Page 28 - Security Today, May/June 2019

McKannay explained that with the cameras in place, Dick Han- nah Dealerships has seen a reduction in HR issues with employees, as well as a reduction in, and better management of, customer issues and complaints, including liability issues with vehicle damage, inju- ries, and slip-and-falls.
“You would be surprised by the number of instances where visi- tors to our facilities either claim that they slipped and were hurt in the service drive, or that their vehicle was damaged at our facility,” Stroebel said. “Our managers use video to resolve these situations. When a customer comes in and says that we damaged their vehicle, we now use video documentation to see the exact condition of a ve- hicle both as it arrived at our facility and while on-site. This helps us better manage these conversations with our customers.”
Additionally, Dick Hannah’s call center managers use the video system to improve customer service. Traditionally, it is challenging to coordinate communications between incoming customer calls with service writers, the people who write up vehicle service information when a customer arrives at the service bays. Service writers are often away from their workstations inspecting vehicles, collecting informa- tion and assisting customers. The call managers now use video to quickly see which writers are available to answer a customer question or provide more detailed assistance.
“Call managers use the video system all day long to see which service writers to transfer a call to, so the customer doesn’t need to be put on hold,” Stroebel said. “Before video, calls would be transferred blindly to the service desks, and call managers just hoped someone was there. Video has helped solve these issues.”
Shrinkage, Vandalism and ROI
Stroebel and McKannay explained that with a dealership of their size, controlling theft and internal shrinkage is a substantial chal- lenge with so many open areas, visitors, employees and sought-after equipment, tools, vehicles and parts. The security team uses record- ed and live video day and night to monitor and reduce theft of all types. While inventory security is a prime concern, the company also uses video to help secure its cash vaults and safes, as well as armored truck pickups.
“There have been a number of occasions where a company has been able to harness Milestone and the technology behind it to be proactive and save money in the long run,” Saldana said. “In cases of equipment theft, it doesn’t take too many instances for the video system to quickly pay for itself.”
For example, Saldana explained the current trend for thieves com-
ing onto car lots, breaking into vehicles and stealing the car’s main vehicle computer. With the damage to the vehicle—usually broken mirrors, smashed glass, and torn up dashboards—and the theft of the computer, a single instance can easily cost the dealership $8,000 to $10,000.
From 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. every night, Dick Hannah Dealerships has its own security team with continuous access to the camera views. De- pending on circumstances, the security team may dispatch guards when it sees something suspicious, or they may use the facility’s public-address system to send a verbal warning to trespassers to leave the property.
“It is amazing what people can do to a vehicle just sitting in a car lot. We have people coming on lots, damaging things or trying to break into cars every night,” McKannay said. “We don’t necessarily always dispatch a guard, often a verbal acknowledgment that you are being seen and that you are on private property is enough to move a suspect off the premises.”
Recently a juvenile came onto a lot at night and began jumping from car to car, smashing and denting each hood as he went along. The live video monitoring allowed the team to quickly see this oc- curring and take quick action to help minimize the damage. Without video, the vandal may have been able to damage many more cars.
“I think in most cases it’s just a matter of being able to see what’s happening in real time then getting law enforcement there while it’s happening,” McKannay said. “The early detection and being able to get someone fast on site to put a stop to it has no doubt saved us a great deal of money.”
High-performance Next Steps
Dick Hannah Dealerships is currently building a new 80,000-square- foot body shop and collision center in Vancouver, Wash. This new facility is the first where the security and surveillance system will be designed and installed from the ground up. Saldana explained that this is a critical location for Dick Hannah. When vehicles are dam- aged, they will come to this body shop for repair.
“For the body shop facility, there’s a high level of performance needed from the video system,” Saldana said. “Clear image resolu- tion in the video documentation of the damage on these vehicles with the car’s move through the facility is critical. We’re incorporating PTZs, high-definition multi-sensor cameras, along with some video analytics. It will be a powerful system.”
While the new Dick Hannah Dealerships collision center is under construction, Saldana has installed Axis PTZ and thermal cameras to secure the job site day and night.
“The reason we like the Milestone open platform VMS so much is that most of our projects at REECE are done with a design-build mentality,” Saldana said. “We listen to the needs of the customer, develop a roadmap, then work with partners like Milestone to put together state-of-the-art video systems that benefit the customer in multiple ways.”
With what began as an effort to make sure vehicles were not being stolen or damaged at night, Dick Hannah Dealerships and REECE have been able to bring together several technologies to better man- age the company’s safety, security and everyday operations.
“Through this project, the engineering help and support from REECE and Milestone have been great,” McKannay said. “From best leveraging our existing systems to training
our staff, this has been a collaborative effort all
around, and we look forward to growing the sys- tem and utilizing more video capabilities with our new facilities and beyond.”
Courtney Dillon Pedersen is the communications manager for Milestone Systems.
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