Internet Protocol (IP) Security

Internet Protocol (IP) Security:Boosting Your Bottom Line

When was the last time you took your film in to be developed? Or popped in the videotape you just shot of your daughter’s birthday party?

It’s been a while, of course. Most consumers have made the switch to digital cameras and DVRs; ease of use and storage has smoothed the way for even the most techno-fearful.

Over the course of the last several years, retailers have also been making the switch from analog cameras and surveillance systems to Internet Protocol (IP) security systems.

It’s a digital world Technology catches on when it meets a need, and IP systems have numerous advantages, says Jean-Jérôme Baudry, CEO of Toronto-based Cybernomics, which specializes in environmentally and economically sustainable IT management.

Perhaps the top advantage, he says, is “the flexibility and mobility of data being captured – it’s much easier to manage remotely.”

What that means is that data can be broadcast over the Internet, in real time, and can be viewed from anywhere – not just the physical site where the camera is situated. “The software doesn’t care if it’s in Jacksonville or Columbus,” says Ryan Strange, CEO of ControlByNet, an IP surveillance software firm based in Norcross, GA.

That can cut costs as companies centralize, says Baudry. It also adds flexibility, says Tom Hutchens, senior PC/network support technician for K&W Cafeterias, Inc., a Winston-Salem, NC-based chain with about 30 locations in four southeastern states. “We can monitor from our home office, but our district managers can monitor the cameras in their specific stores on the road or at home – anywhere they have Internet access.”

His company started installing the systems about five years ago, using IT management from Secure Designs, Inc., and now has them in about half of the locations. The company, which has been in business for more than 70 years, was seeing the neighborhoods change around some of its older locations, but the stores remained profitable and the company had no desire to pick up and leave. Installing the systems has allowed them to allay security concerns without the hassle and costs of relocating.

And because all of the information is digital, storage is a lot easier, says Bill Roberts, President of Network Services at Datatrend, a Minnesota-based tech solutions firm. Just as parents no longer need to shuffle through boxes of videotapes for that toddler birthday (misfiled among the first proms), companies no longer need

“It’s the wave of the future,” says Paul Jones, vice president of asset protection for the trade group Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA). “It’s more than just a security issue: it’s a business-enabling system.”

Moving to such a system isn’t always a smooth transition, however. Rosenberg says that some companies are more comfortable moving first to a hybrid system. In an IT system, installation is key, he says; making sure that each camera is properly mapped out can make all the difference.Datatrend’s Roberts has seen his share of pitfalls; with 10 years in IP security and rollouts ranging from a few stores to longtime clients with hundreds of sites, the company has had plenty of time to run into kinks that need smoothing out. One of the most common issues he has run across is bridging the gap between the IT people and the security people. They don’t necessarily speak each other’s language, so moving security people to an

to store stacks of videotapes for weeks and months at a time.

Retrieval is easier too, he says. “Let’s say a customer says he slipped on the ice on the sidewalk in front of the store. In the analog world, you’d have to physically find the right tape for that day, then spend time fast-forwarding to find the precise moment,” says Roberts. “With digital, you plug in the date and time, and it’s right there on the screen.” And, Strange points out, because there’s no actual recording devices on site – just cameras – suspects can’t make off with the proof by stealing the DVR with the recording on it.

Roberts ticks off other advantages including easy and cost-efficient installation (because there’s no need for a separate cabling network or new infrastructure); and more flexibility in positioning (because cabling is much easier). So, for example, cameras can monitor things as well as people – say, pointing at machinery to make sure it’s always functioning smoothly.

For Hutchens, the higher resolution that comes with digital images – and the ability to zoom in and manipulate those images – has proven crucial in a few cases.

“We had one employee who moved so fast; he opened the cash register, grabbed out a hundred dollar bill, and closed it in just a few seconds. It was almost impossible to catch the guy,” he says. “We had to take the picture, slow down the video to about one frame every 30 seconds, and we finally could see the shadow of the drawer and his hand going in.”

In another case, an employee was running an elaborate scheme that involved pocketing the change she was making for customers, then handing it off to an accomplice. “It was really hard to figure out and we had to go back several weeks,” Hutchens says. Being able to store the information for longer than the typical two-week period for analog was critical.

In both cases of employee theft, digital’s superior image quality proved key. It would have been unlikely – if not impossible – to have reproduced (on an analog system) the kind of detail they needed, he says.

IP systems also have built-in continuity,

notes Daniel Rosenberg, CEO of Global Security Consulting, Inc., based in Tarzana, CA. “If your DVR goes down, all your cameras are down. With a network system, if one of your cameras goes down, you can set up a laptop to record remotely.”

