Get in touch
1-647-250-7421
Are You Protected? Understanding Modern Security Threats in Home and Vehicle Safety
Have you ever had your car stolen, or know someone who has? Today’s answer is more and more likely to be a ‘yes.’ While car theft rates have slightly decreased from last year, residential break-ins are significantly up in 2024. For most homeowners, the prospect can be frightening.
Gone are the days of easily spotting a thief by their suspicious behavior. Today thieves run in larger, more sophisticated rings in order to bypass more sophisticated technologies. While keyless entry systems and other safety mechanisms are designed to make things more secure, thieves have a way of overcoming obstacles to successfully reach their target.
The costs of these thefts are astronomical. Higher-end vehicles such as luxury SUVs are still a prime target, and the funds from re-selling these vehicles illegally is a significant revenue generator for organized crime. In 2023, Ontario insurance claims on these thefts surpassed $1 billion.
So what are home and vehicle owners supposed to do?
At one time home and vehicle alarms were the best defenses that most owners had in their arsenal, but those technologies have grown tired, and are far too easy to ignore. When you hear a car alarm go off in the parking lot or down the street, you’re far more likely to assume hat it’s a false alarm vs. a person who is in real distress.
The same is true of home alarms. When you hear a home alarm blaring from a neighbor nearby, you may peek out the window but are unlikely to phone police unless you hear or instantly see suspicious activity. Otherwise, similar to car alarms, your first inclination is that something has gone off accidentally.
How cameras changed the game
While security cameras have gained popularity in recent years, the technology goes back decades, to the early days of film. The first video surveillance systems date back to the 1940s, but were unable to record, and needed constant monitoring to be effective. In 1969, a patent was received on a precursor to modern systems that involved a series of cameras and enabled two-way voice technology.
In the last 25 years or so, video home monitoring has become more and more prevalent. Once unaffordable to anyone besides the very rich, telecommunications and security companies across Canada have begun to offer systems that set up cameras around the outside of a home, allowing homeowners the chance to monitor their property both from inside the home and now through the internet, remotely as well.
While once grainy and unreliable, the quality of the cameras has improved as well. The advent of high definition has meant that an image of a burglar is no longer a pixelated mess, but may now be clear enough to identify a suspect. The same technology used to monitor casinos, hotel lobbies, and large corporations is now available in a simpler form to homeowners.
However, there’s one key challenge that these companies simply have not discussed in their marketing:
“Who’s watching the cameras?”
The widespread implementation of home-based security cameras has helped homeowners sleep at night…up until they realize that no one is watching those cameras while they sleep. The technology allows them to monitor the cameras around the clock, even while traveling, but it also means that they have effectively become their own security guard.
While the telecommunications installers might provide you with cameras and a fancy app to view and playback your footage, it’s not true monitoring in an effective sense. To properly have your home or premises monitored at the times that you’re most vulnerable, such as when you’re asleep, someone or something needs to be at the other end of the camera.
Otherwise, what these systems have effectively done is turned you into your home’s security guard, to the point where you may as well have the crisp white uniform, hat, and pot of coffee to defend your property. It presumes that you would wake up in the middle of the night to a phone ping (while most of us are fast asleep), and would have the wherewithal while groggy to chase intruders off with a menacing glare.
Have the gall to travel out of town, perhaps even to a place without constant WiFi or high-speed internet access? You may just be out of luck. Even if you do happen to catch something on your camera at exactly the right moment, time zones be damned, good luck getting through to the police force back home who can assist in time.
What if there was a better way to do things that gave you back some peace of mind, without breaking your bank?
The AI Revolution
In high-end companies that you may see in the City’s wealthiest neighbourhoods, a team of well-trained security guards can often be found monitoring the property 24-7. If not in-person, they are usually watching from a closed-circuit system offsite, and ready to spring into action at the first signs of trouble.
While this solution may be effective, it’s also cost-prohibitive for most homeowners. Rates are often well into the 4-figures each month, which means that adequate camera monitoring not done by the homeowners themselves was only available to the top tier of the country’s top income earners.
Well, we’ve been able to revolutionize home monitoring, and like so much innovation within the past 5 years, we’ve done it with AI. We’ve already seen through electric and self-driving cars the capabilities of AI-monitoring; how well-programmed AI-integrated machines are accurately able to detect their surroundings.
Now, that same artificial intelligence has entered the field of home monitoring. That means that AI can act as your first level of defense, and gauge whether it’s a squirrel or raccoon zipping across your driveway, or masked thieves coming to plot how to take your car.
The beauty of this AI monitoring is that it is only a first line of defence. When a potential threat is detected, the issue can be referred to a human-powered monitoring team within seconds, who can view and assess the threat, and alert local security teams (the homeowner or police) that they need to act quickly. Thanks to technology, that entire relay process can happen in about a minute.
Our mission at Fortress Solutions is to democratize peace of mind. You don’t need a mega-mansion to afford great home security, and you don’t need to be hunched over your cell phone watching cameras around the clock. Leave your home security to the 21st-century pros. Your job is to enjoy a good night’s rest.
For more information, or to learn how our AI-powered security systems can protect your home and vehicles,
visit our website and contact us today to schedule a free security consultation. A human will be happy to return your call.
The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.
Get a Free Security Consultation
Call 1-647-250-7421
Or fill out the form below, and we’ll reach out to you directly.
