Interface Security Systems, a managed service provider delivering business security, managed network, UCaaS, and business intelligence solutions to distributed enterprises, is sharing its top predictions for the physical security industry in 2022.
The first of these predictions is that the end of traditional burglar alarms is likely near. The company says that businesses of all sizes will move away from traditional contact- or motion-based burglar alarms in favor of video-verified alarms to avoid unnecessary disturbances and costs that often come with false alarms.
“We will also find that AI-based video verified alarms are about to take modern alarm monitoring operations to an entirely different level of accuracy and efficiency,” the company said. “AI-based deep learning algorithms integrated with cameras can now detect people (human motion) and cars while filtering out all other motion like shadows and trees as well as animals and wind. This is about to become a game changer for live monitoring operations as operators can now rely on AI-based motion detection to alert them to people in areas where they should not be. With so many camera feeds to be monitored, AI-based analytics effectively act as a second set of eyes that never sleep and never miss an event. This guarantees that live monitoring operators are not wasting their attention on false alarms.”
Interface also predicts that ORC will drive the growth of interactive audio and video monitoring. The recently published 2021 NRF Retail Security Survey revealed that almost 7 in 10 (69 percent) of retail loss prevention and asset protection professionals said that the pandemic has resulted in an increase in overall risk for their organization.
As the uncertainty of the pandemic continues to hang over the retail industry, loss prevention and security professionals are reporting that ORC and opportunistic looting is on the rise.
“As organized retail crime gangs continue to exhibit high levels of aggression and violence, businesses will increasingly turn to interactive audio and video monitoring providers as an extension of their own in-house teams,” the company said. “With live video and two-way audio capabilities, trained security staff can see, hear, and communicate with store employees 24/7. This solution enhances personnel safety and ensures retail premises remain secure.”
Also in 2022, businesses will turn their security cameras into powerful business intelligence tools to enhance the customer experience and maximize sales, Interface predicts.
“Since budgets are likely to remain tight in 2022 there will be greater demand for demonstrable results from any kind of technology investment,” according to the company. “Forward-thinking businesses will maximize the ROI from their security investments by extracting operational insights from the data generated by their security cameras and monitoring solutions. Large, distributed enterprises will increasingly leverage their use of video to go beyond traditional security applications and use video analytics for business intelligence, as well as for health and safety compliance. When a business truly understands the behaviors of its customers by collecting key insights, it can then tailor every customer touchpoint to maximize customer satisfaction, increase sales revenue and improve operational efficiency.”
Video analytics can help retailers optimize store layout, make critical decisions on merchandising, correlate customer footfall to online campaigns, identify staffing bottlenecks, test new store designs, or compare the effectiveness of in-store campaigns.
