Today’s security twittersphere has been active over a recently released report from Security Systems News Editor Sam Pfeifle entitled Facial Recognition: Does it work? (available in full to SSN’s premium readership).

And this is precisely the point, as emerging use cases surface through first-hand customer successes, the industry needs to know! It’s not about a publisher or an analyst or a manufacturer presenting a biased account supporting a particular position, it’s about finding meaningful use cases for technology and presenting those to the market so that others can enhance their understanding of how that technology can impact their business.

For our part in the debate – we’ll continue to show the success of our customers as evidence of the value of analytics and search.

A New York Times article this week highlights the issues surrounding New York City’s problems with its vast camera system. In the wake of 9/11, New York is a city that has relied on and supported its ever-expanding influx of surveillance cameras. It is difficult not to notice the cameras placed at nearly every street corner in an effort to help police gather evidence to catch criminals, and investigate crimes and possible acts of terrorism. But there is a significant problem plaguing a specific area of the system, the subway. The New York Times reported that nearly half of the subway system’s 4,313 security cameras that have been installed are not working properly. The article specifically pointed out that the surveillance system today, “remains a patchwork of lifeless cameras, unequipped stations and problem-plagued wiring.

That is a significant problem, especially in the wake of this week’s suicide bombings in Moscow’s subway system that left at least 36 people dead. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the city’s bus, subway and train system and it is responsible for the surveillance systems.

There are two issues at hand here. One is that the integration of the various sensors and video management system installed in the NYC subway system is so complex that one issue can potentially take down an entire network of cameras. Second, there is no system health alerts in place to let operators know when there are issues with a particular sensor. Unfortunately, both these issues attributed to the fact that no video is available to investigate a recent homicide.

New York has invested an enormous amount in this system and police and other first responders should be able to rely on it to investigate crimes in an efficient manner and increase situational awareness. Right now, they are unable to do either.

It is exactly these issues that has driven 3VR to build a platform that is both easy to install, easy to use and has robust capabilities, including health monitoring, that will enable customers to make sure their systems are installed and are running correctly.

3VR takes the burden of complex programming and compatibility issues out of the hands of integrators and end users, and allows them to focus on putting the technology to use saving lives.

3VR has built its Intelligent Surveillance and Search Platform to be easy to deploy for integrators. Not only does it take the IT complexity out of the equation, but it also integrates key functions, such as video management, facial surveillance and license plate recognition. Also the platform is based on open standards and is able to integrate with various manufacturers’ cameras, sensors and other business applications. This makes it less complex from an integration standpoint and easier for end users to navigate its inherent functionality. In addition, the system’s comprehensive health monitoring capabilities alert operators to malfunctioning cameras, failing hard drives, or even the improper reception of data.

In today’s evolving risk landscape, it is more important than ever to leverage the power of technology as part of a comprehensive security program. Customers need solutions that are both intelligent and easy to maintain and use. This will only make the job of catching criminals and investigating issues easier, and that is the primary goal.

Today, our 3VR founder and chairman, Stephen Russell, appeared on Fox Business News Online's afternoon show to discuss our unique intelligent surveillance technology. In the interview, Steve discusses how companies like Union Savings Bank and Hilton Americas-Houston are using our platform successfully to enhance the security of their locations and are getting a real return on investment.

It's a big week for the security industry, yes it's that time of the year again: ISC West! We're out in Vegas this week and are excited to announce that our founder and chairman, Steve Russell is going to be presenting at the conference alongside Joe Davis, senior manager of south region loss prevention at T-Mobile, about how organizations in any industry can leverage intelligent surveillance to improve business transactions and better serve customers.

The session is titled "Business Benefits: Security Technology & Applications for Customer Service," and will detail how folks can use video surveillance to do more than just address loss prevention and organized retail theft. The speakers will outline how organizations can tie their systems to core business values to improve knowledge of business trends, operational practices, transaction conversion, and ultimately increase their bottom line. Davis will also outline how T-Mobile’s investment in intelligent surveillance has helped the company better serve customers and analyze business trends in the retail space, resulting in substantial benefits for security personnel, management and customers alike.

3VR today released its 3VR SmartRecorder, ServerClass 100, our most powerful and flexible solution to-date, designed to meet customer demands to deploy 3VR solutions on a larger scale.

A hybrid video recorder and management system built on 3VR’s intelligent surveillance and search platform, the ServerClass 100 offers more camera expansion capabilities, robust analytics, data systems integration and processing capability of any other video management system on the market.

The ServerClass 100 provides a solution to customers who want the flexibility and IT-friendliness of today’s software-only solutions with the ease of installation and support of a hybrid or network video recorder. With expanded camera counts, analytic capabilities, and storage capacity, the ServerClass 100 easily scales to meet the needs of cities, transportation and infrastructure security, as well as other large scale deployments in 3VR’s core markets like retail, banking, hospitality and campus safety.

The ServerClass 100 has already been deployed in airports, power plants, subway systems, and in several large office buildings both domestically and abroad, and will be made generally available to the public May 1, 2010. It is is the first in a series of planned ServerClass products of increasing scalability and power.

The ServerClass 100 will be demonstrated at 3VR's booth at this week's ISC West conference. Stop by booth #3109 or view our new video to learn more.