PEST CONTROL Fighting pests with data
Beaver Pest Control lets us know the future of digital monitoring in pest control. Here’s how we achieve this:
As with all things digital, early models and systems lack sophistication and are rapidly improved on. Think Nokia 3310 compared to an Apple iPhone 15 smartphone. Although mobile phones became commonplace in the early 90s, it was only as recently as 2007 that real connectivity was launched – not even 20 years ago.
It’s the same with remote digital monitoring in pest control. Early systems were as basic as a simple trap with Bluetooth capability, so the technician was alerted as he entered the premises. They then moved onto traps with network connectivity, allowing alerts to be sent in real time.
The next iteration of the digital journey in remote monitoring is called PestSense.
The PestSense System is much more sophisticated than those we’ve used before. It relies on a series of ‘smart’ control points which not only register a trap being set off, but can report bait take and register movement in real time. More importantly, it records all of this and presents the information in a way that’s easy to understand.
1. CONTINUOUS REMOTE SITE MONITORING – Reduced risks. Tackling problems early on gives faster results, and with sensors we can detect motion even if there’s no bait take.
2. SERVICE VISITS - As soon as the stations report activity, a technician is dispatched to investigate. They will add additional ‘dumb’ boxes with control methods and also report on any proofing that’s required.
3. ESCALATIONS – If we have a site with ongoing activity, the escalations team is brought in to investigate further. This specialist team will carry out in-depth surveys and produce action plans to tackle the issue.
4. HOT SPOTTING – PestSense is very useful in helping identify hot spots. In our trials, actual hot spots and mice sightings were in completely different areas.
5. PROOFING – Once the entry route has been identified, professional rodent proofing should be carried out. We have a team of four dedicated proofing technicians, who can remove units and access high levels to carry out complex proofing works.
This is a new product. How do we
Control point #10: We can now remotely check to see if bait stations have been accessed. Control point 10 has been interacted with 93 times and 60% of the bait is gone. No other system can tell us this.
know it works? We’re currently working with the PestSense System collating data in trials. On one trial site so far, over 80% of our detections have been in one small area, identifying it as a key area and perhaps associated with nesting. The interesting thing is that this area isn’t where the majority of sightings are occurring.
This would not have been spotted without the use of a digital system and could have led to inaccurate proofing works or an increase in measures in a less effective area, wasting time and money.
Time spent on site only really gives technicians a narrow glimpse into the true nature of pest activity. A one-hour monthly routine equates to being able to observe activity in real time on site for 0.14% of the time. So, we train ourselves to understand pest biology and behaviour, to detect pest activity via residual evidence (bait take, droppings and smear marks) – but what if there aren’t any? What if mice don’t eat the bait? What if it’s a new infestation?
What does this mean for you, the customer?
Customers are mostly interested in one thing: a pest-free environment. When issues happen, how quickly can they be resolved to return to a pest-free environment?
34 | TOMORROW'S CLEANING
Be it a high-end restaurant going viral on social media or a supermarket closed for days, these aren’t financially inconsequential events. Such examples highlight the need to proactively manage pest-related risks, through investment in technology that can provide early problem notification and pest management servicing practices that utilise and align with that.
Pest prevention is analogous to fire prevention but needs to move to the latter’s model of continuous monitoring. No one would purchase a smoke alarm that only checked the site once a month.
To find out more or to be considered as a trial site, please contact
julia@beaverpest.co.uk. We’re particularly interested in data centres or high-risk areas with difficult access.
www.pestcontrolservices.co.uk twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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