How to achieve a low false alarm rate in your video surveillance system

Sometimes video surveillance systems raise false alarms, which implies an annoyance to security officers. These types of misleading warnings need to be controlled or reduced as much as possible, and it is here that new video surveillance systems and thermal analytics are highly effective.

What are false alarms in video surveillance and what triggers them?

False alarms are warnings issued by video surveillance systems when there is no actual threat. Therefore, false alarms (as their name implies) are errors in video surveillance systems that should be minimized. The problem may stem from a misuse of the security system, or simply from a malfunction in the alarm itself.

Some of the causes that originate many false alarms are:

1. Forgotten or incorrect entry of the security code.
2. Problems with the alarm equipment.
3. Power shortages or overvoltage.
4. Presence of animals or other objects that trigger the alarm when close to the sensors.

These misfires can be quite annoying, especially when it comes to important facilities such as government centers, aerospace or port environments, military zones, etc. Which is why the video surveillance sector has focused on this aspect, attempting to improve it and reduce it to a minimum.

How false alarms can be avoided

As we have seen, false alarms are a very common problem when you have a security system. Even so, there are a series of guidelines and recommendations that can help reduce these false warnings.

1. Correctly learn the alarm’s codes so as to not commit errors when entering the pin.
2. Ensure that doors, windows and other openings leading to the facility are correctly closed.
3. In the presence of animals, one should install security alarms that are compatible with them in order to avoid false alarms.
4. Subject security systems to a periodic maintenance to prevent malfunctions.
5. Avoid power shortages, since they can trigger the alarm without reason.
6. Detect possible failures in the security equipment and advise the company in charge so they are fixed.

Grekkom, your partner to avoid false alarms in video

As stated above, false alarms are practically unavoidable when you have a video surveillance system. However, there are nowadays methods that can help significantly reduce these failures. One of these technologies is thermal camera analytics, which are systems that are installed in these cameras and generate analytics that help detect various problems, such as:

• Intrusion
• Loitering
• Abandoned/stolen item
• Break-ins
• Stopped or wrong way vehicle

In this regard, Grekkom’s thermal analytics are one of the most efficient on the market, since we have the lowest false alarm rate (between 2 and 5% of the total registered alarms). In addition, our technology allows objects to be differentiated based on size and behavior, which helps minimize false warnings.

If you are interested in knowing more about our thermal camera analytics and its applications, get in touch with us.