Grand Blanc Township's Solucient Security Systems is adding jobs by verifying actual emergencies among a high number of false alarms.
Last year alone, police in the city of Flint responded to more than 11,000 calls triggered by security systems. More than 90 percent of those calls were false alarms, according to Steven Todd, Administrator of Flint's 911 center. He says the man-hour costs for those false alarms translated into approximately $500,000 for the city in one year .
"If there were a way to verify break-ins when an alarm goes off, it would definitely help us," said Todd. "And it would step up the opportunity for immediate response whenever possible."
The Grand Blanc Township-based Solucient Security Systems, which rebranded under its new name last month, is now operating a system that allows for that verification.
"The EyeQ system is all about verification, " said Mike Wanstreet, Solucient president. "It's a traditional motion detector, but it has a camera embedded in it. As soon as an alarm is tripped, you get a view of what tripped it. The system sends a short video clip to Solucient's central monitoring station. "
In Solucient's Grand Blanc Township headquarters, an employee monitoring the tripped alarm is able to view the location of that alarm in real time and identify if a person has tripped the alarm.
During one actual incident (video below), a motion alarm triggered a visual display in an Oakland County home. The Solucient dispatcher sitting in Grand Blanc Township identified a male walking through the kitchen. He notified police and then notified the homeowner.
The homeowner was able to verify that a construction worker was at his home that day. The Solucient employee called police and canceled the report.
In another recent Chicago incident, the system helped identify a pair of copper thieves in the act of stealing wiring. The immediate visual report resulted in police responding to the scene immediately and apprehending the suspects.
Wanstreet stresses the system, which provides a grainy, digitized, black-and-white moving image, is not used for identification, but rather verification. Unlike other security cameras, he said, it provides real-time verification that a crime is under way.
Given national figures that suggest that 94-98 percent of all alarm activations are false, he says, the visual verification system would significantly reduce those false notifications to police.
Mike Buckel, vice president of operations at Solucient, estimates the system could cut the false reports by at least a half.
Solucient officials say the new EyeQ technology came as a natural response to law enforcers tightening regulations on costly false alarm calls.
"Many communities have fines attached if they have to respond to a false alarm," said Wanstreet.
"In Detroit they now have a 'verified response' ordinance, " said Buckel. "That means if you have an alarm go off and you call the central police station, they won't accept the call. They have a speech that they read that says they only accept verified alarms. So companies are either sending someone to the building to check, or they use technology."
In Flint, the 911 administrator concedes there is no enforcement of ordinances on false alarms.
"I believe the emergency manager is now looking closely at fees," said Todd. "It has been a sources of frustration here."
Both Todd and Solucient officials agree visual verification will add a level of protection during actual break-ins.
"Right now, when an alarm call comes in, it is placed at the bottom of the priority list," said Buckel. "Many communities put it so far down, they never get to it in a lot of cases. A verified response is going to move up to the top because if you can tell them you see somebody, the hope is they'll get there faster."
"Ultimately, it will mean better protection for the homeowner and business," said Wanstreet. "If they have a system that's been 'falsing' all the time, they lose confidence in it. And when a real event happens, they may not make the right decision and choose not to have the police sent."
Buckle estimates the visual EyeQ systems could double the costs of a standard motion alarm. At the same time, he says, it substantially increases protection for the customer.
Solucient serves 3,500 customers in a coverage area from Bay City to Detroit.
The company, which had previously operated under the name Stanley Alarms, consolidated offices from Flint and Farmington Hills and created new corporate headquarters in a 14,000-square-foot office building off Fenton Road in Grand Blanc Township this winter.
Buckel sees the consolidation as an economic boost for the area. He says the company was able to create working space for 50 people in a Grand Blanc Township building that had sat vacant since it was built 14 years ago.
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