Alarm systems are gaining more and more strength in the region, thanks to the good health experienced by the Latin American security industry, and the complementarity in terms of integration that this segment has reached, which has allowed it to gain in efficiency and profitability.
by Santiago Jaramillo H.
Latin America for a few years now has been in frank growth in terms of the commercialization, installation and start-up of electronic security systems, especially in the item of video surveillance, however a segment that has taken great strength is that of alarms and monitoring that today contributes to the milestone of the industry in the region.
The sector that is contributing the most to this growth of this segment is mainly that of private security companies (Electronics and physical), which account for about 70% of the market. Another 20% is required by corporations or companies that decide to form their own monitoring centers to control their dependencies, branches and warehouses. Another 5% of the market is reserved for financial and banking entities, and the final 5% is oriented to the residential sector, which provides electronic security not only to homes but also to the outer perimeter.
On the subject of the evolution of this industry, especially with regard to alarm software, representatives of Scati Labs S.A. state that many companies have made developments for the monitoring of alarms and integration of security systems with third parties, where alarm systems, access control, CCTV, fire and automation are combined, which has clearly contributed to the strengthening.
Another aspect that can be considered as positive for the region is the good momentum that IP signals have taken from residential and commercial alarm panels, which together with video, audio and GPS signals will surely continue to contribute to the growth and expansion of the segment.
Integration
Moving on to the issue of what is required to have an integrated system, Daniel Banda, CEO of the company Softguard Technologies Corp., explained that contrary to what is thought, that integrating the entire system is difficult, it is only a matter of making a good choice at the time of purchase of the same and giving priority to all the monitoring features being accepted by a single and universal software platform.
Likewise, the representative of the company Softguard Technologies Corp. told us about how having integrated security subsystems can benefit users.
Banda emphasizes in this sense that the user usually buys electronic security services by trust in his provider or by references of third parties towards it. Thus, if each person or company were immersed in that chain of trust, it is very difficult to reach specific issues in which it clearly emerges that the choice was made by studying the real levels of security that that provider could provide. Hence, users learn, unfortunately, of the poor quality of provider they choose when a misfortune occurs or it is too late to remedy it.
"We are very incisive in our customers demonstrating to their users reliably why they have done well to choose them. And a very clear way is to demonstrate how they integrate all their benefits in a single platform of process and decision, "says Banda.
Daniel Banda points out, for example, that when alarm and CCTV systems are integrated into the processing software, the video (image) assists in a timely manner to validate or not an alarm received by intrusion from a sensor.
In this way, the event is verified naturally in seconds, when in cases of non-integrated systems this takes five (5) or up to ten (10) minutes, which is the specific delay of police or private security response that the user will finally have.
Asked about integrating an anti-intrusion alarm solution with other subsystems, and about what should be taken into account for its transmission [communication lines (IP, telephone, GSM-GPRS) broadband, dedicated channels, communication with alarm center], our guest stressed that "today everything goes through IP connectivity of very good stability and width. Broadband systems and 4G and 3G cellular networks should be the main ones chosen for these integrated security features."
As for whether there are still security solutions that have closed architecture in old facilities that hinder integration and what is done in those cases, the CEO of the company Softguard Technologies Corp., was forceful and determined that "yes, and I add that equipment must be added that allows integrating those old systems over IP. This is usually achieved in intrusion systems with internal IP or GPRS boards for telephone panels and in video with Video Server IP to add to analog camera systems, "he says.
Daniel Banda also emphasizes that "modern legislation forces to include video-verification in a large part of the monitoring projects", so that having an integration benefits the management of alarms, since by receiving more information about each event and making that information multimedia, with audio or images, the scourge of false alarms is reduced by more than 90%.
Similarly, Banda highlights that from the company he represents they recommend that the integration of alarms with other solutions or subsystems should be through platforms that manage simple systems, which all companies can install and maintain. "That means Windows and web applications, which is how we've shaped our systems. There is no point in complicating the systems if the user companies must then invest fortunes in keeping them operational," he says.
In conclusion, Daniel Banda recommends that users and / or integrators of this type of systems make a detailed study of which technologies they should integrate and then confirm with the system provider their compatibility. "For these cases I recommend that you ask for references of each integration and talk to current users of them. This is how they will surely obtain optimal results in terms of integration."
False alarms
Notwithstanding the above, an issue that continues to mark in negative in this segment is that of false alarms, which although they have decreased do not cease to be an element of constant concern. This is stated by the CPP Modesto Miguez, who advises more than 200 monitoring companies throughout Latin America and Spain on the matter.
In the same way, Miguez affirms that the negative consequences of a false alarm, independent of the economic issue and the squandering of the human and material resources of the state, especially of the Police, can range from the death of individuals in traffic accidents as a result of the urgency in the displacements of police mobiles in response to false alarms dispatched, going through the death of police personnel when facing the criminal act demanded as a result of the habituation and overconfidence caused by repeated false alarms, to lack of availability of mobile State resources and men to cover real requirements of society, being attending so many dispatches for false alarms.
Modesto Miguez also ponders that only when the causes are investigated thoroughly will it be possible to draw some conclusions and check each case is particular but in all two common denominators agree: The lack of "training" and "clear rules".
"Both the first and the second must be applied fundamentally to natural persons. Then each company must be responsible for the training, training and care of its staff and if not it makes it abide by the consequences, "he says.
Regarding the rules, he indicates that "if the objective is to design a compliant regulation, which allows to really reduce the number of False Alarms (FA), we must act on people and not on devices. Some entities with old theories assign responsibility to the devices or equipment and say that the solution is to use approved equipment. They are the same ones who to justify some FA claim 'technical failure', of course the team can not defend itself, "he stresses.
