Sonic Foundry Announces Software for Government Security And Surveillance Applications

Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ:SOFO), a leading provider of rich media software, systems and services, today announced its Unified Security View[TM] (USV) enterprise software. Unlike other point collection and analysis applications, USV is the first complete, multi-modal solution for government security organizations that provides capture, analysis, access and management of all media types, biometric information and database sources. Sonic Foundry will be demonstrating its USV application at the Government Video Technology Expo at the Washington DC Convention Center in Booth #835.

The Unified Security View is a complete application and integration framework for building a unified and intelligent biometric dossier, regardless of data source or type. Built upon the core Sonic Foundry and recently acquired MediaSite technologies, the USV contains the following four pre-integrated components – USV Capture[TM], a comprehensive capture solution for media and biometric information; USV Analyze[TM], a multi-modal analysis system designed to extract, analyze and quickly sort through large volumes of digital information; USV Interact[TM], a Web- and client-side user interface providing retrieval, viewing, management, comparison and annotation of USV Profile records; and, USV Connect[TM], an XML-based integration framework that enables interoperability with government agency, third party and in-house databases.

"Sonic Foundry has always been at the forefront of innovation and leadership for media capture and processing, the first and most critical step of the biometric process," said Rimas Buinevicius, CEO of Sonic Foundry. "Our recent acquisition of MediaSite, an industry leader in advanced indexing and multi-modal analysis technologies, enables the combined entity to address the complete needs of organizations requiring cost effective and reliable security and surveillance applications. The rising concerns over security and the need to consolidate disparate information into one common view is helping to drive demand for this tested and proven technology solution."

The core enabling technologies for the USV derive from Sonic Foundry's award-winning media capture and processing technologies and the recent integration of MediaSite's proprietary indexing and analysis engine- ISLIP (Integrated Speech, Language and Image Processing). The ISLIP engine originally was born out of over seven years of research at Carnegie Mellon University and more than $20 million of funding by leading government agencies and private corporations, including NASA, DARPA, NSF, Bell Atlantic, Boeing, CNN, Intel and Microsoft.

Unlike other point capture and analysis applications, the USV solution uses an aggregation of facial, positional, voiceprint and related biometric data to create a unified, time-based individual profile. USV Profiles are then automatically updated over time, allowing security personnel to cross-compare physical characteristics chronologically and across multiple identification databases. Viewing is further enhanced through patented USV Skimming technology, allowing for up to an 80 percent reduction in search and review time of USV Profiles.

"A shortcoming of current security and surveillance applications is their inability to integrate multiple pieces of identification data, leaving security personnel with a one-dimensional view of individuals. The concept of a unified view provides the multi-dimensional answer to this challenge," says Howard Wactlar, who helped spearhead the research project at Carnegie Mellon University. "With the Sonic Foundry USV solution, organizations can now build a complete view of individuals by capturing, aggregating and analyzing multiple data types from multiple data sources."

To complement the USV software and ensure rapid customer implementation, Sonic Foundry's Media Services division offers complete enterprise consulting and domain expertise in media and data capture, conversion and management services. Additional services include transfer and management of information from tape-based and secure storage area networks, enabling access by the complete USV application.

USV is now available and customizable with specific versions tailored to the unique requirements and processes of specialized security needs. By incorporating extensive pre-built functionality, Sonic Foundry Media Systems minimizes the need for additional customization, thereby providing the lowest implementation cost.