Security Sales & Integration May 2021 - 56

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS

Monitoring Matters by Morgan Hertel

Finding the
Right 'Stuff '
The more I
asked about
this or that, the
more I started
to understand
that a new
reality is
replacing
the list-offeatures-type
of application
with a new
model of AI and
analytics ...

Morgan Hertel is Vice
President of Technology
and Innovation for Rapid
Response Monitoring.

▶ THERE IS ONE PART of my job I enjoy
above all the others, not just because it allows me
to evaluate cutting-edge technologies but because
it grants me insights into the future of our industry and, really, into the future of our way of life. I
get to see a lot of very new and innovative " stuff. "
I refer to it as " stuff " because it is of no single category - software applications, hardware, even
machines like drones or robots.
One quite common trait of " stuff, " I find, is
the abbreviated timeframe of its development
and the adaptability of its targeted purpose. I am
seeing things getting done on the fly so fast it
makes my head spin, and that trait is now becoming the new norm.
A couple of months ago, I was talking to an
AI video vendor about his product. Typically, I
go through the usual call flow: " Tell me about
your company, " " How is it funded? " " When did
it start? " " Who are the principals? " Only then
do we finally get to the part, " Tell me what your
video application does. "
Usually the response is, " We do people detection, tripwire, people counting ..., " etc. That
usually ends with my request for a white paper
about all the things it does. I then move on to the
next product because the list of features, for the
most part, is just more of the same things (not
" stuff " ) we see every day.
However, his answer was, and I am paraphrasing for the sake of those of us still in the 21st century, " It comes out of the box with nothing, but
it can do anything. " OK ... so I ask what options
or features does it have? " Anything you want. " I
push and ask, " Does it do this or this, and does it
do that? " " Yes, yes and yes. "
So now I am interested in the application. After
all, it does do everything. So I ask him to prepare
a demo so we can take a deep dive into what it
does and how it works. However, instead of seeing a user interface and getting walked through
a list of features and setups, I got a 30-slide deck
of different things this box (that does everything)
has been used for the past few months.
True to his word, the problems this box ad-

Security Sales & Integration MAY 2021

SS2105 pp56-57 Monitoring Matters-Biz Fitness.indd 56

mhertel@rrms.com

dressed and solved was incredibly wide-ranging,
everything from patient diagnosis to counting
cars in malls to facial recognition used for mustering to detecting large packages in stairwells ...
it was seemingly all over the map.
The demo was far more than instructive, as
it turned out, though perhaps unwittingly. The
more I asked about this or that, the more I started to understand that a new reality is replacing
the list-of-features-type of application with a new
model of AI and analytics, along with deep learning, that confirms innovation is no longer about
the biggest list of features. Instead, it's about how
fast a solution can be delivered for the problem
faced right now. It's about how solutions for
problems that are very likely to be specific to a
single user can be delivered in the least amount
of time, so the user can get on with their day and
no longer have to deal with those issues.
We decided to give this application a test and
developed a diverse set of problems that needed to be solved. We sought solutions to the following: facemask adherence inside the facility;
people parking in the visitor lots too long; terminated employees returning to the property; cars
running the stop sign coming onto the property;
and people just hanging out in the parking lot
too long. We included a requirement that these
violations be reported to those individuals observed via Microsoft Teams, since that platform
is deployed companywide.
What made this demo incredibly interesting
was that none of these solutions were found in a
manual or cut sheet. We gave the vendor a set of
parameters, and in just a few days the rules were
written and the system was up and running; we
are currently starting to gather data.
New systems will no longer have a static set of
features. Instead, they will be sold on the merits
of how fast they can solve our unique problems
and how much will it cost. I see the monitoring
world moving in the same direction. Most new
engagements are not about the costs of our monitoring or why our services are a better choice than
those of another monitoring center. Instead, they
begin with " I have an idea. I'm building a business model around it to provide certain services,
but there are unique issues. I need solutions. "
It's a new world out there and I, for one, am very
excited about it. Change drives innovation and creativity, something that can be scary for some but
embraced by others. Now, go out and do " stuff. "
securitysales.com

4/16/21 11:56 AM

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Security Sales & Integration May 2021

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