Glenn Davies, CCTV/ Video Business Product Manager at product distributor ADI-GARDINER, shares hints and tips to ensure that retail businesses install effective and efficient security systems.
The total cost of retail crime in the UK was £3,997 million in 2006, with over £1,877 million lost due to customer theft . On a daily basis, retailers have to face-up to the threat of burglary, attack and staff theft, so it is worth taking the time to consider the available security options.
In the fight to reduce this alarming crime figure, the latest digital CCTV solutions are now being installed in shops to enhance safety and security as well as protect valuable stock. This sophisticated technology has the potential to support remote CCTV control centre monitoring and integration with POS (Point of Sale) transactions to deliver powerful search facilities and provide valuable evidence to convict offenders. To develop a robust security solution to reduce crime, it is important to consider the full range of security products on offer, including networkable DVRs, dome cameras and IP solutions.
Domes
When it comes to CCTV cameras for use in a retail setting, it is aesthetically pleasing and flexible domes that have really made their mark, successfully blending into the environment and covertly tracking offenders. The very fact that individuals are not necessarily aware that they are being monitored places control of the situation back in the hands of the retailer who can choose the most appropriate moment to intervene.
Looking at specific solutions, Baxall ICE-Dome cameras from Dedicated Micros incorporate a number of innovations including a sophisticated three-axis GyroView set-up that allows the camera to be positioned to cover any aspect of a specific scene. Another system is the award-winning ICED-HyperDome which is perfect for high contrast daylight/interior scenes such as those found in a shop entrance. With the images from this camera individuals can be readily identified instead of just producing a silhouette image of a target which greatly enhances the evidential value of any captured images.
Recording
Turning to the Digital Video Recorder (DVR), the new plug and play SD Range is starting to take off. Providing all important text support for POS transactions, it features ‘Normal, Medium and Low’ default recording settings to provide consistent recording performance per camera (regardless of the number of cameras) and easy to use, selectable storage configurations.
Perhaps the most significant advance with the SD Range is that selected models are โAnalytics Capableโ, which allows intelligent video analysis to be applied for security purposes as well as a management resource e.g. ‘People Counting’. This capability can be unlocked through a simple software and hardware licence upgrade. The SD Range also supports a remotely monitored CCTV capability which can help to protect retail outlets when they are closed overnight and, crucially, be tied-in with measures such as a panic button during working hours to protect workers from physical attack. Once the panic button is activated, operators at a connected CCTV control room – known as a Remote Video Response Centre (RVRC) – can view the associated images and alert the authorities, and where necessary warn-off offenders by using in-store speakers.
Fighting shrinkage at till
Historically, actions by dishonest staff such as bogus refunds on sales, under-rings and other forms of register theft have been notoriously difficult to catch. DVRs can now be utilised as part of the retail security arsenal offering the potential for each cash register transaction to be associated with relevant CCTV footage in an event log. By tracking what is actually happening at individual registers, and the potential for matching images to key inputs such as ‘void’ or ‘refund’, retailers can effectively combat internal crime.
Developments
Pro-active security is an interesting topic and we will see more examples of this over the years. The recent introduction of PA speakers attached to camera poles, allowing two-way audio from a central station for town centre monitoring and public control, is a case in point. In the future, the technology that will have the greatest impact will be recording software, which includes intelligent video analysis offering motion detection, object detection, facial recognition, iris recognition, behavioural monitoring and automatic number plate recognition. Many of these technologies exist but their degree of intelligence and consistency will increase over the coming years.
Realities
Ultimately, when it comes to retail security and reducing crime, it is a question of having the right systems in place, whether that is fast moving dome cameras or flexible networkable DVRs, to effectively manage stock and deter criminal in-store activity.
