Hot Brands International (HBI) provides franchise and joint venture partnerships in the quick service and casual dining industries throughout the Middle East and India.
Hot Brands International (HBI) provides franchise and joint venture partnerships in the quick service and casual dining industries throughout the Middle East and India. HBI’s growth has been exponential, and the company’s numerous brands now serve more than 4 million meals per year in UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, India and Saudi Arabia.
As HBI transitioned from a small to a medium-sized business, the company embarked on a proactive security initiative to stay ahead of potential threats before they became real problems. With a focus on protecting the premises, people and assets, HBI began a search for a new security system that would provide a seamlessly integrated solution for several security issues. First, HBI needed to protect the company’s main facility, which, in addition to serving as corporate headquarters, is also a central warehouse for multiple food retail outlets within the UAE region and serves as the company’s center for R&D and evaluation of new brands. As a result, it is the hub of the company’s valuable intellectual property.
Second, HBI wanted to improve its visitor management capabilities. Not only was the existing manual process of having employees and visitors sign in and out using a book both outdated and ineffective, but HBI employees also had reported several incidents of merchants walking in off the street and into employees’ offices to sell their goods. That, coupled with a few high-profile crimes in this otherwise safe area, had added to employee feelings of unease.
Third, a new security solution was needed to help the company manage employee whereabouts, both for their own protection and to ensure that the company was running at top levels of efficiency. HBI was primarily concerned about being able to locate employees throughout the facility should an emergency occur, but also wanted to ensure the accuracy of its time-and attendance and payroll systems, and take preemptive measures to avert insider threats.
Integrating for added value
With the help of system integrator Ocean Computers, HBI implemented the
S2 NetBox IP-based security system. The combination of
S2 Security and Ocean Computers was the foundation of this deployment’s success.
In addition to providing the access control and management capabilities HBI required, the openness of the S2 NetBox and its freely available software development kit (SDK) allowed Ocean Computers to easily integrate into existing databases. This included the time-and-attendance system, also from Ocean Computers, making it easy for the company to quickly provide the solution HBI wanted.
Planning for the future
Today, the new HBI security system consists of a number of doors protected from unauthorized access by card readers connected to IP-enabled S2 NetBox Nodes. The nodes sit on HBI’s existing network, eliminating the need to run proprietary cable throughout the facility. Employee and visitor logs have been integrated into the system, making it easier to manage the flow of people throughout the facility.
The design of the S2 NetBox fully IPenabled solution means that system devices such as card access readers and cameras can be mounted by plugging them into a network point. And, because the system is browser based, it can be managed, monitored, configured and maintained remotely. HBI is extremely pleased with their selection of the S2 NetBox and how easy it is to install, use and expand upon.