A typical thief gets into a house in five minutes, at night and often through a window. That's why the Jablonec alarm manufacturer Jablotron has invested in the development of software that analyzes the sounds of broken windows in order to catch the perpetrator. "Czechs start to be interested in security only when they rob a neighbor," says David Beneš, who has been running the most important company in the Jablotron group of billionaire Dalibor Dědek for two years.
The economy is growing and the Czechs are getting rich. Does that mean he is more worried about his property? More is being built and therefore there is more potential for the sale of security equipment. People are willing to pay a little more for home automation and comfort systems. Paradoxically, however, they are more afraid of property at a time when the economy is failing. It has to do with rising crime and theft. However, I do not see major differences in the various cycles. We have constant growth on the Czech market. How does crime affect the need to get an alarm? The customer often solves the security of his property only when they rob someone in the area. We try to explain that investing in alarms is not unnecessary. In Western countries, they are common as insurance. Belgium has one of the highest levels of household intrusion. The Czechia is similarly large, but the number of security is only about one-fifth. It follows from history and culture. The interest in security is also greatly enhanced by global events, which will gain more space in the media. In Germany, there was a huge increase in demand during the first wave of refugees two years ago. In the Czech Republic, interest temporarily increased, for example, after the amnesty.
How common are cases where an alarm detects thieves? Our primary goal is not just to catch thieves, but to minimize the effects of possible damage. We process 50,000 alarms a month, and we physically travel to 5,000 of them.
Do you also go out for false alarms? Yes, that's what happens. There are two main causes of false alarms. It often happens that the user manipulates the system incorrectly. Another reason can be assembly errors. For example, if you place the detector above the heater, radiant heat may cause an alarm. That is why the professional assembly of technicians who will undergo our training is so important.
Lock manufacturers work with groups of enthusiasts who compete to open them. Are hackers testing your alarms? We do not work directly with hackers, but with several companies specializing in security. One of them tries to hack into our application twice a year. We have no idea when they will carry out the attack, but they use all the techniques known so far.
Have they managed to break the system yet? Fortunately not, we always receive a summary of recommendations, which we then apply. An example is the implementation of its own communication protocol, which does not use any publicly known encryption standards.
What part of your production are alarms? About ninety percent of turnover. The flagship is the Jablotron 100 security system, which is sold in 73 countries around the world. We are moving from the primary intention to purely look after products that simplify life and provide home comfort. Heating or air conditioning can be connected to the system. However, the main purpose is to protect the property and privacy of the family. We also offer systems for guarding vehicles, monitoring the breath of an infant or for heating in buildings.
Are you competing with carmakers that have recently installed their own anti-theft GPS systems in their cars? Of course, it has an impact. If there is a system in the car from the manufacturer, customer interest decreases. We offer two types of car security. One does not perform the function of guarding, but monitors the movement of the car, creates an electronic logbook, monitors the status or speed. This is usually offered by car manufacturers as well. Our advantage is a solution integrated into a single application in a mobile phone, where the client has all the devices from Jablotron. We can set up mutual interactions. You come home and with a single press of a button open the gate, decode the garage and turn on the light. Autonomous systems will never be able to do that. Carmakers use GPS, but when turned off, the navigation chip does not work. Likewise, when a car thief loads into a truck.
Thanks to Jablotron Security, you have a relatively good overview of how to steal. Do thieves have any new tricks? We were so interested in the way the perpetrators of the burglary thought so much that we conducted a survey among them in 2012. It shows that 42 percent of offenders time the burglary when the owner is asleep. 82 percent of them said that they would open an average secured apartment within five minutes. Offenders often enter the building through a window, which many people do not realize or do not know and do not consistently secure the windows.
How are your alarms tested? We test in certification laboratories. It is not easy, nor is Europe united in certifications, in addition to generally binding rules, EU countries also have their own. In Belgium, for example, they are determined by the certification authority Incert. For example, movement tests are also performed. The robot simulates the passages of the offender at different angles, with different room temperatures and under different light conditions. We have a special department that deals only with legislation and certifications. It's an endless story. When we certify one thing, a new standard appears.
How much do you invest in development? The development corresponds to perhaps up to three quarters of the company's capacity. It is key for us.
The trend among companies from Škoda Auto to banks is to partially replace their own development by buying startups. Do you do it too, or do you prefer to rely on yourself? It is a combination of both things, but the key know-how is in internal teams. However, we also cooperate with external companies. Jablotron Group has expanded to 17 companies in the last three years, some of which we can easily call startups. Now we work with a company that deals with software analysis based on the principle of neural networks. Together we have created an algorithm that we use in detectors to analyze the sound of breaking glass. There are a large number of glasses, from laminated, thermal, insulating, safety or three-layer, and each of them has a different track when broken. It is a very complex discipline. The neural network can learn on its own.
Can you tell from the sound that the glass was not broken by a thief, but by a soccer ball that flew in from a neighbor? Our goal is not to determine the cause of the broken glass, but to reliably detect the event itself. Thanks to this, we are then able to react in time and prevent any damage.
How far are you with a phenomenon called the Internet of Things, in which remotely controlled appliances communicate with each other? We are expanding the number of non-alarm devices we could operate. We deal with air quality in the building, heating control, economic savings of the house, security, family safety. Last September, we introduced video verification cameras and connected them to the alarm system. When something happens to your house, someone leaves, comes or a malfunction happens, a minute clip is created and you don't have to export the recording directly from the camera. I dare say that we were the pioneers of the Internet of Things, but it must be of useful value. It often ends up that the devices require separate applications and do not communicate with each other. You control the coffee machine from your mobile phone, but you still have to put the cup there. The Internet of Things has lost its original idea a bit.
At the moment, the Czech labor market is also a brake. Do you also have problems finding people? It's the same. In connection with the intensive growth of the company, we do not have time to find enough experts. This year, we want to focus on ensuring that Jablotron is not only perceived as a professional in the field of products, but also as an attractive employer. We work with cutting-edge technologies, yet it's louder when you say you work for Google or Facebook. We are not able to fill some places for about a year. The most critical situation is in the area of senior hardware designers. In the past, what a Czech was, a radio amateur, is not. Young attracts software, the trend is to produce applications for mobile phones. Many of them saw that they would make an ingenious application, sell it to Facebook, for example, and get rich on it. Finding a student who wants to do hardware is a rarity.
Dalibor Dědek is a lively commentator on public life and is not afraid to rely on President Miloš Zeman either. Did you take over this role after him two years ago? No, I'll be happy to leave it to him (laughs). There is nothing where I would feel strong in cramps. I am the nature and history of techniques, I have been dealing with security technology all my life. I think I'm making good of it today.
Author: Filip Horáček
David Beneš David Beneš is the director of the Jablonec alarm manufacturer Jablotron Alarms. He has been working for the company since 2010, two years ago he took over the management of the billionaire and the owner of the group, Dalibor Dědek. Jablotron Group is one of the most important purely Czech technological companies. The group has 17 companies. Its annual turnover reaches around 2.6 billion crowns.