Dear Reader
In this issue of SECURITY UPDATE I am going to talk about Intrusion Alarm Systems, the unrecognised fundamental building block of electronic security systems. I call it unrecognised, because usage of Intrusion Alarms in India is extremely low, as end users, consultants, and installers tend to overly depend on CCTV while designing electronic systems for mitigating security risks. Somehow, the dependency of all these three communities on CCTV is so heavy that one hardly gets to see inclusion of intrusion alarms in commercial RFPs and tenders. Perhaps the only application of electronic security systems where intrusion alarms are predominantly used commercially is in the Banking Sector, and perhaps the reason for that too are the mandatory guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Banks Association. Even in homes, whereas almost every third home is protected by an alarm system in the western world, in India everyone overly tends to rely on CCTV as a primary electronic protection tool. I think, with growing crime, its high time that the private security industry in India starts to understand the utility and value of Intrusion Alarm Systems (IAS), which in fact is the fundamental building block of electronic security systems.
Possibly the major reason for not specifying and installing IAS is because it actually requires higher levels of understanding, and design skills to plan and install intrusion alarms, as compared to some other components of electronic security systems such as CCTV and Access Control Systems. With the lack of availability of such knowledge and skills with a majority of specifiers and the installation community, the result is that the very few IAS that do get installed are usually faulty installations that lead to false alarms, which then prove to have an immense nuisance value. The fallout of such situations is the fear factor that begins to form in the minds of the end users, specifiers and installers, so that they begin to downplay the application and utility of IAS, with many of them blaming rats, lizards and even cats, who unfortunately cannot counter this blame, for setting off the undesirable alarms!
If they are designed, specified and installed professionally, Intrusion Alarm Systems work effectively and efficiently to deliver an extremely high return on investment (ROI) to the end users. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if one was to guard a property using one security guard round-the-clock, it would entail a recurring cost of approximately Rs.50,000 per month and if, in lieu of this a professional alarm system which does not create false alarms, was to be installed, it would be a one-time cost of approximately Rs. 100,000 to 150,000 only! The recurring savings after the second or third month are huge! Even if one were to have this alarm monitored by an independent monitoring station with human response, it would cost just an additional Rs. 3000 every month! Definitely, much more economical than deploying a security guard.
Another thing worth mentioning is that CCTV systems do not replace Intrusion Alarms, but actually complement them. To expand on this statement – Intrusion Alarms are generally considered preventive and proactive in nature, forming the first line of defense, by police forces all over the world, whereas CCTV in most settings is considered to be reactive. When an intrusion is detected and an alarm is raised, the end user and the central monitoring station operator rely on the remote view from CCTV cameras to verify this intrusion before responding. The combination of the two actually is a must for most applications!
Lastly, many people believe that Intrusion Alarms are only meant for indoor usage, with sensors such as magnetic contacts, PIRs, Vibration sensors and panic buttons being used, but the truth is that modern technology has made available reliable outdoor devices such as outdoor PIRs, photoelectric beams, microwave, seismic and vibration sensors to reliably catch the intruder even before he enters your building! In fact, intrusion alarms can also be combined with other perimeter protection systems and technologies such as electric fences, thermal cameras and video motion based virtual fences to create virtually impregnable multi-layered defensive systems with top class ROI.
With the holiday season approaching, better get a professional intrusion alarm installed in your home for peace of mind and good security, before embarking on your vacation.
Till we meet next month, Stay Safe and keep others safe
G B Singh
Group Editor
Email: gbsingh@1stasset.org
Follow me on @EditorGB
Connect with me on Linkedin.com/in/gbsingh9
