Ava Security provides video surveillance and access control systems to enhance security for the Phipps Houses

Phipps Houses is the oldest and largest not-for-profit developer, owner, and manager of affordable housing in New York City. Its social services affiliate, Phipps Neighbourhoods, provides children, youth, and families in low-income neighbourhood’s the opportunities they need to thrive through comprehensive education and career programs and access to community services.

Together they are changing lives in New York City. To provide perspective, since it was founded in 1905, Phipps Houses has developed more than 6,000 affordable apartments, valued at over $1 billion, providing homes to more than 15,000 people in communities across the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens.

Affordable housing portfolio

The organisation has an active pipeline of new development projects totalling 1,400 units. Including its own property, Phipps manages an affordable housing portfolio of nearly 10,000 apartments throughout New York City. Phipps Neighbourhoods serves over 12,000 children, teens, and adults annually in more than 30 programs.

Phipps manages an affordable housing portfolio of nearly 10,000 apartments throughout New York City

Community-based programs include Pre-K; after-school programs; summer camp; STEAM programming; college prep; career readiness and job training; resident support; and community programs for children and adults. Affordable housing developments, coupled with community-building human services and high-quality property management, create communities that assist residents and their neighbours realise their dreams and fulfill their potential. In a city that never sleeps, bustling communities require unique consideration when protecting residents, staff, and volunteers 24x7.

Video security system

While Phipps Houses had a video security system in place, it was complex and only accessible to a few highly-trained security professionals within the organisation. This meant if an incident occurred outside of regular working hours, it would either go undetected or have a delayed and reactive response putting residents, staff, and volunteers at risk.

Phipps Houses required a simple solution that:

• Easily works with existing systems and video surveillance hardware, enhancing already-installed readers, door sensors, and cameras with smart technology.
• Is accessible to non-security professionals on staff. Both security operators and staff receive a more efficient and confident experience protecting Phipps Houses communities. Plus, deploying new or expanded systems is effortless; using the cloud offloads the usual burden from security
• Delivers 24x7 proactive security. Ava’s AI capabilities and powerful video analytics make even Phipps Houses’ existing surveillance cameras accessible through the cloud to provide ubiquitous video security coverage, a necessity for truly real-time, proactive security.

AI-powered video analytics

Phipps Houses turned to integrated security experts New York Security Solutions Inc. (NYSS), Ava, and Feenics to deliver a complete and simple intelligent video security solution.

Specific elements of the Phipps Houses new intelligent video surveillance solution include:

• Proactive security - Powerful AI-powered video analytics allows events to be visually captured as they happen - simplifying operations.
• Connecting the dots with alerts - If a door, for instance, is propped open or authorisation fails, a map view shows the location and image in real-time.
• Finds things fast - Real-time forensic searches across all Phipps Houses locations and neighbourhoods reduces the burden on security teams and staff alike.
• Modern remote management - Now, operators can monitor access control and physical security events remotely from any web browser or device, providing true 24x7 visibility—critical in the city that never sleeps.
• Scalable - Phipps Houses’ new solution addresses all of the non-profit organisation’s needs across its many properties. Plus, Phipps Houses didn’t have to replace its current cameras. It was able to integrate Ava’s cutting-edge video management system, Ava Aware, with the existing infrastructure to make its current cameras smart.
• Open - Ava Aware integrates seamlessly with Feenics’ access control solution to provide 24x7 monitoring, including proactive alerts in the event of a failure.

Integrated video security

The simplicity of the system meant anyone on Phipps staff can jump in and resolve an issue

With more than 15,000 people living in Phipps housing across the Greater New York area, the number one priority is the safety, security, and overall well-being of the residents. Seconds matter when protecting a community of this size. The new video security solution provided by Ava allowed Phipps Houses to proactively investigate incidents quickly, 24x7.

The simplicity of the system meant anyone on Phipps staff can jump in and resolve an issue — not just their trained security personnel. “A non-profit like Phipps Houses doesn’t have extra bandwidth or resources to expend on costly infrastructure changes. We chose an integrated video security and access control solution for Phipps because it provides the level of security needed while also addressing the housing community’s unique requirements."

"Added bonus, by partnering with Ava and Feenics, we were able to leverage existing cameras allowing us to be good stewards of Phipps Houses resources,” said Gregory Keeling, New York Security Solutions, Inc.