about ANY situation,” states Graybill. Ultimately, he explained, by tailoring this tool to your own organizational needs you can save time, improve safety, protect goods, and allow consistent responses to incidents, among other benefits.
One of the key advantages of Mission Control may be the confidence it gives on-site responders, who have been known to make very human mistakes under stress. For responses that aren’t automated, the system can be set up to provide clear prescribed steps that are easy to follow, even under stress. Your integrator will work with you closely to set the system up and prepare your teams for any eventuality.
Genetec Security Solution #3: Genetec ClearID
Physical Identity and Access Management
When people move through a commercial, education, entertainment or healthcare environment (or any venue with large numbers of people), it can be a challenge to ensure security and keep everyone moving efficiently and safely throughout zones or building(s). It’s time-consuming to grant access, keep track of everyone, and change access when roles change.
ClearID is an easy-to-deploy cloud-based data system that is unified with Genetec’s Security Center Synergis™. The self-service physical identity and access management (PIAM) tool allows your staff to quickly and easily enforce security protocols and at the same time keep people moving efficiently.
“Let’s say you’re going to come visit me at my place of work,” Graybill said. “I can provide information to you by email, so you can self-print a badge at a kiosk when you get here. The badge automatically limits areas of the building you can go to. It’s all the same controls you would perform manually but without the time, hassle and potential error.”
The program is especially useful, he said, for automatically changing employee access according to role changes. If you get promoted, you automatically gain access to new areas. If you are fired, you automatically lose all access. “Imagine the time savings if you have groups of people who need bulk access changes to a new building, for example,” Graybill explained.
Genetec Security Solution #4: Genetec AutoVu
Automatic License Plate Recognition
Surveillance cameras revolutionized the security industry. Now, if you steal something from a store, your image is likely going to be captured and can be used to prosecute you – IF they find you. Genetec’s AutoVu automatic license plate recognition (APLR) tool completes the loop with solid evidence that helps capture wrongdoers in many different situations.
“Everyone wants to put cameras in if people are stealing things, but if you can’t follow them out and get their license plate number, the camera image won’t tell you who they are,” Graybill explained. “But if you put one APLR camera at a chokepoint, you’ll get hard evidence rather than just an obscured image of a face.” The system provides immediate notification, and the photos include environmental context to help security personnel and law enforcement better understand and document events.
AutoVu is used by law enforcement in both stationary and mobile installations for parking enforcement and to help identify perpetrators and solve abductions, find missing persons, and close other high-priority criminal cases. Schools have considered using the system to identify child predators or sex offenders who enter campus areas.
The technology also can be used to automate access management. “At the very least, it allows you to grant access to cars without anyone having to stick their arms out in the rain to swipe an access card,” Graybill said. “In more complex applications, such as in a large distribution center, the system can be used with access control software and gates to automatically grant access to trucks with specific goods that go to predefined zones in your compound.” This saves time, money and mistakes, he said.
According to Graybill, even casinos are using APLR to identify VIP guests who pull into parking areas, so staff can have the red carpet rolled out as soon as they reach the doors.
“This is one technology that’s very much like the fictional systems you see on television shows such as NCIS,” he said. “A lot of that imagined technology isn’t real yet, but this is, and it’s as reliable as you think it should be.”
Genetec Security Solution #5: Genetec Plan Manager
Map-Based Command and Control
In addition to improving security overall, this system can reduce labor, sometimes to the point of being able to eliminate a position.
It’s much more effective to adapt security tools to your operation than the other way around. Plan Manager is a Genetec Security Center module that can be adapted to your operation in a very visual and intuitive manner, which can save time and give security professionals a better understanding of any situation. Plan Manager brings together data, images and notifications from many parts of the system. The result is faster, better responses to keep everyone and everything more secure.
In addition, Plan Manager allows your system to capture and save situational data to aid in investigations. “You can input floorplans, maps, Google Maps images, large site plans and every component of your system into this software to more easily and more comprehensively manage the entire system,” Graybill said. A traditional monitoring system puts images and notifications into tiled squares, which can be difficult to understand and act on.
The technology is helpful not only for security events but for day-to-day monitoring. Graybill describes a Prime customer that has a facility with 100 doors—50 on each side of the building. Plan Manager allows staff to simply look at the map, instantly see the status of all doors in one image, identify open doors, and then send someone out to close them. The system is sophisticated enough to identify false alarms.
“In addition to improving security overall, this system can reduce labor, sometimes to the point of being able to eliminate a position,” Graybill said.
Unified Technology for Improved Security
One of the best things about these five Genetec system add-ons is the ease with which they can be implemented with the help of an experienced Genetec integrator such as Prime. We not only can set up and efficiently connect the hardware and software for you in stress-free, customized deployments, we also can provide various levels of monthly cloud-based monitoring and maintenance services as needed to aid your security staff freeing them to do more important things.
For information about any of these solutions—or to get started with a basic Genetec security system—contact Prime Secured at 402-289-4126 or primesecured.com