The use of aggregated data to enhance the decision-making capabilities of smart solutions is reliant upon the timely collection, processing and presentation of information in a usable format. While the market is awash with devices which will collect data from a wide range of sources, along with powerful hardware which can apply a range of algorithms to filter and sort the information, the key to success lies in the capability for a solution to present the data to an operator is a usable format.
Much as is the case an increasing number of intelligent data-driven applications, smart solutions rely on the right information being presented to the right people, with appropriate context applied, in order to ensure a return on investment. Often, the potential efficiencies of smart solutions are lost because the information overwhelms the operator, or requires the investment of time and resources to find the right data.
Genetec Mission Control is a collaborative decision management system that simplifies incident response through greater situational intelligence and guided action. It does this by taking operation procedures and making them dynamic, digitising them and presenting them as sophisticated ‘decision trees’ that can guide the operator through all eventualities. The system prioritises larger incidents or threats and removes emotion from the equation by steering the operator through every step until an incident is resolved.
Recent events have tested decision-making and prioritisation skills of operators to their limits. Faced with new situations, users do their best to process the information and take what they think is the best action in that moment. If they could tackle each incoming challenge one at a time it would be manageable. However, things get more complicated when several events occur at once, or when a single incident creates multiple tasks to be carried out before it can be resolved.
In these circumstances human factors quickly come into play. Familiarity and experience in dealing with matters and the level of emotion, stress and fatigue all come to the fore, impacting the quality of the decisions being made. Faced with information overload it quickly becomes impossible to prioritise tasks appropriately and to tackle them in the right order. Consistency quickly goes out of the window and new, more urgent matters that arise risk being neglected until it’s too late.
An operator in a Security Operations Centre is responsible for safeguarding people, assets and spaces in both uneventful and high-stress situations. In traditional security applications the systems don’t paint the full picture of what is happening within their environment. Thousands of sensors may be flagging things for their attention. Some of these will be urgent, some will be fine to tackle later and many will be false alarms. It is left to the discretion of the individual to decide which is most urgent. This can be dangerous as routine incidents can get lost in the noise and compromise the entire organisation’s security and operations.
With Mission Control, every step is automatically documented, making it easier to show what was done, by who and when. Mission Control allows users to monitor the entirety of their organisation through a single GUI which brings together all their security applications, including video, access control, ANPR, intrusion detection and communications.
The process is aided by a map-driven monitoring approach that offers more intuitive visualisation and leads to greater awareness and understanding of complex situations. More importantly, Mission Control defines a clear path for evolving beyond monitoring traditional events and alarms. By monitoring incidents that are triggered by combinations of events and alarms over time, operators can become more efficient.