Keeping an eye on your safety

The Hindu Cameras are increasingly used as a part of security and surveillance solutions at commercial structures and homes. These cameras can be used via internet to monitor homes and factories from any place in the world. Photo: Abhijit Dev Kumar

Technopark-based One View Systems Pvt. Ltd has developed a new video surveillance system

For families travelling on vacation during summer, one of the biggest headache is ensuring the safety of their house and household possessions. If you thought surveillance cameras and electronic security are for malls and uppity high rises, you thought wrong. Here comes an electronic surveillance system that keeps an eye on your house and business establishments and, more importantly, is easy on the pocket.

How about a new surveillance device where in you get an SMS as well as an email alert once the camera detects an intruder? This has been developed by Technopark-based One View Systems Pvt Ltd. “An intelligent network video solution,” in the words of C.K. Sasikumar, company chairman and chief executive officer.

Set the time

This system comes with a night-vision camera, a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and the SMS/e-mail alert service. “You can fix the time limit, say midnight to 6 a.m. If there is an intruder in your house or office, you get an SMS on your mobile. However, there is every chance that you might miss out on the SMS. In that case, we have set up a special programme, for android phones. In the event of a break-in, it gives an alarm and you could even get a photo of the intruder,” says Sasikumar.

Closed circuit television (CCTV) and Internet Protocol (IP) surveillance dominate the electronic security market in India which is one of the world's fastest expanding video surveillance markets. He adds: “It is a giant step forward in CCTV/IP video surveillance. The advantage is that this system does away with the need for a guard or a watchman at night.” The equipment is priced at Rs. 9,900 (three-camera solution costs Rs.14,500).

One View was formed in 2005 as a technology-driven network video surveillance solution provider in Technopark and now it has associations with academic and industry leaders in India, Japan and the United States (U.S.). While the Technopark unit makes the software products, it has a marketing and implementation division in Chennai. The company offers comprehensive software and hardware solution to cater to the growing video surveillance market in India and neighbouring countries.

“While our Video Management Software (VMS) enables customers to choose customised solutions for their video surveillance needs, we've an indigenously developed web-based client-server application software to manage, record and play back the video streams from network cameras and video servers. This is one of the first video surveillance solutions, fully designed and developed in India,” says Sasikumar.

A success story

An alumni of the College of Engineering Trivandrum, Sasikumar went to Japan in 1968 on a scholarship in the area of quality control, and moved to the United States (U.S.) on an immigrant visa a year later. He has worked in the U.S., Japan, and Israel. He had started a company, Britek India, in Technopark in October 1998 and managed it from the U.S. when he was working as a consultant for another firm. One View Systems Private Limited was formed in 2005 by Sasi and his team at Britek. In January 2008, One View and Britek was combined. It was later split into One View Systems and CellApp.in. Now One View focusses on network video surveillance and CellApp on mobile applications development.

One View's clients in Kerala include government institutions, public sector undertakings, banks, hospitals and educational institutions. Department of Tourism, Commercial Taxes department and Kerala Police fall in the list. “We've provided surveillance cameras for the wireless repeater mobile unit of the Kerala Police. The department also uses our technology to monitor the CCTV cameras installed at Sabarimala. The Commercial Taxes Department uses our video solution for monitoring the check posts,” he says.

Other clients include hospitals, finance and banking institutions, industries, police departments, hotels, resorts, educational institutions in places like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai,in addition to the Ministry of Defence and Indian Railways. The company also has clients in South Africa, Turkey and Singapore.