Business Security Archives - Interface Systems

Video Monitoring Use Cases

Matt Smitheman — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 10:18:44 +0000

Business Security

Matt Smitheman

Senior Solutions Consultant

Business Security Remote Video Monitoring Video Analytics

8 Video Monitoring Use Cases for Retail and Restaurant Chains

Video monitoring has become the first line of defense for asset protection and loss prevention teams at retail and restaurant chains. Use cases for video monitoring are already well understood and they cover the most common threats – burglary, robbery, shoplifting, vandalism, and internal theft.

However, what is not understood is to what extent video monitoring addresses these risks and what else can be accomplished by video monitoring in the context of current technology innovations.

This blog post offers loss prevention or asset protection teams insights on how a combination of advanced video monitoring technology along with a well-trained monitoring team can not only deliver a wide range of business security services but also offer advanced operational insights, and improve employee morale.

1. Stop Shoplifting

After the brief, COVID closure-induced lull, shoplifting is now a growing threat for retailers. According to the Council on Criminal Justice, shoplifting incidents rose 22% between 2022 and 2023. For a habitual shoplifter, the presence of video cameras is just a speed bump and they find ways to cleverly hide their deeds and identities with Covid hold over masking or meticulously plan their act. Hence, traditional video monitoring solutions have limited applications other than identifying perpetrators if the camera device choices and installations are properly set up.

However, if video monitoring by a remote monitoring team is enhanced with the ability to issue voice-down commands, shoplifters can be stopped in their tracks even before they commit shoplifting and, in many cases, force them to rethink their choices even after they pocket the merchandise.

Shoplifting is a crime of opportunity and it ends the moment the shoplifter realizes someone is watching them. The overt security presence in the form of a voice-down commend either recorded or live has a significantly better impact on shoplifters who are accustomed to video surveillance.
When live video monitoring can be requested on-demand by a store employee who has direct access to a remote command center via a security phone, suspicious actions by anyone at the store can be spotted and acted upon. Remote security staff can then deliver targeted voice-downs that can sometimes describe the person committing a crime or issue a general command about the security presence.
Remote video monitoring and voice-downs can also be timed to align with key moments of the day when shoplifting spikes. For example, convenience stores near schools see a spike in security incidents when the school ends for the day in the afternoon. That’s when “gangs” of teens walk into a store and start pocketing merchandise.

Issues in Combating Shoplifting

How Video Monitoring Can Help

Shoplifters are no longer deterred by passive surveillance.
Live 24/7 video monitoring may still require action on the ground when a shoplifter is caught in the act.
Involving employees in confronting or stopping shoplifters is risky and often not encouraged by the store operators.
The presence of security guards increases the risk of confrontation, life threat, and liability claims exposure.

Periodic virtual tours with live voice-down commands can demonstrate “active” security presence and deter shoplifters.
Using security phones or concealed panic buttons, employees at the store can request live monitoring and voice-down anytime they see suspicious activity.

2. Deter Smash and Grab

Smash-and-grab incidents have become a serious threat for many retailers and even restaurants. Some of the worst affected states like California have increased spending on law enforcement to combat smash-and-grab incidents in the state that’s forcing retailers and restaurant chains to close down operations in high-risk areas.

In situations where smash and grab is already in progress, the standard operating procedure at most retailers is for employees to back off and not confront the criminals. If a security guard is present on site, the situation can become more challenging as the guard may be targeted by the gang as they seek to subdue any potential threat to their plan.

Remote video monitoring with interactive capabilities can make a difference in minimizing losses and providing a greater chance for law enforcement to apprehend smash-and-grab perpetrators.

Remote surveillance with periodic voice-downs announces active security presence to those casing a location. With interactive monitoring, employees can request active monitoring using the security phone if they suspect anyone at the store acting suspiciously such as asking where the most expensive items are kept.
When remote monitoring is combined with live voice-downs, criminals know they are under surveillance and law enforcement is probably on their way. This can help minimize damage and loss as the perpetrators look to leave the premises quickly.
Remote video monitoring enables faster information dissemination to internal loss prevention teams, mall security, and law enforcement. This can be valuable in securing nearby locations proactively or improving the chances of apprehending criminals.

Issues in Combating Smash and Grab

How Video Monitoring Can Help

Gangs operate with impunity as SOPs in most consumer-facing establishments focus on employees stepping aside and directing customers away from gangs.
There is no way to stop gangs from casing the location.
The presence of security guards increases the risk of confrontation, life threat, and liability claims exposure.
Real-time information about gangs is usually not available for law enforcement or mall security to take action.

Alert the central station to seek active surveillance assistance or initiate voice-downs based on the situation that’s unfolding while staying away from harm’s way.
Deter casing with frequent remote virtual tours accompanied by voice-downs.
Gain complete situational awareness and pass on valuable information to security teams and law enforcement.

3. Prevent Vandalism and Loitering

Retail and restaurant chains across the US are battling incidents of smash-and-grab, break-ins, and vandalism. Brands with downtown locations are facing additional headwinds in the form of fewer footfalls, homelessness, vandalism, and vagrancy. With retailers cutting back on hiring, more retail employees are working alone in high-risk situations.

While retailers and restaurant brands have complete control inside the four walls of their stores, they have little or no control over what happens outside and in the perimeter. In downtown locations abetting back alleys, potential troublemakers can find hidden spots to congregate or engage in nefarious activities.

While remote video monitoring can offer 24/7 surveillance inside and outside the store, its effectiveness can improve exponentially with AI-enabled cameras that can accurately detect people or vehicles. Automated detection of unauthorized presence of vehicles or people can be augmented by automated voice-downs, strobes, and lights to ensure prompt action is taken to mitigate risks.

An intelligent voice-down solution that plays out pre-recorded messages when the AI camera flags a security threat can deliver a wide range of security outcomes:

Detects threats autonomously and plays appropriate pre-recorded messages, optional strobes, and/or lights.
Customizable for diverse use cases - after-hour drop-offs, loitering, vagrancy or illegal encampments, vandalism, and unauthorized parking.
Plays a sequence of follow-up messages based on the subject’s compliance with warning messages. Helps in shortening any undesirable activity before it causes major damage.
Handles non-security tasks too - welcome greetings for customers during business hours or remind employees about operating procedures.
Can be integrated with the command center for live video monitoring and voice-downs and give store employees the means to contact the command center for real-time monitoring or voice-down.

Difficulty in Securing the Perimeter

How Video Monitoring Can Help

Monitoring the entire perimeter of a store or restaurant for potential security threats such as loitering, vandalism, and casing is not always foolproof as it requires either a security guard on-site to make frequent rounds or have remote monitoring teams review live video feeds at all times.
Human monitoring for large perimeters (both onsite and offsite) is prone to errors and lapses.
Employees may end up confronting loiterers or vandals. This might escalate the situation or put them in harm’s way.

Offer continuous and proactive security presence with AI-enabled video monitoring augmented with voice-downs and lights.
Trigger voice-downs to announce security presence based on automated threat detection or alarm events such as glass-break alarms.
Deploy 360-degree, always-on monitoring with no gaps.
Eliminate the need for employees to directly interact with troublemakers.
Benefit from versatile applications that go beyond securing the premises.

Find out how Interface uses AI-enabled cameras to deliver autonomous video monitoring that stops crime before it happens.

Learn More

4. Enhance Post-Incident Response

Consumer-facing businesses with retail locations bear the brunt of social or civil unrest. Way back in 2020, when the country was swept by widespread social unrest, thousands of store locations were looted or vandalized.

While there are several ways to proactively deal with the safety and security of people and merchandise in the event of social unrest, how can retailers, restaurants, and other consumer-facing businesses deal with the aftermath of unrest? The same question applies to more frequently occurring incidents such as robberies, floods, or smash-and-grab attacks.

“While we cannot always control what happens outside of our stores and facilities, we can shape the culture within”, remarked the then-CEO of Macy’s speaking about the 2020 race riots.

At a time when employees are on the edge and customers are apprehensive about visiting stores that are recovering from recent attacks, video surveillance coupled with interactive monitoring capabilities such as voice-downs, can mitigate anxiety among employees and customers.

For example, remote business security service providers like Interface help customers address this issue by adopting the following protocols:

Demonstrating live security presence 24/7 using a combination of video and interactive monitoring greatly improves the work environment and customer experience, especially in the aftermath of violent incidents.

Aftermath of a Security Incident

How Video Monitoring Can Help

Employee anxiety about safety at the location.
Higher perceived risks when opening or closing the store.
Diminish customer footfall and reduce time spent at the store.

Demonstrate security presence by increasing the frequency of virtual walkthroughs and conducting live voice-downs to reassure employees and customers.
Act as eyes and ears for employees opening the store or closing the location.

5. Boost Employee Retention

A recent survey conducted by Motorola found that 2 out of 3 retail workers had expressed concerns about their safety at work. In another survey by Verkada that included all consumer-facing businesses, 50% of those surveyed declared they were considering leaving the employer if they did not improve safety.

At a time when retail and restaurant businesses are already reeling from high employee turnover, increasing incidents of crime and violence at the workplace only make this problem acute. Boosting safety by deploying security guards is expensive, unreliable, and often negatively impacts the perceived safety as new customers may see guards as a sign of trouble.

Remote video monitoring with interactive capabilities can address these challenges.

Remote video monitoring augmented with periodic voice-downs reassures employees and customers about a constant security presence.
Offering employees multiple options to immediately seek attention overtly or discreetly (such as using security phones and hidden panic buttons) greatly alleviates security concerns.
Interactive video monitoring services like on-demand security escorts during store opening, closing, or trash runs add to the sense of safety among employees who may be operating alone.

Employees feel safer when they can interact with a live security professional on demand or notice that someone is proactively checking in on them. It’s a “warm safety blanket” that boosts morale and improves employee retention.

Challenges in Employee Retention

How Video Monitoring Can Help

Increasing incidents of disruptive customers, vandalism, vagrancy, and violent crimes force frontline employees to quit.
Employees fear for their safety when working alone during night shifts when there is no one available to seek help.

Offer continuous and proactive security presence with remote video monitoring.
Augment video monitoring with periodic voice-downs or on-demand voice-downs to announce security presence.
Give employees the option to virtually summon security presence for carrying out high-risk tasks.

6. Monitor Overnight Construction or Renovation

Retailers and even restaurant chains understand the importance of customer experience in bringing back customers and increasing the basket size. For example, Walmart spent about $9 billion in the last two years to renovate over 1400 stores. Restaurants too are revamping their locations with expanded drive-thrus and streamlined dining areas.

The bottom line is that consumer-facing multi-site businesses will have to deal with periodic overnight construction activity at some of their locations. Securing the locations when you have a third-party construction crew on the premises is a tricky challenge especially when you have valuable merchandise, equipment, or inventory at the same location.

Just deploying a security guard to watch the construction crew is expensive and has several drawbacks. Security guards may not be able to maintain vigil and ensure compliance all the time, they may show up late or need to schedule their breaks properly.

