New version of video surveilance system

Longwatch latest release is available in three platforms that eliminate the need for custom programming to set up a video surveillance system.
The Longwatch Video System Version 5.1 is now available in three distinct platforms that make installation, configuration and application easy. The platforms eliminate the custom programming needed with traditional video systems and create a “fast track” for integration with a process control, HMI/SCADA or automation control system. The result saves money by reducing false alarms, reducing labor costs, reducing support costs, and improving decision-making speed and accuracy.

The platforms include:

Console Recorder Platform: Monitors what operators are watching on HMI displays and records their keystroke actions, so that playback reveals what operators saw on the screen during an “event” and what they did about it. A small software module acts as a “camera” to record exactly what is on the system screen, including mouse movements. The result is video that can be used for root cause analysis, process documentation, operator training and process improvement.

Video Historian Platform: Automatically links and synchronizes historical trend information and stored video from multiple cameras in the field or process. This enables the operator to actually see what happened when various trend conditions occurred. It also includes a patent-pending “process tab” that automatically links SQL database messages from alarm, quality and other MES databases with video from automatically selected cameras. The result ranges from seeing what happened when an alarm was posted in the HMI/SCADA/DCS system, to having a “video traveler” of a manufacturing or batch work order as it works its way through the plant.

Surveillance Platform: Eliminates “blind spots” in video surveillance by providing the most flexible and efficient networking support available. Event messages automatically contain video “snippets” that show what happened before, during and after an event, to help reduce false alarms and to help inform first responders when necessary. Events can be triggered by security alarms, door switches, level or leak sensors, limit switches, or a variety of hardware and software-generated signals. Video can be sent over wired or wireless networks, including instrumentation networks, ranging from 9600 baud serial up to satellite, broadband and fiber.

Each of the platforms is supplied on a CD-ROM, which allows fast installation and integration with cameras of all types, industrial networks, and HMI/SCADA systems, DCSes, process historians, and control systems of all types.

“Longwatch is delivering software specifically made to integrate video with industrial applications, especially for improved operational performance and safety,” said Steve Rubin, president and CEO of Longwatch. “We have customers who are able to reduce their labor costs with Longwatch. Other customers use Longwatch systems to reduce downtime by catching and fixing problems before they become costly. Longwatch paid for itself in minutes by preventing downtime for a wallboard manufacturer. These customers needed no special hardware and no custom software to achieve results. Longwatch was applied ‘out of the box’ to save them start-up and ongoing maintenance costs. We’re doing for industrial video today what our team did 25 years ago for HMIs: making the application simple to use, highly valuable for the user, and general purpose to help many industries.”

See also Steve Rubin's article "We can tune PID controllers, but what about tuning the operator?" published in March 2010.