For retailers, loss prevention (security) is very serious business, as they have to be constantly on guard against losses from theft, whether perpetrated from the outside or the inside. One major retailer recently connected its loss prevention system to its corporate IP network. Not surprisingly, this company discovered by converging video surveillance on their IP network they enhanced the loss prevention group's investigative capabilities, improved the loss prevention staff's productivity and enabled greater operational flexibility to support future investments, including the integration of other systems.
This is becoming a common story. More and more, organizations are discovering that application-level convergence delivers unique capabilities that support vital aspects of their businesses. With this level of convergence, companies are achieving new levels of efficiency, productivity and cost savings that go beyond loss prevention and hold the potential to grow top-line revenue.
Securing the Floor
Like many retailers, the major department store chain described above deployed a system of still security cameras over every point-of-sale (POS) terminal and a system of pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) cameras over every door. For many years, analog video from both systems was delivered to a central point in each store and converted to a digital format for image storage and retrieval.
After more than a decade, the video recording systems began to fail — and when one recorder failed, it impacted 32 cameras. The video recording systems were not easily repairable and the vendor had moved on to newer products, rendering obsolete the decade-old recorder.
After considering several options, the retailer decided to implement a network-based video surveillance solution, which would cost-effectively extend the capabilities of its existing IP network. This converged network eliminated the redundancy associated with a separate analog system and related infrastructure to perform security surveillance. They were able to manage video, camera and recording connectivity and event correlation on one network, enhancing the reliability of their system while creating the ability to integrate video with other business applications to attack loss prevention in a comprehensive way.
Network-based surveillance solutions are integrated with POS systems in more than 22 stores, delivering new insights into exceptions and suspicious transactions. With a Web-based interface, all loss prevention staff and store management can use the solution, making it easy for them to focus on reducing loss and enhancing store safety. The company's IT staff manages camera and network recording platforms connectivity — as they do other network edge devices. And they can easily scale the system by simply adding cameras. As a result, the loss prevention group can focus on its core responsibility and IT provides regular maintenance support, just like many other critical business systems and applications.
“Viewing specific transactions on video is now 75 percent faster than with the old system,” the retailer's operating vice president says. “The system maximizes the productivity of our loss-prevention staff — especially in smaller stores that have only one or two loss-prevention members.” He expects to add more PTZ cameras and has IP cameras in some locations. As new video analytic technology becomes available, he envisions the system becoming much more than a security system. With video analytics, the solution's high-quality video can be applied to marketing, merchandising inventory and risk-management challenges, further enhancing the solution and future-proofing the converged network.
Convergence: The Basics
Application-based convergence is only the latest of three distinct types. Wire-based and communications-based convergence, which came earlier, are still used today.
In wire-based networking, personal computers and other devices share the same local-area network. In the early 1990s, as PCs proliferated across businesses, the demand to network these computers soared. This networking allowed users to share files and e-mail, boosting collaboration and productivity. These benefits, however, were limited to the connected workgroups, since wire-based networking created islands of connected computers, which, in turn, were not connected to other islands. In addition, these small networks had limited intelligence and capabilities, and their functionality was usually restricted to transporting data between devices.
The next phase, communications-based convergence, emerged rapidly in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Here, the network delivered new capabilities and more advanced levels of collaboration by incorporating such functionality as intelligent call routing, unified messaging, speech recognition, smart phones and remote call centers. As a result, organizations were able to eliminate multiple voice and data networks, boost call center efficiency and reduce overall network complexity and costs.
Today, organizations are beginning to implement the next phase: application-level convergence. At this stage, countless new applications, services and technologies are being attached directly to the IP-based network, which serves as the unifying, highly extensible platform for the entire organization. In this way, a myriad of new functions are being introduced, integrated, managed and controlled — accessible anywhere, and any time with a broad range of devices. This level of convergence also gives organizations opportunities to use existing hardware and software assets in new and more efficient ways.
Application-level convergence has major implications in the physical security space. To date, physical safety and security systems, for the most part, have been an amalgamation of separate, mostly analog systems. These legacy systems have been plagued by limited integration, accessibility and scalability. As a result, they have suffered from restricted functionality, little system and application interoperability, limited expansion, high cost and challenging maintenance.
