An intruder to some businesses in the US will be alerted to leave the premises in a Carlow accent, as a result of the expansion of a security monitoring company set up by two Irish entrepreneurs.
Netwatch which has been in operation in Ireland since 2003 and has its headquarters in Carlow. It has merged with two security monitoring companies in the US, and one in the UK, and is now called Netwatch Group.
Netwatch CEO David Walsh said it was always the company's vision to be a global leader in remote video monitoring, and it is now the largest company in this area thanks to the merger. Netwatch Group monitors 300,000 customers, the vast majority of them across the US, and its core business is commercial clients.
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"We've developed very intelligent software over the years through our inhouse R&D department that allows us to instantaneously see if someone is trying to break into a property," David Walsh said. "When someone is trying to break in and we see it, then we can challenge that intruder in a live personalised audio warning. 'You in the red jacket, you in the blue hat', whatever happens to be the case, so that they're under no illusion that they are being watched and it would be advisable to leave the area," he explained.
"We liase instantaneously with the first responders, the police in the US or UK, or the Gardaí here, or with key holders to let them know that someone is trying to break in," he added.
Mr Walsh said the whole principal behind the company is crime prevention, because Netwatch can detect intruders before they reach their intended target, and staff are in a position to stop the crime from taking place. "I think we all know that it's far cheaper to prevent a crime than it is to solve it at a later stage," he said.
Monitoring takes place in Carlow, and the merger with three other similar companies brings with it new monitoring centres across the globe.
Mr Walsh is proud of the companies Carlow roots. "Netwatch is a Carlow company. We're very proud of that. Our head of R&D will always be in Carlow and I can see new employment there over the next few years."
The European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation comes into effect in May, and will have an impact on organisations like Netwatch Group who capture and handle CCTV footage. Mr Walsh said every company in Ireland and Europe needs to be conscious of GDPR, and Netwatch is no different. "Obviously, we're dealing with very sensitive information in terms of camera images, and we have policies in place to protect us and our customers in that regard."
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