printer friendly version

Efficient, future-proof estate security and management

In February this year, SMART Security Solutions travelled to Cape Town to experience the uncanny experience of a city where potholes are fixed, and traffic lights work. Despite the shock and awe of encountering such anomalies, as compared to the towns and cities in the rest of South Africa, especially in Gauteng, we recovered from the trauma in time to host our annual SMART Estate Security Conference in the Western Cape, once again at the D’Aria Estate and Winery.

The venue was once again packed with delegates and sponsors, who were able to hear several excellent presentations from the various speakers. Our sponsors for this event were:

• OneSpace,

• STid,

• Arteco,

• Gallagher Security,

• Nemtek,

• Ring, which provided two valuable prizes,

• Sensor Security, in cooperation with Hikvision,

• Suprema, and

• Stafix

Below we provide a brief summary of the presentations, which does not offer in-depth insights that give the presenters due credit, but provide an idea of the topics discussed.

A safe space

The keynote presentation was by former Springbok rugby star, James Dalton, who founded an initiative called My Safe Space. The goal of the initiative is to promote safer schools and the right of all children to a secure and safe education without worries about crime, bullying, harassment and other problems that have become commonplace in our society.

Dalton’s advocacy for safer schools and children’s right to secure education is not just a personal mission, but a large-scale effort two years in the making. As the founder of My Safe Space and a former ambassador for the JAG Bully Proof Foundation, he aims to improve the educational experience for learners at all schools in South Africa. One statistic he provided to highlight the extent of the problem is that 160 000 high school learners bunk school each day in South Africa to avoid being bullied.

Dalton has gathered a range of partner companies to support him in his initiative, which includes installing cameras in critical locations, such as entrances to schools and covering the roads where parents drop off and pick up their kids. These cameras are continually monitored and suspicious vehicles flagged in the VumaCam control room (one of the partners).

The security technology is a step in preventing bullying, but also preventing the growing number of ‘express’ kidnappings occurring in South Africa. Most of the victims are children and these can often happen outside school locations. It also hampers hijacking attempts, another daily occurrence in South Africa’s crime-ridden environment. A grading solution is available for schools to complete for free to determine how well they are secured. Find out more at www.jamesdaltongroup.co.za.

The relevance to estates is that many large estates have schools associated with them, and they naturally want to ensure these are safe spaces. However, the solutions offered can easily be adapted to residential estates, complex entrances, and communal spaces within the estates where children may play.

Security projects done right

The next presenter was Zulmira Ferraz, a director of ElementC. Ferraz undertook the challenge of addressing the integrated security systems we all want today, focusing on how estates should manage these projects to get the results they want. To misquote Johan van Wyk (who spoke later in the day), the most expensive security solution is the one you have to implement twice.

Zulmira Ferraz.

Addressing project management and technical integration best practices ahead of a security project ensures the job is done right the first time and there are no comments like “wasn’t it supposed to do this?”, or “why can’t it do that”, after the fact. Ferraz used The Line as an example of what can (or will) be accomplished when a project is done right.

The Line is a conceptual linear smart city in Saudi Arabia, housed in a single building, that is designed to have no cars, streets or carbon emissions, according to Wikipedia. Initial planning proposed the city to span 170 km in length, with a height of 500 m and a width of only 200 m, accommodating 9 million people in its 34-square-kilometres.

Most estates will not have to concern themselves with projects of that scope, but the same planning and project management principles apply. For example, Ferraz recommends the budget (and where it will come from) should be an area of focus to ensure the project can be done, along with identifying all the role players – finance, residents, estate management, industry professionals and, of course, the inevitable and compulsory Karens.

A risk assessment is a must, which should include the estate’s needs and cater to existing security measures in place. You do not always have to replace everything just because you want an integrated solution. Then comes the detailed specification of the technologies you require and their integration into a ‘single pane of glass’. This naturally includes the automation of smart technologies, which Ferraz broke into three categories: AI and machine learning, IoT devices (which includes security technology), and automation.

