La Panière
The chain of bakeries established in the Rhône-Alpes region has upgraded its analogue video surveillance system into a network video solution.
The mission for Axis Communications
As a family-run business, La Panière, a chain of bakery and pastry stores, employs 300 people in 30 stores distributed throughout the towns of the Rhône-Alpes region in France. Between 1998 and 2000, following numerous cash robberies, Pascal Cantenot, the CEO of the company, decided to protect his employees and secure his points of sale by equipping them with approximately 20 analog cameras. However, this system proved to be inadequate, because the data storage method made checking the recordings a difficult and lengthy process: changing the cassettes daily, viewing the entire tape in the event of any suspicions, and so on. "This system required the implementation of very restrictive cassette changing procedures which ultimately resulted in a lack of reliability (sequence of the cassettes, deposits of flour onthe VHS tapes, etc)," explained Pascal Cantenot.
Network video solution
To overcome these constraints and ensure more flexible surveillance, the company Eboo Solutions, a supplier of turnkey solutions, performed an upgrade of the existing system and integrated the advantages of a network video solution consisting of network cameras from Axis Communications.
Migration to IP network
Following the success of a test system implemented in two stores, the migration to the IP network was performed in around fifteen points of sale. Today, the La Panière bakeries have approximately sixty AXIS 207 and AXIS 207MW Network Cameras with an average of 4 cameras per store.
"Simply comparing a megapixel digital image to an analog image for surveillance of the checkout, sometimes in difficult lighting conditions, was enough to convince our customer", said Eboo Solutions' project manager.
A carefully considered layout
Different locations were defined for the cameras according to the layout of the bakeries:
- AXIS 207 Network Cameras are used to provide an overview of the entire store. They also monitor the preparation room, notably the oven, to ensure the safety of the staff against both occupational accidents and fire risks. Several cameras are also placed in the vicinity of the safe box. With a compact format, they have the discreet presence required for the surveillance of points of sale.
- AXIS 207MW cameras, megapixel Motion JPEG and MPEG-4 network cameras with an integrated IEEE 802.11g wireless connection. They are positioned above the checkouts and permit the very clear identification of checkout anomalies as well as the people present in the vicinity.
In each store, the cameras are connected to an ‘eboo box', a recorder provided by the company Eboo Solutions, which serves as a local image reviewing point. Moreover, the networking of the stores permits the technical manager to review the images from the head office, or from his home in emergency cases.
A flexible system with multiple applications
Since the installation of the new system, Pascal Cantenot and his teams have been particularly impressed by:
- The ease of use of the video surveillance system and its speed of installation, since the company Eboo Solutions was very efficient in implementing this project.
- The flexibility of integration of the system, which permitted them to extend the use of their cameras to merchandising and staff management.
- The mobility offered by the Eboo mobile application, which permits the management to access the cameras from their mobile phone, for example in the event of the untimely triggering of an alarm outside of business hours.
- The reliability of the cameras, with their very compact format and high-quality images. Having been fully convinced by this video surveillance system, the La Panière chain of bakeries plans to equip all of its stores with new Axis network cameras.
"Simply comparing a megapixel digital image to an analog image for surveillance of the checkout, sometimes in difficult lighting conditions, was enough to convince our customer", said Eboo Solutions' project manager.