If remote video monitoring capabilities are already available at locations where overnight construction is scheduled, it throws open a variety of options for the business to monitor if the construction crew is compliant and everything in the location remains intact.

With remote video monitoring and interactive monitoring capabilities, businesses can:

Schedule temporary remote virtual tours when the crew is working on-site to ensure the crew is not violating any policy (leaning against a display unit, not covering up their boots, to name a few).
Make available interactive monitoring capabilities for the construction crews to check in on a need basis such as when leaving the site for a break or coming back in.
Check if all the entry and exit points are secured at all times.
Deliver live voice-downs on a need basis to ensure compliance.
Record videos of compliance and policy violations to create an audit report for the business which can also be shared with the construction company to ensure better compliance and safety at the location.

Remote video monitoring allows multi-site businesses to track and monitor construction safety at hundreds of locations at a time at a fraction of the cost of hiring security guards. In addition, the recorded video serves as a powerful audit and training tool for the construction crew and the loss prevention or asset protection teams.

Issues in Monitoring Overnight Construction

How Video Monitoring Can Help

Need for deploying expensive security guards at every location.
Last-minute guard replacement challenges or no-shows.
No tangible value in terms of learning or best practices is possible.

Replace security guards with an advanced solution at a fraction of the cost for the duration of the overnight construction project at any number of locations.
Service is always available as per the construction schedule.
Intervene in real-time with voice-downs to address safety issues or policy violations.
Audit locations for compliance or policy violations by construction workers. Share audit reports with stakeholders for remediation.

7. Manage Unattended Direct Store Deliveries

Unattended Direct Store Deliveries (DSD) is a popular restocking model in several retail categories like grocery, beverages, and large restaurant chains. This delivery model involves a supplier or distributor to ship the products directly to the store every night for restocking the location.

The DSD model is cost-effective for the business provided it’s managed properly. Because deliveries are unattended and made by third-party drivers when the restaurant or store is closed or running with a skeletal staff, there is an increased risk of theft, liability claims, or accidents.

A video monitoring solution that’s integrated with access control and intrusion alarms at the location can address these risks comprehensively.

Assign specified time slots for 3rd-party drivers to access the backdoors for restocking.
Track all instances of backdoor opening and closing and record video evidence every time the door is opened.
Track exceptions such as door open outside scheduled delivery slots, open doors, and movement of delivery personnel outside designated areas.
Minimize fraudulent liability claims by 3rd-party drivers.
Minimize the need for expensive security guards.

Challenges in Monitoring Unattended Deliveries

How Video Monitoring Can Help

Completely reliant on 3rd-party drivers to ensure every delivery is done as per the rules and policies governing unattended deliveries.
Absence of irrefutable evidence in case of injuries, theft, property damage, or inventory damage.

Enforce access to the facility only at predefined time slots and capture evidence of compliance by integrating video monitoring with access and alarm systems.
Record exceptions and use video evidence for training, claim management, or process improvement.

8. Audit Business Operations

Monitoring store or restaurant operations is a complex challenge for brands, especially for those with numerous locations and diverse formats. To ensure compliance with corporate standards and brand guidelines, retailers and restaurant chains deploy on-site auditors who may conduct planned or even unscheduled audits at different locations.

Onsite audits, while being effective, have inherent limitations. It’s expensive to deploy auditors on-site when there are thousands of locations to manage. The auditors can’t observe what’s happening while remaining discreet in areas where customers are out of bounds.

Video monitoring can address these issues. Because almost all parts of the store or restaurant are under video surveillance for security purposes, it makes a lot of sense to start auditing the location by observing the security footage.

Some of the areas that can be easily audited using video monitoring include:

Safety and Security: Store opening or closing procedures, delivery management, bank runs, cash movement.
Customer Experience: Employee uniform compliance, clearing shopping carts, clearing spillages and debris, cleaning tables and surfaces.
Merchandising: Stock-outs, display guidelines, promotions compliance.
Staffing: Queue lengths, dwell times, staff on the floor.

Did you know? Interface offers advanced business analytics solutions (including remote audits) for retail and restaurant chains. Find out how your security cameras can do a lot more than what you thought was possible.

Learn More

Challenges in On-Site Audits

How Video Monitoring Can Help

Site audits are expensive.
On-site auditors may not be able to perform discreet audits at all times.
It is difficult to deploy auditors at all locations.
Site audits can be disrupted due to external factors such as poor weather, transport disruptions, or pandemics.

Leverage existing security camera infrastructure and minimize the need to deploy on-site auditors to dramatically reduce costs.
Conduct discreet audits at scale for any number of locations or schedule audits based on operational cadence.
Audit any location at any time of the day or week and under any circumstance.
Capture screenshots screenshots from the video recording or live video to go with the audit reports.
Extend the use of security cameras beyond the core security use cases to accelerate ROI from any camera hardware upgrade that may be needed.

Make Your Security Cameras Work for You

Schedule a free business security consultation to find out how Interface can help you discover what loss prevention teams have always been missing.

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About the author

Matt Smitheman

Senior Solutions Consultant

Matt Smitheman is a veteran in the remote video monitoring and physical security industry, He is a trusted advisor for large multi location retail and restaurant businesses on their comprehensive security strategies. He has enabled companies to enhance their customer and employee safety, maintain compliance, and mitigate risk.

Unmasking Organized Retail Crime: Strategies for Countermeasures

Sean Foley — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 10:50:07 +0000

Business Security

Sean Foley

Senior Vice President, Customer Success

Tyson Johns

Senior Vice President, Security Monitoring Operations

Business Security

Unmasking Organized Retail Crime: Strategies for Countermeasures

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Organized Retail Crime (ORC) has emerged as a significant threat to the retail industry.

According to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey, there was a 26.5% spike in ORC between 2020 and 2021 and 70% of retailers surveyed believed the threat of ORC had increased during the past five years.

Big-box retailers and large-format grocery stores are especially vulnerable to ORC gangs as most items are unsecured inside the store and the staff cannot be actively manning every corner of the store. Recently, the CEO of Target announced that ORC may contribute as much as $500 million in losses in 2023.

The impact of organized retail crime extends beyond financial losses for retailers.

Organized retail crime poses multi-dimensional threats to retail chains:

Affects consumers through increased prices
Poses safety risk due to stolen and tampered goods
Imposes additional strain on an already stretched law enforcement
Undermines the overall security and customer experience

The absence of comprehensive federal legislation specifically targeting ORC, the high cost of deploying loss prevention teams specifically to target ORC gangs, combined with the decriminalization of low-level offenses in certain states, has created an environment where the benefits of engaging in such criminal activities far outweigh the risks.

This blog post explores the factors contributing to the surge in ORC and proposes effective countermeasures to mitigate this escalating problem.

What is ORC?

ORC refers to coordinated and premeditated criminal activities specifically targeted at retail establishments. ORC involves professional criminals or organized groups that engage in theft, fraud, or other illegal activities within the retail sector. Unlike individual shoplifting incidents, ORC typically operates on a larger scale, targeting multiple retail stores or chains.

ORC groups employ various tactics to carry out their criminal operations. These can include organized theft of merchandise, return fraud, gift card or loyalty points scams, cargo theft, counterfeiting, identity theft, and other similar activities. The stolen goods are then sold through various channels such as online marketplaces, pawn shops, or underground networks.

What distinguishes organized retail crime from individual acts of theft is the level of organization and sophistication involved. ORC groups often exhibit centralized coordination, with members specializing in specific roles within a structured hierarchy. This division of labor allows them to efficiently carry out thefts, distribute stolen goods, and launder the proceeds.

Pawn shop operator in Missouri pleads guilty to $3 million scheme to sell over 100,000 stolen items online

The former operator of a Kansas City, Missouri pawn shop pleaded guilty in federal court to engaging in a $3 million scheme to fence more than 100,000 stolen items and sell them on eBay.

Stolen property worth 'hundreds of thousands' seized in bust of Las Vegas fencing operation

Investigators in Las Vegas seized "enough stolen property to fill a 30-foot moving truck" in a recent bust of a suspected fencing operation, by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

3 men arrested in fencing operation

LVMPD Organized Retail Crime Section and Homeland Security Investigators conducted a search warrant where they located and recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen property.

SFPD seize $200,000 in stolen retail items as part of fencing-operation bust

Police in San Francisco announced an arrest and the seizure of nearly $200,000 worth of stolen over-the-counter medication and personal care products.

Over $1M in merchandise recovered after retail theft operation in Oakland

Over $1 million worth of merchandise was recovered after authorities deemed it was connected to a retail theft operation in Oakland, the Dublin Police Department said on Twitter. A theft worth $1,500 was reported at an Ulta Beauty store in Dublin, which led to a search warrant for a fence operation* in Oakland.

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ORC - Operating Model & Gang Roles

ORC gangs have well-defined organizational structures with specialized roles and responsibilities.

The source of stolen goods touches every node in the retail supply chain:

Internal theft or pilferage from warehouses
Cargo theft from distribution or delivery companies
Online fraud such as identity theft
Counterfeiting
Flash mobs and gangs to target retail stores
Thieves that target e-commerce deliveries at consumer residences
Internal theft in collusion with store employees

In order to pull off a profitable ORC operation, a typical ORC gang has a clearly defined set of roles and responsibilities.

Ringleaders

ORC Ringleaders orchestrate and lead criminal activities. They recruit and organize networks of thieves to carry out these activities, coordinate operations, select targets, and devise tactics to evade store security measures. They identify new targets and establish connections with fences or illicit markets for profit. Ringleaders also plan long-term strategies and devise the modus operandi to capitalize on security vulnerabilities.

Boosters

Boosters actively engage in stealing merchandise from retail establishments. They work under the direction of ringleaders, carrying out thefts and other illegal activities. Their primary role is to physically steal merchandise and provide it to the ringleaders, cleaners, or fences for further distribution or sale.

Fences

Fences purchase stolen merchandise from criminals or work as a part of ORC gangs to facilitate the sale of stolen goods via online platforms, underground networks, flea markets, pawn shops, or even direct sales to consumers who may or may not know the origin of the items.

Cleaners

Cleaners remove or alter identifying marks or security measures from stolen merchandise. Their role is to “clean” the stolen goods, making them more difficult to trace back to their original source or retailer. They do this by removing security tags, altering serial numbers or labels, repackaging items, or modifying appearance to make the stolen merchandise appear legitimate.

Money launderers

Money launderers disguise the illicit origins of funds obtained through ORC operations. They employ various methods to legitimize the illegally gained proceeds. These include cash smuggling, breaking down significant sums of cash into smaller deposits (aka “smurfing”), routing money through shell companies, invoice manipulation, or using cryptocurrencies.

What’s Driving ORC?

There are three primary factors fuelling the growth of ORC gangs in the US, namely the low risk involved in orchestrating the crime, the absence of data and legislation, and loss prevention gaps in retail chains.

