Century 21 - Tyco Security Products

Century 21
CASE SUMMARY
Building a Proactive Retail Security System, One Store at a Time
Location:
A legendary New York City retailer with stores in multiple states,
Century 21 has long recognized the importance of having a strong loss
prevention (LP) program that involved video surveillance using the
most advanced, but also proven, security technology.
Access Control, Video, Location-Based Tracking and Intrusion. UNIFIED.
Elizabeth, NJ
System Installed:
American Dynamics
Illustra 625 IP PTZ Dome
Illustra 610 HD IP Mini-Domes
VideoEdge VMS with victor Unified Client
cutting-edge technology that would perform to our
Introduction
standards.”
Century 21 opened its first store in downtown
One specific challenge that Century 21 presented to
Manhattan in 1961 and now operates eight stores
Tyco Security Product’s American Dynamics brand of
across the New York/New Jersey area. The stores are
surveillance solutions, along with its systems integrator,
focused on high-fashion, low-price apparel for women,
Tyco Integrated Security, was how the company could
men and children, along with cosmetics, handbags,
address issues of latency that have been associated
shoes, lingerie, housewares, luggage and more.
with some IP cameras. Latency is a delay between the
Merchandise can range from less than $10 to more
movement of the joystick to command the camera and
than $7,000. The newest Century 21 site, which opened
the camera’s response to the command.
in April 2013, is at Jersey Gardens: The Outlet Center
in Elizabeth, N.J. The largest outlet mall in the state,
Like most retailers that employ a team of active
Jersey Gardens is also a major tourist attraction,
surveillance personnel to monitor their facilities,
drawing approximately 18 million visitors a year from
Century 21 was averse to delays in camera control that
more than 160 countries.
affected their ability to track and monitor situations in
their stores in real time. After evaluating older IP dome
The company’s loss prevention department is
cameras, Century 21 LP personnel found that the delay
headquartered at its flagship store in Manhattan,
between the joystick command and camera movement
although each store maintains its own LP department
was too long to effectively follow specific individuals
and staff.
around the store.
Challenges
Solution
With each new store opening, Century 21’s loss
Instead, Century 21 chose 10 Illustra 625 IP PTZ Dome
prevention department looks to incorporate the latest
cameras with very low latency for accurate camera
technology to enhance the quality of its LP activities.
tracking control, allowing Century 21’s surveillance staff
The brand new Jersey Gardens store, which opened in
to actively monitor activity in their stores. With the
April 2013 in an existing mall storefront, presented
Illustra 625, the camera moves to position as fast as
Century 21 with the opportunity to explore the transition
512° per second, allowing for active surveillance and
to IP cameras from analog as well as discover
efficient tracking of suspicious behavior.
additional features that could further reduce shrink as
part of the company’s proactive LP program.
“We have very proactive LP policies in place to protect
our inventory and guest experience so we needed the
“We like to think we are a leader in technology and in
lowest latency and best quality picture from these
pushing the envelope,” said James Betesh, Vice
domes as possible,” Betesh said.
President Loss Prevention, Century 21 Department
Stores. “As a 25-year customer with American
Dynamics and Sensormatic, we trusted them to provide
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The selection of the Illutra 625 IP PTZ cameras, along
Within the VMS platform, according to Williams, one of
with an additional 34 Illustra 610 HD IP Mini-Domes,
the most appealing features is the speed of the system
marks a definitive shift for Century 21 from analog to IP-
for searching recorded video. Video that used to take
based surveillance. Along with the IP cameras, the
as long as four hours to watch can be condensed to just
retailer also implemented the victor video management
25 minutes, he said. The VideoEdge metadata
system from American Dynamics. Using the victor
collection and motion search tools are credited with
unified client, Century 21’s LP staff at Jersey Gardens
reducing search and review times. Additionally, the
is able to view, manage, and control recorded video
user friendliness of the system makes it easy to burn
from four VideoEdge network video recorders.
key video onto a CD or DVD, which is an activity
Williams does on a daily basis.
Loss Prevention Manager Tyrese Williams, who is the
onsite LP professional at Jersey Gardens, noted that
A further advantage of the system is the ability to
the IP cameras were an improvement over analog for
access video via an iPad or iPhone, so security
several reasons, beginning with the clarity of the
personnel aren’t tied to their desktop or office or even
images and the superior zoom-in ability.
have to be on-site to monitor and respond to situations.
“You can access any one of the Illustra cameras we
As part of Century 21’s efforts to continue to innovate
have installed and still have a crystal clear view,”
with its LP system, Betesh said they are looking at
explained Williams. Cameras are placed in key
analog-to-IP conversions for its other locations,
locations so LP staff can actively observe various
beginning with the flagship downtown Manhattan site.
activities, such as transactions at the registers
That store, which spans more than 200,000 square feet,
throughout the day. With the new cameras, Williams
also features more than 800 analog cameras.
said they have the capability to zoom in at the register
Store size, layout and design all play a role in the
“and get the best pictures possible.”
number and placement of cameras, according to
This was the type of activity that was critical in testing
Betesh. The high ceilings in the Jersey Gardens store
the performance of IP over analog, said Tom Hamlin,
actually allowed for the use of fewer cameras because
Sales Manager Retail/Manager Professional Services
each one could cover a wider area.
for Tyco Security Products. "Tests on previous IP PTZ
cameras had not performed to the level that C21
Converting from analog to IP would certainly be an
required," he said, "especially with their
investment, acknowledged Betesh, but he sees
uncompromising LP standards." But the i625s, along
opportunities because the system can be used for more
with the victor/VideoEdge video management system
than just loss prevention. “There are a lot of additional
(VMS), were able to provide the necessary low latency,
returns on our investment in technology that are
high-quality picture and continuity of image capture that
possible, such as tracking shopper behavior that can
Century 21 required.
improve our guest experience,” he said.
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By using active surveillance to track shopper
movements, store operators can better position
merchandise and displays, and staff their stores for
both sales and security based on time-of-day analytics.
And while on-site staff are making use of this type of
analysis, Betesh said analytics can also be tied into the
POS system and used by fraud analysts to detect
issues at the cash registers.
With all the new features, plus not losing anything in the
analog-to-IP conversion, Betesh said he sees the longterm value in continuing with an IP surveillance system
such as victor/VideoEdge that allows Century 21 to
maintain the benefits of analog with the possibilities of
IP video. “As long as we maintain what analog provided
for us, everything else is just gravy,” he said.
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