A New Era of AI Video Intelligence
At ISC West in Las Vegas this year, we had the opportunity to showcase some exciting new innovations in video surveillance. At March Networks, we’ve been helping enterprise retail and financial organizations move beyond traditional video for years, turning footage into active intelligence by layering in business data and analytics across complex, multi-site environments. What’s changing now is that the broader industry is starting to catch up. Video is no longer just something you review after an incident. It’s becoming a real-time source of insight that helps teams reduce risk, improve operations, and make faster, more informed decisions.
This year’s launch includes three major innovations:
- Searchlight AI, a new generative AI capability within Searchlight Cloud
- Long Term Cloud Storage for scalable video retention (built on Amazon Web Services)
- New EL2 Series cameras with built-in analytics
Together, these innovations are about connecting video, data, and cloud infrastructure in a way that’s more unified and easier to act on.
As we continue to expand globally, including our recent alignment with VIVOTEK, our focus stays the same. We’re building technology that helps customers turn video into real, measurable business outcomes.
Introducing Searchlight AI: Ask Questions, Get Insights
One of the biggest highlights of this launch is Searchlight AI. It’s also one of the most exciting advancements we’ve introduced in Searchlight Cloud.
This new generative AI capability allows users to ask natural-language questions about their video and operational data and receive immediate answers tied directly to video evidence.
Instead of spending time manually searching through footage, teams can now interact with the system in a much more natural way. For example:
- “Find all refund transactions yesterday above $50.”
- “Which operator performed the most voids today?”
- “List all POS transactions outside operating hours.”
What used to take hours can now take seconds. Teams can quickly investigate incidents, spot suspicious activity, and identify patterns across one site or many.
For organizations that rely on video and transaction data every day, this is a fundamental shift. Instead of relying on filters, manual review, or disconnected systems, they can simply ask a question and go straight to the answer.
Get a first look at Searchlight AI, the newest addition to Searchlight Cloud that lets you instantly find answers across your video and business data using natural language.
Why Searchlight AI matters
Searchlight AI helps organizations:
- Reduce investigation time
- Identify suspicious patterns faster
- Gain visibility across multiple locations
- Connect video with transaction and operational data
- Improve decision-making with faster access to evidence
In retail, this means quickly spotting refund fraud, sweethearting, or unusual transactions. In banking, it supports faster investigations into disputes, ATM activity, jackpotting and branch events.
This isn’t just a better search tool. It’s a new way to interact with your business data – which is all connected to video. It makes it easier to surface insights and build reports without the manual effort teams are used to today.
Long Term Cloud Storage: Simplifying Video Retention
Video retention is still a major challenge, especially for organizations managing multiple locations with growing volumes of data. Traditional models often mean expanding local infrastructure and dealing with higher costs over time.
That’s exactly the problem we set out to solve with Long Term Cloud Storage. Built on AWS, this solution provides a scalable, cost-effective way to retain video for one to three years or more, without the need to expand on-prem infrastructure.
It gives organizations more flexibility while reducing the burden on internal teams and physical systems. In many cases, it can reduce costs by up to 80 percent.
Key benefits of Long Term Cloud Storage
Organizations can use Long Term Cloud Storage to:
- Meet compliance and regulatory requirements
- Retain video for legal claims and investigations
- Reduce infrastructure and maintenance costs
- Centralize retention across multiple locations
- Simplify retrieval when footage is needed later
Here’s how Long Term Cloud Storage works in 3 simple steps.
For retailers, this is especially valuable for handling claims like slip-and-fall incidents that may surface months later. In fact, some customers have found that both employees and customers are aware of how long video is retained, and time their liability claims accordingly, filing only after that footage is no longer available.
For financial institutions, it ensures access to historical footage for audits, compliance reviews, and investigations.
Because everything is centralized in the cloud, it becomes much easier to manage and retrieve video across distributed environments.
New EL2 Series Cameras: Smarter Coverage Across Every Environment
During ISC West, we also introduced a new lineup of EL2 Series cameras, including Bullet, Dome, and NanoDome models. These cameras are designed to deliver flexible, intelligent video coverage across a wide range of indoor and outdoor environments.
What makes them stand out is their cost-effectiveness, combined with built-in analytics. This allows organizations to move beyond passive monitoring and toward more proactive awareness.
