Davenport Hotels has relied on an analog video surveillance system for the existing hotel facilities and structures in downtown Spokane, Washington. For the new Davenport Grand Hotel, hotel management wanted to ensure the safety and security of its guests, employees, and visitors while helping to prevent theft and other loss.
The Challenge
Davenport Hotels has relied on an analog video surveillance system for the existing hotel facilities and structures in downtown Spokane, Washington. For the new Davenport Grand Hotel, hotel management wanted to ensure the safety and security of its guests, employees, and visitors while helping to prevent theft and other loss. It was also important to be able to capture images of the vehicles that come and go from the public garage used by hotel guests. This would enable the hotel to better deal with potential vehicle damage claims, which is a common issue in the hospitality industry.
Each of the Davenport Grand's planned camera applications would require highly detailed video, and the management team knew from the start that an analog surveillance system would not be sufficient. "We have other hotels that have analog cameras installed, so getting a more current system with clarity was a priority. We decided we're not going to invest in an older system," said Kevin Miller, Corporate Director of Security for the Davenport Collection of Properties. Instead, an IP megapixel surveillance camera solution would be required.
Leveraging Megapixel Technology
Working with Spokane-based security firm A-TEC, the hotel narrowed its potential choices down to three camera vendors, each of which submitted a bid for the video surveillance system project. After evaluating all of the products included in the bids, the hotel chose IP megapixel cameras from Arecont Vision, primarily based on image quality. Exacq was chosen as the video management software.
Hotel management had a system design in mind, which Kevin Jetton, A-TEC's President, was able to refine based on what he saw after touring the facility. According to Jetton, the changes were largely based on the ability to cut the hotel's costs without sacrificing camera coverage.
"We pride ourselves on determining what the areas of concern are, how we are going to address them, and what cameras will do the best job," Jetton said. "We realized we could incorporate SurroundVideo Omni and other Arecont Vision megapixel cameras to lower the camera count and increase overall views."
The Solution
The overall installation included nearly 70 Arecont Vision cameras, all of which were deployed to suit the individual areas in which they were to be used. The installed cameras are from several Arecont Vision families, including SurroundVideo Omni user-configurable omni-directional and 180 degree panoramic multi-sensor megapixel cameras, along with Microdome ultra-low profile and MegaBall megapixel dome cameras.
Megapixel Solution Benefits
Davenport Hotels had a number of safety and security goals for its new surveillance system in the Davenport Grand. Hotel management wanted to ensure that the cameras wouldn't be the first thing guests noticed. With their high quality and their sleek, unobtrusive design, the Arecont Vision cameras have met those needs. "We certainly didn't want to give people the feeling that they're being watched throughout the hotel," Miller said. "We really like how the low profile of the cameras and the multi-sensor capabilities enabled us to use just one camera opposed to four separate ones."
The Arecont Vision cameras have allowed the Davenport Grand to take a more proactive and preventative approach to security, something that would have been missing from an analog surveillance system. "We can see activity and hopefully stop and report behavior to prevent things from happening," Miller said.
In terms of return on investment, the ability to avoid claims for which the hotel is not responsible has been a major benefit of the new system in the Davenport Grand. This has been particularly the case with the vehicle valet service. "With the valet service, customers will come in and claim that marks on their vehicle weren't there when they arrived, and quite honestly, they may believe that's true. With the Arecont Vision cameras, we're able to look at the video and say with confidence whether the mark was there when he or she arrived at the hotel," Miller said.
The cameras have also helped with a number of instances of items disappearing from the exterior of the hotel. In one example, the Davenport Grand was able to provide the local police department with video which led to the items being returned and the thieves apprehended.
In addition to the Davenport Grand's potential cost reduction from a lower camera count, savings were realized in other areas as a result of the new surveillance system which is monitored on the premises. "What's really nice is we can actually view the cameras from several different locations in real-time or in playback," Miller said. "These cameras help reduce our on-floor manpower and increase our effectiveness because there can be one person on the floor and another person who is watching the cameras, who can cover 10 times more area than one person can on foot."
Product Adopted:Surveillance Cameras