Today, commercial businesses face a myriad of security challenges. Though businesses vary widely in shape and size — from restaurants, storefronts and office buildings to industrial properties and shopping centers — threats like break-ins and trespassing, burglary and theft, vandalism and physical assaults keep security directors on their toes. 

While conventional networks of surveillance cameras have helped organizations expand their situational awareness, many of these systems struggle to keep pace with evolving security challenges, prompting the need for more agile and intelligent solutions. 

Overview of security challenges

False alarms, for example, can present astronomical costs for commercial businesses. A recent Parks Associates study found that nearly two-thirds of security system owners experience false alarms annually. As the fines associated with these alarms reach an average of $1.8 billion per year in the U.S., the cost of false alarms often seems to outweigh the benefits of video surveillance.

Even when a traditional surveillance system does capture footage of an event, it isn’t uncommon for businesses to either erase, misplace or record over key surveillance footage, due to limited data storage on site. For organizations to get the most out of their investment in security technology, something must change.

What is RVV?

To address these challenges, many commercial businesses are turning to Remote Video Verification (RVV) services to reduce the rate of false alarms, improve response times and enhance overall security. 

By adding subscription-based video monitoring services to new or existing surveillance systems, RVV provides real-time, visual confirmation of incidents using a remote security team to review security events or alarm activations and confirm whether a triggered alarm (such as a motion sensor or door breach) is a genuine threat or a false alarm. 

Benefits for small businesses

In concert with advanced surveillance technologies, RVV services utilize both historical and real-time data to remotely verify the authenticity of alarms. Whether deployed for motion detection, object detection, facial recognition, number plate recognition or target tracking, integrating advanced RVV solutions expands the capabilities of physical security systems by offering security teams real-time alerts related to ongoing threats.

The benefits of integrating RVV don’t stop there, either.

Reduced false alarms

While the primary benefit of RVV is its ability to minimize false alarms by requiring multi-factor verification before alerting emergency services, RVV services can also classify alarms based on the verification standards like AVS-01, in order to prioritize confirmed threats over potential threats and assist law enforcement and emergency response teams with resource allocation.

Improved response times

Part of verifying alarms for law enforcement involves providing several sources of authenticated information, whether from an integrated surveillance camera, an audio monitoring device or another system datapoints. In this way, RVV services not only prioritize verified alarms, but they also help ensure that true emergencies receive faster attention from police and other first responders.

Cost savings for businesses continuity

For commercial businesses with limited physical security budgets, reducing false alarms and improving response times translates directly to lower total cost of ownership (TCO), as RVV ensures these businessowners avoid fines and mitigate the costs of burglary, theft, vandalism, unauthorized access and other crimes. In the end, RVV offers businessowners peace of mind, protects employees and keeps doors open.

Staying resilient and adaptive

For organizations struggling with the cost of false alarms, RVV services offer security teams a reliable approach to video surveillance that reduces TCO, enhances overall safety, and optimizes operational efficiency. Utilizing a framework for alarm classification, RVV operators can help improve police response times, enhance accountability and ensure cost savings.

As the demand for comprehensive security solutions continues to grow, RVV not only represents a significant advancement in security solutions but also a strategic imperative for organizations aiming to stay resilient and adaptive in the face of evolving security threats.