Low-Risk, High-Reward Crime

“Organized retail crime is more than petty shoplifting, and the economic impact has become alarming. Professional thieves and organized criminal rings are building a business model by stealing and reselling products, increasingly online through marketplace platforms like Amazon or Facebook.”

Michael Hanson, Senior Executive Vice President of Public Affairs for the Retail Industry Leaders Association

Where there is demand, there is a “business” opportunity.

In late 2022, Roni Rubinov, an ORC gang leader operating a pawn shop in New York was caught with nearly $4 million in stolen goods from CVS and Sephora. Police in San Francisco shut down a fencing operation that made over $500K per year for the criminal involved in selling stolen over-the-counter medications and personal care products.

According to a report published by ACAMS and Homeland Security Investigations, ORC gangs cater to consumer demand for deeply discounted products across a wide range of categories using online marketplaces.

The table below from a joint report published by NRF and K2 Integrity shows the top products that are likely stolen available on Craigslist and Facebook.

While there is definitely money to be made by ORC gangs, states have begun raising the threshold for felony thefts making smash-and-grab-type crimes less risky for the perpetrators.

That’s not all.

Law enforcement and state governments grappling with overcrowded prisons and budgetary cuts are taking steps to reduce intake into prisons.

According to a recent National Retail Security Survey, “the majority (70.8%) of respondents reported either a moderate increase (36.6%) or substantial increase (34.2%) in ORC case values in areas that increased felony thresholds.”

The same report also mentions that 54.6% of survey respondents reported an increase in repeat offending associated with pretrial detention and cash bail reforms.

Lack of Data and Fledgling Legislative Initiatives

One of the key reasons behind the rise of ORC is the absence of comprehensive federal legislation explicitly targeting this type of crime. Most law enforcement agencies across states do not track ORC separately. ORC crimes are clubbed with burglary, shoplifting, and theft. While there is a growing realization about the seriousness of ORC, this issue hasn’t received the attention it deserves from legislators and law enforcement yet.

Here is how the NRF summarizes the problem:

“There are significant deficiencies in the availability of consistent and consolidated data regarding ORC. The fragmentary and disorganized state of data on ORC across national, state, and local authorities, and the lack of standard centralized information on ORC from the retail industry, present difficulties in building a nuanced understanding of ORC’s national and regional prevalence, and operational trends.

The lack of quality data has stymied efforts to raise public awareness about the scale and consequences of ORC, according to a former law enforcement official, who noted that ORC presents an intelligence problem for law enforcement authorities and retailers.”

However, there seems to be a growing realization among state government and law enforcement about the ripple effects of ORC if left unchecked. Thirty-two states including states like California, Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania that account for a big chunk of ORC and retail theft have either passed ORC legislation or are in the process of enacting one.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023 proposes to establish a coordinated multi-agency response to tackle organized retail theft.

“Stores throughout American communities have not been spared from a national crime wave. These organized theft rings have been developing new tactics to pilfer goods, causing economic harm to American businesses and putting consumers at risk while funding transnational criminal organizations throughout the world. These criminals are exploiting the internet and online marketplaces to stay one step ahead of the law, and it’s time the law catches up. This bill improves our federal response to organized retail crime and establishes new tools to recover goods and illicit proceeds, and deter future attacks on American retailers”.

Senator Chuck Grassley

However, initiatives like these are offset by legislative setbacks. For example, a proposal to fix the loopholes in Prop 47 that raised the felony threshold in California for theft to $950 was scuttled in 2022 and never saw the light of day. In some states, the felony threshold is much higher. For example, in Texas criminals can get away with misdemeanor charges if the value of the stolen items is less than $2500.

To curb the brazen sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces, the US government passed the INFORM (The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Market Retail Marketplaces for Consumers) Act as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act in December 2022. The new law requires high-volume, third-party sellers on online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay to submit mandatory information such as bank account numbers, government-issued identification, and contact information. In addition, online marketplaces must publish the seller’s business name, physical address, and contact information for the consumer’s benefit and offer consumers a means to flag suspicious sellers online.

However, initiatives like the INFORM Act are easy to circumvent. A vast majority of fencing operations involve using a legitimate business or a store. Organized gangs function like any other business and have the capability to overcome regulatory hurdles.

Retail Loss Prevention Gaps

By themselves, retailers cannot stamp out ORC as the issue is driven by socio-economic upheavals, legal issues, law enforcement constraints, and other challenges that retailers don’t control. However, there are several resource and technical constraints within retail organizations that create opportunities for criminals to continue their nefarious activities with impunity.

According to the 2022 Retail Security Survey, over 43% of retailers surveyed increased their loss prevention budget to spend on capital equipment. This data also highlights an important issue that loss prevention teams face, i.e. a chronic lack of high-quality security infrastructure.

Some of these gaps include:

Legacy Security Cameras: Outdated or malfunctioning surveillance cameras that may not capture clear images or provide adequate coverage. Poor video quality can make it difficult to identify shoplifters or monitor employee behavior effectively.
Insufficient Camera Coverage: Camera placement can result in blind spots or limited coverage making investigations challenging. Also, camera placement or its capabilities may not keep pace with store layout changes or redesign over a period of time.
Cumbersome Video Sharing: In the absence of a centralized video management system, accessing video footage and sharing video evidence with internal stakeholders or law enforcement becomes a challenging and time-consuming process.
Outdated Alarms: Ineffective alarm systems due to delayed maintenance cycles or outdated technologies can hurt retailers. Too many alarm vendors and non-standard alarm management protocols can result in improper alarm maintenance and difficulty for employees to keep up with diverse alarm management protocols.
Lack of Sensor Integration: Loss prevention teams often use multiple security systems, such as CCTV cameras, alarms, access control systems, and electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags. Important alerts or suspicious activities can go unnoticed if these systems are not integrated or monitored effectively.
Inability to Keep Up With Business Changes: COVID forced major changes to the way retailers operate. Some of the most notable shifts were a massive growth in e-commerce, BOPIS (Buy Online and Pickup in Store), and curbside services. Loss prevention teams are now stretched thin as they have to secure the stores beyond their four walls and create the technical infrastructure to tackle cybersecurity and online fraud as well.

ORC gangs not only target stores, but they also pick out security vulnerabilities in the entire supply chain right from the port. This places a significant burden on loss prevention teams as they are responsible for securing every critical point in the supply chain that’s controlled by the retailer. These include warehouses, distribution centers, and shipments to stores.

As retailers brace to fight back against ORC, their focus should be on preventing crime before it happens by implementing early detection capabilities, rolling out advanced surveillance capabilities, securing high-value merchandise, and training employees to handle external theft. All of these efforts should be backed by information sharing between retailers, field investigations, and coordination with law enforcement. A daunting challenge indeed.

Is ORC a Victimless Crime?

No, organized retail crime (ORC) is not a victimless crime. ORC involves theft, fraud, and illegal activities targeting retailers and their customers, resulting in significant financial losses and potential harm. While the immediate victims may be the retailers who suffer from stolen merchandise, increased costs, and disrupted operations, there are broader impacts as well.

ORC can lead to higher prices for consumers as retailers attempt to recover their losses, potentially affecting individuals and communities with limited financial resources. Additionally, ORC can create an unsafe environment for employees and customers, as criminals engaged in these activities may resort to violence or other criminal acts to achieve their objectives. Furthermore, the profits generated from organized retail crime can be used to fund other illegal activities, posing risks to society as a whole.

How Retailers Can Tackle ORC

The 2022 Retail Security Survey found that a majority of retailers surveyed (68.5%) did not have an ORC investigation team. Without investigations and intelligence sharing with law enforcement, it is impossible to pin a crime on an ORC gang. The only way forward for retailers would be to eventually invest in building an ORC investigation unit.

So how should a retailer go about setting up an ORC investigation unit?

Review ORC Capabilities to Address Gaps

The most important requirement for setting up an ORC investigative unit will be a clear management mandate and budgetary support to make it happen.

Assuming there is a consensus to get the ball rolling, the first step in setting up an ORC investigative unit is to evaluate the current capabilities of the loss prevention and asset protection teams.

Key factors to consider during the evaluation include:

Availability of investigative talent that can be nurtured to spearhead the ORC investigation team.
Historical data on theft and crime, results of past investigations by law enforcement, details of the perpetrators, and possible patterns or correlations.
Availability of training material and a policy to encourage employees to get certified.
Availability of technology platforms needed to access security events, conduct OSINT (Open Source Investigations), and share data internally and with law enforcement to coordinate apprehension and recovery.

Train the ORC Investigation Team

Loss prevention teams are trained to operate within the four walls of the store and apprehend a criminal before they leave the store. However, ORC investigations require a completely new set of investigative skills and an ability to operate outside the store. That’s why a multi-dimensional training program is needed to equip the ORC investigation teams with the skills they need to succeed.

The scope of the training program can include:

Investigative Techniques and Tools: Conducting online investigations, utilizing open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools and techniques, field surveillance techniques, gathering and analyzing digital evidence
Identifying and Documenting ORC Crimes: Recognizing common ORC methods and patterns, identifying and documenting stolen merchandise, analyzing financial transactions and patterns, creating effective case reports and documentation
Collaboration and Information Sharing: Building relationships with law enforcement agencies, establishing partnerships with other retailers, sharing information and best practices within the team and industry
Coordinating with Law Enforcement: Understanding law enforcement procedures and protocols, presenting evidence, and working towards successful prosecutions
Understanding Legal Matters: Overview of relevant laws and regulations related to ORC, legal procedures for conducting investigations, privacy considerations
Physical Security and Loss Prevention: Store layout and security considerations, effective use of CCTV cameras and other security measures, strategies for preventing and deterring ORC activities
Crisis Management and Response: Developing an emergency response plan, handling high-risk situations and incidents, and coordinating with internal and external stakeholders during crises

What Are the Roles & Responsibilities of an ORC Investigator?

Initiate, conduct, and manage ORC investigations, utilizing field tactics and surveillance techniques to gather intelligence and determine the scope of the investigation.

Utilize data analysis tools and exception reporting to identify potential ORC theft and fraud issues impacting company assets.

Collaborate with the ORC Analyst to review POS and non-POS exception reports for identifying and linking organized retail crime activities.

Prepare detailed investigative plans and maintain accurate documentation of investigations in the case management system.

Work closely with law enforcement agencies, providing intelligence and evidence to support successful prosecutions.

Develop and maintain positive relationships with internal teams, including AP, supply chain, and e-commerce, to coordinate investigations and drive theft and fraud elimination efforts.

Represent the company at conferences, ORC meetings, and other industry events.

Stay updated on nationwide ORC patterns and trends, bringing insights to the team and implementing relevant training and programs.

Collaborate with state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies, participating in interviews, search warrants, and surveillance operations.

Engage with local and state government entities, retailers, and industry organizations to advocate for and support ORC legislation.

