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

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies: Uniting Human Risk Management and Security Awareness Training

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

  • Report: 1 in 3 Easily Exploitable Vulnerabilities Found on Cloud Assets

    CyCognito recently released new research highlighting critical security vulnerabilities across cloud-hosted assets, revealing that one in three easily exploitable vulnerabilities or misconfigurations are found on cloud assets. As organizations increasingly shift to multi-cloud strategies, the findings underscore significant security gaps that could provide attackers with potential footholds into networks. Read Now

  • Built for Today, Ready for Tomorrow

    Selecting the right VMS is critical for any organization that depends on video surveillance to ensure safety, security and operational efficiency. While many organizations focus on immediate needs such as budget and deployment size, let us review some of the long-term considerations that can significantly impact a VMS's utility and flexibility. Read Now

New Products

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame.

  • 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.

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols.