Mobile Video Puts Alarm Verification in Palm of Hand

Perusing Powerful Platforms
In practice, most third-party video verification services, like those offered by vendors such as DMP, I-View Now, Alarm.com and NAPCO, have one thing in common – they push pre- and post-video to the end user’s mobile device so they can cancel or verify a dispatch.

“We connect to disparate video sources, which enables the I-View Now platform to connect to recorders, a VMS, as well as cameras. We connect to cloud applications like Honeywell’s Total Connect and we basically go out and get video during an alarm event,” says Larry Folsom, president of I-View Now. “Once the alarm is activated, we get the signal and grab the video. We then encode it, put it in our cloud, and process and serve it [to the central station] by providing a link.”

I-View Now has written integration software for eight major video platforms, such as Master Mind, Bold and MicroKey. The way it functions is that when the alarm goes off, the central station operator processes the signal using the usual monitoring platform all the while I-View Now provides the video on a second monitor. The video also is aggregated in the cloud where it is pushed to the end user’s mobile device. The bottom line is the alarm data is not handled by the I-View Now video platform, only the relevant images.

“We have a cloud app, software we’ve written and a service we provide, that takes the video signals from the camera and makes it available to the app on their phone. We make that available to a page that the central station operator can see once an alarm has been initiated for that,” says DMP’s Hillenburg. “They can’t see through those cameras unless there’s an active alarm and there’s a 30-minute window that allows the operator to view those images after an alarm has taken place.”

For DMP and most other
third-party platforms, at the central station there’s a two-part process. Once the alarm occurs, push notifications are sent to the end user with live video or recorded clips. They then can remotely disarm their alarm system using their smartphone or they can call the central to tell them it’s not someone they know. At the same time the central gets the alarm they also have the ability to view live clips associated with the alarm.

Privacy Must Be Observed
The issue behind this two-step process involves the right to privacy when the alarm comes from a resident as opposed to a commercial facility. Only the client can access live video in their home or office complex under normal, nonalarm conditions. Even during an alarm, central station operators are limited to some degree what they can and cannot do during a relatively short window of opportunity.

“We install traditional alarm systems and when those alarms go off in commercial settings, not only does the client get an alert in their smartphone app, not only do they get live images and clips associated with that event, but our central station operators are also able to see those cameras in the event of an alarm,” says Ted Frazee, executive vice president with Redwire of Tallahassee, Fla.

Residential applications are not the same as commercial. In this case, there must be an alarm and the only person who can view the video is the homeowner.

“We cannot see the cameras under everyday conditions as there are privacy issues with regard to seeing inside people’s homes,” adds Frazee. “The programming uses checkmarks to determine who can and cannot see these video clips and live video. In homes, when we get an alarm, we have to verify before dispatching the police.”

Operating in Florida means Frazee’s central station operators are required by law to do some kind of alarm verification, like calling the premises and asking for a password. If the customer is willing to sign a legal document, some alarm companies will allow their central station operators to review relevant video in an attempt to ascertain the need for police assistance.

In Frazee’s case, his central station operators are not permitted to look in on residential cameras under any condition, unless the homeowner has insisted on them doing so. In this case, Frazee requires them to sign a legal waiver.

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