These shortcomings are now being resolved. With the introduction of application-level convergence, an IP network acts as the glue to connect applications. Therefore, applications are able to interact and share data, which is now completely digital. Meanwhile, security personnel have greater access to a wide range of mission-critical information. For instance, from a local or remote location, security professionals can zero in on suspicious behavior or transactions associated with a POS or other system. Video analytics, moreover, can be used to access video captured anywhere on the network and help alert individuals to possible security violations. Security team members are then able to respond more quickly to an incident, can collaborate and communicate more efficiently, and can ultimately resolve incidents faster and more effectively.
In addition, the network can enable applications that harness existing security assets, further further unlocking the value of IT and security investments. For example, in retail, a loss-prevention system can also monitor checkout queue length, so more registers can be opened if lines reach a certain threshold — thereby enhancing customer satisfaction. To improve marketing, a video surveillance system can monitor the retail floor, closely watching customer buying behavior, which could ultimately lead to improvements in product mix or display. Likewise, in banking, video surveillance systems can constantly monitor queues, automatically switching incoming phone calls to a call center once lines reach a certain length. Tellers can then be freed from answering phones so they can tend to on-site customers. In this way, the value of integrated IT and security system investments can be fully realized.
Application-level convergence can also help make the workforce operate more efficiently and cost-effectively. Today, local IT issues often have to be addressed on-site. Many stores, banks and other businesses, however, have few, if any, trained IT staff at their various branches. With the IP network as the platform, these technology issues now can be diagnosed — and often fixed — remotely. IT personnel don't need to be present, nor do local technology issues need to be worked out by security employees, whose time could be better spent handling security incidents.
Indeed, organizations are beginning to understand the substantial value of application-level convergence for security and safety systems. Demand for IP-based surveillance is expected to surge by a 47 percent compound annual growth rate through 2012, according to research and consulting firm Frost and Sullivan. In a January 2007 report, Lehman Brothers and Sandra Jones Inc. say that organizations were increasingly attaching a number of security applications, such as video surveillance, access control (electronic and photo) and smart-card systems to the network. In other words, organizations are discovering the vast potential of using their converged networks for security purposes.
Reaching Convergence
Many IT professionals have vast experience with application-level convergence, but for many in the physical security field, it is a new concept. To date, most security systems have been closed, standalone systems, detached from and inoperable with the larger IP-based enterprise. Security personnel may therefore require some direction on how to begin tackling this new subject.
First, as a physical security specialist, you should spend some time familiarizing yourself with the basic language of convergence. IP networking, like other technologies, has an argot all its own, and it will be important to learn such basics as common network elements, architectures and capabilities. Additionally, physical security vendors and systems integrators will need to understand key concepts and terminology, such as extensible markup language (XML), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and application programming interface (API). Once you learn these fundamentals, you will be better able to make informed decisions about products and technologies and interact intelligently with equipment vendors. It's really not difficult at all — just new.
As you go about this education process, don't worry too much about the more granular, technical aspects of building networks or integrating systems. In all likelihood, that aspect of the project will be handled by your IT department or an integration partner.
Second, you should approach key personnel in your IT department about this project as soon as possible. It is important to get early feedback from them and to set the stage for a close relationship. Why? This project will require physical security personnel and IT to work together for an extended period of time. Along the way, both departments will contribute their unique expertise and knowledge to the joint effort. Establishing a close working association early on is vital. Cross-department cooperation also will be important in order to pool resources for the project and to provide a unified front to achieve and retain executive support.
Finally, it is wise to begin preparing for this future today. There is no question that convergence, particularly at the application level, can deliver tremendous benefits in terms of enhanced security, greater employee productivity and long-term cost reductions. In addition, these benefits will compound well into the future, as more applications will be added over time.
About two decades ago, IP-based networking first entered the lexicon of technology. Since that time, it has progressed from a simple way to attach a few computers, to the platform on which more and more systems are built. Indeed, convergence at the application level represents the next leap forward, as formerly siloed technologies, such as physical security systems, become fully integrated business assets to the larger enterprise.
Guido Jouret is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Cisco's Emerging Technology Group (ETG). In this role, he evaluates new product and market opportunities, ensures architectural tie-in between the emerging technologies and Cisco's core products, and is responsible for developing and communicating Cisco's thought leadership on new technologies. Mr. Jouret has a B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Worcester ( Mass. ) Polytechnic Institute and a DIC and PhD in Computing from Imperial College ( UK ).
