Over the course of last year, security vendors have taken part in complex projects across verticals. In these projects, the end user is aiming to have their security as well as non-security needs – for example process and efficiency improvement – addressed.
1. Retail
In retail, for example, storeowners are now in constant need to understand customer behavior, so as to optimize store layout and provide a better shopping experience amid higher competition. Various types of video analytics, from people counting and queue management, can help in this regard. Video integrated with POS, further, can help determine how many visitors to a store have actually made a purchase, thus helping the retailer figure out better sales and marketing strategies.
There are also integrated solutions that enable customers to better engage with products. Forming expanded partnerships with companies producing specialty bottle closures, retailers can optimize their own work. For example, the collaboration of a retailer with such a company resulted in the production of intelligent NFC bottle closures. The idea here is to allow consumers to better engage with their product, the bottle of wine or spirits. Consumers can tap their Android or iOS device to the cap of the bottle and easily register their purchase and receive special offers. It’s about expanding the use of technology to increase customer engagement, which is a win for everyone.
2. Utilities/Manufacturing
Then there’s utilities and manufacturing, where operators rely more and more on video integrated with other factory automation systems for inspection quality control and preventive maintenance.
Today, utilities are starting to use thermal security cameras for perimeter protection as well as radiometric thermal cameras, integrated with temperature trending software, for predictive maintenance. The data from the software allows facility managers to remotely inspect equipment and identify any asset at risk of overheating prior to burnout. The result is substantial savings for the customer.
In one particularly challenging application, a surveillance system needed to be integrated with remotely controlled bridge cranes, in order for operators to accurately synchronize between real-time video images and the operation of the cranes. Camera views had to be aligned with the laser positioning system and the entire new system had to be deployed within the tight window of the site’s 20-day annual maintenance shutdown. Now, as an operator control the crane, the system switches views automatically between camera presets, while real-time IP video transmission allows the crane movements to be optimized with no delay. The result is not only improved performance and safety, but now all processes are backed by a full visual audit trail.
3. Transportation/Smart City
In transportation, security equipment is often used to smoothen traffic flow or perform other management tasks. Cameras integrated with a traffic management system, for example, can allow self-adaptive traffic light to adjust the length of red or green signals based on the present traffic condition, or help operators make better transportation plans. We’re seeing examples of cities deploying thermal cameras with traffic management software to improve mobility. While the thermal cameras detect vehicles, the software analyzes destination statistics, travels times and arrival on red or green lights. All of this data helps cities understand traffic patterns and congestion so that steps can be taken to improve traffic flow.
4. Venue Management
More and more, access control can be integrated with other technologies to enhance not only security but also management. Recently, one of the security companies used its cloud-based access control and video management solution to help the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which wanted to maximize the use of their facilities by getting as many people on to their courts every day as possible. That cloud-based solution integrated with a platform called ClubSpark, a venue management tool from Sportlabs. It allows tennis courts to be booked through a simple process, while allowing users to have remote management control for analyzing door status within a specific facility (or chain of them). Tennis players make and pay for bookings using ClubSpark from their mobile devices, then receive a text message with a pin code that is also communicated to the access control solution. When players arrive at the court, they enter the code into a reader that opens the court gate.
Adapted from a&s Magazine