The Difference Between VMS and PSIM, and How Both Can Boost Physical Security On Campus

The video or anchor interface only enabled basic interaction between the integrated systems. This allowed an operator to gain some level of situational awareness, i.e. video related to an alarm. However, if an operator needed to investigate further, they had to exit the VMS and use another interface to attain the details necessary for a holistic understanding of an event.

Take the following scenario as an example: After normal campus hours, a person approaches an external door to a building holding sensitive data. This organization requires personnel to both swipe a valid badge and enter a four-digit PIN to gain access. On approach, the person triggers a video analytic alarm. They attempt to gain access using a stolen badge. The door does not open, so the person forces the door open. A “door forced” alarm moves from the access control system to the video system via the integration.

While other types of physical security data can be fed into a VMS, these outside data sources are measured against and related to video, the primary source of data.

The security operator wants to lock all adjacent doors and find out whose badge was used for the swipe. They will also want to contact the owner of that badge. The operator now must exit the video system, log into the access system, find the associated doors and perform those tasks. Can they do it fast enough to contain the situation?

Conversely, some security manufacturers that supply multiple elements of security (a combination of cameras, VMS, access control or intrusion) offer a single solution with deeper interoperability between functions than are available between third-party APIs. These are often called “unified” systems, which operate a single-event engine and enable traditionally separate systems to function as one.

For instance, a unified solution can have active knowledge of other nodes on the network, generate associations between them and imbed workflows. Intrusion detectors can act in conjunction with video analytics to reduce false alarms. Access card readers and door contacts can associate with views from cameras with far less integrator programming and real-time interoperability. This also tends to reduce “broken” integrations as systems change versions.