May 28th 2006

Security duo keeps eye on growth [Olive Keogh, The Sunday Times]

It is 3am when the burglur alarm goes off at your business premises. You have no choice but to investigate and you have no idea what you will find when you get there. This potentially dangerous situation is one most keyholders would prefer not to face. Now with the assistance of Netwatch, a remote monitoring system developed by the Carlow-based security company of the same name, they can rest easy.

David Walsh and Niall Kelly own Netwatch. They became interested in security for the commercial sector when a friend was attacked when he went to see what had triggered his office's alarm.

Both felt there had to be a better way to protect people and property, which sowed the seed for what has since become a company employing 40 people.

Walsh and Kelly were in senior management postions when they began thinking about setting up a security company. Walsh is an agricultural scienctist with an engineering sales background while kelly is an electronics wizard with experience in general management.

When Kelly began researching how techology might be used to thwart criminals he came across an Australian company specialising in video surveillance for miltary installations.

The pair travelled to Australia to see the system and subsequently set up a technology licensing agreement with Vision Systems, the company. New software was developed to customise the technology to meet Netwatch's needs.

The system is now in use in more than 400 companies nationwide, from the Windsor Motor Group to John Sisk and Hamiliton Osborne King plus installations in America and Spain.

Netwatch has a number of applications. In addition to protecting property it can be used to protect individuals, control access to high-security areas and provide street surveillance.

To date the biggest uptake for the system has been for property protection.

The essence of Netwatch is that intruders are picked up on camera the minute they breach perimeter security. Their actions are transmitted to the Netwatch command centre where an operator responds with a verbal warning instructing the intruder to leave the premises.

"In 95% of cases the audio warning is enough to scare most people away before they ever get near the premises," said Walsh.

Netwatch has been in existence for three years and Walsh said it was the first Irish company to use satellite and internet-based technologies to provide remote video monitoring. The company calls its system "intelligent visual security" and it works in conjunction with broadband, the perferred option, or with an ISDN line or GPS. "The sceptics doubted we could make this work, but we have developed Netwatch as an easy-to-grasp business solution that has struck a chord with senior mangers" said Walsh.

All of the company's monitoring staff are IT graduates. "Basically we need people who are comfortable with the technology and capable of responding  appropiately to the situation and liaising with the gardai " said Walsh. The technology does the job up to a point. Thereafter the operator has to handle the situation."  

The control centre operates 24 hours a day but the busiest time is the night shift. However, this may change as Netwatch has broken into the American market with a number of installations in Arizona. "A business man heard about us, made contact and it went from there" said Walsh. The beauty of the system is that we can monitor anywhere from Carlow. False alarms are eliminited and intrusions are visually verified. We watch intruders live and can direct the police to where they are."

Walsh said Netwatch offers customers a number of advantages over traditional security solutions. Specifically it cuts out false alarms - about 90% of burglar alarm activations are false - and is cost effective.   

"Guards can cost a company up to €15 per hour," he said. "Netwatch works at €15 per day. This represents a saving to a business of about €80,000 a year. Netwatch is also totally accountable. We have a full reporting system backed up by photographic evidence.

"Our cameras don't get tired, fall asleep, risk intimidation or corruption. To date this system has prevented more than 1,500 crimes against Irish businesses."

The System also works for high risk retail outlets such as pharmacies and off-licences. Employees wear a neck pendant, which they activate if they are threatened.

In addition, the system is being used by companies to open and close gates remotely. Netwatch uses a panel of independent installers to fit the hardware and individual operating protocols are worked out with each customer.

The biggest buyers of the system are businesses in the motor, hardware, construction, warehousing and utilities sectors. Walsh said the system is not suitable for all premises as it works out best with sites that do not have open public access. This makes it unsuitable for most domestic situations.