Genetec Releases New Versions of IP Security Tools Omnicast and Synergis

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 04/24/09

Genetec has updated its IP-based access control product, Synergis, as well as its IP video surveillance application, Omnicast.

Synergis allows an organization to monitor security hardware, video, audio, and HVAC from a single interface. The latest version of the software, release 2.1, includes enhancements to existing features such as the Badge Designer, the Audit Trails module, and the Import Tool.

The Badge Designer feature helps the user manage cardholder pictures and produce badges. It now supports additional barcode formats for broader application needs, as well as new editing features, such as advanced picture cropping capabilities, and the ability to export pictures. The Audit Trail feature has been augmented to include support for tracking changes to custom fields so that users can get an overview of all the modifications that have been made to cardholder information. The Import Tool, which helps users import existing cardholder and credential information into the Synergis database, has also been modified with automatic picture size reduction to minimize the storage requirements of photos.

Omnicast version 4.4 integrates with AutoVu Sharp, Genetec's license plate recognition (LPR) device. This offers the potential for enhanced city-wide surveillance; vehicle access control of parking entries and exits; wanted/stolen vehicle identification from highways using hotlist matching, streets, and tollbooths; and audit trail applications. The utility can be installed in a new or existing Omnicast system that will manage data coming from LPR, analog, or IP cameras. Match-ups generate alerts of flagged vehicles directly in Omnicast.

Additionally, Omnicast now supports Axis Communications' H.264 product line and Sony's fourth-generation network camera line. The new release also includes hardware drivers for security equipment from Optelecom-NKF, Panasonic, Arecont, IQinVision, Pelco, and others.

Genetec security products are in use at Grambling State University in Louisiana and the University of Guelph in Ontario.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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