Simple home security upgrade that catches criminals quickly

South African homes and complexes looking to improve security should consider adding advanced AI-powered monitoring to their CCTV systems, which could cost less than R1,000 a month.

One such system that some private security companies say is proving to be highly effective for them is AVlytics.

Basic CCTV systems are great for monitoring movements around your house or a shared property, but cannot proactively watch out for intruders without constant supervision.

Many homes and complexes don’t have the money to pay a security guard or other person to watch their CCTV feeds 24/7.

It would also be impractical and place an enormous burden on security companies to constantly monitor feeds for potential intrusions or other dangers.

Newer Internet-connected cameras come with some built-in artificial intelligence that can detect movements and potential human activity.

However, these can be inconsistent regarding accurate detection and generate so many false positives that those who control them dismiss alerts without examining them.

Gqeberha-based AVlytics was started in 2018 to resolve this issue without requiring people to replace their entire camera systems.

The company was a collaboration between software company Cognitive Systems and security equipment wholesaler Intertrade Security Distributors.

AVlytics director Tim Fraser previously told MyBroadband the system transforms an otherwise dormant and reactive CCTV solution into a very effective addition to one’s security.

A complex in Pretoria East recently installed the system and has been impressed with its accurate detection capabilities.

Their decision to integrate AVlytics came after two break-ins in which the culprits were clearly caught on camera in the early morning hours but got away because no one was monitoring the feed at the time.

In the second incident, the intruders spent about three to four hours skulking about the complex and trying to get into houses, much of which was caught on camera.

Installation process and alerts system explained

The complex had AVlytics connected to an existing Hikvision CCTV system with six 1080p cameras on an eight-channel DVR/NVR.

While the higher resolution makes detection easier, the AVlytics supports cameras from nearly all recognised CCTV makers and can even augment low-resolution models with 352×240 resolution.

In this particular case, the installation was carried out by Bull Security, the complex’s contracted private security company.

The installation took between one and two hours. It required connecting and configuring a plug-and-play AVlytics device that was hooked up to the DVR/NVR to tap into the complex’s feeds.

Once set up, the system is controlled via a Telegram channel. The regular 24/7 Hikvision feed camera remained available only to the complex’s trustees.

When potential human movement is detected while the system is armed, an alert with a short GIF of the video frames is generated on a second Telegram channel.

This can be seen by the complex’s appointed body corporate trustees, an AVlytics technician, and Bull Security.

The system also draws a path to show how the person moved across the camera’s field of view, what speed they were travelling at, and how large an area they covered during the detection.

The private security provider’s control room can assess whether the detection requires calling the homeowner or committee, and if a team must be dispatched to intervene.

On the control channel, users can perform functions like manually arming or disarming all or individual camera channels.

To further mitigate against false alerts, the system allows the technician to plot an area in each feed which must be monitored.

Preventing false alerts

Examples of some of the alerts generated by the system are shown above. The technician explained that there may be some false alerts in the first few days or weeks, like cats being detected as potential humans.

However, over time, the system is trained to disregard movement by regularly spotted cats no longer being flagged.

With roughly a week since the system was installed, the complex found that all humans that moved in the view of the cameras during armed hours were detected and alerts promptly sent via Telegram.

In one case, residents in the complex who arrived after midnight but who had parked outside the view of a camera resulted in Bull Security calling the complex to confirm they were not intruders.

The initial once-off cost of the system was R15,395, which included the plug-and-play AVT808PS analytics device and the service’s base licence pack.

For the continuous monitoring by Bull Security, the 30-unit complex is paying R1,050 per month, which works out to R35 per unit.

The cost would be the same if the complex added another two cameras, as the base licence pack subscription applies to eight channels. Other subscriptions are available for larger systems.

The Bull Security technician explained that individual households pay around R800 a month for the AVlytics-based monitoring and alarm monitoring with armed response.

To date, the firm has onboarded around 200 customers with AVlytics and achieved numerous arrests because the system enables fast reactions and provides great situational awareness.