Synology introduces Surveillance365: a cloud platform for central video surveillance, local AI processing, and optional backup.
Synology is releasing Surveillance365 worldwide. Surveillance365 is a cloud solution for video surveillance, suitable for organizations with one or more locations. The platform centrally manages compatible cameras, processes alerts locally, and offers optional cloud backup with retention periods of up to 3,650 days. A notable absentee in the whole story: a NAS.
Surveillance365 is an addition to Synology’s existing surveillance ecosystem. In addition to cameras, this includes network video recorders (NVR), storage (NAS), and Surveillance Station (the software on the NVR or NAS). The company describes the service itself as Video Surveillance as a Service, or VSaaS.
Organizations can use the new service via a web portal or mobile app. No NVR or NAS is required to start. You do, of course, need compatible network cameras. These are exclusively models from Synology’s own portfolio.
Free and cloud-based
Surveillance365 takes the form of a subscription. The standard plan is free for compatible Synology cameras. With a free license, you can manage and link cameras and view footage.
The new service is exclusively focused on that capacity. The actual storage of the footage is separate from Surveillance365. By default, the cameras store footage locally on a built-in microSD card. The devices themselves process person and vehicle detection locally. By storing and processing footage locally, network bandwidth is conserved.
You can then view footage from the cameras via Surveillance365. This is preferably done via local peer-to-peer connections. When the administrator and camera are on the same network, the connection does not go through the internet.
Viewing footage online is also possible. In that case, a low-bandwidth mode can reduce data usage by up to fifty percent according to Synology, with limited impact on image quality.
Complementary to NAS
Storing footage remains possible, of course, but is not part of the functionality Synology offers with Surveillance365. It remains possible to link cameras to an NVR or NAS and use Surveillance Station. You can also configure cloud backups. In that case, you must purchase C2 cloud storage capacity from Synology via C2 OneStorage.
With the new service, Synology is targeting retail chains, construction sites, and offices with dispersed locations, among others. Administrators can monitor their entire camera fleet from a single environment and add new locations without having to set up the associated infrastructure.
Positioning as a security specialist
It is striking that Synology increasingly wants to distance itself from the NAS offering that made the company famous. Surveillance365 is a solution that combines its own cameras and cloud functionality, without a NAS needing to be the centerpiece or even necessary.
Surveillance365 is now available worldwide. In addition to the free version, there is also a paid subscription that costs €50 per year (incl. VAT). As mentioned, you are not buying storage for that, but extra functionality such as sub-account permission management, management of cameras at multiple locations, and an activity log.