Layered AI approaches combine best-of-breed firearm detection with context to enable customer-specific decision-making and lay the foundation for future AI applications

LEESBURG, Va., Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnilert, the leading provider of AI-powered gun detection and automated emergency response technology, today introduced a next-generation dual-AI platform designed to open new opportunities for safety applications and give customers unprecedented capability to customize the technology to match their needs.

The new platform brings together two complementary forms of artificial intelligence: Omnilert's primary data-centric neural network and a secondary Contextual AI. The combination of best-of-breed firearm detection with massively extensible Contextual AI allows for more accurate detection and specialized workflows. Both AIs benefit from Omnilert's 100% organic approach to AI training and exposure to a large operational customer base. Furthermore, unlike many large-scale AIs, Omnilert's Contextual AI keeps all data private to the customer, a key requirement for many organizations.

"The visual characteristics of a firearm do not change because it appears at a school, hospital, corporate campus, manufacturing facility or public venue," said Dave Fraser, CEO of Omnilert. "The operational meaning of that firearm, however, can be very different. Our Primary Detection AI identifies potential firearms in camera feeds, while our Contextual AI applies intelligence specific to the environment. Together, they transform gun detection from a single-purpose alert into a foundation for increasingly valuable security intelligence."

One Firearm Detection AI Across Every Industry

Omnilert's Primary Detection AI is purpose-built to identify visible firearms in compatible live security camera feeds across a wide range of environments.

This layer is intentionally consistent across industries. Its purpose is to answer a universal question:

Is a potential firearm visible within the camera's field of view?

The core task of identifying a visible firearm remains the same across industries, even though the operational context surrounding a detection may differ. Omnilert's Primary Detection AI provides the common detection foundation across these environments.

The technology works with customers' existing compatible security cameras, enabling organizations to add proactive firearm detection without replacing their broader video infrastructure.

Once a possible firearm is detected, images, video, location information and other event intelligence can be routed for human verification and used to support the organization's established emergency response procedures.

Contextual AI Adds Industry and Customer-Specific Intelligence

Although the fundamental detection task remains consistent, no two industries or organizations operate exactly alike.

A school district may need to account for ROTC activities, school resource officers, law enforcement training and other situations in which authorized firearms may appear.

A healthcare organization may have armed law enforcement officers, security personnel and different operating conditions across emergency departments, patient areas and administrative facilities.

An enterprise may operate corporate offices, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and remote sites, each with different security considerations and authorized personnel.

Public venues, transportation systems, government facilities and critical infrastructure environments also have their own operating conditions, security roles and response requirements.

Omnilert's Contextual AI layer is designed to apply industry- and customer-specific context to firearm detections without changing the underlying firearm detection model.

Contextual AI analyzes video captured before and after a detection to develop a deeper understanding of the scene and the activity surrounding the event. This analysis provides additional insight, situational intelligence and context to help trained personnel evaluate what is happening beyond the detection itself.

While the Primary Detection AI determines whether a potential firearm is visible, the Contextual AI helps address additional questions:

- What could the detection mean in this type of environment?

- Is there a known or authorized circumstance that may explain it?

- What additional context may help a trained reviewer evaluate the event?

- How should the detection connect with the organization's established procedures?

- What intelligence can be developed beyond the initial firearm detection?

This interaction creates a new model for AI gun detection. Primary Detection AI identifies a potential firearm. Contextual AI adds industry- and customer-specific intelligence to help trained personnel evaluate what that detection means within the environment.

Available Capabilities Support Customer-Specific Policies and Workflows

Omnilert's Alert Customization, Advanced and Contextual Filters, and Pause capabilities help organizations apply predefined policies and controls to the communication and handling of firearm detection events within the dual-AI platform.

These capabilities allow organizations to configure the platform around known operating conditions, authorized-firearm scenarios and established response procedures. Configurations are defined in advance, helping customers create consistent, governed and repeatable processes.

Alert Customization

Alert Customization enables organizations to align detection communications and response controls with their established chain of command, stakeholder roles, locations and security procedures.

During implementation, customers can define how verified event information should be distributed, which detection media should be included for different stakeholder groups and which authorized users should have access to specific incident response controls.

For example, an organization may establish one notification package for its central security team, another for local leadership and another for external response stakeholders. These predefined configurations help ensure each audience receives information appropriate to its responsibilities without requiring the communication structure to be created during an event.

Alert Customization can be configured around:

- Predefined recipient groups

- Approved communication paths

- Images, video, location information and other media included with notifications

- User permissions and response authority

- Location-specific procedures

- Downstream communications and connected system actions

- The organization's established escalation model

This allows the intelligence produced by Omnilert's AI to move through a structured response process aligned with the customer's approved operating procedures.

Advanced and Contextual Filters

Advanced and Contextual Filters allow customers to apply known operational context to scenarios involving authorized firearms.

Depending on the organization, these situations may include ROTC activities, armed security personnel, law enforcement response, planned system testing or active-threat training exercises.

Organizations can establish in advance how events associated with these known scenarios should be handled. Some may choose to continue receiving notifications for these events to help confirm that the detection system is operating. Others may suppress those notifications or manage them separately according to approved policies.

The objective is not to weaken the universal firearm detection capability. It is to supplement that capability with the specialized context required to distinguish among different operating situations.

Pause

Pause gives authorized users temporary, location-specific control when firearms are expected to be visible during a planned activity.

A customer can pause event delivery for selected cameras or locations for a defined period. Detection operations remain active across unaffected cameras and facilities.

This provides a bounded, temporary method for handling authorized activities without permanently changing the organization's detection configuration.

Industry Specialization Without Sacrificing Operational Rigor

Omnilert's Contextual AI approach is designed to account for differences among customer environments while preserving consistency, human oversight and clearly established procedures.

Industry- and customer-specific configurations can be supported through defined permissions, documented workflows, approved escalation logic and auditable system activity.

Human judgment remains central to the process. The additional intelligence gives trained personnel greater context for evaluating a potential firearm event without removing human accountability from a life-safety decision.

"Industry specialization should not mean compromising the consistency or integrity of the firearm detection capability," Fraser said. "It means preserving a strong detection foundation while making the intelligence surrounding that detection more relevant to the environment. That intelligence can then move through communications and response procedures that have already been defined, governed and tested."

A New Paradigm for AI Gun Detection

The first generation of visual gun detection primarily focused on whether artificial intelligence could recognize a firearm and deliver an alert.

Omnilert's dual-AI approach reflects a broader vision for the category. In this new paradigm, detection becomes the beginning of an expanding intelligence process rather than the final output of an isolated AI model.

The Primary Detection AI layer identifies a potential firearm in the camera feed. The Contextual AI layer provides an extensible foundation for applying industry-specific context, knowledge of the customer's environment and additional event intelligence to that detection.