Up on the 18th floor of an office building on West Fort Street in downtown Detroit is brewing a revolution in remote surveillance technology.

MIST Innovations Inc., formerly known as Securecom Technologies, is about to go to market with MISTonDemand, a video surveillance system that allows users to view on smartphones streaming video from surveillance cameras.

Importantly, the product works with both legacy closed circuit TV cameras using coaxial cable, as well as modern Internet Protocol cameras.

"Competitive products are limited in that they only allow viewing of IP cameras," said Larry Smith, a 20-year veteran electrical and electronics engineer at Chrysler Corp. who became president of MIST last year. "To the best of our knowledge, our system is the only one that will allow you to also view legacy CCTV cameras. We believe that is an important competitive advantage."

The system is comprised of a MISTonDemand server, manufactured for MIST by Troy-based Trilogy Electronics LLC, with software installed. Users then hardwire their cameras into the server. The server can handle up to 16 camera inputs; more servers can be tied together to handle more cameras.

Users then download software into their smartphone, and communicate with that server to view live video, with the ability to switch camera views and switch locations.

MIST is also working on an encrypted version that should be available late this summer, as well as a version of the software that will display the video on PC.

Smith said that if there's a breach in security, the system will send a message to the user's text phone. "You can then view the video, to determine whether it's an actual security breach or Joe going out a door he shouldn't have gone out to take a smoke."

Smith also said the system can boost productivity for any business owner with multiple locations. "Say you are the owner of fast food franchises and you wanted to view counter traffic at 4 in the afternoon," Smith said. "You can do that from anywhere you can get a cell phone signal."

Smith said a patent is pending on the system, including the compression algorithms in its software, which allows a decent quality video image at 10 to 15 frames per second to be transmitted across a cell phone connection at a mere 26 kilobits per second.

Today, the system works on smartphones designated as Pocket PC. The company is in the process of modifying the software to work on BlackBerry and Palm OS products. "We believe by late this summer our system will be compatible with the vast majority of smartphones," Smith said.

MIST also has a non-exclusive marketing agreement with Verizon Wireless to jointly target its business customers in 14 states in the Midwest.

Several pilot versions of the system have been installed, including one Smith said should soon result in a major purchase order from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for a system to tie together 128 existing cameras on bridges, tunnels and other locations in the Pennsylvania highway system.

The system has also been installed at a Detroit charter school that was having theft and vandalism problems, and a Detroit Housing Commission senior citizen housing complex plagued by false fire alarms caused by smokers smoking in areas where they should not be smoking. Merely identifying those false alarms will give the complex a 12-month payback on the system, Smith said.

MIST offers complete systems with cameras, cables and installation in the Detroit area, and is seeking deals with installation companies outside the Detroit area.

In an impressive demonstration of the system, I held an AT&T smart phone that scrolled through the 13 cameras around the charter school. There was very little jerkiness to the video and great detail.

The company is also developing mobile systems for buses and police cars. A pilot project will get under way next month on buses at the University of Akron.

Smith, a Saginaw native who has bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Wayne State University, got involved with MIST founders Marcus Coleman and Terrance Moore through a small auto supplier he once owned.

MIST was founded in 2004 in Southfield and moved to its current home in 2007. The company now employs 18, the majority Detroiters, and Smith said it should add another 10 employees in the coming 12 months. The company is registered with the city of Detroit as a minority-owned business but has not yet been certified by the Michigan Minority Business Development Council.