IKEA France has gone for IP video for CCTV surveillance in its new 215,000 sq ft flagship store in Grenoble.
IKEA invests heavily in CCTV technology in their stores. The new store, which opened in October 2007, is seen as a test site for the adoption of IP-CCTV for other new IKEA stores in France.
The 36-camera system was installed by UK manufacturer IndigoVision’s local partner Concept Maintenance. IndigoVision’s compression technology allows the IP system to operate on the store’s existing LAN with minimal impact on network bandwidth, it is claimed. The IKEA network supports Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), which allows any new IP cameras to be connected directly to the network via a single CAT-5 cable. This provides a very scalable and cost-effective solution for future expansion, according to the firms.
The security operators required no more than two hours of training to operate the system. A single ‘Control Center’ workstation – Control Center is IndigoVision’s IP Video and alarm management software – is in the security control room where the operators view live video only. A second ‘Control Center’ workstation is in the IT room where the Security Manager can view both live and recorded video, as only management is allowed to view recorded footage. Three IndigoVision standalone Network Video Recorders (NVRs) provide 15 days of continuous recordings from all cameras.
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Sylvie Weber, IKEA’s Country Security Manager, said of the system: “We are very pleased with the system and in particular with the superb image quality and the ‘Control Center’ user interface. It’s very easy to find and analyse a particular video clip, which can then be exported in a tamper-proof form for police evidence if required.”
Evacuation of staff and customers during a fire or incident is paramount to IKEA’s operational planning and they run many practice simulations. The CCTV system has been configured to help in situations like these. For example when an emergency exit is opened a ‘Control Center’ alarm is triggered which automatically pans the nearest camera to display the exit so operators can ensure a smooth and orderly evacuation. The IP solution can be used to provide benefits beyond security. Some retailers are accessing in-store footage to help analyse merchandising, in-store promotions and footfall trends. This can be achieved locally and nationally, with central marketing teams accessing live and recorded video from any store at any location across their corporate networks.