Ending her presentation, she noted that structured project management is the key to success, which can be simplified into planning, execution, monitoring and closing. Naturally, each of these has a number of sub-categories, which must be catered to. Selecting the correct vendors, training staff and residents on the new systems, and managing change are critical aspects to a successful project.

Optimising what you have

Lance King from Duxbury Networking ended the first session of the day with a presentation focused on optimising the technology estates already use, with a special focus on control rooms. The evolution of control rooms is continuous with many starting to use AI and edge technologies to make operators more efficient and reduce false alarms, but this change is still in its infancy.

Focusing on AI, King noted there were three primary areas in which AI can enhance control room operations: colourised images (we have already seen the start of this in day/night cameras); improved, or super resolution for clearer images that allow operators and AI to make fewer mistakes; and segmentation, enabling AI to ‘see’ or segment different parts of an image, as we see in object recognition. These areas are all in use today, to a degree, but their utility will only increase over time.

Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) from Nvidia uses artificial intelligence to enhance gaming performance, producing higher resolution images from lower resolution inputs, improving performance and visual quality in games. Gaming, however, is only the start, and we will see the technology expanding into other areas – security surveillance and control rooms being only one area where it is expected to make a significant impact.

King says the benefits of DLSS will include:

• Reduced computational load on the GPU.

• Improved object classification.

• Lower hardware requirements.

• Improved night vision and low light performance.

• Bandwidth optimisation.

• Real-time analysis and identification.

Then there are AI Agents, a popular topic of speculation today. “AI agents are autonomous software tools that perform tasks, make decisions, and interact with their environment intelligently and rationally. They use artificial intelligence to learn, adapt, and take action based on real-time feedback and changing conditions. AI agents can work on their own or as part of a bigger system, learning and changing based on the data they process.”¹

The ability of these agents to learn, make decisions and automate actions previously requiring human input will change control rooms, requiring fewer operators. Those operators that remain will need a higher level of skills to supplement the machine intelligence.

King showed examples of current technology that can use RF (radio frequency) signals from Wi-Fi devices to identify people and their movements within a room or building – yes, the Wi-Fi most people use at home and work without any additional hardware enhancements. If this is incorporated into a control room’s operations, it could offer automated presence awareness, people counting and liveness detection – all of which could be useful in emergencies, making sure nobody is left in a building, for example.

Although limited in range currently, imagine being able to replace motion detection alarms in your house or office with nothing except some software that interprets your Wi-Fi signal.

Service provider benchmarking

Following the tea break, the second session of the day was kicked off by Johan van Wyk, sales and marketing director at FANG Fences & Guards. The topic of his presentation was vetting system integrators, a contentious, but necessary topic of conversation for estates which have experienced poor service, delivery and maintenance in the past. To be less contentious, Van Wyk used the title ‘Benchmarking System Integrators’.

No matter the terms used, the need for estates to vet their integrators before committing to projects, whether new installations or upgrades, is critical. Security is a grudge purchase, but South Africans have no choice but to spend the money.

Vetting an integrator has many components to ensure the company delivers what you require, but there are a few pointers Van Wyk provided that assist in protecting the buyer and enabling estates to measure potential integrators according to a common standard.

Ethical conduct and fairness was first on his list of making sure you choose the right partner, which is important for long term partnerships of trust. The company should also practice transparency, enabling customers to verify it has the right, properly skilled staff on board capable of doing what is required (certifications matter), and it must have enough people to offer a 24/7/365 service. Related to this, the company needs to perform as required and provide the necessary after-sales service, maintenance plan and SLA (service-level agreement). He noted that an SLA and a maintenance plan are not the same thing.

The integrator must also offer turnkey solutions to ensure all the estate’s needs are met. This means having its own project management staff and processes, and with years of experience doing what you require – with good references.

