Setting the Standard for AI Weapons Detection
Modern weapons detection has changed what entrance security can look like. AI-powered walk-through systems now let many schools, hospitals, stadiums, theme parks and workplaces screen for concealed threats without asking everyone to stop, empty their pockets and set down their bags.
The whole industry deserves credit for that progress. Today’s best systems pair advanced sensors with AI to tell a phone from a firearm, give operators clear direction on alerts and keep people moving. Every provider pushing in that direction is helping to make public spaces safer.
As AI, speed and accuracy become common themes across security screening solutions, it can be harder to understand what meaningfully differentiates one system from another. So what actually sets one system apart?
Where Evolv Stands Apart
Many providers now offer AI-powered weapons detection, and a growing number offer directed search, showing which person to check and roughly where to search. So, it’s worth taking a closer look at the capabilities and considerations that can help distinguish Evolv from different solutions. Below is a chart of capabilities that are difficult to find altogether in one solution.
| Capabilities | Evolv | Other Vendors* |
| AI | Proprietary AI with purpose-built hardware for people and bag screening | AI available from some providers |
| LOCALIZED THREAT | Evolv’s Red Box allows you to see who and where to search, marked directly on the alert image, viewable on phone or desktop | Alert guidance varies by solution |
| REAL-WORLD SCALE | Over 5 billion people screened and counting | No comparable figure identified |
| ADA-COMPLIANT | Supports group entry with single-or-dual-lane configuration; all configurations except outdoor model with standard mat are ADA-compliant for access | Lane configurations and accessibility vary by solution, often single lane |
| SAFETY ACT DESIGNATED | Offers both People and Bag Screening solutions, both SAFETY Act designated | Product offerings and SAFETY Act designations vary. No identifiable company with both people and bag screening both SAFETY ACT designated |
| WHAT-IF ANALYSIS | Make informed decisions by seeing how sensitivity changes could impact alarm rates | Published analytics vary by provider; no comparable “what-if” capability identified |
| EXPERT SERVICE AND SUPPORT | Support and onsite service included in Evolv’s consultative approach to partnership | Published support offerings, including onsite service and response times, vary by solution |
*Comparison reflects publicly available information reviewed as of 11/3/2026 for seven selected competing solutions from CEIA, SoundThinking, MiS Security, Athena Security, Xonar, Xtract One and Garrett, including vendor product pages, product documentation and publicly available SAFETY Act information. Product capabilities and offerings vary and may change. “Not identified” means not identified in the public sources reviewed and does not necessarily mean unavailable.
Where to Search is Boxed Directly on the Alert Image
When Evolv Express® alerts, the operator sees where to look: the area of the potential threat is marked directly on an image on the Evolv tablet, whether it is on a person or in a bag. The same alert images are available in the MyEvolv mobile app and web portal, so supervisors can review what the operator sees from a phone or a desktop.
What that means for your team:
- Focused searches. Staff have guidance on where on the person or bag to search.
- A respectful experience. A directed search designed to be less intrusive for the visitor.
- Consistent decisions. Operators and supervisors look at the same image.
- Review from anywhere. Supervisors can check alerts without standing at the entrance.
5+ Billion People Screened
Evolv Express® has screened over 5 billion people since 2019 and now screens 4 million people a day on average. Based on Evolv’s internal screening data and TSA’s 2025 Year in Review, in 2025, Evolv Express screened more people on average per day than the TSA. That experience spans iconic venues, schools, hospitals, casinos and entertainment venues, each with its own crowds, bags and rhythms.
What that scale means for you:
- Proven in real conditions. Indoor and outdoor entrances, peak arrivals and ordinary school mornings are all part of the record, not lab scenarios.
- Fewer surprises at rollout. A deployment at your site draws on experience from venues like yours.
- Credibility with stakeholders. Boards, administrators and the public can see a track record.
