The Australian retailer Harvey Norman is upgrading its CCTV with IP. Franchisees at around a third of stores in Australia and New Zealand are now using German CCTV firm Geutebruck’s products.
With 250 stores trading as ‘Domayne’ and ‘Joyce Mayne’ as well as ‘Harvey Norman’, this franchise operation sells electrical, computer and entertainment equipment, furniture and bedding. Franchisees handle their own day-to-day security operations but Harvey Norman supports them with security hardware and technical expertise.
When ageing DVR and analogue systems needed replacement, the retail chain sought image quality, but important too was 90-day storage capacity, hybrid operation with existing analogue cameras, and client software. Intuitive operation was particularly wanted because store managers have no specialist CCTV skills.
One year into the five-year renewal and Bill Elkass, Harvey Norman’s general manager of loss prevention, says of the result: “Now we find that when we are looking at an incident of theft, we can see exactly what is going on: what the suspect picks up and where he conceals it. Our new systems provide the clarity which enables the police to take action.”
The new kit is being applied in various ways depending on the size of the site and the existing equipment. Small stores have 40 to 50 cameras, large ones around 110, with the average being 60 to 70. Some stores have pure IP systems using super micro servers with 30 cameras per server. Some solutions are hybrid systems, using Geutebruck re_porter hardware with existing analogue cameras and new IP ones sited to monitor critical areas.: for example over cash registers, to record of transactions and spot discrepancies.
Elkass adds of store staff: “I have to say, they are absolutely loving it. The franchisees talk amongst themselves and they all want Geutebruck technology.”
Website: www.geutebrueck.com