The SI must also have all the necessary compliance and regulatory requirements intact, from PSIRA registration to insurance, health and safety standards and more. Optional best practice requirements can include the relevant ISO compliance, a proven track record, criminal background checks on all staff, and, once again, regular training for staff on the products specified.

There is no point in hiring the SI with a certification obtained 8 years ago, technology changes and regular training updates will ensure the estate gets the right technology and technical skills that can use it optimally.

Van Wyk ended with three points to always keep in mind when you’re about to sign for your next security project:

1. You cannot have the best and cheapest.

2. Bad decisions lead to buying the same system twice.

3. Find an integrator that will keep working until they get the job done.

Optimising visitor management

Visitor management (VM) is the bane of estate security, especially today when home deliveries are standard and frequent. Most VM systems are cumbersome and require guards to scan licences and IDs, and some include number-plate recognition and personal biometrics. On a busy day, the visitor queue can be long, slow and frustrating for all concerned.

Norman Pretorius, the technical and product development manager at Secutel Technologies, was at the event to introduce Secutel’s SecuVisit, which offers visitor management without human intervention.

Pretorius spoke on the ‘one-touch scanning’ available in SecuVisit, which is integrated into estate’s current access technology to automatically open the gate or boom once the visitor has authenticated themselves. The product is basically a self-service kiosk with a web application running for simple use and to avoid forcing visitors to download an app. The same application is available on a mobile device (as a web app accessible on the internet) for self-registration. All the data is securely stored and accessed in the cloud.

When visitors arrive at the kiosk, they simply scan their driving licence, ID or enter a PIN, or scan a tag if one has been issued. The system records the details along with the time of entry, while taking a picture of the person and the vehicle. If the person or vehicle is on a ‘no-entry’ list, they will be denied access. In this scenario, the gaurds at the gate may have to intervene.

As a web- and cloud-based system, there is no limit in scaling the deployment from one lane to multiple, even across multiple sites. Interactions with the gates or booms is via Wi-Fi and Secutel can open almost any current access control system. Pretorius says testing has shown congestion for visitors was reduced by around 40% after installing SecuVisit, which he says only takes about five seconds to process each visitor.

An update to the system is in the works which (so we hear) will make it even more valuable to estates haunted by grocery delivery bikes.

You don’t know what you don’t know

Barry East, the CEO of OneSpace launched his session of the day by talking about data. More specifically, the benefits of a single source of data incorporating all the systems running an estate (security, operational, health etc.), which is optimised to deliver real information that improve the estate’s functioning.

Being able to drill down into the crux of a matter, no matter what it is, allows estate personnel to deal with issues that mitigate risks and also provides a safer and more enjoyable environment to live in. When data from multiple estates, or sub-divisions within an estate, are collated and mined for valuable knowledge (using secure cloud services to make it simpler), the benefit of that information scales exponentially.

Data management is more important as more estates and complexes become mixed-use environments, and as estate management offices become more like mini-municipalities to overcome the lack of real municipal service delivery.

With disorganised and decentralised data, decisions are generally made in ‘organised chaos’ and often result in more chaos. Employees’ time is wasted on tasks that are needless or low priority as there is no accurate way to prioritise high-value functions. Organised data, together with automation can reduce wasted time as well as low-value manual tasks.

Integrated data with intelligent analysis acts as a force multiplier for estates. Put another way, East says it provides context to data, which makes the task of optimised operations and accurate predictive analysis and pattern recognition achievable, which streamlines all facets of estate management.

The key is to collate your data in a central location (even if independent products produce the data), analyse or mine it efficiently to discover any existing or new risks, or potential risks, and act before an emergency occurs. The cloud is ideal as a central location to store all the data an estate produces for analysis. It also can reduce costs and the technical skills required.

