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Utilizing Advanced Analytics to Address Modern Security Concerns
This paper will explore how Advanced Analytics can expand the utility of existing physical security sytems and equip end users to enhance threat detection, improve incident response, ensure regulatory compliance and develop long-term risk management.  

Introduction
Over the past decade, the landscape of physical security risks to organizations of all sizes has shifted significantly. Across the United States, rates of vehicle thefts, commercial burglary and robbery have steadily increased over the last five years, according to new data from the FBI. Not to mention, more Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2021 than any other year on record, according to the CDC. 

While geopolitical tensions have put government facilities and ciritical infrastructure sites on high alert, both public and private gathering spaces—including schools, hospitals and houses of worship—have borne the brunt of physical security attacks. 

House of worship across the U.S., for example, experience an average of 39 attacks every month, according to a recent report from Family Research Council, which cited an increase of more than 800% since 2018. 

Not all physical security threats come form the outside, either. The total average costs of insider threat incidents increased by nearly 95% between 2018 and 2023, according to a Report by Ponemon Institute. 

Fortunately, several advanced physical security solutions have dweveloped in parallel, enhancing organization's abilities to defend against and even deter these evolving threats. 

A History of Video Analytics
For decades, analog cameras (or Closed-Circuit Television, a.k.a. "CCTV") were a uniquitous fixture in the physical security systems. Deployed to survey an exterior perimeter and monitor sensitive interior areas, these devices significantly expanded the capabilities of physical guards, allowing a single operator to protect several places at once.

In 2006, organizations began to replace these outdated platforms with IP or digital cameras. When advanced video coding standards (i.e. H.264) were introduced a few years later, vastly improving camera resolutions and reducing the cost of instalation, the IP camera market exploded. By 2010, security professionals began connecting their Video Managment Systems (VMS) to the cloud, laying the groundowrk for several monumental developments over the following decade. 

While several video analytics prototypes were introduced as early as 2011—such as motion-based analytics, which allowed surveillance systems to trigger automated alerts based on microscale movement within a camera's field-of-view (FOV)—they quickly became nutorious for generating false alarms, which lead to costly fines and unnecessary service calls. It wasn't until "deep learning" and other artifical intelligence (AI)-based software matured that advanced analytics platforms were able to shine. 

How Advanced Analytics Are Transformin Physical Security
Today, advanced analytics allow organizations to perform everything from people and vehicle counting to object detection and license plate recognition. Leveraging the latest IP camera technology and AI-enabled algorithms, these analytics platforms utilize both historical and real-time data to verify and classify alarms in real time, reducing the likelihood of false alarms and issuing actionable alerts to on-site personnel.

By embracing these advanced tools, organizations not only enhance the capabilities of their security measures but also foster a sense of peace and safety for visitors and staff. In an age where security concerns are more intricate than ever, advanced analytics give organizations of all sizes the critical ability to detect, deter and defend their facilities against all security threats.

In this white paper, our goal is to explore how advanced analytics can:

• - Expand the utility of existing physical security systems by enhancing threat detection and prevention
• - Improve incident response and resource allocation
• - Ensure regulatory compliance and long-term risk management

Key Functionalities
At the forefront of Speco’s Advanced Analytics offerings is Video Verification. Designed to optimize real-time alert systems, Speco’s Video Verification integration leverages existing security technology partners, such as Immix and Chekt, to build an archive of reference images that give security staff the option to trigger real-time alerts to a Central Station, based on the TMA-AVS-01 Alarm Validation Standard.

By providing a valuable visual record of incidents, Speco Video Verification reduces the likelihood of false alarms, enhances real-time situational awareness and aids post-event investigations and analysis. With analytic event search capabilities and long-term incident reporting, Speco’s Advanced Analytics suite offers security teams valuable insights into security patterns, system performance, and user behavior.

Advanced Analytics: 
People and Vehicle Detection
Receive push notfications when your system has detected people or vehicle moving through your application. 

Building on the capabilities of Speco’s enhanced threat detection functionalities, Speco’s People and Vehicle Detection feature activates existing security infrastructure to send personnel push notifications when their system has detected either people or vehicles moving through networked cameras FOV.