Digital cameras also have more visual range than the typical pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) analog camera, he says, which eliminates “down time” – something retail can’t afford. With PTZ analog, if the camera is looking at Aisle A, there cannot be a simultaneous record of Aisle B, he points out, unless you overlap cameras. “With a megapixel camera, it’s always recording the entire scene, and you can digitally move in to pinpoint an area.”

Digital offers a lot of extra features as well. Because the camera is a computer, you can program it for all sorts of functions. “You can tell it to process license plate numbers, count the number of people who pass by point A, program it for facial recognition,” says Rosenberg, While this is technically possible with analog, that amount of information can bog down an analog camera, perhaps resulting in delays or even more down time. An IP system can also be used to broadcast events, or “talk out of the camera, like saying ‘Hey, get away from my door,’” says Strange. It sounds simple, he says, but the software allows you to make changes on the spot, even if you’re sitting on a beach hundreds of miles away. The security system can even be programmed to look at carbon dioxide sensors or heat sensors, says Baudry, so, there’s an early warning system in case of fire, for example.

In both cases of employee theft, digital’s superior image quality proved key. It would have been unlikely – if not im-possible – to have reproduced (on an analog system) the kind of detail they needed, he says.

IP network is not always a happy process. Datatrend specializes in overall project management, from an initial needs analysis and site survey to testing and turn-up; but just as critical to the “hard” side of installation (running cables, for example) is helping to negotiate each group’s specific needs, especially as the security

side and the IP side continue to converge.

To switch or not to switch? There’s little debate that such systems are the next wave in what Strange calls “future-proofing.” As evidence, he points to Panasonic, which is phasing out its analog cameras in its Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) business.

For companies that are opening new stores or have an upgrade in the works, it’s “almost a no-brainer” to use the technology, says Baudry. “For a retail situation, you can leverage it in a straightforward, clean way.”

For companies without such an obvious opportunity, the savings remain attractive nonetheless. Using existing networks, of course, is a major advantage. “Based on your IP infrastructure, companies can leverage economies of scale,” says Baudry.

And smaller companies only need to install the number of cameras they actually need, says Strange, saving them $2,000 to $3,000 from the analog version that requires them to buy in larger “packages.” “For liability, these network IP type cameras offer the best bang for your buck,” says Rosenberg.

For companies on a tight budget, it may be tempting to put off the costs of installation until the economy rights itself. But in tough times, even as the economy is shrinking, so is inventory, according to the findings of a study conducted by the RILA in November and reported in early December. In polling 52 of the largest U.S. retailers RILA shows what study authors call “sizable increases in amateur or opportunistic shoplifting events, financial

fraud, robberies and burglaries, as well as increases in organized retail crime (ORC) across all retail segments.”

Breaking out for specific segments, 84 percent (%) of retailers surveyed had experienced an increase in amateur/opportunistic shoplifting, which RILA VP Jones attributes directly to the economic downturn.

Eighty percent of respondents reported an increase in organized retail theft, the subject of a high-profile “Nightline” segment in February and an extensive article in the Sept. 1, 2008, New Yorker. Congress also held hearings on the issue in September. The RILA study notes that such activity is likely to be compounded by budget cuts in local law enforcement, which may necessitate putting property crime lower on its priority list. However, the loss also comes from within. That, too, appears to be on the rise, again as a result of tough times.

A study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity, released in early December, found that “27% of respondents in companies with 10,000 or more employees said that crime in the workplace has risen during the current economic crisis, while 15% of all respondents – regardless of company size – reported the same.”

“From an internal perspective, of those companies that feel today’s economic situation has led to an increase in theft, almost a quarter (24%) of all respondents, and 31% of companies with 10,000 or more workers said they’ve noticed an increase in the theft of company-owned items such as office supplies, products they produce, electronic equipment, and food items since the economic downturn.” The National Retail Federation’s 2007 survey reported that employee theft accounted for about 47% of retail shrinkage. ”

Anecdotally, Strange said that one of his customers, a large recycling company, has seen three times the theft since the economy started heading south. Hutchens says his company has thus far not seen theft rise in conjunction with the downturn, but there’s no question that his company has saved money by installing the IP systems. “We’ve definitely cut down on loss. We deterred theft not only from outside but within.”

Roberts touts IP security’s ability to help control the problem. “Say a large operation has 6% shrinkage in good economic times. When the bad times hit, if you can reduce it by even 2 or 3% (i.e., down to 3-4% shrinkage), you’re going to save on the bottom line.”

“The switch to IP is inevitable,” says Baudry. He understands why companies may be reluctant to make the move now, but he cautions against an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. “It’s really more of a sunk cost,” he says, so waiting is not necessarily a good move.

Strange puts it a little more bluntly: “There are two kinds of people. The first says ‘Hey, I know I’m a potential target, so I’m going to protect myself.’ The other says, ‘Hey, I’ve just been hit!’”

For companies that are opening new stores or have an upgrade in the works, it’s “almost a no-brainer”

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