New security tech could provide better protections for LI businesses

Listen to this article

While new gadgets and other innovations are met with excitement and often accompanied by bold promises, even their early adopters harbor a healthy helping of cynicism, especially in the security sector. However, Long Island security leaders agree that it’s no false alarm — cutting-edge advancements in technology, including AI, are already providing significant improvements to existing systems.

Many of the more popular developments in security technology now rely on phones and other ‘smart’ devices. “Aside from the more basic remote arming and disarming security functions, they can lock and unlock doors, view video footage, communicate to people through cameras, open and close garage doors, adjust their heating and cooling, and even monitor and react to water usage or leaks,” says Michael Minicozzi, vice president of General Security in Plainview.

Some recent innovations in security come from the combination of existing technologies. “One big development is the integration between access control, key fob/card swipe building-entry systems, and video surveillance – knowing who is swiping into your building and having a video clip recorded every time they do,” explains Michael LeBlanc, CEO of CCi Voice in Bohemia. “If two people enter with only a single swipe, and that’s against your company policy, a video clip can be sent to you each time it happens.”

Several tools that have been used in surveillance for decades are now more powerful and more-readily available than ever. “Video capabilities have increased greatly, and the innovation isn’t slowing down,” Minicozzi says. “Cameras of every form factor now have things like two-way audio, built in analytics, AI, and video monitoring functionality.”

Minicozzi explains how this integration gives security personnel more power over the information collected by cameras. “After an analytic rule has been triggered, it pushes it to a monitoring station, where an operator will view the clip… and react accordingly,” he says. “They may play an automated message, they may speak directly to the person or just observe until they determine if they need to dispatch authorities or do nothing if no threat is perceived.”

Darren Claphan, chief strategy officer of Arrow Security in Smithtown, says that while every sector of technology continues to develop at a rapid pace, no innovation is as significant to the security industry as the capacity for AI to parse troves of data.

“The biggest and most recent changes center on AI and the ability for the systems to learn as they ingest/digest data and information,” Claphan says. “These advances in security technology are helping security operators become more proficient in their jobs and are allowing security teams to become more proactive as opposed to reactive, as systems can aid in recognizing risks and trends.”

While expensive AI systems have already been deployed by governments around the world for use in surveillance, Leblanc notes that a variety of cost-effective AI solutions are available to aid small businesses in various security applications, including cataloguing a database of subjects or items that appear in surveillance video, such as license plates or items of clothing. “Today we can add that functionality to a low-cost “regular” camera, even perhaps in an entire city or town municipal camera system,” he says. “All it takes is an extra server and software in the closet next to your existing network video recorder.”

Wary of actions by their employers that could infringe upon their rights, many workers remain skeptical of increased surveillance at their places of work. Despite this, Leblanc has observed that companies investing in new security technology aren’t focusing on the message it sends to workers. “We find that companies are more concerned with their employees’ safety, than being Big Brother, spying on their people,” he says. “For example, isn’t it comforting for your employees to have video surveillance of your company doors, and the path to their cars after work, especially as it gets dark?”

Claphan suggests that intensifying employee surveillance may be good for a company’s bottom line. “In an ever-changing remote world, employees are allowed more freedom and flexibility to perform their job functions,” he says. “It is therefore an added necessity that employers have appropriate means of tracking productivity. There are multiple ways this can be accomplished, and electronic surveillance is certainly a popular option.”

There are also many companies that are fearful of losing valuable assets or revealing sensitive business information due to nefarious worker conduct, and security firms are responding by developing new strategies. “In today’s competitive landscape, organizations need to take advantage of any competitive advantage and/or trade secrets developed with their resources,” Claphan says. “A well-orchestrated and educated insider threat program ensures that these advantages remain a product of the internal organization who developed them.”

Concerns over possible privacy violations are nothing new to the security sector, within which many experts believe the desire for safety outweighs questions about the rights of individuals. “Balancing privacy against safety and security has been a challenge for business leaders since the development of the first CCTV systems,” says Claphan. “But as risks and threats continue to metabolize, public service organizations have turned to technology to assist in keeping the public safe.”