3VR 5.0 will also include an API that will enable customers to build video into their other systems. Banks, for example, could build it into their customer account software, according to EVR founder and president Tim Ross.

This really is our platform release, he said. Previously, the system provided much of the same functionality, but was limited to single-branch installations. Now, branches can be tied together over their existing WANs.

3VR, which comes as an appliance, is designed to help store and manage surveillance footage. It contains algorithms for extracting faces and license plates, for example, from video footage and estimating whether they match images on watch-lists.

Administrators can search for matches, which are provided in order of confidence that they match the query, rather like a web search engine. Ross said accuracy can be up to 90% in controlled environments.

Some of the special sauce includes the ability to extract and store high-quality low-compression stills and clips, for an example of a face looking directly or near to the camera, while the rest of the video is stored in lower quality with higher compression, saving storage space.

The company mainly sells to retail banks, although it does have some US government deals and a relationship with In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA.

Prices start at $1,000 per camera managed, according to Ross.