Automatic License Plate Recognition: Your Guide

Technology that scans and identifies a number plate is not just something depicted in futuristic movies and TV shows. It’s a tool that’s readily available to organisations that, when used correctly, can dramatically improve security protocols and operational traffic flows.

Learn more about how automatic license plate recognition works, and how it can potentially benefit you and your business.

How does automatic license plate recognition work?

Automatic license plate recognition is a technology that quickly scans a number plate on a vehicle and reads the information. It can then compare this data with a stored bank of other license plates, or link to live or recorded footage to find a match.

Security operators are then able to use these findings to quickly search and discover captured footage of particular license plate numbers.

Benefits of automatic license plate recognition

Automatic license plate recognition can radically improve the security measures your organisation already has in place. Some benefits that you can gain through the use of this technology include:

• 24/7 monitoring and record storage

Automatic license plate recognition allows you to monitor access to your premises 24/7, without the need for manual surveillance. If a security breach is found, you can return to old footage and quickly seek out the information you need to find your person of interest.

• Use of watch lists

Authorised users can easily create and edit multiple watch lists. From these lists, you can also set up instant alarm notifications, meaning you’ll be alerted if someone with a tagged license plate enters your property. This is a great way to mitigate risk and potentially prevent breaches from occurring before the fact.

• Evidentiary value

Should a breach take place that results in a person of interest being charged, having supportive evidence can be incredibly valuable. Automated license plate recognition allows you to expedite the process of sorting through security footage. It also gives you empirical evidence that can be backed by verified technology.

• Interface to Access Control

Should a vehicle on an approved watch list be identified, the system can be used to open gates upon vehicle approach. 

Potential pitfalls of automatic license plate recognition

In the past, there have been concerns over the potential margin for error in automatic license plate recognition technology. Number plates outside the ‘norm’ – such as complicated custom numbers, the use of images and logos, and even damaged or reflective plates – can all cause inaccurate reads.

Advances in automatic license plate recognition in recent years have dramatically reduced this issue. Specifically, ‘multi-factor’ logic is used get a broader picture of a vehicle.

Rather than simply relying on information scanned from a number plate, modern automatic license plate recognition technology can now also recognise factors such as the vehicle colour, make, type, and more.

Having these additional factors in place makes the identification of a vehicle more accurate, even if a clear read on the license plate alone isn’t possible.

See how automatic license plate recognition can work for you

Wilson Security provides advanced License Plate Recognition (LPR) Analytics as a product offering.  Many of our clients around Australia already benefit from the ability to quickly and accurately search for license plate information, bolstering their security efforts in a cost-friendly manner.

To learn more about how our automatic license plate recognition technology can work for you and your business, get in contact with Wilson Security today.