For many business and educational leaders, the resumption of work and learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a challenge. Enforcing health and safety policies and detecting noncompliance can be difficult to accomplish, especially in high-traffic areas, but it’s crucial. Enhanced video surveillance can help. In recent months, many organizations have repurposed existing EVS systems, typically deployed for physical security, to support screening measures related to COVID-19, such as thermal imaging scans, occupancy management and contact tracing.

Layering face mask detection into video analytics, and potentially integrating it with access control systems, provides an additional layer of protection. As with occupancy management and contact tracing, many companies find that automated solutions are far more effective at mask monitoring than humans are.

Enhanced video surveillance (EVS) has been a game changer for physical security. Now, as businesses and organizations strive to resume operations while supporting public health, many are deploying these systems for new purposes: thermal screening, occupancy management and social distance monitoring.

The heart of EVS is video analytics, either built into cameras or integrated into the back-end video management system. Video analytics run continuously in the background to interpret video content and provide real-time alerts. This is a much more efficient way to make use of video capabilities than by assigning employees to constantly monitor a live video feed or conduct after-the-fact forensics in the wake of an incident. Real-time situational awareness lets organizations respond to threats faster and more effectively.

Now, EVS is proving its worth in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare facilities, educational institutions, manufacturing and distribution centers, transportation providers and retailers are among those deploying these tools so they can continue to provide essential services. Here are three ways organizations can utilize EVS to operate more safely.

The asterisk has long been used to highlight exceptions or to call attention to a footnote or annotation. For example, a home run record that was influenced by an extended baseball season was noted with an asterisk. This mark is also used to call out legal terms or extended information on a topic.

I think we should be using an asterisk in our conversations about Industry 4.0. This blog explains why I chose an asterisk instead of some other mark in my description of Industry 4.0*.

As localities slowly begin to reopen, technology will be an essential part of the process. The digital infrastructures at the heart of many modern cities may prove critical to keeping the coronavirus at bay. There are many other potential coronavirus-related applications for video in digitally connected cities and the organizations within them. Some, such as using facial recognition for contact tracing, may be controversial, and there are certainly privacy and security issues that municipalities must address. But the fact that a device as simple as a mounted camera combined with powerful analytics software might be used to accomplish in just a few seconds what would otherwise be quite difficult — that’s something localities and other organizations must consider.

As recently as 2017, INRIX Research found that U.S drivers spent an average of 17 hours looking for parking. And when they’re searching for spots, they’re part of a bigger problem: pollution. An important way to curb carbon emissions from cars is by getting them off the road — and into parking spaces — more efficiently, and state and local governments are considering intelligent parking solutions to help.

If you’re looking for new and different ways to provide a great customer experience, consider the surveillance systems you already have in your stores, warehouses and even parking lots. They’re there to thwart theft, but with a little incremental investment, these systems can identify opportunities to wow customers and keep them coming back. Take checkout…