Subscriber Discussion

Body Camera For Mobile Pos?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Jan 04, 2017

Looking for a body camera to utilize in mobile checkout applications.  I'm thinking this would require integration into a VMS and possibly have wireless triangulation capabilities for location of triggered events.

EO
Eric Olson
Jan 05, 2017

Certainly reach out to the guys at Taser.  They are one of several that create body worn video devices, however, in side-by-side customer testing they rated much higher in terms of how the camera(s) integrated back into existing systems, exporting data, etc.  This could make it very applicable for your application.  I think that test data is publicly available from the end user that did the testing (Seattle PD? Tacoma PD?).  You can google it.  Obviously their focus is officers in the field, but it maybe a better move to take an existing product and work it into your system, versus trying to recreate the solution for a niche application.

Here is their product page

https://www.axon.io/products/body2

(1)
DG
Donald Gordon
Jan 05, 2017
IPVMU Certified

#1.

We've been looking for this capability for several years.  We need it integrated with the Milestone XProtect VMS.  These body worn streaming video devices are very hard to find.

We are currently looking at ZepCam (www.zepcam.com) but it requires running their server software on Linux that provides an ONVIF adapter.  Not an ideal solution.

We have integrated Teradek Cube (www.teradek.com) but it is not supported by Milestone though we did successfully stream video into Milestone using the RTSP video protocol and the Universal Driver.  Unfortunately the audio will not work since the Teradek uses the AAC audio CODEC which is not supported by the Universal Driver.  The battery life of the device only gives you about 1 to 1 1/2 hours and is not hot swappable.

Hikvision is working on a body worn camera but it is not available yet.  I did see a prototype of it as the ASIS conference.

We would also like to upload action camera video into Milestone as well but there is not presently an easy way to do this.  We have prototyped importing video using the Milestone Direct Show driver but it puts the video on the timeline when it was imported into Milestone not when the video was recorded.

I think it's only a matter of time before we have some breakthrough devices in this area.

If your using Milestone, their mobile client runs on IOS and Android computers and will push video.  This works really well but you can't really wear a cell phone or tablet.  A new form factor is needed.

 

Don

JE
Jim Elder
Jan 05, 2017
IPVMU Certified

Check out Sentry 360. I was really impressed with their body camera and the way the video is stored. The money maker for a lot of these manufacturers is the long term video storage and archiving of video, particularly given the legal issues involved (not the case with your customer). 

John H. Could this be something IPVM could check into? In my state,  there have been two cities within the last year who have abandoned their cameras;  and when it happens they go right to the media about it.  The customer base for this product is significant and I don't see why Integrators cannot provide the service (indeed some are). 

Avatar
Ethan Ace
Jan 05, 2017

We did a test of the Panasonic BWC though we've stalled on doing more as reader interest was not all that strong. But we planned to test more.

Anecdotally I've heard about other cities abandoning body cams, as well.

I think the issue with integrators providing the service is that body cams are less about camera expertise and much more about evidence management. They produce an immense amount of data relative to typical surveillance systems, and handling chain of custody, managing clips for related cases, and simply finding somewhere to store all this data is beyond a lot of integrators. And a lot of bodyworn cams are simply not available to integrators, sold direct instead.

Panasonic integrates all of that in their Arbitrator system, which manages dash cams and Panasonic DVR/NVR recorders, as well, and has mechanisms for tiered archives for long term storage.

Genetec has introduced Clearance, a case management package for Security Center, as well, and they have integrated offline video from several bodycam manufacturers.

We would like to cover these things more, but we are not expert enough in case management (yet) to provide real analysis which readers would expect. It's in the plan, just not sure of when.

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