Customer Success Story: App-Techs

Executive Summary

App-Techs, a pioneering leader in security solutions, has consistently aimed to provide cutting-edge, cost-effective, and user-friendly technology to clients with diverse needs and resources. Since 2019, App-Techs has leveraged the Vaidio AI Vision Platform to revolutionize their security offerings. The seamless integration of Vaidio with existing systems, particularly Milestone's VMS, has allowed App-Techs to enhance their clients' security setups without the need for expensive overhauls. The user-friendly interface, versatile analytics, and App-Techs' own specialized BTX module are the foundation for the transformative impact of Vaidio. Paul Dillon, Product Manager at App-Techs, said "IronYun's Vaidio system is pound for pound the most versatile analytic system out there. With a wide range of features and ease of use, it's our go-to solution for advanced and accurate video analytics." App-Techs’ collaboration with IronYun has resulted in significant cost savings, enhanced efficiency, and improved security outcomes for clients, ensuring they are equipped to meet current and future security challenges.

Background

App-Techs, a leader in security solutions, has always focused on offering cutting-edge, cost-effective, and user-friendly technology. Serving a diverse clientele, including schools, municipalities, and other institutions, often with limited resources, App-Techs began working with the Vaidio AI Vision Platform in 2019. "It was one of the first AI video analytics platforms that could perform accurately in the real world."

Challenge

• Functionality: clients sought advanced features like face or License Plate Recognition (LPR) without adding complexity or false alerts associated with legacy systems.
  
• Integration: clients wanted to avoid "rip-and-replace" scenarios, preferring to integrate new intelligence functionality with their existing Video Management Systems (VMSs).
  
• User-friendliness: clients needed intuitive systems that required minimal training.
  
• Versatility and future-proofing: clients desired solutions that could adapt to evolving security needs without extensive hardware changes.

Solution

• Seamless integration: the integration of Vaidio with Milestone's VMS was a game-changer. App-Techs could enhance clients' existing camera systems with advanced analytics, avoiding the cost and complexity of complete system overhauls.
• User-friendly interface: the Vaidio interface, praised for its simplicity, required minimal training, allowing clients to quickly adopt and use the system effectively.
  
• Versatile analytics: the wide range of analytics provided by Vaidio, applicable to any camera, offered clients flexibility. Features like License Plate Recognition and People Counting could be easily applied without additional hardware.
  
• Superior differentiation:
  
  • Accuracy: Vaidio delivers superior accuracy in real-world production environments, outperforming competitive alternatives.
    
  • Hardware efficiency: Vaidio reduces solution hardware requirements by over 50%, making it a more cost-effective option.
    
  • Comprehensive analytics: Vaidio offers a broader range of AI-enabled video analytics functions compared to most competitors.
    
  • Performance: Vaidio provides greater speed, accuracy, and functionality than camera-based alternatives.

Implementation

App-Techs seamlessly integrated Vaidio software with clients' existing Milestone VMS. They customized the system to trigger alerts for specific events, such as unauthorized access, smoke, fire, crowds, loitering, or unusual activity, which could be managed through a unified interface. This "single pane of glass" approach streamlined operations, making it easier for security personnel to monitor and respond to a broad range of incidents.

Innovation: App-Techs BTX Module

To further enhance the integration, App-Techs developed the specialized BTX (Bridge to XProtect) software module. This solution integrates IronYun Vaidio AI-enabled video analytics with Milestone XProtect. The BTX module listens for and receives Vaidio detection metadata, parses and filters the incoming data, associates the detection with XProtect cameras/devices, and generates an XProtect event/alarm record with video bookmarks. App-Techs' BTX can contextualize Vaidio analytics events and make them site-specific and situation-specific for real-time situational and operational awareness. For example, with BTX, a Vaidio intrusion alert becomes "A person is accessing the medical supplies closet," or "A person is detected breaching the northwest access gate, which is a trespassing offense." This module highlights App-Techs' commitment to leveraging Vaidio capabilities to their fullest potential, demonstrating both innovation and expertise for providing top-tier security solutions.

Results

• Enhanced efficiency: automated monitoring and rapid forensic search capabilities allowed clients to quickly identify and respond to security incidents. The forensic search feature, for instance, enabled users to draw a box around an area of interest and instantly retrieve relevant footage, saving hours of manual review.
  
• Cost savings: by using Vaidio to add analytics to existing camera systems, clients avoided significant expenses on new hardware. The ability to update analytics through simple software updates ensured systems remained state-of-the-art without additional investments.
  
• Improved security outcomes: advanced analytics provided real-time alerts and detailed forensic capabilities, improving clients' ability to manage security proactively and effectively.

Testimonial

Paul Dillon, Product Manager at App-Techs, gave a strong endorsement for Vaidio and IronYun:

• Integration capability: "The seamless integration of Vaidio with Milestone’s VMS allowed us to provide our clients with enhanced security features without the need for complex new systems."
  
• Ease of use: "The user-friendly interface and minimal training required meant that our clients could quickly get up to speed and make the most of the system."
  
• Versatility and future-proofing: "Vaidio offers a range of analytics options, and the ease of updating these features ensured that our clients’ systems could evolve with their needs."
  
• Partnership: “The IronYun team has been and continues to be great to work with – communicative, supportive, responsive – they are an outstanding partner.”

Conclusion

App-Techs' partnership with IronYun has been a resounding success. By integrating advanced analytics from Vaidio with existing systems, App-Techs has enhanced the security capabilities of their clients, ensuring they are well-equipped to handle current and future challenges. The development of the BTX module exemplifies App-Techs' dedication to innovation, solidifying their position as a leader in providing superior security through technology. Vaidio's accuracy, reduced hardware requirements, comprehensive analytics, and performance make it the preferred choice over competitors, enhancing security and delivering exceptional value.

About IronYun

IronYun, recognized as a "Major Player" in Video Analytics and Video Analytics as a Service by IDC MarketScape in 2021 and 2022, is the proud creator of the Vaidio AI Vision Platform. Vaidio earned SIA New Product Showcase Awards for Commercial Monitoring, Video Analytics, and Loss Prevention in 2020, 2021, and 2023 and won Best New Product 2024 for the Vaidio 8.0 release. Vaidio adds advanced Vision AI to any camera and integrates with 30 market-leading VMSs. Vaidio delivers real-time monitoring and alerting, forensic video search, and rich business intelligence for city, school, retail, security, safety, operations, manufacturing, transit, transportation and logistics applications worldwide. Click here to learn more.