Security service provider, G4S Eesti is reforming the Estonian security market by introducing video as a service (VaaS) to meet the security needs of small and medium-size businesses. Their new service offerings come as a result of a partnership with Milestone Systems.
The rapid growth of small and medium-size businesses in Estonia along with an expanding IT infrastructure, means that the business landscape is ripe for new initiatives, in an otherwise traditional security market. The small to medium-size businesses have different security needs and budgets than the large corporations, which prompted G4S to think outside the box. They grasped the opportunity and introduced three new VaaS offerings anchored in traditional alarm and guarding services.
“Video as a service is growing far more than the traditional video security offerings, and here as the market leader, we are in the perfect position to fulfill the ever-rising market demands. We have a very high level of technological skills and thanks to the open platform technology from Milestone we are able to meet the needs of any customer,” says Head of Security Systems at G4S Eesti, Priit Orasson.
There are three new VaaS initiatives by G4S Eesti which include: video alarm, video patrol and online video surveillance.
Video alarm is a service where a traditional alarm system is augmented with G4S hosted video surveillance. As Estonia has large security installations and the population is mostly concentrated in urban areas, video is an important tool for optimizing alarm response, enabling increased situational awareness for the G4S patrolling staff.
Video Patrol is a service offering where an operator uses the installed cameras to perform a virtual patrolling service. The patrol occurs at a fixed schedule and covers assets, premises and objects. One example of this service is G4S’ protection of the culturally significant Estonian War of Independence Victory Monument (Vabadussõja võidusammas). This is done discreetly using the video patrol service.
Online Video Surveillance is a proactive operator-driven service. Trained operators use the video feeds from multiple cameras to detect suspicious behavior before anything happens or to catch evolving incidents in the very beginning. This not only leads to highly efficient response by G4S staff, but acts as a discouraging factor for individuals with negative intents, as G4S is ensuring that the security cameras are clearly visible and as the video service is loudly announced. A customer using this service is the furniture retail chain Jysk in Tallinn, where the losses have been cut by more than 75% due to this service.
As VaaS gets more and more important in a market where every customer is different, the services has to be readily adaptable to the exact needs of the ever-growing flock of customers to the G4S offerings.
“We are seeing an influx of SMB customers – 16 cameras or less. This means that it has to be simple and fast for us to deliver the services requested. We are focused on quality and a very high service level and here the Milestone quality, flexibility and ease of use are of utmost importance to us,” says Priit Orasson.
