Video, Security and Integration Leaders Demonstrate the Convergence of Security and Information Technology; Summits in DC, Philadelphia and Boston

Video, Security and Integration Leaders Demonstrate the Convergence of Security and Information Technology; Summits in DC, Philadelphia and Boston to address the changing face of video security technologies

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2006--Security and IT have converged. Streaming digital video, IP cameras, video analytics, integrated access control systems, and other advanced technologies have created new security capabilities and placed more demands on IT infrastructures. How can organizations get the most out of the powerful new generation of security technologies without monopolizing bandwidth, overloading networks, and stretching budgets thin? This June, leaders from the video security and integration industry will convene to answer this question and unveil the latest developments in video security with informative case studies and demonstrations at three regional educational seminars and luncheons in Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston.
Who: The events are being co-hosted by Axis Communications
(www.axis.com), Broadware Technologies (www.broadware.com), Cernium
Corporation (www.cernium.com), and Extreme CCTV (www.extremecctv.com).
Leaders from a variety of industries including defense, federal and
local government, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, health care, food
processing, electronics, engineering, aerospace, airport management,
transit and transportation, international shipping, travel and
hospitality, law enforcement, security, manufacturing, utilities,
water management, retail and others will be in attendance.

Where and When: Washington, DC: June 6, 2006
12:00 - 2:30pm
DoubleTree Hotel Tyson's Corner
7801 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22043
703-893-1340

Philadelphia, PA: June 7, 2006
12:00 - 2:30pm
Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue
4200-A City Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
215-879-4000

Boston, MA: June 9, 2006
12:00 - 2:30pm
Sheraton Boston Hotel
Prudential Center
39 Dalton Street
Boston, MA 02199
617-236-2000

RSVP: Anyone can attend, but seating is limited. Please fill out a
brief online form at www.vsisummit.com for complementary registration.
Members of the media should also register at vsisummit.com, and can
contact Brad Wills, 301-767-1919, bwills@wills-pr.com for more
information.

OC to Monitor Buses Via Video

O.C. to Monitor Buses Via Video
Officials hope the $900,000 program, equipping 82 vehicles, will reduce vandalism, thefts, assaults and injury claims.
By David Reyes, Times Staff WriterMay 23, 2006

By next spring, at least 10% of Orange County's buses will be equipped with cameras that will monitor passengers and serve as a digital watchdog against crime. Each of the buses will be equipped with seven cameras — two outside, five inside. The $900,000 program was approved Monday.

"No criminals like their picture taken," said Art Brown, chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority and a former sheriff's deputy.The new system, which will also provide audio recordings, will offer the transit agency visual evidence of assaults, robberies and collisions, and even monitor driver and passenger behavior.Funding for the program came in part from the Department of Homeland Security because of concern about threats on mass transit.

The program was also prompted by a 2003 incident on a paratransit bus, OCTA officials said. A contract bus driver was arrested after two mentally and physically disabled women were sexually assaulted. The man was later convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.Eighty-two transit buses will be outfitted with camera systems at a cost of about $11,000 each. OCTA will join other transit agencies in Southern California with similar video surveillance programs.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority began installing cameras on buses 10 years ago. It now has video cameras on 2,500 buses, an MTA spokesman said.Orange County has held off installing cameras because it didn't want to put them on older, soon-to-be-retired diesel buses, an OCTA spokesman said.The equipment will be installed on 82 new buses, including 32 small buses for disabled riders, and 50 larger buses as they join OCTA's fleet.

According to an OCTA survey of other transit agencies, use of video cameras has reduced graffiti and injury claims and helped with accident investigations and passenger complaints.Cameras also can reduce costs related to removing graffiti. The authority spends more than $200,000 fighting graffiti. Currently, drivers cannot leave their seats, even if they suspect that vandals are using Sharpies or etching their names or gang insignias. Cameras will record such criminal activity, OCTA officials said.Several OCTA directors raised privacy concerns at Monday's meeting. Some said the new systems warranted a notice to passengers of the recording.Supervisor Lou Correa said there needed to be a balance "of the public's right to privacy and public safety." Supervisor Chris Norby questioned the effectiveness of the camera system."I think our passengers are already very safe, and I am concerned about the proliferation of cameras," he said.

The system is computerized so that if a bus is in a collision or incident, the driver can push a button on the dash and the incident is "tagged.""That allows us to visually save videotape two minutes before and two minutes after the incident on the computer's hard drive," said Allen Pierce, OCTA's maintenance manager.As each bus goes to the station at night to refuel, the video is automatically saved to the computer for 10 days, he said.

OCTA Bus Camera Project

A4S Security Q1 Net Loss Widens on Expenses, Despite Revenue Growth

(RTTNews) - A4S Security Inc. (SWAT charts news PowerRating), a provider of mobile digital video surveillance solutions, early Wednesday announced fist quarter financial results, reporting a wider net loss from the year ago quarter on higher operating expenses, a despite higher revenues.
Security's net loss for the quarter was $1.12 million or $0.28 per share, compared to a net loss of $554,000 or $3.76 per share in the same quarter of 2005.
Common shares outstanding for the quarter increased to 3.96 million from 147,389
Revenue for the quarter increased to $212,835 from $73,735 in the first quarter of 2005. First quarter sales comprised almost entirely from products sold into the mass transit market.
As, the cost of sales for the quarter rose to $206,984 from $52,759 in the year ago quarter, the gross profit declined to $5,851 from $20,976 in the comparable period last year.
Total operating expenses for the quarter jumped to $1.16 million from $435,681
Shares of SWAT closed Tuesday's regular trade at $4.50 down $0.01 on a volume of 17,600.
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