NICE-ly Done: Company Spreads Awareness of PSIM Benefits

  • By Ronnie Rittenberry
  • Sep 13, 2012

PSIM (Physical Security Information Management) is one of the buzzwords floating in the very air of ASIS 2012 -- and, indeed, in the entire security industry these days -- but it seems when most people, even seasoned security professionals, utter the acronym they are confusing it for the mere integration of physical security systems in an enterprise. One of the goals NICE Systems had in mind when it decided to attend this year’s event was to tell people there is more to PSIM than that and to thereby educate the industry. This week, the Israel-based company has done that in force.

Starting at its booth (No. 326), the company has all week demonstrated the advanced capabilities of its situation management solution, the NICE Situator, which is designed to improve real-time situation management through data analysis, collaboration and information sharing across the operational chain. New system features include intelligent call-taking capabilities, streamlined task management via smart resource assignment (according to geographical proximity) and mobile interfaces. All of these elements work together in the solution to detect events and initiate response plans based on pre-defined thresholds and extract precise insights from data streams for informed decision making. These analytic capabilities also support trend and smart reporting that are used to help predict and prevent future situations.

Also at the booth, NICE experts have demonstrated the latest release of Inform -- the company’s multimedia incident information management solution -- which imports and consolidates data from various sources and now supports video and audio from third-party capture platforms to create 360-degree incident reconstruction for investigations and debriefing, and for defining best practices.

NiceVision Net 2.5, the company’s enterprise-class IP video surveillance system, has also been on display. The latest release includes a video management dashboard that provides an at-a-glance enterprise-wide status view of all locations, and a customized retail banking package featuring a branch dashboard and ATM integration.

Outside of the booth, the NICE Situator was showcased on Sept. 11 in a PSIA Systems Interoperability Demo at the nearby Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel, demonstrating its physical security interoperability compliance and dedication to open standards.

Yesterday, Dr. Bob Banerjee, NICE director of training and development, moderated an ASIS educational session titled, “Security Visionaries Explore Best Practices for Today and Plans for Tomorrow.” Panelists provided a first-hand account of what goes on behind the walls of security control centers. Participants included Chris Swecker, former FBI assistant director and current CEO of Chris Swecker Enterprises; Ed Merkle, director of Port Security & Emergency Operations for the Virginia Port Authority; and Brian Stephens, senior VP of Corporate Security at Bank of America.

“Most people do not have an accurate idea about what PSIM entails,” Banerjee said. “PSIM is about three things: before, during and after an incident. It’s all about the incident. It’s about situational awareness, situational management and situational reconstruction. It is about having standard operating procedures built into the software telling people what to do when an incident arises and being able to examine the series of decisions people make during an incident and learn from them. The evolution for NICE is about canning the knowledge and expertise from previous projects.”

The NICE security offering addresses the needs of governments and enterprises with intent-based solutions for fighting crime and terror by anticipating, managing and mitigating safety, security and operational risks. The offering enables capturing, analysis and correlation of data from multiple sensors and systems, including audio, video, radio, geo-location and Web, providing a framework for fusing data silos into a single, holistic operational view. The company’s security solutions, which are currently deployed worldwide in transportation systems, critical infrastructures, city centers and enterprise campuses, empower organizations to act effectively in real time to prevent, manage and investigate incidents, ensuring fast resolution and debriefing, and continuous security improvements.

On Sept. 11, NICE announced that it had been named a Tier 1 PSIM company by market researcher Frost & Sullivan. The company’s top ranking is highlighted in Frost & Sullivan’s market report titled Global Physical Security Information Management Market - A Global Trend Changing the Way Security is Considered.

The report projects extraordinary growth in the PSIM market over the next decade. However, it also recognizes that there is a large gap in training and education that could prevent the market from reaching its full potential.

Providing an overview of market drivers and trends, the report classifies each of the leading PSIM companies based on a three-tier system. NICE’s Tier 1 rating affirms its achievements in the market. Specifically, NICE is one of the few companies whose situation management solution enables the unified integration of all security systems to provide top-level situational awareness.

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