Page 28 - Security Today, April 2020

Improving Operations Kirkland’s Home Décor stores choose new cameras to improve security
By Jordan Rivchun
Protecting assets and people has always been a top priority for Kirkland’s, a global home décor retailer. With over 400 stores in 37 states, Kirkland’s is a go- to spot for a broad selection of distinctive merchan- dise: art, mirrors, candles, lamps, frames, accent rugs, furniture and more. When they evaluated their security solutions in 2016, they determined they needed to upgrade the analog video sur- veillance systems in use at their existing locations and plan for new stores.
Saraya Charlton, Kirkland’s Loss Prevention Investigator, said the analog video surveillance cameras they had in place were acceptable, but they desired cameras with wider coverage and better resolution. The department was also frustrated with the amount of time it took to investigate incidents for loss prevention and personal injury claims.
Each time they were called to investigate an incident – vandal- ism, theft, employee misconduct, a slip and fall, or a cut from broken merchandise – each individual store had to extract the footage from the analog DVR at that location and send it to loss prevention at Kirkland’s headquarters.
Charlton said Kirkland’s sought an IP-based solution that could be accessed remotely and would make the loss prevention investigation process more efficient. Management wanted a cam- era that provided a clear picture, while minimizing bandwidth us- age and providing additional analytics capabilities.
Working with several systems integrators, Kirkland’s chose to deploy an IP video surveillance solution consisting of Hanwha video surveillance cameras managed by Salient’s enterprise Video Management Software (VMS).
The first phase of the security upgrade has included the de- ployment of 1,800 Hanwha Wisenet X series XNV-6011 2 mega- pixel HD dome cameras and Wisenet Lite vandal-resistant dome cameras at 200 Kirkland’s locations as well as the distribution center and the e-commerce building. As new stores are built by this growing retailer, they will also include the Hanwha-Salient security solution. They expect to have a full migration to IP at all locations by 2021.
Each Kirkland’s location is outfitted with approximately eight cameras that are positioned to capture the entrance, the sales floor and the back of house operations. Charlton said Hanwha’s cameras provide the most comprehensive view of the store possible.
“The wide-angle capability – as well as the quality of the camera – is really what sold us on Hanwha,” Charlton said. “We are getting the best views possible and they are allowing us to see the entire sales floor which is exactly what we wanted and needed.”
Hanwha’s Wisenet X series of cameras is a perfect fit for the retail environment. The wide-angle 2.8 mm lens captures a 112-degree horizontal field of view. For a retailer, that means do- ing more with less.
Charlton said the Hanwha cameras are particularly useful
“We are getting the best views possible and they are allowing us to see the entire sales floor which is exactly what we wanted and needed.”
at store entrances because, thanks to the WDR feature, video images are not affected by the bright sunlight that often shines through the windows and they can still see faces clearly. And because many of Hanwha’s cameras offer license free analytics, Kirkland’s will begin exploring that capability in the future to gain information on people counting, heat mapping and dwell time.
The Hanwha-Salient solution has improved Kirkland’s loss prevention investigation efficiency since the team is able to pull recorded video from any camera via the Salient VMS rather than wait for information to be extracted from an analog DVR. They also appreciate being able to use Hanwha’s Device Manager to troubleshoot and resolve any camera issues remotely first rather than unnecessarily sending out a service technician.
In addition to offering quality images, improved field of view and more efficient operations, the Hanwha solution has also helped Kirkland’s conserve valuable bandwidth with Hanwha WiseStream II compression technology, Charlton said.
WiseStream II dynamically controls encoding, balancing quality and compression according to movement of the image.
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Photo courtesy of Kirkland’s Home Décor