Audio should play a central role in smart city planning

Ask someone to name a smart city technology and you might get answers ranging from surveillance cameras to mobile apps. Many of the technologies that spring immediately to mind revolve around sensors and cameras, but this overlooks an important instrument in the toolbox of a smart city: network audio.

A modern connected audio system can augment a wide range of sensors, providing added functionality that can dramatically boost their effectiveness. With authorities increasingly looking to deploy network-connected technologies to improve their cities, audio systems should play a central role as cities explore use cases to understand what they are capable of and where and how they can be most effectively deployed.

Adding audio to your public safety video initiatives

When most people think of security tools, they likely think of cameras. And while it’s true that these devices play an important role, their efficacy can be greatly enhanced by including modern audio capabilities. Today’s cameras, often used in conjunction with intelligent video analytics, can detect conditions like loitering, unusual crowd behaviour, or a secure perimeter being breached. But once detected, they still require a first responder be deployed and there is an inherent latency until the responder arrives on location to mitigate the situation. Unfortunately, this often leaves plenty of time for a criminal act to be completed and the guilty party to leave the scene.