NAIROBI, (CAJ News) – ROY Alves grabbed the mouse attached on a smart television screen and promised a bunch of visitors to an exhibition that what he was about to do would be impressive.

In a moment, he had zoomed into the images captured by a security camera mounted outside the huge display hall.

And to the awe of all the visitors, four ants crawling up a palm tree some 200 metres away from the high-resolution camera were on the screen.

“This is how powerful these cameras can be,” said Mr Alves, who oversees sales in Africa and the Middle East for Axis Communications- a leading manufacturer of network cameras.

Several visitors held their breath as he zoomed in again on a private car parked even further, clearly displaying the small print on the driver’s door.

Alves was displaying the capabilities of one of his firm’s cameras during a Security Expo held at the Visa Oshwal Centre in the Westlands Business District in Nairobi, Kenya where about 50 exhibitors were displaying various security equipment.

Rising security threats in Kenya and the most of the World presented by insider threats among businesses, burglaries and terrorism have sent companies such as Axis Communications to innovate and create new solutions.

Westgate Mall, the target of the 2013 terror attack is on the same street with the exhibition hall, is among the target markets for the companies displaying their security solutions.

“We are addressing a real need among businesses and governments,” Alves said, while explaining the specifications of one model of cameras on display that has the capacity to record and store footage for up to 90 days.

Cameras with such storage capabilities could have internal memories capacity of more than 60 terabytes, or tens of ordinary computers.

Further, the cameras can be manipulated remotely from a control room which enables a user to pick out a view of interest.

Educational institutions in South Africa have already embraced the technology where classes are recorded and conveyed through high capacity internet, to ensure that students can follow proceeding in real time or later at a time of their choice.

Such powerful cameras can be mounted at the back of the class to minimize disruptions which would be definite in the case of ordinary equipment that need to be moved to capture different angles of the lectures.

Among the biggest benefits offered by the equipment from the Swedish manufacturer is versatility and the image quality that the cameras can capture including face recognition capability.

High quality of captured images could mean a make or break in criminal prosecution of suspected offenders in cases of burglaries or even terror.

Alves said poor image qualities had compromised many investigations for lack of admissible evidence to sustain a prosecution.

Several other equipment including audio systems that manufactured Axis Communications could be complimentary to the powerful smart cameras.

Through the complimentary capabilities and software, the firm can offer intelligent security systems which can analyze situations and trigger adequate responses, – such as calling up an ambulance in case of an accident.

– CAJ News