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Video Monitoring
Allstate Manages Video Signal Traffic With Immix AI
Allstate Security Industries Inc. is the largest and oldest locally owned life safety and security company serving citizens in Amarillo and the Texas panhandle for more than 92 years. Listed to install, service, monitor and issue UL certificates for both burglary and fire alarm systems, Allstate recently embarked on a new business endeavor to provide remote video monitoring and guarding services to clients.
The challenge that Allstate faced in entering this competitive space was how to effectively manage video signal traffic — known to cause much more frequent false and nuisance alarms — without disrupting the quality of service the company has always prided itself in providing to traditional monitoring customers. In the past, the company would often have to turn down large video monitoring projects for one reason or another. One of the most common barriers Allstate faced was that the sites typically did not have sophisticated enough video equipment (like advanced analytics) to adequately manage signal traffic while, at the same time, not missing a potential threat.
Analytics and AI have evolved dramatically in the past few years. The more established approach has typically been using analytic cameras or encoders at the edge and pushing alarms from those devices to the central station. For Allstate, many customers did not have analytic cameras in place or did not have the budget to include them in the quantities required to monitor large facilities like a car dealership, construction site or storage facility. Allstate simply could not allow cameras triggering alarms on simple motion detection to be an accepted solution for its monitoring operation, but, at the same time, could not force a customer into making a hardware purchase well beyond their budget.
After embarking on a new business endeavor to provide remote video monitoring and guarding services to clients, Allstate Security needed a way to effectively manage video signal traffic.
IMAGE COURTESY OF ALLSTATE SECURITY
Allstate’s in-house central monitoring station utilizes the Immix CS platform for managed and monitored video services. In 2020, Immix added an embedded AI Link to enable AI verification through technology providers on video alarm clips being sent to the Immix platform.
For Allstate, Immix AI Link is partnered with Evolon Technology’s machine learning AI algorithms. Providing layered detection and classification, this helped Allstate grow an effective video guarding business while keeping up-front hardware costs for the customer low.
AI Verification is the process by which Immix receives a video clip triggered by any form of video detection or other alarming device that includes video footage. That clip is then pushed to the Evolon Verify AI engine, which filters and verifies that the threat detected is real and actionable based on a preset threshold Allstate selects. If those necessary criteria are met, Immix then delivers that alarm and associated video to the Immix alarm queue for an Allstate operator to process and act upon.
“This was an absolute game changer for Allstate when it came to building a hugely successful video monitoring business,” said Allstate President Randall Renfroe. “It has helped us grow in two ways. First, by being able to keep up-front hardware costs in line for customers, it enabled us to more than make up for it on the back end with enhanced service levels that of course create more RMR and elongated contract terms. Secondly, it has allowed us to gain new reseller partners by helping to bridge some IT and technology inefficiencies faced by some smaller integrators. At least five new partners have come on board to resell our video guarding services because of the Immix/Evolon AI Link.”
While Allstate has not yet done a comprehensive analysis on the metrics, Renfroe estimates his center has seen at least a 75 percent reduction in false and nuisance alarms since employing the AI Link solution. For example, the Immix AI Link once processed 1,026 alarms in a one hour period and deemed 987 of those alarms to be false, stopping them from being sent to an operator for processing.
Allstate was recently awarded a contract to monitor 28 car dealerships, which Renfroe says is 100 percent due to the capability of the Immix/Evolon AI solution.
“This was a deal that was actually worked out in partnership with some of our local competitors who simply could not provide an effective solution to service these facilities,” Renfroe said. “Through Immix and Evolon’s solution we were able to dramatically cut costs on the installations and are able to do all camera detection adjustments remotely, reducing truck rolls for the integrator, saving time and money and allowing them to focus their people in other areas where they are needed.” — By Courtney Wolfe, SDM Managing Editor //
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) has installed 80 Autodome IP starlight 7000i cameras from Bosch as part of its most recent modernization efforts that replaced analog roadside cameras used to monitor traffic flow and conditions. Installed on 50 to 80 foot poles along the turnpike, the cameras help employees in the PTC’s Traffic Operations Center to fulfill their mission to quickly identify roadway incidents, disseminate information to the public and dispatch the appropriate resources to provide a rapid response to customers in need. The new HD cameras provide the center with higher quality images, especially at night.
Needing a technology partner, the PTC selected traffic control and management solution provider Signal Service Inc. to implement the system upgrade.
IMAGE COURTESY OF BOSCH
W.E. O’Neil Construction Company chose AMAG Technology’s integrated Symmetry Security Management System for the new West Edge development project in West Los Angeles. Here, Symmetry Access Control, Symmetry CompleteView video management, Symmetry Bluetooth readers and Zenitel Turbine audio will be deployed. West Edge is 200,000 square feet and eight floors of creative office space that includes 600 on-site apartments and 90,000 square feet of retail space. Special amenities include a natural grocer, fitness center and several bars and restaurants.
HCI Systems was chosen to deploy AMAG’s Symmetry system, as well as to install the low voltage systems, fire, two-way communication, emergency responder radio communication, booster system, structured cable, gas, telecommunications and Wi-Fi.
IMAGE COURTESY OF AMAG
The Port of Oakland in Northern California recently upgraded its mission critical Transportation Management and Emergency Operations Center (TMC/EOC) to oversee the port’s traffic flow, improve its maritime operations and provide a safer, more secure maritime area. To achieve these objectives, the TMC/EOC deployed a state-of-the-art video wall powered by RGB Spectrum’s Galileo video wall processor. The Galileo was selected for its real-time performance, its ability to support a diverse variety of disparate digital and IP-based signal sources and its 4K image quality.
IMAGE COURTESY OF RGB SPECTRUM
March Networks announced that one of California’s busiest transportation authorities will standardize its entire bus fleet on its RideSafe mobile solution. The $4 million contract will see more than 400 buses deployed with March Networks’ complete end-to-end RideSafe solution. The contract includes cloud-based monitoring of all of the transportation authority’s mobile cameras and recorders — a services contract providing annual and recurring revenue for March Networks for up to seven years.
RideSafe enables transit operators to maintain security for passengers and employees, respond quickly to emergency situations and resolve liability claims faster with integrated surveillance video and vehicle metadata. It also provides peace of mind with sophisticated monitoring through March Networks’ Insight Monitoring and Resolution Service.
The California transportation authority will also deploy March Networks’ ruggedized mobile cameras, including its new SE2 Fleet Dash Camera and SE2 Fleet Wedge Camera.
IMAGE COURTESY OF MARCH NETWORKS
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