UK Company Launches Intelligent Surveillance System to Private Sector

Friday, 16 November 2007

Scyron, the security and surveillance services company, launched today the availability of its 'intelligent, incident-based surveillance system' to the private sector. It follows successful deployments at 48 UK police forces, transforming the efficiency with which they gather surveillance evidence against criminals and analyse surveillance/CCTV videos - in some cases reducing the time it takes to analyse a 24 hour tape from one week to less than three hours. The break-through technology is saving police forces millions of pounds while removing the need for blanket surveillance of law-abiding people. If all UK surveillance footage was analysed manually, the estimated cost would be nearly GBP1.25 billion per annum.(x) Automating the process saves more than 90% of the cost. Scyron believes the use of its technology in the private sector has positive implications for protecting civil liberties. "There are over 4.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK making us the most spied upon country in the world," said Scyron CEO, Mike Wilks. "Collectively, they record around 35 billion hours of footage. Analysing footage of everyday people going about their business costs tax payers millions of pounds every year. What our technology does best is to sort the wheat from the chaff by helping target the criminals." Scyron's technology uses a sophisticated 'intelligent' algorithm that triggers a surveillance/CCTV camera to record specific events or be used retrospectively on a video tape to capture specific incidents. For example, it may be set to capture only people lingering longer than a specific time, such as five seconds at a known haunt for drug dealers while ignoring passers by. Alternatively, it can be set to trigger an alarm if people approach a perimeter fence, while ignoring animals or unusual light anomalies. The technology was developed by former University of Birmingham scientists based at the company's headquarters and labs at the University of Birmingham Research Park. The privately-owned company has seen rapid growth in the public sector and is now launching the system to the private sector, focussing upon: law enforcement; commercial security; transport; energy and the leisure sectors. Its aim is to build Scyron's market share in the UK and overseas. Former Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Lord Dear commented, "With an intelligent approach to surveillance, I foresee a significant market for private security companies, transport, defence, and indeed any businesses wanting to protect high-value assets. But also I see massive potential for CCTV, liberating the operator so that not every screen needs to be watched." About Scyron Scyron is a security and surveillance services company focussed on helping public and private sector companies with its world-leading intelligent surveillance solutions. The company is privately-owned and headquartered at the University of Birmingham Research Park, UK. Scyron is using its innovative software to forge a new category of security solution - 'incident-based security and surveillance'. It offers an innovative and complete solution from the capture, transmission, analysis and editing of visual and audio data, such as CCTV/ surveillance footage, through to its presentation as evidence in court. Customers include 48 police forces in the UK as well as foreign police forces and government agencies, including the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security. For further information see: http://www.scyron.com/press

 

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