Dual-Lane Group Entry in a Single Unit
Evolv Express offers a system with single-or-dual-lane configuration, so two people or even two groups can walk through at the same time at a natural pace. All configurations (except Gen 1 outdoor model with standard mat) are ADA-compliant for access. Evolv rates a dual-lane system at up to 4,000 people per hour. Actual throughput depends on sensitivity level, bag clutter and crowd flow.
What that means for your entrance:
- Groups stay together. Parents with children, classmates and friends enter side by side instead of splitting into a single-file line.
- More capacity from one footprint. Two lanes in one unit means one system to place, power and manage.
- Managing lines at peak. Fast entry keeps arrivals from backing up at the gate, which matters most when everyone shows up at once.
People and Bag Screening
Evolv Express screens people and Evolv eXpedite™ screens bags, and both are managed under Evolv’s platforms. Evolv Express and eXpedite are designated as Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technologies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s SAFETY Act, a federal program that offers liability protections for qualified technologies. Ask your counsel what this can mean for your venue.
What combining people and bag screening can mean for your checkpoint:
- Layered security from one provider. Express screens people while eXpedite screens bags, so visitors can keep laptops and binders in their bags.
- No image interpretation needed. eXpedite is designed to give a red light or green light for each bag, so a trained X-ray reader is not required.
- One view of alerts. Alerts from both systems appear on a single Evolv tablet, and data from both flows into the MyEvolv portal.
- Focused people screening. With bags handled by eXpedite, Express can focus on people at its optimal sensitivity.
Evolv Insights® What-If Sensitivity Analysis
Evolv Insights lets teams see what their alarm rates would have looked like at a different sensitivity setting, using their own historical data. Insights also reports number of visitors by system, alarm rates and alert types across every Express system, down to five-minute increments.
What that means for your team:
- Sensitivity set with evidence. Test alternative settings against your own past events instead of guessing.
- Staffing that follows the real curve. Arrival and alarm data inform when to add or move people, including for secondary screening.
- Event-to-event comparison. See how a Saturday game differs from a concert and tune operations for each.
- Always in reach. Dashboards refresh continously, reports arrive daily, weekly and monthly, and the MyEvolv mobile app puts the same data in your pocket.
Support Included in Your Subscription
Evolv Express® subscriptions include Technical Support and onsite Field Support for the full term, so help is part of the plan from day one. Support is available by phone and email 24/7/365, including holidays, and issues are triaged by severity so the most critical get the fastest response.
What that means for your team:
- Help any hour, any day. Reach support around the clock, holidays included.
- Fast response when it matters most. Critical issues that disrupt screening get a remote response in under 30 minutes.
- An engineer on site when needed. If phone and email can’t solve it, Evolv sends a Field Support Engineer at no additional fee, unless the issue comes from misuse or improper maintenance.
- Problems caught early. Real-time service monitoring flags Express scanner issues as they happen and sends them to Evolv’s support platform.
- No surprise service bills. Support and field service are part of the subscription, not a separate line item.
Evolv Express subscriptions include Technical Support and onsite Field Support for the full term, so help is part of the plan from day one.
What that means for your team:
- Fast response when it matters most. Support will remotely troubleshoot to isolate, remedy, and resolve the critical issues that disrupt screening.
- An engineer on site when needed. If phone and email can’t solve it, Evolv sends a Field Support Engineer at no additional fee, unless the issue comes from misuse or improper maintenance.
- Problems caught early. Real-time service monitoring flags Express scanner issues as they happen and sends them to Evolv’s support platform.
- No surprise service bills. Support and field service are part of the subscription, not a separate line item.
Conclusion
Advanced weapons detection gives every kind of venue a way to enhance security without turning entry into a bottleneck, and the whole industry keeps getting better at it. What matters now is proof that a solution works at real entrances, at real scale.
Evolv has nearly 5 billion people screened, close to 5 million more every day, and more than 30 million bags screened by eXpedite since it launched at the end of 2024. Add dual-lane group entry, SAFETY Act designation for both people and bag screening, and Insights data, and you have a platform built to set the standard.
