Three-year-old surveillance startup Verkada is eating market-share and overhauling an industry that’s surprisingly behind the times by making enterprise-level surveillance technology more accessible to everyday people.
The company, now valued at over half a billion dollars, functions on the idea that what people need is “video security that’s really easy to use […] and can be accessed by anyone at the organization.” – Idan Koren, Director of Operations at Verkada.
Verkada is revolutionizing the industry by making a system, that was traditionally only accessible to a handful of people within an organization, easy to use for anyone.
Verkada enterprise security cameras are supported by artificial intelligence (AI). This allows users to quickly sift through hours, or even days, of footage within minutes. Verkada’s AI-enhanced system also allows users to access clips of video, should an issue, such as theft, arise. Their system is ultimately changing the game in enterprise security cameras. What used to take eons (downloading footage, uploading footage, etc.) now takes mere seconds to view.
Mobile Device Integration
Verkada’s unique hybrid-cloud model allows footage to be accessed remotely via any mobile device. Users can stream footage directly from a camera or look through video thumbnails on the cloud to surface older footage. This ease of access and use allows Verkada’s clients to effortlessly pull, review, and even share surveillance footage. Users can stream live feeds from their mobile devices, and managers can check on multiple locations in real-time and even send staff clips of footage or issues to be addressed. The mobile-integration also enables users to receive SMS alerts if a camera goes offline or detects tampering.
Because users can view footage wherever and however they want, security teams can take a more proactive approach to enterprise surveillance.
AI-driven Surveillance Supports the Mobile User
Verkada’s AI self-identifies potential threats and performs specific actions (i.e. sending alerts to appropriate personnel) based on its assessment of situations and encounters. Machine learning enables Verkada’s AI to add to existing data and reach conclusions based on new information received daily. It performs calculations to determine the most likely outcome from different scenarios.
A quick example of this is the surveillance system’s people-recognition capabilities. With a few taps in the app, a user can set the system to send an alert (via email or text message) when a camera detects movement from a human. This eliminates the false-alarm rate from traditional motion-detection systems confusing trash, weather, or a racoon with an actual threat.
The systems AI capabilities (such as people counting) can also provide managers with valuable information helping with everything from floor planning to staffing. In short the Verkada surveillance system often only requires a user’s time and attention when providing them proactive information such as helpful analytics or that there’s an actual issue or incident in-progress. The software even goes a step further and helps surface all relevant information a user would need to take action quickly (ex: video clips, live camera feed, camera location).
Designing for a Mobile Ecosystem
Despite its user-friendly focus, Verkada actually specializes in serving businesses and large enterprise-level facilities such as schools, universities, and hospitals. In these environments. remote access to surveillance systems would traditionally become unwieldy and rapidly overload an organization’s bandwidth. Their hybrid-cloud model allows management access to thousands of cameras that integrate with everyday mobile devices, all with a surprisingly small footprint.
With its convenient interface and remote accessibility, Verkada enables users the comforts of an easy-to-use consumer model without sacrificing the security and telecommunications needs of an enterprise-level entity.
Benefits
Verkada’s AI-driven surveillance system helps reduce costs by eliminating the need for surveillance rooms, heavy surveillance staff, and by shortening the time it takes to surface and share footage when incidents occur. Verkada’s AI system is not hampered by the limits of human surveillance. It does not need to take breaks, and it won’t be less effective when tired or distracted by colleagues. Verkada’s system assures property owners that they will have continuous and thorough coverage every minute of every day.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 3.7 million burglaries occur annually in the United States alone. To combat crime, many businesses opt to install surveillance systems to monitor their premises to protect their property and patrons. Research demonstrates that in cities with high rates of crime, installing surveillance systems has helped deter incidents.
Businesses with Verkada security systems can even receive insurance discounts because these systems have been proven to help deter crime. Both property owners and insurance companies value the expediency of response available from AI-driven surveillance systems, such as those available through Verkada. Their sophisticated AI system is able to contact authorities immediately upon detection of a threat and expedite the arrival of law enforcement on the scene. This reduces the time criminals have to take action without risk of being caught on site, which means that they are less likely to break in, steal merchandise, or perform other criminal acts.