Implement Technologies and Tools

Utilizing robust processes and cutting-edge technologies can significantly enhance your ability to detect, prevent, and respond to ORC incidents. Some of the critical tools or infrastructure needed to accelerate ORC investigations and successfully recover stolen goods include:

Video Surveillance Systems: Implement a high-quality video surveillance system at your retail locations, distribution centers, or warehouses to capture evidence of ORC activities. This can include IP cameras, video analytics software, and centralized monitoring stations.
Case Management System: Case management systems can be used to track and manage investigations, store case-related documents and evidence, and facilitate collaboration among team members. Vendors include Agilence and ThinkLP.
Digital Forensics Tools: Invest in digital forensics software and hardware tools that extract, analyze, and preserve digital evidence from various sources, such as computers, smartphones, and surveillance systems. Vendors include Cellebrite and Magnet Forensics.
Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) Tools: OSINT tools enable your investigators to gather information from publicly available sources online. Examples include social media monitoring tools, web scraping tools, and online database search platforms. Vendors include Flashpoint and LifeRaft.
RFID Solutions: Upgrade RFID for Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) to add Electronic Product Code (EPC) capabilities along with video integration to not only track the product but also capture the faces of people who may be conducting a smash-and-grab job. With EPC capabilities, any fencing investigation on the field can be expedited with handheld EPC RFID tag readers.
Data Analytics and Pattern Recognition Tools: Utilize data analytics tools to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies in sales data, financial transactions, and inventory management. These tools can help detect potential ORC activities and provide insights for investigations. For example, POS exception reporting solution from Interface can detect anomalies in sales data.

Collaborate & Share Information

To effectively combat ORC, retailers must establish partnerships with industry associations, law enforcement agencies, and other relevant stakeholders. Collaboration facilitates the exchange of intelligence, best practices, and emerging trends, enabling a proactive response to the evolving nature of ORC.

ORC Databases: Retailers can work together to create ORC databases that track known offenders, stolen merchandise descriptions, and patterns of criminal activity. Sharing this information among retailers helps identify trends, patterns, and individuals involved in ORC, allowing for better prevention and faster response. Industry associations can play a crucial role in facilitating such information-sharing platforms and fostering collaboration among retailers.

Partnership with Law Enforcement:Close collaboration with law enforcement agencies is vital. Retailers can establish direct lines of communication with local police departments and establish a protocol for reporting ORC incidents promptly. By sharing surveillance footage, suspect descriptions, and other relevant evidence, retailers can assist law enforcement in their investigations and increase the likelihood of arrests and successful prosecutions.

Training Store Associates: Education and awareness play a pivotal role in preventing ORC incidents. Retail employees should receive comprehensive training on recognizing ORC indicators, understanding theft patterns, and implementing effective prevention techniques. Training programs should include topics such as identifying common ORC tactics, customer engagement strategies, and the importance of accurate documentation and reporting. By equipping employees with the necessary knowledge and skills, retailers empower their staff to play an active role in preventing ORC incidents and protecting the business.

Workshops: Additionally, retailers can conduct regular workshops and seminars involving law enforcement experts and loss prevention specialists. These sessions can provide updates on the latest ORC trends, best practices in security measures, and insights into the modus operandi of organized retail crime groups.

List of Anti-ORC Associations in the US

Buy Safe America Coalition

List of 48 state associations working to fight ORC

Minnesota Organized Retail Crime Association

National Anti-Organized Retail Crime Association

National Retail Federation

RC Investogator’s Network

Retail Industry Leader’s Association

Proactive Security Measures to Combat ORC

Stopping an ORC theft before it happens and ensuring sufficient evidence is recorded when it happens can dramatically improve a retailer’s ability to minimize the negative impact of ORC

AI-Enabled Cameras

AI-enabled cameras can detect suspicious behaviors, such as unusual movements, repeated visits to high-value merchandise areas, or sudden large group gatherings. This real-time monitoring can also be designed to trigger alerts when suspicious behaviors are detected enabling onsite or remote security teams to take steps to minimize loss and keep customers away from harm’s way.

License Plate Recognition

In addition to AI-enabled cameras, Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) can be installed in parking lots and entrances to track vehicles and flag those associated with past ORC activities. These systems capture license plate information and compare it against a database of known offenders, alerting security personnel when a vehicle of interest is detected.

Facial Recognition

Facial recognition software can be employed to aid in the identification of known perpetrators. By comparing captured facial images against databases of known criminals or shoplifters. Security personnel can quickly identify individuals involved in ORC activities and notify law enforcement. Some states have placed restrictions on facial recognition but the tide is turning. States like New Orleans and Virginia have reversed the ban on the use of facial recognition for tracking criminal activity.

Autonomous and Automated Voice-Down

Automated voice-down (AVDs) announcements can convey a constant security presence, increasing the perceived risk for “boosters” (ORC street-level thieves). AVDs can be designed to function autonomously by leveraging AI-enabled cameras that can detect the presence of people or vehicles with 99.99% reliability.

These announcements can include messages like “Attention, shoplifters will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law” or “This store is equipped with advanced surveillance systems.

Think twice before committing a crime.” AVDs can be integrated with strobes, lights, access control systems, alarm systems, and remote command centers to trigger proactive security measures or alert staff and remote security professionals monitoring the site.

Interactive Monitoring

Interactive remote monitoring that leverages cameras, microphones, and speakers allows virtual security professionals operating from remote command centers to conduct virtual walkthroughs, evict loiterers, issue voice-downs to warn people who may be acting suspiciously, and interact with store employees directly as needed. This model offers discreet security coverage and an upgraded “eye on the sky” that can not only see but also interact in real-time.

To further enhance security, retailers can implement measures such as improved lighting in parking lots, clear signage indicating active surveillance, and store design that’s free of hidden sections or aisles. These visible security measures not only act as a deterrent but also provide reassurance to customers, creating a safer shopping environment.

Take the Fight to ORC Gangs

Interface’s virtual security guard, intelligent voice-downs, and personal protection monitoring solutions can level up store security to fight the bad guys.

Get a Free Consultation

There Is No Right Way to Combat ORC

While the broad approach that most retailers take to combat ORC involves setting up specialized investigations teams, some retailers have taken a different path.

Victoria’s Secret never set up a separate team to spearhead ORC investigations and instead trained its asset protection (AP) associates at all locations to tackle ORC crimes. This approach eliminates potential coordination issues between ORC teams and AP teams, an opportunity for AP team members to develop their skills, and a tighter relationship with local law enforcement.

While retailers may choose distinctly different approaches to take on ORC, there is now an overwhelming realization that ORC poses a significant threat to the retail industry, affecting businesses, consumers, and communities at large. By understanding the factors contributing to the rise of ORC, adopting proactive security strategies, and collaborating with industry leaders and law enforcement, retailers can mitigate the impact of this criminal activity.

About the authors

Sean Foley

Chief Revenue Officer

Sean Foley is the Senior Vice President for Interface Security Systems, LLC.  With Interface since 2012, Sean has worked with large, distributed enterprises, particularly in the retail, casual dining and quick service restaurant markets on implementing next generation security strategies.  Mr. Foley is a leading subject matter expert in asset protection technologies and a resource to loss prevention teams for some of the most recognizable brands in the U.S.

Bud Homeyer

Chief Operations Officer

For the past 22 years, Tyson Johns has led the growth and development of Interface’s premiere interactive monitoring services that secure and protect America’s top retail and restaurant brands. Johns oversees the two Interface Security Monitoting Centers in St. Louis, MO and Dalals, TX. Johns is a security industry thought leader and brings deep expertise in intervention techniques, situation analysis, crisis intervention, operational leadership and central station management.

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Business Video Surveillance Insights for Loss Prevention Teams

Don Fruhwirth — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 17:17:47 +0000

Business Security

Don Fruhwirth

Director Product Management

Business Security Video Analytics

Business Video Surveillance Insights for Loss Prevention Teams

Introduction

The National Retail Federation reported that retailers lose about $700K for every $1 billion in sales to organized crime and theft.

Loss prevention teams in distributed enterprises and businesses such as retail and restaurant chains are ramping up investments in advanced video surveillance solutions in addition to tightening return policies, point of sale monitoring, and employee screening.

However, getting the basics right when implementing a business video surveillance system can provide a significant boost to the effectiveness of sophisticated loss prevention solutions.

In this blog post, we will cover:

How to choose CCTV cameras that can get the job done
Impact of camera technology on solution design
Camera placement best practices for video surveillance
Why vendor selection is critical for implementing the right solution

What is business video surveillance?

Business video surveillance refers to monitoring a place of business such as a retail store or office with CCTV cameras. The primary reasons for monitoring a place of business are to secure the business, gather evidence of a crime, and reduce instances of fraudulent liability claims.

There are various types of video surveillance used by businesses depending on the security needs and size of the business.

Onsite CCTV Monitoring – Small businesses such as independent stores or restaurants install CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras with the footage being monitored and stored at the same location. The primary purpose of onsite surveillance is to dissuade crime, identify perpetrators of crime or theft, and assist law enforcement in investigations.

Remote Video Surveillance – Distributed businesses with a need to monitor security camera footage across multiple locations rely on a central monitoring location that gets direct or live Internet feeds from video surveillance systems installed at all the locations. Remote video surveillance involves the implementation of sophisticated video streaming, data storage, and video management software and provides advanced monitoring and video analysis capabilities to loss prevention teams.

Interactive Remote Video Surveillance – With remote video surveillance, the team that’s monitoring security camera feeds from a remote location can see what’s happening at all the locations but they can neither hear nor speak to the people at the store directly without picking up a phone. With Interactive video monitoring, the remote video surveillance team can hear and speak to the people being monitored via microphones and speakers installed at the location. With interactive remote video monitoring, loss prevention teams can perform additional tasks such as:

Virtual tours to monitor all corners of the store or business location and identify vagrancy or undesirable activity around the business location or store.
Voice-downs to deter shoplifting, enforce social distancing, or make announcements related to operations compliance based on specific events like a door opening or delivery personnel entering a location.
Virtual escorts to help employees with cash movement, store opening/closing, or moving between secure locations.

The following sections explore video surveillance best practices that business owners and loss prevention teams can leverage to improve security and prevent loss.

Find out how Panda Express uses Virtual Guards and Virtual Escorts to proactively secure their operations.

Read the Case Study

1. Choosing the right camera for the job

Security cameras used by businesses for video surveillance come in many shapes with different feature sets, technology, and applications. Choosing the right camera for meeting a specific objective is critical for loss prevention teams.

Indoor Vs Outdoor Cameras

Broadly, there are two types of cameras depending on where they are deployed – Indoor cameras and outdoor cameras. For commercial video surveillance applications, cameras rated for outdoor deployment are preferred for three key reasons.

