We cannot successfully address crime pro-actively and prevent loss if we remain stagnant with our solutions. Criminal methods are always evolving, and so should we, says George Conradie, Managing Director at Vigilant CCTV (Pty) Ltd, a household name in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.
Based in Durbanville with a state-of-the-art CCTV monitoring control room utilizing intelligent software analytics such as human detection, intrusion detection, cross-line detection, facial recognition, object removal and LPR (License Plate Recognition), Vigilant CCTV with a team of skilled and qualified CCTV technicians specializes in the installation of CCTV systems and off-site CCTV monitoring.
During the past 20 years of rendering security services, we have continuously strive to create the most pro-active and preventative security solutions possible. With CCTV cameras, the intelligent technology it comes with, and a 24/7 CCTV monitoring control room with armed response back-up, our effort in crime prevention, rather than treating the symptoms, is taking a big leap forward with Vigilant CCTV says Conradie.
The benefits and advantages of utilizing CCTV is endless, but we find that many people we speak with is not yet aware of what can be achieved with artificially intelligent CCTV, or how CCTV monitoring from an off-site CCTV control room such as offered by Vigilant works he says.
Firstly, installing a CCTV system could cost less than installing an alarm system when one considers the price of out-door beams. Problems with moving objects such as trees or shrubs moving in the wind, and cats and dogs which often causes traditional alarm systems to activate unnecessarily can be eliminated by using human detection cameras which only activate when it identifies human motion.
Conradie says a CCTV system with artificially intelligent IP cameras featuring smart functions such as intrusion detection, human detection, and object removal detection, which is next to impossible to circumvent, means a CCTV system fulfill the same functions as an alarm system with outdoor beams.
A significant advantage of using CCTV as an early warning system is that besides receiving an audible intrusion alert, we also have a visual display of the reason for the activation in Vigilant CCTV’s monitoring control room, and on your mobile phone. This means armed response vehicles will no longer respond “blind” not knowing why a traditional alarm activation occurred and where to look upon his arrival, since they can be guided toward a possible threat with the help of CCTV cameras.
With crime prevention being all about receiving a warning as far in advance as possible, CCTV cameras allow us to identify an approaching potential threat much earlier and further away, allowing us enough time to warn our client to be prepared, and for us to take responsive action before any damage is done.
Conradie says a significant financial benefit occurs on premises where multiple security guards for patrol purposes are deployed, such as residential security estates and bigger industrial and commercial sites. With cameras now patrolling your parameter every moment of the day 24/7 never missing a thing, your guarding compliment can be much smaller and your security expenses much less while effectiveness is significantly improved. Cameras never get tired, never falls asleep, they cannot be intimidated or corrupted, and do not miss anything. With this technology we therefore rely much less on the human element to remain vigilant and maintain awareness of surroundings, and do we not need to rely on a human’s interpretations of a situation. When a parameter is breached, or an off-limits area is accessed, cameras sound an alarm in our control room and armed response is dispatched while we have a visual of the environment until armed response arrive. Cameras monitored by Vigilant CCTV has over the past four months led to four arrests in the Durbanville area alone.
At the average cost of one guard for a month during the night, we could monitor almost 40 cameras covering a very large area. In one instance we were able to reduce a residential security complex’s annual security cost by approximately R900 000.00 by installing CCTV to virtually patrol the complex’s parameter wall says Conradie. A security guard is only in one place at a time which often causes persons with ill intent to monitor a guard’s movement and determine his routine. With CCTV cameras sensitive to movement, this is simply not possible.
Something on everyone’s mind where it comes to having their cameras monitored from an off-site CCTV control room is the impact on people’s privacy. According to Conradie this is not an issue since areas regarded as private can be “privacy masked” which means that though a particular area is within the field of view of the camera, that area is blanked out.
During the past months our CCTV installations have include several office buildings, parameter walls around residential security estates, private residences, but also farms and farmhouses, and other rural areas.
In rural areas, farms, and locations where electricity is not available, we utilize solar energy, and with the participation of our associates, Edgetech Wireless, we also provide wireless internet connectivity solutions, making CCTV installations completely wireless. In rural areas we are now able to see vandals and suspicious persons approaching from quite a distance away, we can alert clients living in remote areas, and have enough time to take preventative action.
For smaller residential complexes who have too few residents to carry the cost of security guards to do their access control, CCTV is the ideal solution to improve their security affordably. Because our CCTV systems can be integrated with many access control systems, and using cameras with two-way audio, Vigilant CCTV is able to communicate with a visitor to the complex and control a complex’s gate access remotely from its control room at a much lower cost than a guard.
In conclusion Conradie says that given the range of CCTV smart functions, CCTV systems can be devised in a way to suite all environments and address almost all requirements anywhere within South Africa.
Smart functions such as “object removal” will tells us immediately when an item is removed from its location which assist in preventing theft of items, cameras which can for example tell us when it sees a red vehicle or a person with a blue shirt, identify facial features, vehicle registration numbers, the body temperature of a person entering your building, and cross-line detection to make undetected access into an off-limits area impossible means there is almost nothing that cannot be achieved with smart CCTV.
