AI to strengthen surveillance

Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) empowers machines to do jobs previously done by people. When it comes to security and surveillance, AI enables cameras and control room equipment to identify a wide range of threats automatically, and in real time—helping security teams take immediate action to protect people and assets.

Video surveillance cameras are the electronic eyes of any security operation. In the past, human supervision was needed to make sense of the images captured for identifying security threats. With some organisations using hundreds or even thousands of cameras to protect their people and assets, manual review of footage is simply impossible, potentially leaving them vulnerable to security breaches.

AI comes to the rescue here, helping organisations overcome this challenge, and strengthening their security—empowering their cameras, control-room equipment and back-end infrastructure ‘learn’ about potential threats for themselves by recognising people, vehicles and even behaviours.

Improving all aspects of security with ‘proactive’ detection and prevention

The manual interventions needed with traditional security systems mean that teams were frequently reacting to breaches that had already happened. AI changes all this by recognising potential threats before they impact people or assets, allowing security teams to react immediately to neutralise any potential threat.

For example, AI solutions can automatically trigger alerts when a person appears in a restricted area, or when a vehicle with a blacklisted number plate enters a site. With alerts delivered in real time, teams can identify and react to security threats, and protect people and assets more effectively. And because alerts are automated, potential threats are hardly missed or overlooked.

How does AI work?

AI systems become more intelligent over time, building databases of potential threats and reacting to new events accordingly. This allows systems to ‘think for themselves’ and to alert teams of any suspicious events or people who are caught on camera.

AI technologies use advanced algorithms based on deep learning to distinguish between different kinds of security events and threats.

Some of the technologies under AI which are now incorporated by companies are as follows:

Facial recognition:  It allows law enforcement personnel to identify suspects and commercial teams to identify VIP customers in real time.

Vehicle identification:  It can be used to identify number plates, and recognise different types of vehicles (even down to make and model), or to trigger alerts when vehicles enter restricted areas.

Perimeter protection: It helps organisations to identify real threats by distinguishing people and vehicles from other moving objects and keeping false alarms to a minimum.

Business intelligence: It employs people counting, queue detection, and heat mapping technologies, so that organisations can enhance operational efficiency by making use of the data report.

Why is AI great news for businesses?

It isn’t just useful for identifying security threats, although this is a key strength of the technology. It can also help organisations increase their competitiveness and commercial success.

For example, VIP customers who opt to participate in special marketing promotions or other incentives can be identified so staff can provide the right kind of service at the right time. This gives organisations the opportunity to personalise the service experience, foster loyalty, and maximise customer lifetime revenues.

In the same way, AI can help organisations understand customers better and meet their needs more effectively—leading to more commercial opportunities. A feature, called people counting, allows stores and commercial centres to map footfall at peak times, ensuring that staffing is optimised to meet demand. At the same time, stores can see which areas of the building customers visit most, and adjust their merchandising and product positioning accordingly, to maximise the sales opportunities.

Views are personal.

The author is managing director and chief executive officer of Prama Hikvision India.