The bottom line is the ability to focus human and technical resources on what matters and avoid doing things because it is expected. Information has value when it directs resources to the most important issues, ignoring the usual procedure that makes up most of the working day on an estate – which East describes as “chasing ghosts”. In the end, all stakeholders in the community win.

A nightmare on Cyber Street

Richard Frost, head of technology and innovation at Armata, followed with an interesting, yet also terrifying, presentation on cybersecurity for residential and commercial estates. Starting out, Frost explained that cybersecurity is “the practice of defending networks, devices, software and data from attacks, damage, loss or unauthorised access using people, technology and processes”, a concise yet complex concept.

Far from being targeted only at large corporations, smaller companies are also targeted, perhaps more so because they do not have sufficient resources to defend themselves as large businesses do. A disturbing fact is that around 95% of attacks start with an email – those annoying emails often contain an unpleasant surprise if you open the attachments.

Additionally, the average cost of a breach for SMBs in South Africa stands at around R4 million. Globally, cyberattacks are expected to cost around $8 trillion; the only countries with a greater GDP are China and America.

In terms of estates, while considered small companies, they store personal information on tenants and residents, while increasingly using technology (IoT) for security and operational purposes, which increases their risk. Moreover, sharing Wi-Fi at golf clubs and conference centres is risky, while the many third-parties they use for services (also small companies with limited cybersecurity budgets) can offer another route into the estate’s systems. The Information Regulator is only one threat in case of a cyber breach, imagine how popular estate personnel will be if the access control system is encrypted with ransomware and nobody can enter or exit – and that is before the costs come into play.

Armata offers SMBs a range of managed security services, which leave the skills and technical know-how to the company, while ensuring the estate (or SMB) is protected 24/7. The various services include different features, such as email and endpoint security, user awareness training, network defences, and can also include a cyber warranty.

The evolution of AI in estates

Dr Jasper Horrell, CEO of Deep Alert, ended the day’s presentations with some insights into what AI can really do in estates today, and what we can expect to see in the near future.

Horrell spoke about the route surveillance ‘intelligence’ has taken over the years, including the initial line crossing and motion detection functionality, through to edge-based analytics and today’s cloud-based analytics based on AI and deep learning. This intelligence increased as LLMs were trained to have a deeper understanding of scenes, increasing the flexibility and accuracy of rules-based alerts.

Today, we are moving to a scenario where the AI systems understand what is unusual in a scenario based on factors such as the scene type and history. Types of behaviours these systems can alert operators to include suspicious behaviour or grouping, as well as combinations of factors, such as an unidentified person wearing a hoodie and carrying a crowbar in a car park. Parking management and PPE compliance are also reliable.

They can also recognise when people have fallen, or differentiate between people and dogs, and vehicles. Recognising vehicles and unusual routing or timing is also possible. From a safety perspective, systems can also alert to kids close to a pool or other restricted areas, as well as empty guardhouses that should have someone in them (and even sleeping guards).

These capabilities will only increase as technology advances, and we are already seeing the beginning of operational features such as alerting to bins being left out, or damage to property. With more to come, Horrell added that it is more important than ever to make sure cameras on an estate are connected and able to send images to cloud servers.

Of course, AI agents capable of autonomous decisions and actions are also on the cards, although it will be some time before we see human-free control rooms (if ever).

To future-proof an estate, estate managers and security managers need to understand the value of a cloud-centric approach to technology, as well as the need to partner with companies that understand AI. This approach will ensure the estate can adopt the latest technology as soon as it becomes available and reliable without having to worry about technology obsolescence or upgrades and configuration. The benefits will impact security and other operations across the estate.

The event in Cape Town was a success with insightful presentations and interactions between all attendees, speakers and sponsors.

SMART Security Solutions would like to thank all our presenters and sponsors, and, of course, the delegates attending on the day. Our next estate security conference will be on 8 May in Durban, the website www.resc.co.za will be updated with more details.

[1] https://tinyurl.com/mutpvt5y

Share this article:

Further reading: