Mitigating Security System Monitoring Personnel Job Burnout

The complexities and expanded coverage offered by high-tech surveillance camera systems helps in supplying a layer of security to property and people. They also cause a high level of stress and job burnout among security system monitoring personnel.

A dashboard full of ever-changing images as well as a camera count that even the most experienced security monitoring personnel finds daunting causes burnout. Even when aided by Video Monitoring Software (VMS) or Alerting Platforms, the people behind the screens can end up in a cycle of never-ending overdrive. The potential for burnout is a major concern for companies, because finding, hiring, and onboarding new employees is expensive and time-consuming.

The Responsibilities of Security Personnel

The job of professional security personnel does not involve “just watching TV.” In addition to carefully monitoring for and acting on suspicious activity, it requires constantly checking the well-being of the cameras, devices, and equipment that make up the network. Alerts from malfunctioning equipment require attention. Maintenance and repair tickets need to be filed and tracked through resolution. This is on a day when “nothing” is going on.

There are days when an incident, or worse, multiple incidents are occurring. This can double, triple, and quadruple the stress level of even the most even-tempered worker. While responding to an incident in quadrant one, all the other cameras, devices and feeds still require monitoring to be sure that one incident is not a cover for another. Even with backup personnel in emergency situations, the eyes behind the monitor consoles will begin to feel the stress in short order. Multiple live incidents along with alerts, equipment failures, filing maintenance reports, and tracking the progress can easily cause worker “burnout.”

Although VMS and Alerting Platform vendors hawk their wares to companies as assets to their monitoring personnel, they do little to automate the well-being checks on cameras and the equipment that makes up the network.

Monitoring the Stress with One Hundred Extra Eyes

Ai-RGUS, named for the Greek god with a hundred eyes, is not a VMS or Alerting System. It is AI-based software that can be integrated with both. Ai-RGUS can mitigate worker burnout among the busy security personnel tasked with monitoring multi-camera systems. Using an AI deep learning algorithm, the Ai-RGUS software can check on the well-being of the systems. It goes beyond ensuring that every camera is on, it checks the clarity and accuracy of the image.

Ai-RGUS software compares live camera images to a database of reference images for the cameras ensuring the integrity of the transmitted and recorded view of each camera in seconds. When personnel is busy with a live incident, Ai-RGUS is busy working, checking each camera in seconds. If a live incident is a cover to tamper with other cameras, Ai-RGUS will detect it and alert about it. Tilted cameras, blocked, blacked out or blurry images will be found by Ai-RGUS even while the monitoring personnel is busy with a live incident.

Even on the “slow” days, the Ai-RGUS software and dashboard help to mitigate personnel burnout by providing camera system status information so that preventative maintenance can be performed. Security monitoring personnel see the results instantly on a user-friendly dashboard interface. Ai-RGUS can send and track maintenance tickets taking over another task from stressed-out personnel.

Installing Ai-RGUS alongside a security camera system is an investment that saves money. By mitigating personnel turnover from job “burnout”, Ai-RGUS pays for itself in short order.