Blog | Sonitrol Security

How Artificial Intelligence Will Help The Physical Security Industry

April 23, 2018 By Sonitrol Leave a Comment

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing the future of business security and current trends in the security industry. This week, we want to go more in-depth and take a look at how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently affecting the industry and how it will shape the future of the security industry.

We briefly mentioned AI earlier this month in our blog on the Latest Security Topics and Trends, but you might not know the unique history behind the phenomenon, which dates all the way back to the 1940’s. The technology has great potential to disrupt every industry, including business security.

Artificial Intelligence In The Physical Security Industry

World War ll brought together many brilliant minds. Two of them being Alan Turing, a mathematician and a neurologist, Grey Walter. They would meet at a dining club, the Ratio Club, to discuss the obstacles scientists faced regarding intelligent machines. Suspicions (and fears) of intelligent machines turning on us, their creators, began almost immediately after the idea began to spread.

By the early 1970’s, funding began to run out for AI as no real advances were being made. In 1981, AI’s commercial value started to be realized and attracted new investments. Then, in 1997, supercomputer, Deep Blue won against the world’s best chess player and some mark this as the point when AI “came of age.” Then:

Roomba hit the shelves in 2002 and was the first commercially successful robot in homes.
Mobile phones were enabled with speech recognition in 2008
Dance robots and self-driving cars are the norm
Not to mention Sophia

Click here to read a more in-depth timeline of AI from BBC.

How does AI translate to the physical security industry though? Drones and robots can be equipped with onboard AI, access control systems with super-human facial recognition capabilities, and more are beginning to be embraced and implemented in the physical security industry.

AI is powered by processing data, so data needs to exist for AI to exist. The security industry provides a lot of data to be analyzed and will create many opportunities for AI to be integrated into security solutions. But, we won’t see a complete disruption of AI or IoT in the near future though. Tried and true technologies, like video surveillance and access control, are still commonplace and still set the standard for securing your business or commercial property.

The most exciting part? We’re just on the frontier of these exciting tech trends. The best is yet to come. But don’t worry, the complete domination of AI is far away. Stay updated on the latest news regarding the security industry by keeping an eye on our weekly blog.

The Latest In The Commercial Security Industry

April 16, 2018 By Sonitrol Leave a Comment

When you think of the security industry, home security is probably the first thing that comes to mind. This is well earned top-of-mind awareness as the home security industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the recent innovations and technology they have implemented for their customers. Smart doorbells, locks, and surveillance cameras can be controlled wherever you are through an app on your phone.

Are commercial security companies competing against home security companies? Will our industry eventually become obsolete? Our answer: not anytime soon! Last week we wrote about what the future of business security might look like and why we’re excited about what’s to come. While last week’s blog focuses on the future, we want to come back to the present and focus on where the commercial security industry is and all the exciting changes that are currently taking place.

Kimberlite Corporation Featured In Security Magazine

In last week’s blog, we mentioned Security Distributing and Marketing (SDM), which is a magazine dedicated to all things in the security industry. We are extremely proud that our very own Joey Rao-Russell, President & CEO of Kimberlite Corporation, the largest independent Sonitrol franchise, was not only featured in an article in March’s magazine, From Chaos to Opportunity, she was also featured on the cover as well!

The Latest In The Commercial Security Industry — Sourced from sdmmag.com

The article, State of the Market: Security and Monitoring 2018, discusses how “technology changes, major shifts in the market, and evolving customer expectations bring a wealth of opportunity the commercial and residential security markets.” In the article, Joey states that “more and more people do not want to manage things for themselves. Their IT people are doing too much already. This is the greatest opportunity as an industry that we have right now. There are lower installation costs on technology such as access control with a cloud-based service attached. It is a win-win all the way around.”

While the greatest opportunity is working with companies who want to out-source security, one of the biggest trends in commercial security is integrating security devices and technologies. This is something that we are proud to say we have been doing for a long time and meant we were able to apprehend 1,421 criminals in 2017. This integration of technology saves lives and enhances our ability to detect threats, apprehend criminals, and prevent break-ins and property theft and damage.

To read the full article, click here.

Commercial Security Trends 2018

We talked about why we’re excited about the future of business security last week, but these are the reasons we are currently excited to see what’s happening in the industry!

It’s a growing, competitive industry. Residental security dealers have been increasingly coming into the small commercial security space likely driven by “competition and pricing pressure from MSOs and DIY players, as well as small commercial owners looking for the same connected and interactive services they now enjoy at home.”

More well-rounded and interactive services are being offered. Joey says, “customers want these interactive services that help them manage their business as well as their security.” These interactive services have a surprising number of benefits. They protect your property, your people, and can also help you achieve end business goals such as becoming a greener company.

Security technology can help business owners in their never-ending desire to minimize costs and maximize profits. For example, surveillance cameras can monitor areas where employees might leave unnecessary lights on when they close down for the evening. Technology advances in commercial security mean that you can now manage energy consumed throughout your daily operations and adjust energy used.

As mentioned earlier, we are excited about the opportunity to partner with many new clients this year as outsourcing security increases. Few companies have the luxury of being able to support an in-house, full-time security team. You shouldn’t be expected to either. Outsourcing your security is easier than you might think. Start with a free business security assessment and let our security professionals take it from there.

