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Artificial Intelligence
RE:SURE Monitoring Uses Camect’s AI To Substantially Reduce False Alarms
Founded in 2007, Northern Ireland-based RE:SURE offers security monitoring service to clients in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company serves a customer base ranging from high net-worth residences to farms, car dealerships, manufacturing plants, construction sites, storage yards, supermarkets and more.
“At RE:SURE, we strive to provide a new level of security for our end users and peace of mind for our installation partners,” said Jason Rosborough, managing director, RE:SURE. “We obsess about service and customer experience, prioritize employee-customer relationships, and use innovative technologies to prevent crimes from happening in the first place.”
Through experience, RE:SURE identified inefficiencies that could potentially impact their response times. Internal surveys and feedback revealed employees were beginning to feel overwhelmed by false alarms. RE:SURE was taking in nearly 750,000 alarms per month, with over 99 percent rendered false as caused by non-events such as bugs, weather, animals, etc. This was putting immense strain at the core of the business, their front-line security monitoring staff.
“On nights when the weather was bad, the false alarms were constant and relentless,” said Daniel Cassidy, control center supervisor, RE:SURE.
RE:SURE recognized the potential benefits of bringing in artificial intelligence (AI) technology to serve as a false alarm filter and aid in accurate detections. But everyone from leadership to staff had concerns about the reliability and detection accuracy of AI. The company maintained such close relationships with its customers that it was difficult to imagine handing over customer care and safety to a computer. Finding the right AI solution required a lot of patience and persistence.
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RE:SURE tried and tested many different products across the years in constant efforts to improve and offer the best possible service. After thorough market research, RE:SURE arrived at an initial solution. It wasn’t perfect but it was able to reduce alert volume from over 750,000 per month down to just 50,000 per month. However, after several months it became evident that the false alarm volume was still too high to have reversed the underlying problems they caused. Customer service wasn’t flawless, and staff were still frustrated.
“Most of our job was still spent closing down false alarms, causing a build-up in the alarm queue and giving us less time to spend dealing with genuine events,” Cassidy said.
What Rosborough and team realized through this experience was that not all artificial intelligence is created equal. That is when they discovered Silicon Valley-based Camect.
Camect was founded by two former original Google computer scientists in 2015, who recognized the need to resolve the mass market issue of false alarms. “We knew we were not the only ones who wanted security camera alerts to be truly useful,” said co-founder Arup Mukherjee.
Unlike other AI devices, such as the one initially used by RE:SURE, Camect began training the intelligence for four years before coming to market. “We recognized the product is only as useful as it is accurate. We set out to create the most accurate, reliable solution, relying on training, and testing for years before entering the market,” Mukherjee continued.
The software is designed to not only know what an object is but also what it is not, which eliminates false positives. Camect also continuously learns user preferences and refines its detection knowledge.
Once RE:SURE switched to Camect the previous alert volume of 50,000 with the competing AI solution was reduced to just 3,000 alerts per month. The system brought immediate relief to the monitoring staff. “Our team now has confidence and faith in the system, giving a greater sense of reward and excitement to the role,” Cassidy said.
In under two years, with Camect now installed on almost every RE:SURE account, the company has more than doubled its business volume. As Rosborough explains, the ratio between monitoring staff and alert volume was finally right-sized for the team. “Business growth has come from service,” Rosborough said. “‘Real events’ are the only thing the operators see. The customer only gets the proper service, no shortcuts and the operator isn’t under strain because the system is efficient.”
One of their customers, former Liverpool football player John Aldridge, has been thrilled with the results. “This cutting-edge technology identifies site intrusion beyond human perception even in ultra-low light conditions showcasing the power of artificial intelligence. Camect seamlessly collaborates with RE:SURE’s CCTV control room, granting me the ability to remotely arm or disarm my security system via the RE:SURE app, whether automatically or manually. Knowing that my installer FIS Integrated Solutions, Camect and the RE:SURE control room work cohesively to safeguard my home and loved ones, I find a profound sense of safety and peace of mind.”
FIS Integrated Solutions is a security and building solutions provider in the Northwest of England specializing in a range of security solutions such as intruder alarms and monitoring, IP CCTV installation, maintenance, monitoring and more.
The Camect Smart Camera Hub solution proved successful at reversing the root of RE:SURE’s operational troubles; the company now incorporates the service for all applicable new and existing systems. //
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