Video management systems (VMS) are moving beyond just security applications, where operators observe an image on a screen, or react to a system triggered event. By analyzing the complex information contained in a picture, through the use of smart algorithms, intelligent business data can be extracted from simple video camera streams.
The extraction and analysis of this embedded data provides the business owner with immediate business intelligence resulting in improved effectiveness of current management and business operations. This enables an immediate response to operations, resulting in the streamlining of the entire business process, not just security.
With the project cost of security installations often exceeding the available budget the ability of spreading the scope and usefulness of the surveillance system across multiple departments significantly improves the ROI of the system. Buy-in from marketing, training and operations departments, to name a few, becomes a reality when the direct impact of this intelligent data is pertinent to their effec
tiveness.
Captured data of people movement on an hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis around the isles of a retail store can aid the marketing department in shelf product layout and the positioning of promotions, marketing end-caps and marketing material for maximum effect.
The store operations management can use the same foot-count data to evaluate the floor layout to avoid congestion in specific areas and lack of customers in others and will help identify suspicious behavior.
Queue/line
length monitoring, while getting immediate feedback through automated notifications regarding check-out line lengths, will provide a reduction in the time spent in line, by optimizing the number of registers open at any given time.
Point-of-sale (POS) monitoring not only has the benefit of a reduction in fraud and shrinkage, but can be used to identify deficiencies and strengths in operator function, thereby helping the training department enhance and improve their program.
Customer service is able to monitor the customer interaction and attitude at registers to help streamline the check-out process and make it as pleasant an experience as possible for the customer. Customer queries regarding the check-out process can be speedily resolved through the reviewing of recorded footage linked to the register, date and time of the transaction, or even their receipt number.
Overall store operations management have real-time event monitoring and recording to aid in the optimal use of their available resources. Notifications of movement or lack thereof, in critical areas such as goods receiving or dispatch can evoke an immediate response from assigned personnel.
Through the integration of third-party devices and systems in the VMS, a single information source is achieved for safety and security. A VMS linked burglar alarm, fire alarm and access control system can give immediate notification with video footage of system events enabling the correct assignment of resources to the affected area. Incidents involving the public for which the business could be held liable can be minimized through abandoned object detection algorithms. Loitering on company property can be identified to increase business and customer security.
VMS has moved on from a security grudge purchase offering only a security surveillance solution to become a business intelligence tool that is able to deliver a broader ROI beneficial to the entire business.