“AI-powered” is not an answer

Almost every camera, recorder and alarm system on the market now claims to use AI. Some run genuine object detection. Others use the label for a slightly better motion filter. Before you sign anything, ask the questions below. The answers will tell you far more than the brochure. We have included our own answers, so you know what we think a good one sounds like.

1. What exactly does it detect?

Listen for: specific object types, such as people and vehicles. Be wary of "motion", "smart motion" or "activity", which usually mean changing pixels with a filter on top.

Our answer: CleverCam detects people, and vehicles when Vehicle detection is switched on. Animals, shadows, rain and swaying trees are not people, so they do not raise alarms.

2. Where does the analysis happen?

Listen for: a clear explanation of what is processed on site and what is sent to the cloud. Systems that stream all your video to the cloud for analysis depend entirely on your upload speed, and they send a lot of footage off your property.

Our answer: the CleverCam hub analyses video on site. For an event, a single photo is sent to our cloud for a second check. Continuous video stays on the property, and live video only streams when someone opens it.

3. What happens when the internet goes down?

Listen for: honesty. Every connected system has limits during an outage, and a vendor who claims otherwise has not thought about it.

Our answer: detection keeps running on the hub, which sounds its siren if it detects someone while armed and cannot get the alert out. You and your control room are told the hub is offline. Alerts are not stored and delivered later, so we recommend backup power and an LTE failover router. We explain this in designing security that fails gracefully.

4. Will it tell me if a camera is covered or turned?

Listen for: tamper detection that is separate from "camera offline".

Our answer: yes. The hub watches for darkness, blur, scene shift, obstruction and flashlight blinding, and reports tampering separately from a camera going offline. See how tamper detection works.

5. How does it express confidence?

Listen for: clear grades tied to clear actions. Be sceptical of precise percentages on every alert. They look scientific, but a score means different things on different cameras and in different light.

Our answer: High confidence or Medium confidence, and you choose per camera what each grade does. We explain why in what "verified" should mean.

6. Can I keep my existing cameras?

Listen for: support for open standards (ONVIF and RTSP), not a closed ecosystem of the vendor's own cameras.

Our answer: the hub works with ONVIF and RTSP cameras from most major brands, including Hikvision, Dahua, Axis, Bosch, Hanwha, Provision-ISR and Vivotek. Cameras that can only send email alerts can connect through CleverMail. Older systems usually need their stream settings adjusted, which we cover in our stream settings guide.

7. How does the price change as I add cameras?

Listen for: the full monthly cost for your whole site, not a per-camera price that grows with every camera you add.

Our answer: R7,490 once-off and R120 a month for the hub, siren included, with no per-camera fee. See pricing.

8. Who can see my cameras, and when?

Listen for: specific controls, not "we take privacy seriously".

Our answer:

• You decide who is on your site, as an Admin or a User.
• Your security company only sees live video if you switch on Allow external live view, and then only during an active event.
• Guard tours need your permission through the Guard tours switch.
• Privacy zones keep areas such as the street or a neighbour's window out of detection, and they are blurred on event photos.

9. Does it work with my alarm panel and my security company?

Listen for: named integrations that exist today, and a clear path for your security company to receive the alerts.

Our answer: CleverCam receives signals from IDS HYYP, Olarm, Onyyx and Ajax panels, so panel alarms and camera events appear together. You can link your site to your security company from the app (More, My security company, Request monitoring), and their control room receives the event photo with every alarm.

10. How is it updated and supported?

Listen for: automatic updates, a way to recover from a bad one, and a local installer who can come out when needed.

Our answer: the hub updates itself automatically, checks every file, and rolls back if a new version does not start cleanly. Installation and support come through our network of accredited installers and security companies. Find one near you.

The best question of all

After the ten questions, ask for a demonstration at night, on your own property, with someone walking along your boundary wall. A good AI system will be happy to show you. The detection, the photo on your phone and the speed at which it arrives will tell you more than any specification sheet.