How video analytics can take the strain off security operators

Companies with central monitoring stations that offer video as a service can find it especially challenging to maintain high standards of safety and service when cameras inundate their security operators with false alarms. 

Security companies receive thousands of alarms per day but not all alarms are the same. When a person or a car is caught on camera, it is an alarm worth investigating by operators.

Most of the time though, cameras are triggered by weather, trees moving, animals, and even light reflecting off of surfaces, sending false alarms to the central station. With some sites generating thousands of false alarms a night, it would be impractical to verify them all, whilst still acting on genuine alarms effectively and quickly. 

As new sites are set up with more and more cameras, this only means more traffic to the control room, and even more false alarms. Even on a good day, this would be difficult and time-consuming for security operators to handle. During an intensely busy period, this could jeopardise a security company’s service to their customers by taking valuable time and attention away from true alarms. 

At Calipsa, we’ve developed a solution. Our False Alarm Filtering Platform reduces the ‘noise’ that a central station’s operators have to deal with; by filtering out up to 90% of false alarms, we give monitoring and security operators more time to focus on the ones that really matter. 

Calipsa’s video analytics platform uses proprietary Deep Learning algorithms to identify which alarms are true or false, by picking out the ones showing human activity. Actual security issues that need addressing are easier to locate, so an operators’ productivity is much higher (not to mention their morale!) This allows for a much quicker response to genuine alarms; sites are protected far more efficiently, which helps save clients from potentially costly losses. 

By reducing security operators’ overall workload, there is less pressure on central monitoring stations that are growing quickly, are short staffed or are managing remote site set-ups. This allows businesses to operate successfully with reduced costs and resources, as we help to maintain and even improve customer service levels. Thanks to our platform, we’ve saved millions of pounds for our customers over the past year.

Simple and scalable, Calipsa is easy to set up with very low operational costs, enabling security operators to review more sites, more easily. As a cloud-based video analytics solution, our platform handles security events almost instantly. 

The round-the-clock filtering provided by Calipsa means operators have more time to respond to threats that actually matter. In addition to filtering alarms, the Calipsa dashboard provides an array of features that assist operators with alarm management: automatic reporting, idle camera reports, and most alarming sites all contribute to managing sites more efficiently and securely.