The Challenge

Kooi originally operated out of a single shipping container on a construction site. Now, the company is headquartered in the old National Bank of the Netherlands, in Drachten, with more than 140 employees and 24/7 operation in over twenty European countries. This tremendous growth placed significant challenges on the scalability of the company’s operations. Processes and technologies that were sufficient at the outset could no longer cope now that the company was remotely monitoring multiple sites and over 2,000 security cameras. With plans to open more Kooi Alarm Centres in 2021 and beyond, the company urgently needed to support operators with a technology platform that could help reduce false alarms and continue to evolve in line with the company’s future plans. Ferdinant Visser, IT Manager at Kooi Remote Video Monitoring explained, “we required a centralised system that was capable of managing our entire fleet of mobile security systems. A local security and installation company recommended Genetec and we were extremely impressed by their comprehensive range of solutions.” a major security upgrade.

The Solution

Following a successful demonstration, Genetec Security Center was chosen to sit at the heart of the Kooi Alarm Center, providing a common interface for all control room activities. The system provides a unified view of security assets, with consolidated monitoring, reporting, and a map-centric approach. Security Center is designed to ensure ease of use for Kooi’s operators while enhancing their efficiency, decision-making and improving incident response times. “Without Genetec, Kooi Remote Video Monitoring would not be where we are today,” said Visser. “It really is central to our operations and the specialist support from the Genetec team ensures we can continually expand its capabilities.” Kooi’s business model is built around the concept of the total unburdening of the customer. This means they must not only react to incidents quickly, but when situations do arise, they put logo here should be fully resolved without any input from the customer. Here, Security Center was a helpful asset to improve customer service and competitiveness, as the system can quickly compile data and generate reports that can be shared with the client after an incident occurs. As Security Center is an open architecture platform, Kooi isn’t limited to solutions from specific manufacturers. This was crucial, as many of Kooi’s customers required a bespoke approach to address their precise requirements. The system’s ability to supports a wide range of video analytics capabilities, and a diverse range of sensors such as audio systems, ensured Kooi could address meet and exceed customer demands. Kooi has even made use of the Genetec Software Development Kit to develop a specialised machine learning application for its mobile camera observation masts – the company’s primary tool for monitoring construction sites.

The Results

Using Genetec Security Center in conjunction with its own innovative machine-learning software, Kooi has enhanced its offering to customers and significantly streamlined its operations. Tangible benefits include the reduction of false alarms and improved heat-detection capabilities that enable the faster identification of potential fires on customer sites. Moving forward, Kooi plans to commit more resources to further develop this software. “Security Center has created a strong foundation for all of our
activities in the Kooi Alarm Center. It is the means by which we can efficiently offer 24/7 monitoring to our clients and will continue to grow with us as we further expand,” stated Visser.