Portuguese University Designs Own IP Video Surveillance System Using IndigoVision Technology

When the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon, Portugal decided to install campus-wide CCTV, officials chose to design the system themselves using IndigoVision’s IP video technology. IST is Portugal’s leading School of Engineering, Science & Technology and is part of the Technical University of Lisbon. Using their own engineering team in partnership with IndigoVision’s authorized partner, Vigilarme, IST designed the entire 50 camera solution.

“It was important for the university to have a flexible and scalable system that could be easily expanded in the future,” said Joao B. Ferreira, an engineer with Núcleo de Segurança Higiene e Saúde, the university department responsible for campus security, “Following a public tender the university chose IndigoVision’s system as it provided by far the best price/performance and demonstrated excellent video quality, flexibility and data security. The distributed nature of the system made it easy for our own team to design a solution that could monitor the entire campus.”

The campus consists of 16 buildings and surrounding grounds, covering an area in excess of 650,000 square feet. The university was ideal for an IP-based CCTV solution as it already had its own fiber-based network covering the whole campus. The system consists of 50 cameras that are predominantly installed to monitor outside areas. The university now has approval from the data protection authorities to monitor inside the buildings and will shortly be adding another 60 cameras. The security team uses ‘Control Center’, IndigoVision’s Security Management Software (SMS) to view live and recorded video, analyze footage and export evidential video to the police in the event of any incidents.

“In use the system has proved to be very stable and easy to use,” Ferreira said. “It has been a terrific deterrent, with serious incidents being almost completely eliminated since it was installed. Before, we had a small number of isolated CCTV systems in a number of buildings, now we have a system that can monitor the whole campus from one location using a single ‘Control Center’ workstation with 4 monitors. The overall footprint of the control room setup is very small.”

The university takes data security and privacy very seriously and was keen to ensure live and recorded video could only be

accessed by authorized staff. “Even though the video was streamed on the existing network we created a Virtual-LAN to keep the IP Video data separate and therefore secure from other network users. We allow only three users to export footage and the video recorders are located in a secure room in a different building to the live monitoring centre,” said Ferreira.

Video is recorded continuously on three IndigoVision standalone, fault-tolerant NVRs with RAID storage for redundancy.

“With IndigoVision’s excellent compression and motion detection features such as ACF we can record all cameras 24/7 at 25fps for 30 days very affordably and know we will not lose evidence,” Ferreira said. “When there is an incident and the police request footage, it is very quick and easy to retrieve the relevant video using ‘Control Center’, even though the recorders are in a separate building.”

Activity Controlled Framerate (ACF) is a unique feature built into IndigoVision’s transmitter/receiver units. ACF reduces the framerate when there is no activity in a camera scene. When motion is detected the video is instantaneously streamed at maximum framerate. This can significantly reduce the network bandwidth and storage requirements, particularly at night when there is little activity.

IndigoVision has a flexible range of encoding hardware that allows analog cameras to be connected to the network. The 8000 MPEG-4 based transmitter/receiver units can be housed in individual units or in more cost-effective 10-way racks. The university used a combination of both, with racks being used when a group of cameras were installed near each other. This provided further cost savings for the university.

Featured

  • Trends Keeping an Eye on Business Decisions

    Today, AI continues to transform the way data is used to make important business decisions. AI and the cloud together are redefining how video surveillance systems are being used to simulate human intelligence by combining data analysis, prediction, and process automation with minimal human intervention. Many organizations are upgrading their surveillance systems to reap the benefits of technologies like AI and cloud applications. Read Now

  • The Future is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reason. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. But as the number of cameras grows and resolutions push from HD to 4K and beyond, the cloud’s limits are becoming unavoidable. Bandwidth bottlenecks. Latency lags. Rising storage costs. These are not abstract concerns. Read Now

  • Right-Wing Activist Charlie Kirk Dies After Utah Valley University Shooting

    Charlie Kirk, a popular conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, died Wednesday after being shot during an on-campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah Read Now

  • The Impact of Convergence Between IT and Physical Security

    For years, the worlds of physical security and information technology (IT) remained separate. While they shared common goals and interests, they often worked in silos. Read Now

  • Unlocking Trustworthy AI: Building Transparency in Security Governance

    In situations where AI supports important security tasks like leading investigations and detecting threats and anomalies, transparency is essential. When an incident occurs, investigators must trace the logic behind each automated response to confirm its validity or spot errors. Demanding interpretable AI turns opaque “black boxes” into accountable partners that enhance, rather than compromise, organizational defense. Read Now

New Products

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.

  • Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden Door Controls is pleased to announce that, in response to soaring customer demand, it has expanded its range of ValueWave™ no-touch switches to include a narrow (slimline) version with manual override. This override button is designed to provide additional assurance that the request to exit switch will open a door, even if the no-touch sensor fails to operate. This new slimline switch also features a heavy gauge stainless steel faceplate, a red/green illuminated light ring, and is IP65 rated, making it ideal for indoor or outdoor use as part of an automatic door or access control system. ValueWave™ no-touch switches are designed for easy installation and trouble-free service in high traffic applications. In addition to this narrow version, the CM-221 & CM-222 Series switches are available in a range of other models with single and double gang heavy-gauge stainless steel faceplates and include illuminated light rings.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.