Concepts for selecting the number and placement of video cameras to build a digital video monitoring system at a retail facility with self-service trading.

Concepts for selecting the number and placement of video cameras to build a digital video monitoring system at a retail facility with self-service trading.

Concepts for selecting the number and placement of video cameras to build a digital video monitoring system at a retail facility with a self-service trading form

To choose the right platform, get maximum economic return and increase profits, we recommend that you think through the answers to the following key questions:

1. What is the purpose of the system?
2. What results do you expect from the installed system?
3. How will the operation and use of the system capabilities take place?
4. What financial resources are you ready to invest in your development, implementing and improving this system?

Choosing a highly qualified and professional partner to ensure trade security is the key to your further successful development!

1. BASIC PLATFORM
THE PLATFORM IDEOLOGY IS «BORDER CONTROL» (ENTRANCES TO THE SITE, EXITS FROM THE SITE, CONTROL OF POINTS FOR TRANSFER AND RECEIPT OF CASH AND GOODS).

PLACEMENT OF VIDEO CAMERAS:
1. Entrance to the sales area (the main goal is to obtain a photo database of incoming visitors, with the possibility of recognition);
2. Cash settlement units (in the sense of the video monitoring system of cash transactions, the main goal is full control over the movement of goods and cash in the cash area);
3. Landing stage (the main goal is control over current events and over employees' compliance with work rules and internal regulations);
4. Service entrance (the main goal is control over current events and over employees' compliance with work rules and internal regulations);
5. Transition from the sales area to the service areas (the main goal is to monitor events and employees’ compliance with work rules and internal regulations).

SUMMARY: This platform allows to accumulate a bank of photo data of persons entering the sales area or leaving it through the entrance, with the possibility of further recognition; to carry out archival and operational control over events occurring in the area of ​​settlement and cash desks, the landing stage, the service entrance, the transition from the sales area to the service premises. It mainly assumes archival work of the operator.

2. STANDARD PLATFORM
IDEOLOGY OF THE PLATFORM – “BASIC” PLATFORM + CONTROL OF THE LOCATION OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE AND THEFT-SUSCEPTIBLE GOODS IN THE RETAIL FLOOR, CONTROL OF OVER-COUNTER SALES IN THE RETAIL FLOOR, CONTROL OF HIDDEN SPACES OF THE RETAIL FLOOR, CONTROL OF SERVICE CORRIDORS AND ACCESS AREAS TO WAREHOUSE AREAS, CONTROL OF THE MAIN CASH OFFICE, PARTIAL CONTROL OF THE PERIMETER (ENTRANCE TO THE SITE, PARKING).

PLACEMENT OF VIDEO CAMERAS:
1. Entrance to the sales area (the main goal is to obtain a photo database of incoming visitors, with the ability to recognize them);
2. Cash register units (in the sense of the video monitoring system of cash transactions, the main goal is full control over the movement of goods and cash in the cash area);
3. Landing stage (the main goal is to control events and employees' compliance with work rules and internal regulations);
4. Service entrance (the main purpose is to monitor current events and employees’ compliance with work rules and internal regulations);
5. Transition from the sales area to the service areas (the main purpose is to monitor current events and employees’ compliance with work rules and internal regulations).
6. Service corridors and access areas to warehouse areas (the main purpose is to monitor current events);
7. Main cash register (the main purpose is to monitor current events);
8. Exit from the checkout area (the main goal is to monitor current events, determine which checkout the customer went through and/or paid for the goods, monitor storage cells);
9. Locations of the most expensive and theft-prone goods in the sales area, counter trade (the main goal is alcoholic beverages, related goods, household chemicals, cosmetics, cold cuts (especially fish), tea, coffee, confectionery);
10. Hidden spaces of the sales area, i.e. L-shaped and U-shaped areas (the main goal is to control the events taking place);
11. Partial perimeter (at least – the entrance to the store from the street, the main goal is to control the events taking place, possibly parking for visitors).

SUMMARY: This platform allows you to accumulate a photo database of people entering the sales area or leaving it through the entrance, with the possibility of further recognition; to carry out archival and operational control over events occurring in the areas where the most expensive and theft-prone goods are located, counter trade, cash register units, the cash area, the landing stage, the service entrance, the transition from the sales area to the service areas, service corridors, access areas to warehouse areas, the main cash desk, along the perimeter of the facility. Assumes archival and operational work of the operator.

3. MAXIMUM PLATFORM
IDEOLOGY OF THE PLATFORM – CONTROL OVER ALL POSSIBLE MOVEMENTS OF BUYERS, STAFF, GOODS, ETC. BOTH OUTSIDE AND INSIDE THE FACILITY, WITH DETAILING OF SOME INTERNAL AREAS.

