Security Sales & Integration March 2022 - 60

Video
Heat Up Your Offerings
Nightvision
& Thermal:
A Dynamic Duo
▶ Like thermal, low-light
video surveillance is
another technology that
has come a long way since
the days of grainy, greentinged
video. Much of the
improvement in this area
can be contributed to the
creation of the starlight
sensor, which can produce
a clear image at as low as
zero Lux, as well as higher
sensitivity IRs.
For an optimal perimeter
security solution, it is best
to utilize both low-light and
thermal cameras.
" These technologies all
have some overlap, and to
get the best solution you
want all of them. In all our
product launches, we almost
don't make thermal-only
cameras anymore, " says
Kai Moncino, director of
global business development,
Security at Teledyne
FLIR. " We've pretty much
integrated a visible camera
in with a thermal camera
into most security cameras
because they have those
overlapping capabilities
where during the day, if you
want information about
what the shirt color or hair
color or some sort of defining
aspect of a potential
intruder, the visible camera
is exactly what you want to
use. And then during the
nighttime when you don't
have that detail, the thermal
is used to make a detection
and classification. "
systems that feed into a head-end like a video
management system or a SCADA [supervisory
control and data acquisition] system, something
that security integrators are very proficient
at. "
We live in a data hungry world. Chances are a
manufacturer, power plant or warehouse would
be interested in knowing if a critical piece of
machinery was on the verge of malfunctioning.
As Berdut notes, it could be costly should an
unexpected breakdown occur.
" For example, if I'm an oil and gas refinery
and I have an unscheduled shut down, it
could cost me millions of dollars a day. They
tend to shut these down for maintenance on
a schedule, but if something breaks, they have
to shut it down immediately. Being able to see
something is heading toward a break or failure
before it does by saying, 'hey if this gets outside
of a threshold temperature let me know,' is
way better prevention for them than it is if it's
blown up and they have to go and replace it and
there's damages. "
Another area that could utilize thermal imaging
is the datacenter market, which is growing
at an outsized rate, according to Moncino.
As more major companies rely on the Cloud
to store their sensitive data, it would make
sense that they would want to protect it. He
also says that the counter-drone space is exploding
and that the combination of radars
for detection and thermal cameras for visualization
and assessment is one of the best ways
to detect drones.
Making Your Pitch
When it comes to deploying a thermal imager,
it's important for integrators to communicate
with their customers to get a clear picture of
what they want out of their solution and making
sure you can meet both their needs, as well
as the technical specifications required. Things
to keep in mind are the type of lens needed,
whether you need zoom capabilities, if you
want to have an audio system that can play a
notification when it detects someone - these
can all come with added cost.
Berdut believes it is helpful to think of thermal
imagers as more of a sensor rather than a
camera because although they may be able to
classify something as a person or a vehicle, it
can't identify an object with great detail. However,
it can help the user decide if they need to
take action and can serve as a valuable part of
a greater system.
" Don't think of this like a traditional camera
that you can set up and just look at and you'll
get your information - think of it as a sensor.
It's like the game Mousetrap in that it's meant
to set off other things down the way to get that
end result that your customer is looking for.
Focus on what they're looking for first and how
thermals could help them achieve it, and the
middle part will sort itself out, " he explains.
When pricing out a thermal solution, make
sure to explain that while the technology may
be more expensive than a traditional surveillance
camera, it can actually save the customer
money in the long run by reducing false alarms.
" Especially if you're paying for an external
monitoring service, a false alarm has a distinct
cost tied to it. And if you're using best-in-class
analytics and best-in-class technology like thermal,
that is going to give you really good contrast, "
says Moncino. " In most situations you're
going to reduce the number of false alarms you
have, and that's directly, essentially putting
money back in your pocket. When pricing out
a solution, it's important to think of all these
aspects of a full ownership perspective. " SSI
Visible and thermal cameras are complementary technologies that can provide an effective perimeter
protection solution. A visible camera (left) provides specific details of a target while the thermal view
(right) is used for the initial detection and classification. (Courtesy of Teledyne FLIR)
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