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The Straits Times
Newsroom | The Straits Times
Oneberry Technologies: Taking security automation to the next level
SINGAPORE, 27 February 2019 – Oneberry Technologies is making moves within the security industry — one robot at a time.
You could say Mr Ken Pereira is a visionary.
His career in the security industry began when he joined a traditional security firm in 2003. He quickly realised there were numerous industry challenges to face head-on.
He explains: “The role of a security officer is to observe, record and report on activity over 12-hour shifts and six-day work weeks. It is no surprise that the security officers were tired from the long working hours.
“Their manual duties included logging observations, incident reporting, and recording visitor information into notebooks. They were also expected to perform physical patrols or be stationed at static posts, sometimes in remote areas with no facilities.
Such inefficiencies also led to miscommunication between the officers, security agencies who hired them, and the security buyers.”
For a better overview of the industry and its challenges, Mr Pereira worked as a security officer to investigate the problems first-hand. His takeaway? He had to improve the way things were done.
That is how award-winning innovative security and surveillance solutions provider Oneberry Technologies was born – and as Mr Pereira explains, “berry” is the cure for the industry, with our concept of man and machine.
Oneberry Technologies’ next move – robot revolution.
Making all the right moves
To date, the 200-plus-strong company with Mr Pereira as its chief executive officer has designed several solutions for the industry.
It designed and deployed Oneberry MobiCams – a rapid mobile surveillance solution enabled with intelligent cameras and powered by fuel cell technology that could run off-grid reliably and autonomously.
During the Trump-Kim Summit last June, these were set up at various sites together with several command centres for the police to provide behind-thescenes support.
Says Mr Pereira: “While technology is pivotal, judgement and decisionmaking remain human-centric. Technology should complement the functions of man, and improve and enhance the level of security and operations. While reducing manpower costs, our solutions ensure that security is not compromised, while elevating the role of a security officer.”
To facilitate this, Oneberry has introduced the Virtual Guard System, an integrated platform of intelligent cameras with video analytics to reduce manpower reliance on physical surveillance or patrolling tasks.
It monitors premises remotely with less reliance on on-site security guards. By using analytics from intelligent cameras, sites are monitored virtually from a command centre, and security breaches trigger alerts to operators.
A patrol team is then dispatched to investigate the matter.Taking things one step further, the tandem implementation of other automated processes such as access control, incident reporting and clocking allow for significantly reduced manpower on site.
Such productivity improvements not only put Oneberry on the map as a reliable specialist technology and service provider, but enable its clients in the public, commercial and residential sectors to enjoy at least 30 per cent productivity and manpower savings.
Collaborating with valued partners
A group of trusted partners are instrumental to Oneberry’s success. These include SFC Energy, for its reliable, off-grid energy solutions that comprise innovative direct methanol fuel cell technology to provide reliable and autonomous power for long durations with no downtime – the perfect power supply for multiple applications and industrial use cases.
Oneberry also works with one of the world’s leading video camera technology manufacturers, Mobotix, to solve real-world challenges in security via its multifunctional IP video systems used in security surveillance deployments.
Meanwhile, professional engineering consultancy CKMbT International has supported Oneberry’s civil, structural, mechanical and electrical designs to the highest safety standards.
Eye on the future
With the new guidelines proposed by the Security Tripartite Cluster (STC), a rise in security costs and heightened threats, Mr Pereira foresees challenges ahead.
He shares: “All licensed security agencies are required to pay their officers according to the progressive wage model ladder. This has been a long time coming for the security workforce, but will translate to an increase in costs to security buyers.
“And from 2021, with the removal of overtime exemption, security agencies will be driven to review their operations and make more efficient use of the manpower, with an already existing shortage of manpower. These new guidelines for security agencies will push security buyers to look into wallet-friendly solutions.”
To mitigate these problems, Mr Pereira aims to continue offering productivity security solutions to help businesses reduce costs while enhancing the level of security.
This will involve constantly innovating as well as looking into launching new technology to raise industry productivity. The company is also aiming to launch its own security robots to further enhance and complement the man and machine concept. This is slated to happen at the Interpol World 2019 event to be held in Singapore this July.
The fuel cell-powered Oneberry RoboGuard is the first customisable security surveillance and inspection robot designed to support ad-hoc security, especially for events.
Says Mr Pereira: “They not only perform surveillance functions, but act as a deterrent on-site. They can also bring multi-functional value to our clients by providing concierge or marketing services. Oneberry is constantly innovating so we can remain on the
forefront of providing cutting-edge technology solutions to our clients, with the value proposition to help our clients save costs.”
The company has received interest from and is looking to venture overseas, which will help continue its journey as one of Singapore’s fastest-growing companies.
Security buyers looking to explore manpower saving technology are invited to the Oneberry Innovation Centre to experience the company’s offering first-hand.