Built-in analytics include:
- Intrusion detection
- Tripwire detection
- Loitering detection
- Abandoned object detection
These capabilities allow teams to identify unusual or potentially risky activity in real time, while improving visibility across critical areas.
Retail applications
In retail settings, EL2 Series cameras can help teams:
- Monitor customer activity on the sales floor
- Capture transactions at the point of sale
- Identify safety risks and operational issues
- Improve awareness in entrances, aisles, and checkout areas
Banking applications
In banking environments, EL2 Series cameras can help teams:
- Provide discreet monitoring in teller areas
- Secure entrances, exits, and ATM environments
- Enhance visibility in both indoor and outdoor locations
- Support investigations with clearer, analytics-enabled footage
The NanoDome is ideal for tighter spaces, while the Bullet and Dome models provide strong coverage across larger or more demanding environments.
Overall, the EL2 lineup gives organizations more flexibility without compromising on video quality or analytics.
A Connected Platform from Edge to Cloud
What really brings all of this together is how these innovations work as a connected platform.
March Networks is bringing together:
- Cameras at the edge
- AI-powered analytics
- Cloud-based storage and management
- Video integrated with business intelligence and operational data
Instead of dealing with disconnected tools, organizations can now unify their entire video strategy.
That means moving from capture, to analysis, to action in a much more streamlined way.
The result is a platform that helps organizations:
- Investigate incidents faster
- Improve operational performance
- Reduce costs and complexity
- Unlock more value from video data
- Scale more easily across locations
For teams in security, operations, or loss prevention, this means less time navigating systems and more time focusing on outcomes.
What This Means for Customers
For our customers in retail and banking, this launch is about making operations simpler, smarter, and more proactive.
Instead of reacting after the fact, teams can:
- Identify risks earlier
- Detect patterns across locations
- Investigate with greater speed
- Make faster, data-driven decisions
- Improve visibility into operations and exceptions
Retailers can strengthen loss prevention and improve store awareness. Financial institutions can streamline investigations and improve compliance readiness.
By combining video, AI, data, and cloud, we’re helping customers move from visibility to real understanding, and from understanding to action.
That’s what this launch is really about. Not just new features, but a better way to use video across the business.
Discover the Future of AI Video Intelligence
The innovations unveiled at ISC West 2026 represent the next step in the evolution of intelligent video, building on a foundation we’ve been developing at March Networks for years.
From generative AI-powered insight with Searchlight AI, to scalable Long Term Cloud Storage, to analytics-enabled EL2 cameras, these solutions are designed to help organizations get more value from the systems they rely on every day.
As more organizations look to improve efficiency, reduce complexity, and respond faster to risk, the role of video is expanding across the industry. At March Networks, we’ve already been helping customers make that shift, connecting video with business intelligence and operational data to drive real outcomes.
What we’re introducing now takes that even further, with solutions that bring together footage, data, and intelligence in ways that are practical, scalable, and built for real-world impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Searchlight AI?
Searchlight AI is a new generative AI-powered capability within Searchlight Cloud that allows users to ask natural-language questions about their operational data and receive answers tied directly to video evidence.
What are the benefits of Long Term Cloud Storage?
Long Term Cloud Storage helps organizations retain video for one to three years or more, meet compliance requirements, reduce infrastructure costs, and simplify video retrieval across multiple locations.
What analytics are included in the new EL2 Series cameras?
The EL2 Series cameras include built-in analytics such as intrusion detection, tripwire detection, loitering detection, and abandoned object detection.
Which industries benefit most from these new innovations?
Retail and banking organizations are especially well positioned to benefit because they often need to investigate incidents quickly, manage large video environments, and connect video with transaction or operational data.
How can I learn more about these solutions?
You can request a demo from March Networks to see how Searchlight AI, Long Term Cloud Storage, and EL2 Series cameras can support your organization.
Ian Cameron is Director of Marketing at March Networks, based in Kelowna, British Columbia. With over 20 years of experience in global digital marketing, e-commerce, and brand strategy, Ian leads initiatives that drive business growth through data-driven insights and customer-centric strategies. Passionate about transforming complex technologies into compelling value, Ian focuses on helping organizations leverage intelligent video and cloud solutions to improve performance and decision-making.