Using Speco’s intelligent object classification algorithm, People and Vehicle Detection filters out false noise, such as animals, foliage motion and weather events, reducing false alarms and improving the reliability of real-time alerts.

Facial Recognition
Receive real time alerts when there is a friendly or unfriendly face in view, based on images that can be searched during playback. 

Beyond the object classification capabilities of the Advanced Analytics suite, Speco’s Facial Recognition feature expands existing security infrastructure to capture and store images of specific individuals over time, unlocking powerful machine learning algorithms that enable systems to notify personnel when there is a friendly or unfriendly face in view—even in crowded environments.

By establishing an ever-expanding database of images, Facial Recognition offers personnel detailed behavioral analysis, highlighting foot traffic trends to inform more efficient egress policies and permitting advanced search and playback capabilities when reviewing video archives.

License Plate Recognition
Capture still images of license plates and record alphabetical and numerical data from incoming and outgoing vehicles.

For facilities surveilling parking lots, secured entry points or vehicle traffic, Speco’s License Plate Recognition feature integrates optical character recognition algorithms into existing security infrastructure to record license plate data from incoming and outgoing vehicles. By adding another layer of data to Speco’s detailed database, License Plate Recognition expands the capabilities of pre-determined watch lists, triggering alarms associated with unauthorized entry and protecting organizations from unregistered vehicles.

Digital Deterrent®
Combine surveillance camera, audio and visual devices to help prevent crimes before they occur.

Building on the capabilities of Speco’s enhanced threat detection features, Speco’s Digital Deterrent® Alert systems combine surveillance cameras, audio and visual devices to help prevent crimes before they occur.

For indoor applications, Speco’s DD1 Digital Deterrent® system harnesses the power of loudspeakers and LED lights to alert intruders that they have entered a sensitive area. Capturing up to 4MP at 30fps, the DD1 leverages Face, People and Vehicle Detection software to disseminate real-time alerts and collect critical post-incident data simultaneously.

For outdoor applications, Speco’s DD2 Digital Deterrent® system deploys an abrasive floodlight and 120dB Warbling Siren to deter unwanted visitors. Reinforced with weather resistant housing—built to operate in -40º Fahrenheit—and installed using a single cable, the DD2 offers houses of worship an effortless and efficient tool for crime deterrence and perimeter surveillance.

Speco Digital Deterrent® (DD2)

Description 

• - 2.8-12mm Motorized Lens Captures up to 4MP @ 30fps
• - Weather Resistant Housing Operates in -40º F
• - IR range: Up to 230
• - 120dB Warbling Siren
• - 2 Year Warranty

The Future of Advanced Analytics
The longer organizations activate video analytics as part of their physical security solution, the more the capabilities of Speco’s suite of Advanced Analytics will grow. As Speco’s localized database of reference images grows, an organization’s threat detection and object classification abilities will continue to expand.

Not to mention, as part of Speco’s Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) model, the Advanced Analytics platform is built to integrate software upgrades as they’re developed. For example, the following functionalities are expected to be added to Speco’s suite of Advanced Analytics, in the near future:

• -Gun Detection - When active, receive instant alerts when specific devices are detected in a camera’s FOV, including assault weapons, handguns and other dangerous objects.
• - Slip and Fall - Ideal for applications in healthcare facilities, trigger an alarm when patients or passersby slip and fall to ensure medical professionals can respond quickly. 
• - Vehicle Classification - Building on the capabilities of Vehicle Detection and License Plate Recognition algorithms, identify the make and model of specific vehicles in order to expand on-site vehicle traffic databases. 
• - Color Detection - Building on the capabilities of both Facial Recognition and People Deteciton algorithms, identify specific details about objects in view, iin order to expand on-site object detection databases. 

Looking Forward
Whether incorporating advanced analytics into a new system build or activating analytics capabilities for existing security infrastructure, Speco’s suite of Advanced Analytics equips organizations to address the most complex security challenges.

By bringing together the latest AI-enabled software and best-in-class video surveillance technology, Speco’s Advanced Analytics solutions expand situational awareness, enable faster incident response times and inform more strategic resource management.

To explore Speco’s full line of intelligent solutions, visit www.specotech.com. To contact Speco’s team of customer service representatives, call 1.800.645.5516 (toll free) or email sales@specotech.com.