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A brain for your home security

Having both suffered burglaries while away from home, engineers, Tigue Little and Trevor Lewis were disappointed with their current alarm systems. They set out to find a state-of-the-art solution and when they couldn’t find one, they decided to design it themselves.

“We live in a world with the iPhone, artificial intelligence and drones”, says Little. “We have access to vast amounts of information at our fingertips. Now go take a look at your alarm system. Your alarm system is analogue when the rest of the world is digital and, over 98% of the time, it falls short at the one thing it is designed to do, to let you and your armed response company know when there is an intruder on your property.”

The Sentian 3i takes off-the-shelf security solutions, like your alarm, cameras and automation, and it connects them to each other and the cloud, allowing them to work together to solve problems that they cannot fully solve individually. With Sentian, there is only one, simple and intuitive interface, available on multiple platforms for your convenience.

Sentian will send you a 12-second video clip showing you what triggered your alarm.

It will even let you respond; you can push the panic button, open your gate for armed response and watch live while they enter, turn on the outside security lights and disarm the alarm, all from your phone. Sentian gives you remote access control to your property. Let armed response in, or the gardening service out.

Sentian integrates most simply into DSC or Paradox alarm systems, but can be retrofitted to most systems, building on the significant financial investment your existing client’s may already have made. Sentian works well with entry level Hikvision Turbo analogue HD camera systems for the more cost conscious, but also integrates with most high-end IP camera systems.

It comes with the built-in ability to control existing automated pedestrian and vehicle gates, and garage doors using ET system transmitters. And for the more sophisticated clients, it has designed the Sentian 3i system to include wireless-based home automation technology called Z-Wave to provide control of things like security lights, geysers, plug points etc. Z-Wave technology is economical, exceptionally scalable and extremely simple to install. It uses intelligent, reliable, low-power radio waves that travel through walls, floors and cabinets, so no DB board work is required.

To install a Sentian system at a property which already has an alarm and CCTV system, you simply have to connect in two (or at worst, three) cables. And configuring the system is even simpler than setting up a DVR or NVR.

With Sentian generating a 12 second video clip showing what triggered the alarm, installers also have a tool to diagnose faulty sensors (which according to our research is predominantly bird or pet driven) without having to do a call out. Armed response companies that install security systems also benefit dramatically from reduced call outs from customers with Sentian as they mostly cancel the armed response when the control room calls as they have already identified the cause of the false alarm.

Sentian collects a monthly service fee from all end users and a portion of this is automatically credited to the installer’s account. Sentian is looking for installation companies with proven track records in the major city centres in South Africa. The initial focus will be on Cape Town and Johannesburg.

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