ONVIF launches education, enforcement campaign

SAN RAMON, Calif.—ONVIF, a global standardization initiative for IP-based physical security products, has announced that it is launching a proactive education and enforcement campaign designed to ensure the validity of all claims of ONVIF conformance by manufacturers of IP-based security products, according to a statement from the industry forum.

The education and enforcement initiative aims to further protect the ONVIF brand and more preemptively monitor ONVIF's copyrights, trademarks and logos on an ongoing basis, the statement noted. The campaign is also intended to help further educate the manufacturing community about the specific requirements of compliance and their ability to advertise individual products as ONVIF conformant.

“We recognize that the credibility of the ONVIF brand is crucial to the success of the standard and the organization going forward, therefore we take the protection of this brand very seriously,” Per Björkdahl, chairman, ONVIF steering committee, said in a prepared statement. “Our objective with this enforcement campaign is to reinforce to the market that the ONVIF name continues to represent interoperability to the market.”

The only method for determining a product's conformance is through a listing on the ONVIF website, where conformant products can be easily searched using a variety of criteria, according to the statement. An entry on the website signifies that the product has undergone ONVIF's comprehensive testing and conformance process and has been individually certified. Currently, there are more than 3,300 individual conformant products listed.

To augment these efforts, earlier this year, ONVIF introduced a new level of membership to provide access to the test tool used to test the validity of product conformance. Known as the Observer membership level, it allows consultants, systems integrators and media organizations to individually validate the conformance of a specific product to a particular ONVIF profile.

“As a member driven organization we rely very heavily on the efforts of our members to help us develop policies and procedures that ensure the success of ONVIF, both for its members and for the industry at large,” Stuart Rawling, vice chairman, ONVIF, said in a prepared statement, adding that they encourage anyone who suspects a product of falsely claiming conformance to contact the organization.