Indoor environments in businesses such as restaurants and industrial units have smoke, dust, and grease. For example, deploying indoor-rated cameras in a fast food joint may be a bad idea as cameras can be coated with grime or grease. Indoor-rated cameras become unserviceable in such environments whereas outdoor-rated cameras can remain functional as they are designed to keep dust and grease out.
The price differential between indoor and outdoor cameras has come down over the years and outdoor cameras have a minimal cost differential to an indoor camera. The higher cost for outdoor cameras can be easily justified as they outlive indoor cameras and offer greater ROI for businesses.
Outdoor cameras are designed to withstand heat, moisture, snow and work well in commercial establishments where perimeter security requirements such as in drive-through areas and parking lots are as important as security inside the premises.

Some businesses, such as car wash centers, have unique monitoring requirements. For example, cameras inside the car wash tunnel should be able to withstand water and moisture without fogging the lens. In addition, camera feeds need to be integrated with tunnel optimization software. Find out how Mister Car Wash tackled these challenges.

Read the Case Study

Camera types and applications

Mini Dome Cameras

What are mini-dome cameras?
Mini-dome cameras are compact, versatile cameras that are cosmetically appealing and come with a wide variety of features that make them suitable for a wide range of applications.

What are the features of a mini-dome camera?
Mini-dome cameras have a mid-size form factor. The lens in these cameras is not clearly visible making it difficult to see where the camera is aimed thereby improving its overall effectiveness as a surveillance tool.

Mini-dome cameras are available with fixed and variable focal length lens options, remote-focus controls, wide dynamic range (WDR) capabilities that improve overall image quality when looking out doors or windows by creating a balance between the dark and bright areas of an image.

Some of them have infra-red (IR) illuminators and sensors for visibility in low/no light conditions, and built-in analytics capabilities, such as line-crossing detection, making them useful for a variety of monitoring requirements.

What are the use cases for mini-dome cameras?
Because they are both indoor and outdoor rated, mini-dome cameras can be used almost anywhere for a multitude of applications – lobbies, hallways, production floors, parking areas, entries/doors, sales areas. Outdoor versions are often used in indoor applications such as in kitchens and in freezers or coolers due to their weather-resistant capabilities.

Outdoor applications require proper planning as a poor choice of installation locations can expose the camera and internal parts to direct sunlight often resulting in overheating and a shorter life span.

Micro Dome Cameras

What are micro-dome cameras and how are they different from mini-dome cameras?
Micro-dome cameras are similar to mini-dome cameras but are smaller, thinner, often surface-mounted and less obtrusive. They have similar features as mini-domes but due to their smaller size may not have variable-focus lens options typically available with a mini-dome camera.

What are the features of a micro-dome camera?Micro-dome cameras have a similar set of features as a mini-dome but are generally available only with fixed-focal-length lenses.

What are the use cases for micro-dome cameras?Typical use cases for micro-dome cameras include observing checkout areas in retail and quick-service restaurants, ATMs, hallways, or walkways or anywhere a smaller size, less obtrusive camera may be desirable.

Turret Cameras

What are turret cameras?
Turret cameras are often called a flat-faced dome or eyeball camera resembling a sliced sphere in a ball-and-socket joint design which can be swiveled around in its “socket” once the base of the camera has been mounted. A turret camera has compact dimensions with the lens inside a housing as opposed to a dome.

What are the features of a turret camera?
Turret cameras have most of the features of mini-domes (fixed/varifocal, WDR, IR). Some turret cameras may have an IR feature known as EXIR, or extended infrared, a design where the camera lens and IR LEDs (light-emitting diode) are housed behind two separate windows which can eliminate infrared glare that is sometimes encountered in mini- and micro-dome cameras.

They are easy to install on a flat surface such as a ceiling or wall, rated for outdoor applications, and have a hardening rating to resist tampering or vandalism. The lens and internal components are better protected from environmental factors such as sunlight and moisture making them well suited to outdoor installations.

What are the use cases for turret cameras?
Turret cameras are used for observing sidewalks, entries, exits, drive-up lanes, or parking lots. They can also be used for indoor applications such as in kitchens as they are resistant to smoke, grease, and dust. However, unlike dome cameras, people being observed know where the turret camera is aimed at.

Bullet Cameras

What are bullet cameras?
Bullet cameras have a cylindrical shape, come in different lengths and sizes, are capable of observing long distances, and can be fairly noticeable. At a glance, anyone can see where bullet cameras are aimed and focused. Bullet cameras are most commonly used in outdoor applications, so their cases are made resistant to water, dust, and dirt.

What are the features of bullet cameras?
Bullet cameras have most of the features of other cameras (fixed/vari-focal, WDR, IR/EXIR) and while designed for both indoor and outdoor applications, are well suited to outdoor as their design protects the lens and internal components from direct sunlight and the elements.

They are well-built and outdoor cameras are designed to be vandal resistant. Bullet cameras are highly visible so they can also be used to act as a deterrent.

What are the typical use cases for bullet cameras?
They are suitable for outdoor applications such as parking areas, the entry and exit of people or vehicles to a facility. Due to their conspicuous design, they clearly indicate your premises are under video surveillance. They can be easily installed on a flat wall and they have the ability to withstand harsh environmental elements such as sunlight and storms.

Small-sized bullet cameras can be used for indoor applications where discreet monitoring may be needed from a distance, such as in a high-end boutique where a camera directly over the sales counter may not be desirable

PTZ Cameras

What are PTZ Cameras?
PTZ stands for pan, tilt, zoom. PTZ cameras are also called pendant cameras. PTZ or pendant cameras not only contain the lens, but they also let you rotate the camera to get up to 360 degrees of camera rotation when the installation allows for it.

What are the features of a PTZ camera?
PTZ cameras give operators the flexibility to focus and zoom on any object in its field of view.

Some PTZ cameras can be programmed to perform a tour of the area being monitored. The program can also include additional actions such as automatically focussing on specific events such as the opening of a gate or door. Once the area of interest or activity is recorded, the camera can resume the routine tour.

What are the typical use cases for PTZ cameras?
PTZ cameras are designed to monitor a large area, such as a big parking lot or a large indoor space. It is generally advisable to consider using other camera types if the objects being monitored are either fixed or if the area being monitored is relatively small as PTZ cameras are expensive and probably require more maintenance as they have moving parts

Box Cameras

What are box cameras?
Box cameras house the camera lens in a box and have a similar construction found in a bullet camera. Box cameras are among the oldest camera models but continue to be used even today.

What are the features of a box camera?
Box-type cameras allow loss prevention teams to design the camera capabilities needed for video surveillance depending on the application.

For example, if the requirement is for a specific lens type and specification to observe an object of interest, a box camera can be designed to perform just the task.

What are the use cases of a box camera?
Box cameras are typically used for indoor applications. For outdoor applications, a box camera will need suitable housing to protect from heat, dust, and cold.

Box cameras may also be not suitable for recording in the dark or at night as most of them don’t have built-in IR capabilities and rely on a separate IR lighting system.

Box cameras require mounting hardware for all applications and this can add to the cost of installation or deployment when compared to other camera types

Fisheye Cameras

What are fisheye cameras?
Fisheye cameras utilize ultra-wide-angle lenses that are intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image and achieve extremely wide angles of view.

Instead of producing images with straight lines of perspective, fisheye lenses use a special mapping, which gives images a characteristic convex appearance.

A common type of fisheye camera is known as a 360-degree camera which has an extremely wide-angle view of a large area, and produces a circular image. 360-degree cameras are typically mounted on the ceiling.

What are the features of a fisheye camera?
Fisheye cameras are designed to offer a general overview of where things are and what’s happening in a fairly large area under observation. They are not designed to capture the facial features needed to identify specific individuals.

Some fisheye camera models offer image de-warping features designed to remove the distortion associated with a wide-angled view of the video or image. While the de-warping feature generates multiple panoramic views, it is still not suitable for identifying faces.

What are the use cases for a fisheye camera?
Fisheye cameras are well suited for video analytics applications such as tracking the movement of people within a store, engagement with products or displays and creating heatmaps of activity in a particular area of the store

A fisheye camera shown here is used to generate a pathmap of customers who visit the store. A pathmap helps visualize and quantify how customers move within the store to help make decisions on store layout or determine display effectiveness at various parts of the store. Click here to learn more about how security cameras can uncover business insights in retail chains.

2. Implications of camera technology on security solution design

Camera technology has been rapidly evolving and businesses or enterprises looking to set up a video surveillance system at new locations or upgrading their legacy analog cameras now have to grapple with the plethora of technology choices and features.

Loss prevention teams looking to maximize ROI from security investments must tread carefully when designing CCTV upgrades or new installations.

This section provides an overview of the various camera technology options available along with a handy reference table that showcases practical applications of myriad camera features.

Camera types based on technology

In general, cameras can be classified on the basis of the technology that goes into the components and how videos from the camera are processed and stored. Each of these camera technologies has their advantages and disadvantages as outlined in the table below.

Analog Cameras

The original video recording method that stores continuous (analog) waves of red, green and blue intensities.

Traditional analog cameras measure resolution by the number of horizontal lines called TVL (TV Lines). A higher number of lines in an image means better resolution.

Advantages
Has been around for over 30 years. “Tried and true” and total TVL resolution has increased significantly over the years.

Disadvantages
Limited resolution (<720P).

HD Analog Cameras

HD Analog video security cameras deliver megapixel resolution video over coaxial cabling (HD over coax) and use digital vs. analog signals to transmit video.

Advantages
HD analog technology allows you to record megapixel resolution video (1080p, 4K) over standard coax cabling, which is often already installed in your location.

Some benefits of HD analog include lower camera costs when compared to other technologies, simpler installations using the same process already in place for standard analog cameras, and the ability to upgrade or add HD analog cameras while retaining existing cameras.

HD analog cameras come in a wide range of features, styles and form factors, making them easy to fit into any location.

Disadvantages
You will likely need to upgrade your video recorder to be able to add HD Analog cameras. Older analog recorders do not support the HD analog standards.

There are multiple HD Analog formats (HD-TVI, HD-SDI, HD-CVI and AHD) with HD-TVI being the most prevalent. Hence, you must choose cameras and recorders that use the same standard.

IP Cameras

Internet Protocol (IP) cameras are a type of digital video camera that connects to your Ethernet local area network (LAN) and uses TCP/IP signaling to transmit video in a digital format.

Advantages
IP cameras come in a large variety of resolutions (720p to >8MP), form factors, and features giving you great flexibility when designing your surveillance system.

These cameras use the same category wiring (Cat5/5e/6) used for your computer network and can use Power over Ethernet (PoE) to power the cameras.

Many IP camera models support local storage using memory cards and have advanced analytical and AI capabilities available out-of-the-box.

Disadvantages
Often even “compatible” cameras and video recorders have exacting requirements to support the desired functionality.

When using IP cameras, it is considered a best practice to use video recorders from the same camera manufacturer to ensure full compatibility and access to advanced camera features.

IP cameras require ongoing maintenance to keep their operating system (firmware) up to date to prevent these devices, and potentially your network, from being compromised due to security vulnerabilities.

Thermal Cameras

A thermal camera detects infrared (IR) energy (heat) emitted from the object and converts it into a visual image. The resulting image (i.e. a person) is displayed with various colors representing the approximate temperatures on the object.

