Cisco adds to router

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Continuing to build its presence in the IP surveillance market, networking manufacturer Cisco has announced an IP video solution that can be added to its popular Integrated Services Router, which has an installed based of four million customers. Basically, this allows organizations to host their video management software right on the router they already have, in some cases eliminating the need for a server, and in all cases more efficiently using the network for moving video. The Cisco Video Management and Storage System (VMSS) Network Module helps enable local archival and management of video images and combines with the Cisco Video Surveillance Operations Manager software and Cisco Video Surveillance Media Server software to manage and monitor multiple video sources through a single converged interface. The VMSS provides support for the Cisco VS IP Camera, as well as most major third-party IP cameras and encoders. Further, said Todd Baker, product manager, Access Routing Technology Group marketing, at Cisco, “you have the ability to partition [the video] off from the rest of the network; you can integrate it into the network, but enable an application on the network that’s wholly owned by the physical security department, even though the hardware is actually owned by the IT department.” “I really do see this as a revolutionary step in the industry,” said Bill Stuntz, VP and general manager of Cisco’s physical security business unit. “All the products in the market today are software running on boxes ... What we’re saying is the software should reside on whatever is the proper hardware for that. Sometimes it’s a server, rarely is it a proprietary NVR, but when there’s an opportunity to build it right into the network, that’s a huge plus. You build it right into the router; you don’t have to add a server. It’s more cost effective, is higher performing, has higher reliability, and still operates within an entire system.”