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Virtual doorman in New York

Hikvision's video compression boards are being used at a major residential building in New York. The block is one of a set of three adjoining riverfront structures in Manhattan that has attracted residents such as Calvin Klein and Nicole Kidman.

The buildings were designed by Richard Meier, one of the 'New York Five' group of celebrity architects who sprung to fame in the seventies. The newest of the structures, 165 Charles Street, features a remote doorman system that gives residents the convenience and security of a manned presence through web-based information management.

A core component in the servers controlling security at this apartment block are Hikvision's DS-4008HCI high-resolution video compression boards. These real-time H.264 (MPEG-4/Part 10) units also offer audio compression using the open-protocol Ogg Vorbis standard with 16 kHz sampling rate and 16 Kbps output bit rate. A single PC can support up to 64 channels and the units exploit artificial intelligence when assessing possible motion detection triggers and rejecting false activation. Compression rates are unrivalled and integrators benefit from optimised use of RAID storage as longer recording times result in reduced maintenance costs and improved system resilience.

With theft and fraud involving bogus callers on the rise in a time of recession, managing agents are anxious to provide apartment owners with premium security services while keeping charges low. This is particularly important for the elderly or any vulnerable section of the community including the famous.

Intelligent managed access exploiting advances in video and audio technology has proved a way forward since it avoids human error and personnel demands associated with recruiting door staff. Virtual supervision of a residential building involves surveillance technology that does not sleep on duty, take breaks or call in sick.

When callers such as department store employees, fast food couriers or dry cleaners arrive to make a delivery they activate video monitoring and audio feeds. Data is sent to Virtual Service's central station where human rather than artificial intelligence assesses the individual. In the case of a legitimate delivery person, he or she is directed under camera surveillance to a package room. The technology is context-aware and audio announcements can be made if a wrong turn is taken. Should the caller be a personal visitor and the resident is at home, then Virtual Doorman makes the appropriate connection.

About 110 apartment complexes in the New York metropolitan area employ Virtual Doorman, mostly in Manhattan. On other projects where a custom-built PC-based server is not required, Virtual Service are using Hikvision's DVRs.

Successful installations of this automated lobby surveillance have overcome initial skepticism from residents, since use of cameras represents less intrusion into people’s lives than observation by door staff.

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