Advantages
Thermal cameras are specialty cameras designed for very specific applications. Applications include the oil/gas/chemical industry where monitoring for non-visible objects (fire/heat/people) is required.

Most recent applications have been as supplemental devices to assist in monitoring people for higher body temperatures.

Disadvantages
Thermal cameras for monitoring temperature extremes are often application-specific and are often very expensive. Most commercial customers do not have applications requiring these cameras.

Using thermal cameras to monitor body temperatures is often unreliable as ambient temperature and other factors can create issues in accurately measuring body temperature.

Mapping security camera features to applications

The table below offers a comprehensive view of the various security camera features and how these features can be leveraged by loss prevention teams when designing a video monitoring solution.

Security Camera Features Design

Implications for Video Surveillance

Fixed Lens
Fixed lens cameras come with fixed lens focus. They do not have sophisticated moving parts or digital focus adjustment capabilities.

Fixed lens cameras generally cost less. However, they are typically not usable for multiple applications in a design other than what they were originally chosen for due to the fixed focus and limited view.

Varifocal Lens
Cameras with adjustable lens focus that can be calibrated after installation to get the perfect field of view needed for the location.

Allows for one camera model to be used in multiple applications. The same camera can be placed at any location and still deliver the best possible view in each location. This feature allows loss prevention teams to optimize camera layout when needed without having to purchase new devices. Cameras with varifocal lenses have slightly higher costs when compared to fixed lens cameras.

Digital Zoom
Digital zoom crops a portion of the image and then enlarges it. This is not a feature of most cameras, rather it is a function of the video recorder or VMS software.

Digital zoom is an electronic feature of the camera. The user can “digitally zoom” into a smaller portion of the image, much like you would on a mobile phone.

Optical zoom is a mechanical feature of the camera. Cameras with optical zoom have motorized telephoto lenses, allowing the user to remotely adjust the camera lens to zoom-in the camera for a closer view.

While optical zoom magnifies without losing image quality, digital zoom degrades the quality of the image.

Camera Resolution
Typically, commercial security cameras come in 2, 3, 4, 5 or 8 megapixel resolutions. Higher resolutions are available, at significantly higher costs.

If surveillance is required for a modest-sized area to monitor general activity, a 2 megapixel camera may suffice. For high-end stores that may be selling precious jewelry or watches, a camera with higher resolution will be useful.

The higher resolution will allow the loss prevention team to use a feature like digital zoom feature to verify if a store visitor actually slipped the watch into the pocket or read a logo on a shirt or clothing or hat to identify the suspect correctly or even get a proper facial shot.

However, a high-resolution camera is not only expensive off the shelf, but will also need a higher network upload speed to remotely view the high-resolution video and more storage to record the videos resulting in higher operating costs.

When using megapixel cameras, Digital Zoom capabilities are determined by the image width at the target location. A “pixel per foot” calculation is used to ensure that higher MP camera resolutions will be of any benefit in digital zoom.

Dynamic Range
Dynamic range is the measurement of the difference between the whitest whites and the blackest blacks in an image.

Digital Wide Dynamic and True Wide Dynamic cameras offer enhanced dynamic ranges which are useful for specific surveillance scenarios, most often when capturing views of outside a building from the inside by looking through doors and windows. One specific application is capturing people coming in the entry door of your location and wanting to capture facial images.

Cameras with True Wide Dynamic feature are capable of handling highly varying light levels and even capturing images properly against a bright backdrop. For example, cameras with True Wide Dynamic capability are placed inside retail stores facing the doorway. When the door opens and the space outside is under the blazing sun, the camera can instantly adapt to this light condition and manage to capture a clear image of people walking into the store.

Digital Wide Dynamic cameras may not have the dynamic range offered by cameras with True Wide Dynamic feature, but offer a cheaper alternative for loss prevention teams.

Maximum Frame Rate
Frame rate is the speed at which images are shown and is usually expressed as “frames per second,” or FPS. Cameras and Video Recorders have both maximum and minimum frame rates.

Frame rate greatly impacts the ability to capture video effectively. Different frame rates yield different viewing experiences. It is widely accepted that 20 fps is the minimum speed needed to capture video while maintaining realistic motion. Many recorders and cameras used for general security applications have a maximum fps of 30.

More important than the maximum fps is the minimum frame rate. Settings for certain scenes (like a POS station) need to have higher frame rates.

Setting the fps too low can have adverse effects on the ability to capture video of critical events in busy, fast-paced scenes. Some higher megapixel resolution cameras or recorders may limit the maximum frame rate that can be recorded.

Designing a video surveillance solution requires a nuanced understanding of loss prevention objectives, infrastructure availability, choice of camera types, technology or features, and budgetary constraints.

Interface’s team of experienced security experts are available to assist loss prevention teams tackle complex security challenges.

Request a Free Security Risk Assessment

3. Artificial Intelligence Enabled Video Surveillance

Here are some of the ways AI-powered video surveillance is revolutionizing physical security for businesses:

AI-enabled video cameras can detect threats in real-time, enabling immediate alerts for security personnel to prevent incidents like theft or vandalism. Security teams monitoring surveillance cameras can now focus on handling alerts.
AI-enabled video surveillance systems can learn normal patterns and identify anomalies such as repeated visits to areas with high-value merchandise or a group of people congregating in one spot.
AI systems can easily tag videos with high levels of accuracy. Locating a video clip from hours of recording can be done easily to speed up investigations.?
AI solutions can crunch large volumes of historical data to anticipate potential security vulnerabilities, allowing businesses to proactively identify vulnerabilities and optimize resource allocation.

Loss prevention teams looking to install AI-enabled cameras or video management systems that leverage AI should keep in mind the following potential pitfalls:

Privacy Concerns: One of the primary drawbacks of AI-enabled video surveillance is the heightened concern over privacy. Advanced features like facial recognition can intrude on customers’ privacy, raising ethical questions about the extent of surveillance and data collection.
Ethical Dilemmas: The use of AI in video surveillance, particularly with facial recognition or license plate recognition, raises ethical dilemmas. Issues such as consent, profiling, and potential misuse of the technology can lead to public mistrust and backlash.
System Vulnerabilities: AI systems are not immune to vulnerabilities. Hacking and cybersecurity threats pose significant risks, as intruders may exploit weaknesses in the AI infrastructure, gaining unauthorized access to sensitive data or manipulating surveillance outputs.

4. Camera placement best practices for video surveillance

The number of cameras needed for effective video surveillance not only depends on the size of the location but also on what’s being monitored or protected at the location.

A jewelry store may have dense camera coverage to gain complete situational awareness of the movement or actions of people within the store and also be able to identify people. In a casual clothing store, general camera coverage may be adequate.

While there is no thumb rule that can be applied to any location to determine the placement of security cameras, loss prevention teams should consider four questions before designing camera placement:

What do they sell or what are they protecting through video surveillance?
What’s the value of the items being sold or protected?
How easy is it to steal the items being protected?
What’s the likelihood of theft?

Here are a few examples of how loss prevention teams can approach camera placements to address security threats unique to their business.

Industry

Typical Threats

Camera Placement

High-Value Retail

Casing theft
Sneak / Switch theft
Internal theft

Inside entry doors capturing high quality facial images of customers entering the store
Display cases where high-value items are displayed
Register(s) where employees handle cash transactions

Convenience & Grocery

Shoplifting
Hold-up/robbery
Internal theft

Inside entry doors capturing high-quality facial images of customers entering the store, along with Public View Monitors in higher-value goods areas such as health and beauty, baby food, and detergents
POS areas where customer cash transactions take place. Place cameras to capture the faces of customers.
Closed office areas and storage room spaces where employees are are hidden from view.

Restaurants

Hold-up/robbery
Internal theft
Casing

Areas where customer cash transactions take place (POS/Bar). Place cameras to capture the faces of customers.
Rear entry areas (inside and outside) and storage areas, freezers, and coolers where employee theft occurs.
Outside rear doors, areas where employees park, and dumpster areas, to protect employees from ambush or assault.

5. Choosing the right partner to implement a video surveillance solution

Designing a video monitoring system that’s really effective and delivers on what it’s supposed to do is a major challenge. There is a need to understand which camera to use. Camera placement, what features are critical for a customer, and make sure we get the most out of the investment that goes into building a video monitoring solution.

Some of the mistakes that enterprises and businesses make when implementing a video monitoring solution include:

Making a large-scale bet on an unproven solution: Camera technology, cloud data storage, video compression technologies are rapidly evolving. However, embracing new technologies should be carefully calibrated after understanding how a solution that incorporates a new and emerging concept will deliver on the fundamental requirements:
- Can it produce usable video footage in all conditions?
- How quickly can the loss prevention team access the content they need?
- Is it cost-efficient?
Choosing the equipment first: Solution design always comes first. Some customers choose the camera first and then try to build a solution out of it. This is a flawed approach as security requirements should dictate the choice of camera technology and not the other way around.
Stumbling on critical deficiencies after implementation: Some enterprises record videos at very low resolutions and frame rates to save on network and storage costs. However, when video evidence is needed, the recording no longer serves the purpose. For example, the recording may not conclusively show that a person may have actually slipped something into his pocket from a counter! On the other extreme, some businesses implement cameras with 8K bitstreams which is a complete waste of video storage and also reduces the number of days security video recordings can be retained.

The complexity of a video surveillance solution makes it a daunting challenge as there is a mind-boggling array of features and approaches to video surveillance implementations. Hence choosing the right implementation partner is critical for loss prevention teams.

Buyers Checklist for Business Video Surveillance

This checklist is designed to help loss prevention teams review vendor capabilities for implementing or upgrading video surveillance systems.

Video Surveillance Solution Design

Expertise in designing tailored video surveillance solutions that meet the unique requirements of each business location.
Solution design process, considering factors such as camera placement, coverage optimization, and overall system efficiency.
Experience in implementing video monitoring solutions for specific industries. For example, the solution design for monitoring jewelry chains is different from that of a restaurant chain.
The flexibility of the solution design system to adapt to the varying sizes and complexities of different locations along with differing security threats across locations.
Expertise in designing and implementing cloud-integrated solutions for video surveillance.

Camera and VMS Capabilities

Experience in deploying a wide variety of camera types and features such as night vision, smart motion detection, and pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) to align with the unique requirements of each business location.
Experience in deploying advanced cameras with purpose-built analytics for specific security needs, such as intrusion detection or license plate recognition.
Track record of successfully implementing video management systems (VMS) for businesses of similar size and complexity.
Experience in integrating AI and analytics features seamlessly into their video management system.
Experience in scaling video surveillance solutions to handle a large number of cameras and locations concurrently.
Approach to ensuring continuous video surveillance in the event of network or hardware failures.

Remote Monitoring Capabilities

Monitoring infrastructure, technologies used for monitoring, certifications, and redundancies available at all monitoring locations.
Approach to hiring, training, and retaining remote security teams for monitoring.
Customer onboarding and escalation process alignment capabilities.

