VGS ready for expansion

ATLANTA--Virtual Guard Services, a nationwide video monitoring service based here, is ready to expand. VGS president Scott Warshaw said the company, which has been quietly in operation for the past two years, has recently been expanding its authorized dealer program into other areas. “We’re doing work in California, Texas, Alabama,” he said. “VGS partners with dealers across the country who do CCTV, and they’ve begun offering VGS as an extra service.” VGS grew out of a need in the channel for affordable, live, 24/7/365 security solutions. “There are a million companies doing [monitoring]. The problem is everyone else is basically proprietary,” said Sonny Molu, head of research and development at VGS. “When someone buys a CCTV system,” Warshaw said, “they need one or two things. They need loss prevention for normal operating hours, and they also need-and this is where VGS comes in-they need after-hours security. “With VGS,” Warshaw continued, “we build in artificial intelligence. We build in a perimeter. When that perimeter is broken, the system wakes up first one camera, and then more as the threat is assessed.” The VGS system can be used for video verification to cut down on false alarms, and it also gives its monitoring agents the ability to issue an audible warning to intruders once the perimeter is broken. “Its very proactive, whereas a typical alarm system is reactive. Our people are highly trained on how to deal with visual data,” Warshaw said. Warshaw said that it is that real-time prevention at a low cost that sets VGS apart.“A VGS system is live and could go for as low as $75 a month, based on the area of the perimeter and the amount of possible activity.”