Video Surveillance
Inter Chalet: Preventing theft with IP decoding monitors
The family-run company Inter Chalet opened a timber business in Horst (Limburg, the Netherlands) back in 1978. The company underwent continuous expansions within just a few years and now offers its customers a full range of hardware products. Inter Chalet belongs to the Home Park Inter Chalet Group.
Christin draws from her talent, experiences, and wealth of knowledge from studying motion graphic design to create aesthetically pleasing works of art.
Together with a dozen other specialist retailers, Inter Chalet showcases everything you need for the home, garden and building across 30,000 m².
A lot can happen in a space this size – including theft. That’s why a camera network was set up in 2009 to ‘scare off’ potential thieves. This network was continuously upgraded and expanded. Since then, 79 Panasonic cameras have been set up indoors and outdoors which has resulted in the number of thefts dropping significantly.
Five EIZO FDF2304W IP decoding monitors were installed in 2018. This model was selected because it can be connected to the security network without a computer. That means that live video streams can be transmitted directly to the monitor. A further advantage is that it makes having to install, maintain or update a computer a thing of the past.
Two of these monitors are located in the security department of the company so that employees can keep an eye on visitors to the store. Odd behaviour is highlighted on the monitors. For example, if a customer doesn’t move for longer than 20 seconds, the video stream is framed in red. The employee on duty can then take measures to offer them help or check whether there’s another issue at play.
The other three IP decoding monitors serve as ‘confrontation monitors’. They are located at the entrance and at two doors leading to the outdoor area. This allows customers to be seen on the display as soon as they enter the store or go outside.
An EIZO monitor with 4K resolution and a 55-inch screen diagonal is also used as an overview monitor to display all camera images or a selection of images. The large-format monitor is an improvement on the previous solution with several smaller monitors, as it doesn’t feature any display edges that could impede the view.
The network helps to ensure that employees and visitors to the store are kept safe and also supplies valuable data. For example, visitor numbers can be analysed and used to determine staff requirements.
The entire camera network was customised and supplied by the distributor Stupers Rosmalen. Such a comprehensive network is quite a major investment, which is why Inter Chalet opted for a rental plan. This allows the company to benefit from state-of-the-art technologies at a fixed monthly rate which includes network maintenance.