Businesses filing insurance claims as a result of incidents like robberies or other accidents will no longer endure the lengthy process of providing compelling evidence, with Roke Telkom’s newly launched cloud-based video surveillance solution.
The solution known as ‘Roke Guardian’, was launched Tuesday and has unique features such as; UniView (UNV) camera and switches, Footage backup for 1 week, it is motion-triggered while recording 24/7, Camera side analytics, Zero-rated footage transfer to/from the cloud server for Roke customers only, a time-lapse feature and access to the Roke via Web Portal or Mobile App.
“This innovation adds value to the business sector. To the insurance companies, it is going to reduce the back and forth in the investigation process which takes much of the time. With the evidence available, we can be able to ascertain which claim is legitimate,” Deborah Mwesigwa, the Corporate Services Manager, Sanlam General Insurance Uganda, said at the launch held at Roke Telkom head offices in Bugolobi, Kampala.
“Under assets or risks insurance, there’s a portion where we also cover external data media [stored information]. We usually ask for things like fire extinguishers and CCTV cameras,” Mwesigwa added.
She mentioned that whereas insurers compensate for lost/destroyed information, no amount of money can ever equate the value of the information that would have been lost, underscoring the need to have risk-free storage solutions such as the cloud.
Roger Sekaziga, the Chief Executive Officer, Roke Telkom said; “This service launch comes as a noble contribution towards improving the state of security for fellow Ugandans while providing a whole experience designed bottom-up to meet the safety needs of Ugandan homes, businesses, education institutions, real estate management companies among others”.
In 2019, there was a 9.8% decrease in the volume of crimes reported to Police from 238,746 cases reported in 2018 to 215,224 cases reported in 2019. Among the top reasons for the decrease in crimes reported in 2019 is attributed to Government investment in anti–crime infrastructure. Among these were the surveillance cameras that are now spread all over the streets of the country.
The Cloud-hosted platform is expected to form a stronger collaboration between the service provider and the home or business owners by providing the functionality of sharing video clips to confirm the alarms while respecting any privacy guidelines through its bespoke privacy feature that only end-users can release.
Unlike the traditional Digital Video Recorders (DVR) devices, where CCTV footage is stored, the cloud storage option is considered much safer since it can neither be stolen nor vandalized.
According to Grace Matsiko, Chairman of The Uganda Private Security Association (TUPSA), the needs for enhanced security and safety of both people and their property cannot be emphasized enough and it is essential that people and organizations make use of such opportunities.