Storage, Network, and Security

Experience in designing reliable video storage systems with redundancy measures, including failover strategies and backup protocols.
Approach to managing bandwidth efficiently, especially when utilizing cloud-based storage for video footage.
Strategies for optimizing performance as the system scales, including load balancing and resource allocation./li>
Expertise in building secure networks for video surveillance, including encryption protocols and network segmentation.
Experience in protecting video storage from unauthorized access or cyber threats.
Knowledge and adherence to regulations related to network security, data storage, and NDAA compliance for video surveillance systems.
Compliance with industry-specific or location-specific regulations that may impact network design for video surveillance.

Other Considerations

Size and scale of services offered by the vendor and ability to deploy cost-effective camera hardware and networking equipment.
Partnerships with camera and network OEMs and preferential access to the latest technologies.
Ability to offer visibility on project progress and ongoing management of security hardware and assets via online customer service portals.
Support services offered and SLA guarantees.
Training provided to employees at the location being monitored and the loss prevention teams managing the program.
Ability to deploy onsite support teams at all locations where video surveillance hardware is being deployed.
Commitment to staying abreast of advancements in video surveillance, remote monitoring, networking, and storage.

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About the author

Don Fruhwirth

Director Product Management

Don Fruhwirth is Director of Product Management at Interface Security Systems. He brings more than 20 years of expertise in security integration strategies, next-generation networking design and wireless system architecture. Don has enabled numerous enterprises in transforming their IT and asset protection system infrastructures. Don is an industry thought leader and frequent speaker on topics such as SD-WAN, cloud video architectures, remote video surveillance and advanced network security. Prior to joining Interface, Don has held senior solution engineering positions for regional security and global cellular telecommunications companies. In addition to his security background, Don holds advanced networking certifications from Cisco, Fortinet and Cradlepoint.

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5 Essential Steps to Create a Lone Worker Safety Policy

Sean Foley — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:25:35 +0000

Business Security

Sean Foley

SVP, National Accounts

Business Security

5 Essential Steps to Create a Lone Worker Safety Policy

Introduction

Why a lone worker safety policy is important

Businesses are increasingly relying on lone workers to embrace new customer service models and keep the lights on even in locations where demand may have gone down due to the economic downturn. Having a lone worker safety policy in place will allow enterprises to proactively ensure the safety of their team members, cut down on attrition, improve productivity and keep morale high.

What is a lone worker safety policy?

A lone worker safety policy clearly communicates the risks presented when an employee works alone or in environments with material safety exposure. The policy identifies the responsibilities of each person in this situation and describes the required actions intended to minimize risk.

A lone worker policy is applicable to all employees who may be working alone, at any time, to fulfill the responsibilities associated with their role. Before rolling out a lone worker safety policy, consider identifying the purpose of the policy and how it aligns with the overall safety culture of the organization.

Don’t have a lone worker safety policy in place?

Follow these 5 steps to create a lone worker safety policy for your business.

1. Frame the purpose of your lone worker safety policy

The purpose of a lone worker safety policy is to identify risk exposure faced by employees that work on their own and clearly document the measure the business will implement to protect these team members.

Publishing the organizational commitment and goals towards implementing the policy signifies intent and gives direction to the line managers to roll-out lone worker safety solutions and institutionalize a safety culture in day-to-day operations.

Template to outline the purpose of your lone worker safety policy:

Commitments

Protect our associates who may be working alone from any type of harm.
Comply with relevant safety regulations applicable to our business in letter and in spirit.
Provide the necessary resources in the form of manpower, technology and budgetary support to implement our safety policy using leading-edge solutions.
Create a culture of learning and continuous improvement in offering a safe work environment for our associates.

Goals

Minimize the incidents of physical violence or threats to lone associates.
Continually identify safety risks to lone associates and implement relevant preventive measures proactively to mitigate threats as they emerge.
Ensure lone associate safety training and a culture of safety remains a key focus area for the Human Resources team and the local management teams.
Offer counseling, financial, medical and legal assistance as mandated by company policy, federal and state laws to all associates who may have encountered any type of bodily or mental harm while at work.

2. Identify and evaluate risks to lone workers

Identify all the job roles that involve working alone or with a limited presence of colleagues. Then, list all the possible risks that lone workers in your organization may encounter at the place of work.

There are three key factors that determine the risks associated with lone workers:

People: Lone workers face serious risks when they interact with aggressive customers or other people with malicious intent.
Environment: Consider the environment in which associates operate. This could include working in a high-crime area, exposure to dangerous chemicals, handling valuable merchandise or overnight shifts.
Tasks: Identify risky tasks that put your lone workers in harm’s way. Examples: Curbside delivery late at night and opening the office location early in the morning.

Remember to talk to employees about risks they perceive in their role and be mindful of employees with unique needs or disabilities.

Include temporary or contract workers when you are assessing job roles and risks for your lone worker safety program.

Most importantly, empower employees to proactively share feedback with the management team as risks and roles may change over time.

[Example] Risks associated with lone workers in a retail chain:

Encounters with suspicious people during store opening or closing
Being followed to or from work
Confronting shoplifting or robbery suspects
People with malicious intent may see a lone associate who may be on a bank run as an easy target
Empty parking lots and poorly lit store periphery can attract criminal elements
Stores that have multiple doors/access points increase the risk of being caught off-guard by an intruder
Aggressive/argumentative customers can cause anxiety and distraction
Regular tasks such as trash removal or curbside delivery increase risks to associates and the store may also be left unattended
In the case of an accident or sudden illness, an associate may not have access to help

3. Define SOPs and train your lone workers

Establish a list of required actions that may help mitigate risks identified in the previous step. These actions should be documented as standard operating procedures (SOPs).

All new hires and existing employees should be made aware of the SOPs through a combination of training programs, role-plays and drills.

[Example] Sample SOPs for lone workers in a retail chain:

Pay attention to social distancing
Wear a company-issued safety device
Make sure all lights are working
Make sure cameras are operational, in the line of sight and focused properly
Don’t take trash out after 5pm

Develop a training curriculum to help lone workers gain the necessary understanding and skills needed to mitigate the risks associated with their job roles.

The objective of the training program should go beyond compliance and focus on business outcomes in terms of safety metrics such as number of serious incidents, compliance with SOPs, attrition rate in risky work locations.

Create a system for managers and employees to integrate these actions into their respective routines and provide ongoing coaching

[Example] Lone worker training curriculum for a retail chain:

Awareness about lone worker safety policy

Organization’s approach to lone worker safety
Security cameras and safety devices
How to report incidents
How to share your feedback
How to seek counseling support
Communication with neighboring businesses

Managing difficult situations

Aggressive/argumentative customers
Being followed to place of work
Dealing with known troublemakers
Dealing with shoplifting or intent to steal
Handling people who solicit customers
Handling dumpster diving and loitering
Dealing with gun violence
Preventing and handling vandalism

Conflict resolution and anxiety management

How to assess a potentially dangerous situation
Recognizing signs of aggression
Effective communication in a conflict
Diffusing a dangerous situation
What to do if you are taken a hostage
How to deal with an angry customer
How to control anger and impulsive actions
How to properly leverage security cameras and safety devices

4. Roll out an emergency communication plan

Usually, safety issues and risks associated with lone workers are localized and depend on the risk profile of the business or store locations. The possibility of large scale social disturbance that can risk the safety of lone workers across multiple locations is minimal but can happen without warning as we saw during the nation-wide protest in 2020.

Having an emergency communication plan to give lone workers enough time to avoid, prepare or deal with risky situations is a critical component of your lone worker safety policy.

Outline for emergency communication plan:

Establish a dedicated team: This team is responsible for planning and carrying out emergency communications, managing emergency preparedness, incident response planning, emergency communications protocol and follow-up analysis.

Implement emergency communication technology: Incorporate an emergency mass notification plan into your strategy so you can quickly disseminate information. Make sure that your emergency communication system supports two-way messaging—so employees can respond as needed and you can account for every associate.

Implement monitoring system: Monitor emerging threats and take a proactive approach to employee safety. A remote video monitoring system can help protect employees and customers during all types of threats—from break-ins, aggressive behavior, vandalism, social strife and even natural disasters and other unforeseen dangers.

Review and plan mock drills: Coordinate and communicate regularly with employees involved in your notification plan. Every individual must know their role and what will be expected of them. Review plans regularly, update as needed and practice execution by performing drills.

Know your audience: In an emergency, employees in different roles need different information. Relevant, accurate communication before, during, and after an incident. Always tailor messaging as much as possible to expedite response or action and minimize confusion.

Utilize all communication channels: Deploy an emergency notification system that enables you to access all associates via text, email, voice call and social media from anywhere. Make sure every employee has access and the ability to respond as needed. Establish guidelines for what constitutes an emergency for your organization and when your communication plan will be activated.

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5. Document the incident management process

Businesses should either align their incident management process to support the lone worker policy or document an incident management process if they don’t already have one. Note: Most larger, sophisticated Asset Protection teams will already have detailed incident management processes in place. These organizations would simply integrate lone worker policies into their existing incident management procedures.

The primary purpose of the incident management process is to help identify gaps in the safety policy, SOPs, training, lone worker safety solution, security infrastructure and the emergency communication system that’s already in place. If properly implemented, lessons from a safety incident could trigger a change in the safety culture and redefine understanding of risks and their occurrence

Outline for emergency communication plan:

Incident notification
Preliminary information about an incident should be sent to management. This is usually done by the associate involved or the manager of the specific location. This notification should include:

Location, date and time
Type of incident and severity
Employee involved in the incident
Brief explanation of what happened
Details of any immediate actions taken (Include images)

Notifications should be sent to designated evaluator(s).

Evaluation
The evaluator should examine the incident and confirm:

Severity
Specific incident type
Immediate actions taken
Was law enforcement notified and/or involved

The evaluator should determine if an investigation is necessary. Investigations are more likely for medium or high severity incidents.

Investigation

Organize a team to coordinate an investigation or support law enforcement in investigation as the case may be. An investigation involves:

Gathering information on policies and training
Documenting the sequence of events
Gathering information from any employees involved or impacted
Seeking and documenting all witness statements
Gathering supporting evidence or additional information that may be useful

Analysis

This critical step determines whether changes in lone worker safety policy or corrective actions are necessary. The analysis should address the following:

Specifics of what occurred
Events leading up to the incident
How it happened?
Conclusion as to why it happened
What changes are necessary?
Is there a need for a corrective action plan?

Corrective actions
Any changes or corrective actions identified should include:

Priority level
Person responsible
Deadline for execution
Status, including ongoing updates on the progress

Final evaluation
Determine whether the incident can be closed. Evaluators should review all information from every step in the process to approve the conclusion or request further actions.

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About the author

Sean Foley

SVP, National Accounts

Sean Foley is the SVP, National Accounts for Interface Security Systems. Sean spearheads a team working with large, distributed enterprises, particularly in the retail, casual dining and quick service restaurant markets on their comprehensive business security strategies. Sean is a leading subject matter expert in business security systems, asset protection technologies and a resource to loss prevention teams for some of the most recognizable brands in the U.S.

