ALWAYS ON THE ALERT
Security expert has seen many changes
IT’S a long time since Angelo Kakouros dropped “escort service” from his business name, but he still laughs about it.
Mr Kakouros launched Standby Security and Escort Services in 1991. The then 21year-old had started his career at Wormald Security installing high-security systems three years earlier, meaning today he has had 30 years in the trade.
“The name didn’t tell the story, we also did a lot of guard work,” Mr Kakouros said of his initial business name.
These days Standby Security Services is a recognisable Geelong brand which for the past 18 years has operated from La Trobe Tce.
“I don’t operate out of a van, or a house,” Mr Kakouros said. “People know where to find us. If they want to see the product and how it works, they can come and see it at our showroom.”
Those clients are more often people looking to secure their home, with installation of advanced home security systems a worldwide trend.
“Back in the old days when I first started it was more commercial than domestic,” Mr Kakouros said.
“Now I would have to say it is 50:50 because security has become affordable and it provides a lot of flexibility through a smart phone app.”
Security cameras have been the largest market among residential security products but it has become increasing technical with advances in motion detection, night vision and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Intruder alerts can now be sent to a property owners’ phone.
Mr Kakouros said the systems he installed included the capacity for images to be sent with the alert and for the system to be controlled through an app.
“Technology is the way most people are being caught, more so than chasing them down the street,” he said.
He said suspicious activity could be now be pinpointed to the area in the building where the alarm or sensor detected the activity and that images were sent directly to the property owner or to Standby Security’s 24-hour monitoring station.
“You can see what has triggered the alarm and have the video and camera images immediately without having to go back and rewind the tapes,” Mr Kakouros said.
He said because the alerts could be verified, the police response was “exceptionally good”.
“Police resources are limited and they don’t want to be wasting their time (but) any time we do notify the police of an alarm activation, we know there’s a genuine alarm.”
He said Standby’s off-site monitoring was manned 24 hours a day with at least three operators in attendance.
“It’s an important infrastructure that we have in place and each client has their own preferences as to how they want the response to occur,” he said.
Mr Kakouros said the rise in camera surveillance, which was the biggest part of his business, had been significant, with neighbour disputes one of the triggers.
The systems were also personal monitoring services.
“If you have an elderly person living at home and you want to check up on them, you can bring that up on your phone and see that they OK,” he said.
He said entry level systems with camera verification and free smart phone app were very affordable.
“What I find most satisfying about the industry is that I get to protect people, particularly the elderly and people who are living at home alone,” he said.
Standby Security, which also offers private investigation and guard services, has offices in Geelong, Shepparton and Ballarat and a depot in Mt Waverley.