While at ISC West 2026, Alarm.com revealed some new AI-enhancements for its control platform, each primarily focused on its security capabilities with the core focus being delivered on advanced surveillance and recording features that are still able to preserve the homeowner’s sense of privacy.
Why This is Important to Integrators
Home surveillance and security has reached an inflection point recently, as, despite a series of studies finding that many homeowners have been content with introducing more surveillance products into their homes for a sense of comfort, there still exists a great deal of distrust and pushback over the potential loss of privacy these introductions cause.
In that same vein, AI, for all of its purported benefits, seems poised to boost the capabilities of surveillance systems the most, as prior to the current agentic AI boom, security had already been employing machine learning techniques to great effect.
AI Advancements on the Alarm.com Platform
While at ISC West 2026, Alarm.com announced AI Video Event Search, AI Access Assist and Familiar Face Analytics as new features coming to the platform alongside ongoing enhancements to AI Deterrence (AID).
“These innovations are designed to improve awareness and efficiency while ensuring customers remain in control of how AI features are enabled and used,” stated Alarm.com in a press release regarding the topic.
AI Video Event Search
According to the company, AI Video Event Search allows customers to quickly locate relevant activity in their saved video clips using natural language queries, like “package delivery yesterday” or “kids with bicycles today.”
Only users who already have permission to view securely retained video can run AI searches, and customers can exclude specific cameras from search results at any time.
The feature also works with Alarm.com’s Familiar Face and Familiar Vehicle analytics, helping to filter expected activity from unexpected events in video results.
This new feature is available on Premium Video and Commercial Video Plus plans.
AI Access Assist
AI Access Assist adds a similar natural language control feature to its access management stack, allowing administrators to manage users, credentials and schedules using natural language commands.
Combined with the updated AID feature, the system will also deliver AI generated verbal warnings based on activity captured on camera, only now Alarm.com says the warnings can be delivered as progressive responses thanks to the generative AI.
According to the company, these new adaptive verbal warnings can now reference real world details such as clothing color or behavior, while progressive responses escalate messaging when loitering persists.
Familiar Face Analytics
According to Alarm.com, Familiar Face Analytics will allow customers to “teach” their doorbell to recognize up to five familiar faces so that they can receive personalized alerts when these remembered individuals arrive at the property.
It reportedly takes only a single image to train the system, though additional training can be conducted within each notification related to the original “Familiar Face” if the system isn’t performing to the client’s desired metrics.
Analytic Advancements
The ability of surveillance cameras to detect faces, packages, people and other objects is becoming the industry standard in security, with AI models having advanced far enough to be able to detect both people and vehicles with a high level of accuracy.
AI has also allowed for the improved classification of the two object classes as well, allowing many security practitioners to be able to generate metadata that can be used for greater identification, which can then be used for easier review and more targeted response to specific security events, such as the arrival of a delivery package.