PLACEMENT OF VIDEO CAMERAS:
1. Entrance to the sales area (the main goal is to obtain a photo database of incoming visitors, with the possibility of recognition);
2. Cash register units (in the understanding of the video monitoring system of cash transactions, the main goal is full control over the movement of goods and cash in the cash area);
3. Landing stage (the main objective is to monitor current events and employees’ compliance with work rules and internal regulations);
4. Service entrance (the main objective is to monitor current events and employees’ compliance with work rules and internal regulations);
5. Transition from the sales area to the service areas (the main objective is to monitor current events and employees’ compliance with work rules and internal regulations).
6. Service corridors and access zones to warehouse areas (the main objective is to monitor current events);
7. Main cash register (the main objective is to monitor current events);
8. Exit from the cash register area (the main objective is to monitor current events, determine which cash register the customer went through and/or paid for the goods, monitor the storage cells);
9. Locations of the most expensive and theft-prone goods in the sales area, counter trade (the main objective is alcoholic beverages, related products, household chemicals, cosmetics, cold cuts (especially fish), tea, coffee, confectionery);
10. Hidden spaces of the sales area, i.e. L-shaped and U-shaped areas (the main goal is to monitor events);
11. Partial perimeter (at least the entrance to the store from the street, the main goal is to monitor events, possibly parking for visitors);
12. Sales area, perimeter, utility rooms (the main goal is to install cameras in such a way that a buyer/visitor/employee leaving the viewing area of ​​one camera enters the viewing area of ​​another).

SUMMARY: This platform allows using all the capabilities of the previous platforms and additionally provides full control at the facility. It assumes archival and operational work of the operator.

Each of the platforms proposed for possible implementation has a logical structure and is an independent and, to a certain extent, complete system.

2. OPERATION OF DIGITAL SYSTEMS

PART I. Intelligence
The program «Intellect» (hereinafter referred to as the system) is a digital system for recording images from video cameras with the ability to simultaneously access the video archive without stopping recording, view the video archive from several video cameras simultaneously, and use other convenient and useful functions.

Work with the system can be:
— archival;
— operational.

ARCHIVE WORK WITH THE SYSTEM
By archival work with the system we mean:
— absence of an employee for constant operational viewing of video monitors;
— access to the video archive and other system capabilities if necessary.
To obtain maximum profit from the installed system, archival work should not be limited to accessing the video archive in cases of analysis of any situations that became known after the fact (for example, the discovery of missing property and goods of the enterprise from the sales area and office premises, the property of buyers, etc.). It is necessary to constantly access the video recordings in the archive. We recommend doing this procedure at least once during the duration of the recorded archive, that is, if, for example, the duration of the archive is 10 days, then it is necessary to access the archive once during these 10 days!!!
With proper ongoing monitoring, you will receive maximum benefit and profit from the installed system.
Otherwise, you risk missing the timely detection of certain illegal actions of employees or customers or other events causing direct or indirect damage to the enterprise, which could have been timely detected, stopped and prevented from being repeated in the future.

OPERATIVE WORK WITH THE SYSTEM
Operational work is an important addition to archival work and appears if the enterprise has an employee who is constantly at the system control unit and views the events taking place on video monitors in real time.
In this case, the probability of timely detection, suppression and prevention of illegal actions of employees, customers or other events increases, practically in real time.
Of course, this has a more powerful impact on:
— discipline of personnel, their behavior with customers;
— behavior and actions of customers;
— timely detection and suppression of visits to the enterprise by unwanted visitors;
— timely suppression of illegal actions of employees, cashiers, customers, etc., as a result of which the enterprise's losses are reduced.

PART II. POS-Intellect
The program is additionally installed in Intellect and is:
— superimposing text information on the video image from the camera installed above the given cash register and the inter-cash desk passage, which represents the full sequence of actions of the given cashier in the trade automation program, i.e. this is receipt information on the goods being scanned + the cashier's actions that are not reflected in the receipt (for example, changing the quantity of goods, canceling goods, opening a cash drawer without a transaction, or an attempt to carry out an operation prohibited for the given employee); — saving this text information in special software formats in order to perform search functions by any symbol/set of symbols/word/set of words over time in these databases. The found text information is supplied simultaneously with the corresponding time-synchronized video image for further viewing, printing, etc.; — performing search functions in the receipt information database using a special query tool, the purpose of which is to provide the operator with broader opportunities to identify certain events (for example, searching for receipts in which the receipt amount was more than 4,000 rubles).

The installation of the POS-Intellect system is inextricably linked with the installation of additional video cameras in the Intellect system, namely: — the “ENTRY TO THE SALES AREA” video camera — is necessary to obtain the highest quality photo and video image of a particular visitor participating in the event being analyzed at a given cash register; — the “EXIT FROM THE CASH REGISTER” video camera/cameras — is necessary to accurately determine which cash register a particular visitor passed through, as well as for general monitoring of events in the cash register exit area, buyers’ property, supermarket property, etc.
Working with POS-Intellect can also be archival and operational.

ARCHIVE WORK WITH POS-Intellect
Archival work with POS-Intellect also consists of the actions described earlier in Intellect, BUT!!! plus to this, constant monitoring is required for:
— compliance of the goods scanned at a given cash register with those actually passing through a given cash unit;
— purchases made by employees and administration;
— illegal actions of cashiers;
— payments for goods by suspicious persons;
— actions of cashiers when turning on and off the cash register, inserting, withdrawing, and collecting money;
— actions of cashiers during the night mode of operation of the enterprise;
— analysis of purchases made by visitors;
— identification of suspicious persons making frequent purchases for small amounts;
— other possible events.

EXAMPLE:
1. Having watched the video recording corresponding to the event «OPENING A CASH DRAWER WITHOUT A TRANSACTION», we will see how the cashier changes money for visitors, although this is prohibited by the internal regulations, or simply opens the cash drawer and puts into her pocket a certain amount of money that she was able to earn during the working day on cancellations, annulments, returns of goods, etc.

OPERATIVE WORK WITH POS-Intellect
Operational work in addition to archival provides a significant opportunity to increase the effect of the installed system by identifying and preventing certain undesirable situations in real time.