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5 Technology Solutions For Essential Business Services

Don Fruhwirth — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 14:14:01 +0000

Business Security

Don Fruhwirth

Director Product Management

Business Security Managed Network & Voice

5 Technology Solutions For Essential Business Services

Introduction

What are Essential Business Services?

Essential business services are a list of businesses that the federal, state of the local Government considers as critical to the functioning of the society even when there is a declared public emergency. The list of essential business services will vary based on the situation. In general, hospitals, emergency services, grocery or convenience stores, gas stations, utilities and critical manufacturing and industrial units.

Why Essential Businesses Should Work with Managed Service Providers

As essential services businesses continue to operate throughout the global health crisis, they are bracing for an expected spike in IT and physical security challenges.

Operations, IT and asset protection professionals are being asked to identify and evaluate the key technologies that will help them stay connected and protected and that make the most sense to integrate into their operations. Already stretched, as they deal with smaller teams and tighter budgets, it’s hard for these industry professionals to stay on top of all the latest advancements.

Here is how having a managed service provider can help essential businesses cope with these challenges.

A managed service provider can act as an extension of the in-house team to help assess needs and evaluate new technologies to see if they would be the right fit.
Managed service providers with a strong OEM relationship base or technology partner network can act as a bridge between customer requirements and new technologies or toolsets developed by vendors.
The experience gained by working with multiple customers in an industry segment allows managed service providers to cross-pollinate ideas and best practices across projects to deliver ROI faster.

5 Technologies Essential Businesses Should Adopt Now

Here’s a look at 5 standout technologies essential businesses should consider to safeguard their people, customers and assets, transform network connectivity and drive operational efficiencies.

1. Interactive Monitoring Systems for Pervasive Security

Move over, passive camera feeds. Interactive video systems directly address safety and security concerns for employees and customers.

These systems, which offer live video and two-way audio, have been critical for many businesses and are gaining considerable momentum. For businesses that are either lightly staffed or have no security guard, a virtual guard solution that includes an interactive monitoring system with remote monitoring by security professionals, offers safety at a fraction of the cost of a live, on-premises security staff.

For many essential businesses that are still open and operating throughout the pandemic, this solution provides a security team that can see, hear and communicate with employees in a store, restaurant or other business.

In some of the newer applications, the voice down feature provides the ability to not only make public announcements during store openings, closings or cash drops but can also address social distancing, food safety compliance issues.

Throughout the day, remote intervention specialists can conduct virtual guard tours by tapping into live audio and video feeds to check the premises, similar to what an on-premises security guard would do. Once complete, the specialist might then ask the location if all is well and seek an affirmative response from the employees. The purpose of this is three-fold.

It lets customers know there’s a security presence watching over the location and provides them with peace of mind.
It also alerts potential shoplifters and other threat actors that they are being watched.
Finally, it provides the employees of the store with a sense of security knowing that they are not alone.

Many businesses that are still operating are also offering new and/or alternative services such as curbside pickup. They are looking to expand their current security solutions to go beyond what’s inside their location to also cover areas just outside their doors. The interactive video monitoring solution might be the best bet to tackle these emerging needs.

2. Artificial Intelligence to Unearth Operational Insights

Something we’re often asked about is how artificial intelligence applications can be leveraged to make business processes more effective.

We have been testing out some really great facial recognition technology that has the potential to be a game changer. Businesses can marry facial recognition technology with video monitoring to enable new applications such as people counting at stores.

While stores are under mandatory capacity constraints, this could be used to create alerts around exceeding capacity without manually counting people with a clicker at the door. With a camera pointing out and another pointing in, we can subtract those leaving from those entering to get a net number of people in the store.

The same technology can be used to thwart shoplifters by creating alerts that are tied to specific suspect faces based on previous issues. If a person with a tagged face is identified as they enter a store, an immediate alert can be provided to a monitoring center for quick intervention.

As described earlier, making an announcement when that suspected shoplifter enters is a great way to let that person know they are being watched and that will likely change their behavior. While this technology has the potential to really enhance the security space, it also triggers significant questions over privacy concerns and requires restrictions on storing and handling a facial image, so caution is also urged.

3. 4G/5G/Wireless WAN to Gain Operational Flexibility

Operations and IT professionals are trying to help their businesses get enough bandwidth to run more applications over their network and enable seamless performance.

Terrestrial broadband connections are often expensive or not available. 4G LTE is a ‘right here, right now’ technology that works very well as a fixed location broadband service.

While 5G is being deployed by the big three carriers, they are initially focused on dense cities and mobile customers, and not yet on fixed location broadband solutions. 5G has some technological challenges with signal reception inside buildings that are still being resolved. With that said, 5G isn’t quite ready yet, but we’re keeping our eyes on it because of its great potential.

Meanwhile, we provide thousands of locations with dual 4G LTE connections where all store applications rely on that connection—even VoIP— and performance and reliability have been excellent.

One caution with wireless is that the wireless carriers offer the service as a metered plan or with caveats on their “unlimited” plans. For now, the key is to be smart with what’s being deployed, and which applications are appropriate.

For example, a business offering guest Wi-Fi might want to avoid a metered use 4G/5G connection which can get very expensive very quickly.

One strategy we recommend that solves the bandwidth challenge is to combine 4G with cable or high-speed DSL, using 4G as a backup or for business-critical applications, and running the bandwidth intensive applications on the terrestrial circuit with some intelligent routing.

Something else on our radar that’s becoming increasingly important across a variety of businesses, are pop-up networks. They’re innovative new ways of doing business for workforces in the field or temporary locations and are pushing for secure and easy to deploy connectivity that can be remotely monitored and managed.

On a side note, Interface has strategic partnerships with both Cradlepoint and Fortinet, as well as various wireless carriers, to deliver a fully managed wireless service to businesses.

Look out for more exciting announcements and promotions in the upcoming months!

4. SD-WAN to Leapfrog Limitations of a Traditional WAN

Another technology that is gaining a lot of attention is SD-WAN.

Many IT leaders have either already adopted it or are in the process of evaluating the various offerings. Since many of the SD-WAN solutions can be rather pricey, it’s smart to understand what does SD-WAN mean for a typical business that is on a tight budget?

As essential businesses look to embrace new ways of serving customers, the dependence on traditional WAN severely limits the options available to extend the network where it is needed.

According to Gartner, SD-WAN solutions provide a replacement for traditional WAN routers and are agnostic to WAN transport technologies. SD-WAN provides dynamic, policy-based, application path selection across multiple WAN connections and supports service chaining for additional services such as WAN optimization and firewalls.

The promise of SD-WAN is to enhance WAN performance and simplify WAN administration through software and automation. SD-WAN is an evolution of technologies that pre-existed the term “SD-WAN” but work extremely well as a unified architecture.

Realizing the promised transformational benefits of SD-WAN is not a walk in the park. There are three fundamental challenges that IT leaders need to watch for before embracing an SD-WAN solution:

Implementation can be complex
Realizing cost savings with a SD-WAN is not that easy
Interoperability with your existing network infrastructure can be challenging

We certainly recommend reading our in-depth guide on how to go about implementing an SD-WAN solution to transform your WAN.

Click here to read our SD-WAN guide.

5. Business Voice Over IP for Better Collaboration and WFH

If an enterprise has not yet converted to Voice over IP, it should certainly look into doing so. VoIP solutions deliver simple, powerful and cost-effective calling services for distributed enterprises.

Most of the business VoIP solutions include features such as unlimited local calling, free long distance on network, four-digit enterprise-wide dialing and voicemail and ‘find-me-follow-me’ to make it easy to be contacted no matter where you are physically.

For essential businesses, having a cloud cloud-based auto attendant that comes with VoIP solutions can be game-changing. The value here is that when someone calls a store or business, the phone is not actually ringing at the location. It’s ringing a cloud-based auto attendant which presents the caller with clear options from there.

For instance, if the caller is looking for directions or for business hours, there’s no need for the call to be transferred to the store or business location. Those kinds of questions can be answered with a recording. If the customer really wants to speak directly with someone at the location, there’s an option for them to transfer.

With this solution , businesses can reduce between 50 to 60 percent of the call volume for employees and free their time to be used for other important tasks.. And while there is some management involved, such as updating information like store or business hours, the customers that we’ve deployed it for absolutely love it, especially when they’ve asked us to manage and maintain the information as it changes throughout the year.

Customers also appreciate the ability to define ring groups and call flows that can be used to dial specific phones in a specific order or in response to different conditions. If no one is available to take the call in a store, for example, after a certain number of rings, the call can automatically be routed to a call center to be handled by the next available agent. Or it could be routed to a cell phone. Or to another store.

There are many possibilities.

Additionally, there are business continuity/disaster recovery options for VoIP that, in the event of a disaster, can reroute calls from one location to another all from a cloud-based console.

What’s Ahead for Essential Businesses

There are many other interesting emerging technologies on the horizon. Some we haven’t covered yet but look forward to announcing soon such as cameras that can detect people with fevers and cloud-based mobile text messaging for handling customer support at scale. We already have some of these in our labs being studied, tested and assessed.

In this blog post, we’ve looked at a number of technologies that have been making serious inroads in various businesses and are currently being deployed. Many are directly making a difference in our current climate.

A managed service provider such as Interface, with years of deep networking and security expertise, can help business, IT and security professionals make the right choices when deciding which technologies are ripe for deployment. We then work closely with them to design, integrate and support custom solutions to meet their unique challenges.

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About the Author

Tom Hesterman

Senior Vice President of Products and Solution Engineering

Tom Hesterman is Senior Vice President of Products and Solution Engineering at Interface Security Systems and oversees the departments focused on evaluating new technologies, designing customized solutions for customers, developing products for installation at scale and working with customers to leverage the variety of managed services provided by Interface. Tom has 25 years of expertise in secure networking, telecom, wireless architectures, intrusion alarms and business intelligence systems along with 11 years as an aerospace engineer. He has enabled large enterprises in transforming their IT and asset protection system infrastructures. Prior to joining Interface, Tom held various executive roles including VP of Service Delivery for MegaPath, VP of Customer Operations at Telepacific Communications and President of Primary Network. Tom holds a BS in Aeronautical Engineering and MS in Engineering Mechanics.

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Sean Foley

Bud Homeyer

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2. Implications of camera technology on security solution design

Camera types based on technology

Analog Cameras

HD Analog Cameras

IP Cameras

Thermal Cameras

Mapping security camera features to applications

3. Artificial Intelligence Enabled Video Surveillance

4. Camera placement best practices for video surveillance

5. Choosing the right partner to implement a video surveillance solution

Buyers Checklist for Business Video Surveillance

Video Surveillance Solution Design

Camera and VMS Capabilities

Remote Monitoring Capabilities

Storage, Network, and Security

Other Considerations

Get the next-generation video surveillance solution

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