One of the key drivers for the establishment of residential communities, and especially secure residential community schemes within these comminates, is the establishment of an effective safe and secure environment for the residents to live in. In a country such as South Africa, where safety and security is primarily in the hands of private security pro s, how do residents in these estates ensure that security companies employed as service providers to the scheme, provide and maintain the required service levels using the latest and most up to date technology?
The best form of crime prevention is to implement proactive processes that provide a chain of defensive layers between the criminal and the potential target. But any system is only as good as the weakest link, and modern technology is well suited to manage potential weaknesses in the system that are associated with the human workforce.
The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has propelled us all into a new information age in which all forms of data that is able to be collected and processed in an intelligent manner is now king. Residential estates are increasingly able to collect, store and utilise data generated from smart, network connected devices in increasingly intelligent ways, particularly to improve their access control and security systems.
This has created the opportunity to combine traditional technologies, with for instance, a smart integrated network of cameras to form a more intelligent, IP-based surveillance system. A combination of live thermal video cameras as detection sensors and high-definition video cameras for detail and verification adds important visual information.
Such technology allows the monitoring company to be informed as to who or what triggered the alarm and what the type of activity was that did so. Even in adverse light or weather conditions, clear images on live and recorded video footage facilitate the detection and identification of objects, people, and incidents. Automated solutions and video analytics software together with Artificial Intelligence (AI) can further reduce the need for human intervention, or significantly improve the response time.
Guarding and patrolling of residential communities is a highly specialised skill which must not be invasive or restrictive to the residents, but at the same time must provide them with peace of mind that they are living in a secure environment. To do this, service levels of security companies must be well-defined, well-controlled and carefully managed, and should be audited independently on a regular basis by a security specialist who is up to date with the latest technology available, as well as the methods used by criminals to access secure estates.
Modern guard tracking systems combine three key technologies, being global positioning, real time communications to a cloud-based platform that is accessible from any smart device, and video and audio surveillance in critical areas as may be required. All three technologies combined provide an overlay of measures that ensure that the patrolling of the scheme is effective and provides a blanket of security that should ensure that any illegal entry or activity is quickly dealt with.
Whitfields will provide support in whatever way it can, especially in assisting scheme executives and owners in the community schemes that we manage, to comply with the legislation governing community scheme living.
