April 2007
Features
By Del V. Salvi
THE quality of academic programs has become a significant competitive factor among high schools in recent years. This is particularly evident in top private schools like St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, N.J., a co-ed, Catholic high school operated by the diocese of Trenton.
By John Waldron
GOVERNMENT security has been the subject of unprecedented focus since 9/11. Before the attacks, advanced physical security was considered a necessary expenditure only for military facilities and key government installations in high-target areas around the world. Before 9/11, people were comfortable with security and confident terrorism would never touch the country directly on home soil.
By Barry Keepence
THE latest official video compression standard, H.264, follows on from the highly successful MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video standards and offers improvements in both video quality and compression. Where IP video systems will see the most benefit is in the ability to deliver the same high-quality, low-latency digital video with savings of up to 50 percent on bandwidth and storage requirements. To put it another way, it delivers significantly higher video quality for the same bandwidth.
By Jeff Brummett
DIGITAL video surveillance has become the dominant, growing segment within the larger, multi-disciplined security industry in the past several years. Intelligent video capture software used to create the technology platform for DVRs has grown tremendously.
By David Lee
IN today’s troubled times, large industrial sites are in more danger of security breaches than ever before. With miles of perimeter fencing and multiple entrances to secure, large petrochemical plants are a complex security challenge.
By Ray Shilling
TO take advantage of the powerful and ubiquitous TCP/IP communication platform, manufacturers of security products such as network video cameras, gate access controllers, biometric scanners, perimeter fencing systems and mobile covert monitoring solutions are gradually migrating analog-based products to a digital Ethernet platform. Unfortunately, in many cases, a wire-line network connection is not available at all locations required in the facility. So wireless alternatives are increasingly becoming more prevalent to deploy Ethernet devices.
With the dramatic increase in the use of wireless technologies in the past five years, unlicensed radio spectrum is becoming increasingly overcrowded in many urban areas. A wireless system that’s installed today and functions well can fail dramatically next week, next month or next year, simply as a result of multiple products operating at the same radio frequency.
By Richard Hyatt
NETWORK access control is one of the hottest topics in IT today. Despite this, available approaches are either fragmented or not ready for widespread implementation. In order to understand this phenomenon, users must evaluate current approaches and understand the process of implementing a NAC solution.
When implementing network access control, the first set of decisions that need to be made regarding network policy. The first necessary question for a NAC project is: Why does it need to be implemented and what is expected from implementation?
By Rob Welton
WORLD events indicate the rate of growth in perimeter security requirements will continue to escalate for the foreseeable future. Airports, seaports and petrochemical facilities certainly qualify for increased protection, but schools, storage facilities, sporting events, bridges and tunnels are examples of new targets needing protection.
By Jayson Kneen
TODAY'S fire alarm control panels are highly sophisticated systems that use innovative smoke and heat sensing technologies to deliver a rapid, intelligent response to fire emergencies. When activated, a fire alarm system is capable of performing hundreds of preprogrammed action sequences within a fraction of a second. Regardless of how technologically advanced a fire alarm control panel is its primary purpose is very simple—to save lives. Fire alarm systems notify building occupants that a fire emergency exists in the building.
By Matthew Finn
ANYWHERE in the world, most security and intelligence officers will agree that transportation security is about managing risk. It's about detecting potential threats as early as possible, reacting appropriately and mitigating the ripple effects, all the while focusing on simplifying travel for billions of passengers who do not warrant concern.
By Tim Cranny, Ph.D., CISSP
PHYSICAL security is an essential part of protecting a company’s mission-critical assets and information. Fortunately, it is a mature industry sector. While many understand the value of locked doors, cameras, alarms and security guards, However, physical security becomes more complicated when you start to look at how modern technology has changed the computer industry.
By Steve Neville
FROM Barcelona to Berlin and all across Europe, workers today need to access corporate information outside the workplace. Remote access frees workers from the restrictions of the corporate work environment. By working from any location and at any time, employees can collaborate more effectively, work more efficiently and ultimately be much more productive.
Departments
By Ralph C Jensen
FROM the inside looking out, it appears that we’re all pretty secure. However, from the outside looking in, there are holes at the perimeter that need our attention. Thinking of perimeter security reminds me of the days when I coached my sons’ baseball team and the American Legion baseball club.
By Brent Dirks
SINCE being founded more than 90 years ago, the United Supermarkets chain has blossomed. With three distinct brands of stores, almost 1 million guests shop at 48 stores in 26 cities throughout North and West Texas each week.
Information management systems help increase port security
By Col. Timothy D. Ringgold
By Karina Sanchez
SECURITY installers out there know that business isn’t getting any easier. Installers today must face issues not thought of 10 or even five years ago. Technology is evolving so quickly that it’s a constant battle to just develop the know-how to keep systems updated.
By Leslie Stevens
NINETY-NINE times out of 100, it’s a bad thing for integrators when a manufacturer closes its doors. But for The HomeWorks Group, a negative was turned into a positive.