8:24 am, June 23, 2008
BY tackling theft and vandalism problems, Nick Whale Group has saved itself nearly £1million – every year.
The Midlands dealership group has achieved this by investing in ioimage video analytics, an events-driven system that tracks all motion but filters out extraneous activity that can cause irritating false alarms.
Problem facing the group will be familiar. More than 100 cars on a 270 square metre perimeter lot all demanded protection. Sprawling outdoor sites are Mecca to thieves, who have lots of hiding places and the advantage of constantly moving sock blocking traditional sensors.
This is how lowlifes were getting away with five break-ins a year – each time taking up to five cars. The cost alone was getting out of hand, not to mention the wasted manpower caused by all the false alarms, too.
But it was crucial to keep costs down – the existing infrastructure had to be retained. It was therefore retrofitted with the ioimage advanced tracking and intrusion detection capabilities. This was seamlessly integrated with the existing system, even down to the employees still using the same alarm panel. No extra training was required.
When a camera detects a security breach, alerts and photos are instantly transmitted to a remote video receiving centre which charges a fixed annual fee to monitor the site. An operator then determines whether or not there is indeed an intruder and can sound a warning over the sales lot’s PA system. If the trespasser is not deterred, a security patrol is immediately dispatched to the scene.
And, does it work. Within two months of installing the ioimage system, several intruders were detected and removed from the premises.
But not only has Nick Whale slashed thefts, it’s also saving significant manpower resources, due to a dramatic reduction in the incidence of false alarms. Maintenance costs have also plummeted, because of the system’s automated sensitivity to adjust to environmental changes.
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