Video Verification

There is news in the security alarm monitoring industry that preferential treatment is being given by police departments to some systems because they make use of video verification technology.

Nobody in the security industry will argue that all monitored alarm systems should strive towards the use of video verification, but what price will residential sysytem owners be prepared to pay before the technology gains widespread acceptance ?

The problem with proprietary equipment and technology

The issue with video verification from the perspective of a residential systems provider is that the majority of solutions are aimed at the commercial sector. Specialist equipment is required at the client premises and compatible receiving equipment is required at the Central Station.

This increases the installation cost because the installer has to bill for additional equipment and it increases the monthly cost as the Monitoring Company have to recoup their substantial investment in the receiving equipment. The subscriber takes a double hit and although this may be within the budget of a commercial business, it is likely outside the budget of the majority of residential alarm monitoring subscribers.

Video Verification is fully inclusive in the Linksys IP Alarm Monitoring Solution

Thousands of alarm monitoring subscribers are disconnecting their landline each month and upgrading their security system to send alarms over the Internet. The Linksys IP Alarm Monitoring solution is the most cost effective way to do this, but the subscriber benefits do not end there. The Linksys solution has video verification technology already built-in. There is no requirement for additional gateway equipment in the subscriber premises and the Virtual Receiver software already in use at the Central Station for receiving alarms is where the video verification technology resides.

The Virtual Receiver is able to commence recording of cameras within 100 milliseconds of an alarm panel being triggered. The fact that an alarm panel and detectors are used to trigger events is of the utmost importance. The motion detection technology built-in to cameras is very unreliable to say the least. The whole point of video verification is to aid in the prevention of false alarms and Alarm Monitoring Companies should be very careful to place their trust only in proven technology.

The goal of the IP Alarms video verification technology is to support any panel and any camera. The Linksys adapters can be triggered by any make and model of alarm panel regardless of the alarm protocol or whether or not it uses outputs. We cannot make quite as strong a claim on camera side as there are no standards for manufacturers to follow. The only hint at uniformity is the majority of cameras provide the ability to obtain a single image snapshot via a command typed into the URL bar of a standard web browser. This is all that is required for a camera to be triggered by the IP Alarm video verification technology.

In summary, when a residential subscriber has to pay only for camera equipment in their home and when Monitoring centers can use existing software to keep recurring video verification costs to an absolute minimum, then, and only then, will video verification go mainstream in the residential monitoring market. IP Alarms are the technology partner you need to make this happen.