What Business Security Will Look Like In The Future

April 9, 2018 By Sonitrol Leave a Comment

The shooting at YouTube Headquarters on April 3rd, 2018 is another example of how quickly a business and the safety of everyone inside and outside of the building can be threatened. While recent events may seem to contradict this, we are hopeful when we think about the future of business security, which is quick to create and adopt new technologies to enhance safety.

Three people were wounded on April 3rd, but thankfully more weren’t injured because of the security protections YouTube has in place already which prevented the shooter from going into the building. There are many surprising details about this event, but one unsurprising fact is that this shooting will ultimately work in the long run of helping to create smarter law officials and technology used in recognizing and preventing malicious events. This is the future of business security.

Why We’re Optimistic Regarding The Future Of Business Security

Economic conditions are not just stable, they’re growing. This allows business security consumers to spend what they see fit to cover the seemingly ever-growing crime and terrorism threats.

Security Distributing and Marketing (SDM) predicts that “video surveillance is expected to have the highest sales potential, followed by monitoring.”

Capital spending is also growing and more companies will soon have access to more funds that will likely be spent on increasing their security devices and procedures. We recently wrote a series telling the story of one of our vendors who experienced a break-in before Christmas and is now prioritizing investing in a business security system. It’s imperative that companies be proactive in securing their physical building and property to prevent something like what happened to The Marketing Squad.

These are benefits we expect to see taking place in the near future. Below is what the somewhat distant future of business security might look like.

What The Future Of Business Security Might Look Like

Drones, robots, and artificial intelligence systems are disrupting every industry, including business security. The classic security system includes a surveillance camera, access control, fire alarms, and audio detection. All of which we gladly provide our customers.

But what does the future of securing your business look like? Bomb detecting and diffusing robots are employed by our military. Who says that robots might not be the new access control and gatekeepers of businesses everywhere in the next five or 10 years?

The International Security Conference (ISC) is coming up and we are excited to attend and learn about all the fascinating emerging technology. This year, ISC is hosting the second annual Unmanned Security Expo which will focus on aerial drones and ground robotics used for security applications. We will be writing a wrap up blog on this event, so keep an eye open to see what we learned!

The rate of how quickly technology seems to be expanding into every industry is exciting and the possibilities are almost limitless. Even when these exciting innovations are implemented, there is no such thing as taking too many precautions when your safety and the safety of your employees may be at risk. To find out if there are any holes in your current security system, register for a free business security assessment.

50 Years of Partnering With Local Law Officers: Part 2

April 2, 2018 By Web Admin Leave a Comment

Lately, we’ve been elaborating on our partnership with local law enforcement officials and how our security solutions work for our customers and law officials alike. A couple of week’s ago we wrote about the history of Sonitrol and our 50-year partnership with law officials.

This week, we continue to expand on our partnership and ways that we show appreciation to local law enforcement and also how they show appreciation to Sonitrol staff as well.

Letters of Appreciation from Law Enforcement Officials

On January 9th, we supported National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day (LEAD) by delivering cookie baskets to 50 law enforcement agencies from the Bay Area to the Valley and everywhere in between. You can read more about this day and see pictures here.

After going out to show our appreciation, we were happily surprised to receive the following two letters from different departments expressing their thanks.

Cops for Kids Toy Drive

Another event that we participate in annually is the Hayward Police Department’s annual Cops for Kids Toy Drive. At this past holiday party, we were even recognized for being a leader in the community for local law enforcement support.

We were able to donate over 100 toys to support HPD’s toy drive and look forward to participating again next year. After the event, we received a letter of appreciation from HPD’s Chief of Police, Mark Koeller, which can be read below.

It is immensely rewarding to see all of our hard work and support of local law enforcement not only pay off, but to see it reciprocated as well. Like us on Facebook to stay updated with all of the events we attend to support our local law officials. Your supporting them means the world to us, them, and their families.

Our National Achievement Award Winners Are…

March 27, 2018 By Sonitrol Leave a Comment

If you read our recent blog on our 50-year partnership with local law enforcement, you know that we originally started out as a pest control company. Now, we are a part of a national security company, which is a leading influencer in verified security technology.

Every year, the Sonitrol National Dealer’s Association (SNDA) announces Sonitrol’s internal National Achievement Awards. Winners were announced on February 5th and we are proud to present 5 of our employees who were nationally recognized!

Our National Achievement Award Winners

When you work for a leading company in verified electronic security systems, you have to walk the walk and talk the talk. We are proud to employ members who truly care about creating safer communities and bring an incredible work ethic to our locations every day.

We are happy to announce that 5 of our employees have been nationally recognized as the following:

1. Charlie Arnold: Central Station Top Operator

2. Grant Van Meter: Fresno Technical Shining Star

3. Casey Trujillo: Fresno Tech Shining Star

4. Enrique Martinez-Truso: Sales Warrior

5. Steve Rocha: Central Station Shining Star

Spirit of Competition

SNDA along with the National Achievement Committee come together every year to recognize the company’s most dedicated employee’s. It’s always exciting to be a part of a national organization that values every employee and creates an opportunity that allows a spirit of competition and recognition among the top Operators, Technicians, and Support personnel.

Our Central Station is the top station in the country in terms of assisting law enforcement officials with the most apprehensions. Since our inception as a security company, we have documented 178,024 apprehensions since 1997. We look forward to further recognizing and celebrating these employees at the upcoming Sonitrol National Dealers Convention in a couple of weeks.

We have locations in 180 cities throughout the United States and Canada and we are the third largest commercial security company in North America. See more about our leading verified electronic security system here.