Here are the top three myths about gunshot detection, and the reality of how modern technology is debunking them.
- The Inaccuracy Myth: “A sensor is a sensor.”
- The Fear: The biggest hesitation we hear is the fear of false positives. It’s not just the risk of dispatching police for a car backfire or construction noise—it’s the very real threat of false alarm fatigue. When you are operating with limited staff, your team simply doesn’t have the bandwidth to constantly chase down and manually verify alerts from overly sensitive legacy systems.
- The Reality: False positives happen when a system relies on passive microphones that simply trigger at a certain decibel level. To a generic legacy sensor, a firework and a gunshot are indistinguishable because it is only listening for a loud bang.
- The Fix: We utilize Acoustic Intelligence. Built on over 30 years of battle-proven acoustic expertise, our technology delivers trusted reliability where legacy systems fail. Instead of generic audio processing, Acoem ATD applies scientific precision and proprietary physics to identify the specific acoustic signature of a firearm. By tuning our algorithms explicitly to filter out the chaos of the outdoor environment, we drastically minimize false positives—delivering high-fidelity alerts your team can actually trust.
Debunking 3 Costly Gunshot Detection Myths
- The Mesh Network Myth: “You need massive infrastructure.”
- The Fear: Many believe that accurate detection requires blanketing an area with sensors that “talk” to each other to triangulate a location. This implies high costs, heavy cabling, and complex installations.
- The Reality: Triangulation is the old way. The new way is single-sensor edge processing.
- The Fix: You no longer have to wait for multiple sensors to send data to a central server just to calculate a location. Acoem ATD packs powerful computing speed into a single smart sensor. By processing data directly on the device at the edge, we eliminate that critical server latency. The moment a threat is verified, our system automatically slews your PTZ cameras directly to the location. This delivers the ultimate win for your team: real-time situational awareness and visual confirmation before the first 911 call is even made.
- The Inflexibility Myth: “It’s only for permanent installs.”
- The Fear: The perception is that gunshot detection is always a fixed infrastructure project. Many believe it is something you must bolt to a pole and lease for the next ten years just to get basic coverage.
- The Reality: Risk is dynamic, and your security strategy must adapt. True protection requires both operational and business flexibility.
- The Fix: Acoem ATD delivers unparalleled defense agility. Because our edge-processing sensors operate independently without needing a mesh network, they can be permanently installed or easily deployed for temporary events and remote mobile setups. We also give you complete business flexibility by eliminating restrictive long-term contracts and minimum sensor counts. Whether you are securing a critical infrastructure perimeter for decades or a weekend music festival for three days, you get elite-level detection precisely where and when you need it.
The Shift to Acoustic Intelligence
Ultimately, these three myths stem from a single, outdated idea: that gunshot detection is just a passive microphone waiting for a loud noise.
Modern security demands more than just listening. It requires verified intelligence. By moving away from legacy triangulation and restrictive contracts, you are doing more than just eliminating false alarm fatigue. You are gaining the defense agility needed to instantly detect, verify, and respond to threats in real-time.
The technology has evolved to give your team immediate situational awareness. It is time your security strategy evolved right alongside it.
