Video verification of alarms gains importance in Italy

In Italy, the intrusion detection business is quite robust. Yet with false alarms happening from time to time, using video to verify alarms has gained momentum in this market.
 
 In the intrusion detection market, passive infrared and microwave are two main technologies in use. Most intrusion detectors offered in Italy employ either technology or a combination of both. Increasingly, wireless has gained ground as well in the Italian market. “Here in Italy we're facing a strong growth in wireless solutions. You can install the system in less time, and you can save money in maintenance. You can put the device wherever you want or need without being constrained by the cable. This is a big advantage,” said Silvio Ferrari, Italy Country Sales Manager for Intrusion at Johnson Controls. 
 

It’s important to note that no intrusion systems are perfect. Moving animals or swaying plants can all cause false alarms, which can be a headache for both the end user and the monitoring station. Verification to alarms, then, is in stronger demand in the Italian market.
 
There are various way to verify alarms. Tecnoalarm gives one example. “Our products have some specific features that others don't. One of these is remote device verification, which means using the microwave technology of the sensor, you can hear by telephone the acoustic modulation to be sure if the alarm is false or not,” said Pietro Scarafile, Technical Support Specialist at Tecnoalarm. 
 

Video verification

Yet no other verification method is more effective than video, which offers various benefits.
  
"When there is an alarm, the end user can determine if it's a true alarm or a false alarm. This is possible with viewing a video clip of what happened before and after the alarm,” said Dario Zezza, CEO and R&D Manager at Elmax. “This solution is great for end users in case of an alarm. When there's an alarm, I can decide whether to continue with my normal life or to make an emergency call.”

"Say I have a detector in the garden, and I also have a camera in the garden. If the detector is triggered, I receive on my app, in real time, the information of the alarm and the picture or clip of the event, so I can verify in real time what happened and why the alarm went off,” said Ivan Castellan, Branch Manager for Italy at Risco Group. “The user understands images more than information. For users in general, it's easier to understand what video can provide.”
 
"Without video verification, a brand can potentially lose its whole market. It's so essential,” said Robertodino Sebastiano Leita, Product Manager at Visiotech. “Even if you activate all the filters you want, like pet immunity, there's so much room for false alarms. Video verification is the final answer to these kinds of problems.”
 
And using video verification can also help save money for monitoring stations and end users alike.
 
"The monitoring stations are getting benefits from video verification because that saves cost and allows them to react better and faster to real intrusion. They are not sending guards and police if they can see there's not an intrusion. So for the monitoring stations they are applying video verification because they’re reducing cost and improving the quality of the service,” Castellan said.
 
"In Italy you can pay up to tens of thousands of euros for false calls to the police,” Leita said. “It's our biggest fight day by day, the false positives, that is a major issue and that's a major reason why we're here offering these solutions."
 
With video verification becoming a major trend in Italy, intrusion solution providers are making their systems integrative to as many camera brands as possible.
 
 

“Our system is compatible with all IP cameras including Bosch, Dahua, Hikvision and Geovision. With our video verification technology it’s possible to send a 30-second video clip of the scene 10 seconds before and after the alarm,” Zezza said.
 
“(Our CCTV brand) Safire is one of the official brands that work with our Ajax intrusion system. If you want to add a camera to your hub, you can do it from the menu in which you can choose the brand, including Hikvision, Dahua and Uniview,” Leita said.