Eagle Eye Networks has launched Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing, a first-of-its-kind technology that gives emergency communication center telecommunicators (911 professionals) instant access to security cameras to improve emergency response.

According to the company, this will give 911 telecommunicators instant access to live video from one or multiple security cameras when a 911-triggered emergency response occurs, allowing them to deliver critical incident information to first responders through a partnership with RapidSOS.

RapidSOS is an intelligent safety platform that directly and securely links life-saving data from more than 540 million connected devices, apps and sensors to over 16,000 911 and field responder agencies covering 99% of the US population.

“The mission of Eagle Eye Networks has always been to make the world a safer place and this is one technology concept that I’ve been working on for several years,” said Dean Drako, Eagle Eye Networks CEO, in an exclusive to SJA.

“We believed that we could help first responders do their very difficult and dangerous jobs if we could give them access to live video from security cameras at the scene of an emergency.

“We experimented with various methods to give first responders direct access to security cameras, but they were too time and labor intensive.

“Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing is a breakthrough – a simple solution where we give emergency communications center telecommunicators instant access to security camera video so they can see what’s happening at the scene and deliver continuous information to first responders as an emergency is unfolding.

“We believe Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing will accelerate response to emergencies and keep first responders safer.”

Emergency response

Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing for emergency response works when:

• The school or business predetermines which cameras are shareable via Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing
• A 911 call triggers an alert that enables 911 telecommunicators to instantly view footage from cameras at or near the crime scene. Video may be available from multiple sources, including any businesses in close proximity to the crime scene
• The 911 telecommunicator can use the security cameras for situational awareness for emergency response and to inform first responders

Eagle Eye Networks says that the benefits of Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing for emergency response include:

• Predetermined camera access: only the cameras that a business or school predetermines will be shared in an emergency
• Privacy protection: camera video is only accessible during a 911 emergency. The emergency communication center cannot retrieve, save or view video after the emergency 
• Password protection: there is no need to share individual IP addresses or NVR/DVR/camera logins with the emergency communication center
• Bank-level cybersecurity: Eagle Eye Networks cloud-based video surveillance platform employs the highest cybersecurity standards to ensure video data is encrypted and securely transmitted  
• Audit log: any video accessed by 911 telecommunicators is tracked in the Eagle Eye VMS Audit Log

Schools and businesses do not have to be current customers of Eagle Eye Networks to take advantage of this emergency response technology, as this feature is also available to non-Eagle Eye Cloud VMS customers as Eagle Eye 911 Public Safety Camera Sharing Complete.

For existing customers, Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing is available for a small per-camera fee and/or is included in the Professional and Enterprise Editions of the Eagle Eye Cloud VMS.

“We believe Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing will accelerate response to emergencies and keep first responders safe,” added Drako.

“Making Eagle Eye 911 Camera Sharing universally accessible to all schools and businesses is the key to achieving this objective and we prioritized developing an inexpensive solution for both current Eagle Eye customers and for those who use a different video surveillance provider as well.”