A new Austrian shopping center demonstrates how an interoperable approach, combining Siemens' surveillance, access control and intrusion technologies, has been adopted to address loss prevention.
A new Austrian shopping center demonstrates how an interoperable approach, combining Siemens' surveillance, access control and intrusion technologies, has been adopted to address loss prevention.
Multilayered security is becoming an ever-increasing focus for retail operations worldwide as they seek to combat crime which has a significant impact on business operations and profitability. Siemens Building Technologies — a manufacturer, system integrator and service provider of building automation, fire protection, electronic security and electrical engineering — helped improve loss prevention for a new Austrian shopping center by implementing a multilayered security solution.
The shopping center features some 83 shops and restaurants over an area of almost 40,000 square meters. In the public areas, 17 dome cameras were installed, with 14 more strategically positioned to monitor the outdoor and underground parking facilities, all of which feed to a SISTORE MX hybrid video recording unit located in the station in the center's management suite. The entire surveillance system ensures the safety and security of the public and the center's personnel, and acts as a visual deterrent to potential theft, 35 percent of which is thought to be committed by insiders.
Total Security
Like other businesses, retailers need to be aware of threats posed when their facilities are closed. An intrusion control system with 300 magnetic door and window contacts, 100 external contacts and 20 motion detectors was also integrated with the surveillance system. If an alarm is triggered during off hours, real-time video footage is sent via an IP connection to a remote alarm-monitoring company, where the incident is verified and a suitable response coordinated. Images, for post-event investigations and evidential purposes, are captured by day/night cameras to ensure clarity regardless of lighting conditions.
The center's central offices are protected by Siemens' SiPass access control system, preventing potential theft of or unauthorized access to cash, goods or sensitive data. The multilayered, interoperable approach is extended in this particular application to the center's building management system, with all the heating, cooling and ventilation subsystems integrated with the security elements and monitored/controlled from a central location.