Leveraging Security Solutions to Create ROI Within the Organization
Posted on Fri, Dec 10, 2010
By Bill Taylor, President, Panasonic System Networks Company of America
Panasonic/Berk-Tek is a Silver Sponsor of the ASG Security Summit & Expo
It’s a given that we should focus on providing customers with solutions that meet their security and surveillance needs, but in today’s fast-evolving IP-based environment, that mindset is too narrow. Instead, we should be looking at how our solutions can help customers meet their overall enterprise needs. Security is not a separate silo in today’s companies. Instead it is becoming integral to the broader enterprise operation. By continuing to sell “security solutions”, we are missing opportunities for our video and other technologies to be applied to non-security uses and for the technologies to be interfaced and integrated with other, non-security systems. There are even opportunities to leverage other networked technologies to provide security benefits.
With the growth of enterprise IT oversight, the paradigm has changed to view the enterprise more holistically, with security being one integral component of operations. Acknowledging and responding to this significant change is critical to expanding our market. The purchasing decision in the new environment depends on a rigorous, enterprise-driven process of demonstrating solutions that deliver a high return on investment. Fortunately, the cost/benefit ratio of IP video is continually improving, with PoE (Power over Ethernet) capabilities to simplify installation, distributed intelligence technologies and the potential for lower operational and maintenance costs.
Focusing on a broader array of benefits beyond security is an opportunity for providers to help customers enhance cost justification strategies. Video and data can be integrated with other applications such as retail systems, human resources, process management and access control systems. The common use of IP enables telephone systems, point-of-sale systems and video surveillance systems to interoperate in the context of an IT-based environment.
Here are some examples:
– POS (point-of-sale) terminals and video recording technology can work together to enable retail store managers and loss prevention professionals to search and retrieve key loss prevention metrics and to easily access video recordings of transactions of interest.
– IP-based phone systems have LCD displays, which can be interfaced with video cameras for remote monitoring of a sales floor, delivery entrance, door access or cash handling areas.
– Facial recognition has matured, works in a broader range of lighting conditions, and can now be used to identify faces of individuals entering a business. The capability could be used to identify shoplifters from a watch list, or known card counters in a casino. Alternatively, recognizing the faces of the best customers or VIPs can ensure they receive extra-special treatment – a non-security benefit.
– Smarter cameras on the edge of the network can provide analytics to identify objects left behind (for security) or help track customer traffic patterns, crowd counting, etc., all non-security applications.
– The modern classroom environment is fully networked and includes a variety of audio and video equipment, all connected by IP. The technology, initially developed to enhance learning, can be leveraged to improve security in the classroom as well. Pushing a “panic” button on the microphone worn around the teacher's neck can send an alert to responders and make full audio available across the network. A document camera, typically used to capture images of teaching materials, is instantly repositioned to capture video of the classroom. Emergency responders now have real-time audio and video of anything happening in the classroom before they arrive.
These are just a few examples of the value of broadening our consideration of customer needs beyond our historic emphasis on providing security solutions. Integrated solutions are a valuable enterprise management tool that can be applied to many different aspects of daily operations in addition to physical security. Broadening the consideration of system benefits can drastically increase the return on investment.
I would be interested in hearing your experiences within this 'Great Conversation' community on how you are developing business solutions by leveraging security systems.