ONVIF, the US-based standardisation initiative for IP-based physical security products, has brought out the Release Candidate for Profile C, which enables interoperability between clients and devices of physical access control systems (PACS) and network-based video systems. This new Profile, which is available for review on the ONVIF website, extends the the ONVIF specifications into physical access control.
With Profile C, installers, specifiers and consultants will be able, ONVIF says, to more easily deploy integrated IP-based video and access control from a variety of video and access control product companies. Compatibility between edge devices and clients helps to simplify installation and user training by reducing the need for multiple proprietary monitoring systems to handle devices.
Baldvin Gislason Bern, Chairman of ONVIF’s Profile C Working Group, said: “Integration between IP-based physical access control systems and video surveillance is no longer considered a luxury in today’s market, and is becoming a necessary component for many different types of users. With Profile C, users and specifiers will be able to integrate the Profile C products of their choosing without relying on existing integrations between manufacturers.”
As part of an access system, Profile C conformant devices will be able to provide information about doors and access points. Profile C conformant clients will enable the monitoring of doors, access control decisions and alarms, such as if a door is unlocked, when a door has been accessed and other similar functions. Profile C conformant clients will also provide basic door control functions, such as providing access and locking or unlocking doors. When combined with other Profiles such as Profile S for video and audio streaming, users can also group together related access control and video devices using a configurable discovery scope. Profile C and Profile S also share the same device management features such as network configuration and system settings.
ONVIF says that it introduced the profile concept to enable end users to identify features supported by a profile without determining the compatibility between versions of the ONVIF specifications. Profile S serves as the standard interface to stream video and audio between conformant devices and clients, and Profile G will take in video storage, searching, retrieval and play-back.
ONVIF circulates new Profiles first as a ‘Release Candidate’ for six months, allowing members and stakeholders a final implementation review. A final Profile is published and manufacturers will be able to test their products for conformance to the final version of Profile C. This process is intended to allow members to more quickly introduce conforming products when the final Profile C is released, in early 2014.
As part of the inclusion of physical access control to the scope of ONVIF, the ONVIF Network Interface Specification Set version 2.3 has also been released. This update has new services for physical access control clients and devices and also includes a number of minor clarifications for better interoperability among ONVIF conformant clients and devices. The ONVIF test specification set has also been updated with the Access Control Test Specification and Door Control Test Specifications for the new physical access control services.
There are more than 1,700 products conforming to Profile S in the market from about 465 ONVIF member companies.
Further information about ONVIF conformant products, including the vendors and the conformant models, is available on ONVIF’s website: www.onvif.org.
