LOSSPREVENTION&SECURITY 17
CCTV PROTECTS FARMERS GROUP OPERATIONS
retail operations with a centrally monitored MOBOTIX CCTV system. The solution implemented by
T
Mediterranean Protection Solutions (MPS) provides 24 hours-a-day CCTV monitoring at four sites, including two retail outlets, a grading station and a 7,000-square-foot warehouse with an adjoining farmers market. Founded in 2007, TQPG helps farmers across Malta improve the quality and presentation of Maltese products with the main objective of selling directly to the consumer thereby stabilising pricing. With both Maltese government and European Union assistance, the group has grown considerably and now helps over 500 farmers
a’Qali Producers Group (TQPG), an association representing the interest of farmers in Malta, is protecting its
sell produce to a growing community of local buyers including consumers, supermarkets and small market stallholders. “CCTV was an early consideration when
we opened our fi rst retail outlet,” explained Peter Axisa, chief executive and co-founders of the group, “It is vital that we protect our staff, customers and premises while keeping our operational costs as low as possible.” Working closely with local subcontractor AB installations, MPS managed the installation of structured cabling, switches and MOBOTIX cameras to provide internal and external coverage across three sites. Each camera is accessible over a broadband link and monitored at night by MPS security staff. In the event of an alarm trigger, MPS is quickly able to assess the situation before calling the police, which reduces the possibility of false alarms.
RETAIL LEADS CYBER-CRIME CHARGE
According to a report from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), there were more cases fi led against cybersquatters in 2010 than ever before, with 91% of the 2,696 brand infringement cases successfully concluded in favour of the brand owner. But the biggest number of complaints came from the online retail sector, with the likes of
Aldi, ASOS, Costco, Harrods and IKEA, tackling online brand issues head on. And the trend is not just for reactive measures. Brand monitoring and protection experts at Melbourne IT DBS have seen a 74% year-on-year increase in the number of brands it provides domain monitoring services to, as increasingly web-savvy brands seek to pre-empt cyber attacks. James Panton, Melbourne IT DBS brand protection general manager, said: “It’s absolutely
vital that brands take decisive action against cybersquatters. By taking action it sends a clear message to the cybersquatting community, that you will defend your brands in all matters including IP [intellectual property] theft. And recovery is more effective in the long-term than trying to buy back domains, since you risk being held to ransom time and time again. Ultimately, most fraudsters are looking for a quick and easy win. Enforcing your IP rights will ensure your brand is not seen as a soft touch when it comes to the control of your online brand.”
The MOBOTIX CCTV is also used in
other innovative ways. “We had a situation where a customer felt she was given back the wrong change,” added Axisa. “The quality of the camera was so high that we were able to discover that there had been an error and rectifi ed the situation.”
Axisa also pointed to uses such as staff
training: “We are able to remotely monitor when staff open and close stores and to make sure products are correctly displayed all via the CCTV. By keeping our standards high, we improve our brand which helps our members sell more products at a fair price.”
PUB CHAIN
BIOMETRICS BOOST TILL SECURITY
Giant Macaskills, a hospitality licensee with a chain of three 15th century coaching inns, recently deployed Unipower Bar point-of-sale (PoS) software with integrated fi ngerprint biometrics. The Unipower Bar PoS solution uses
DigitalPersona
U.are.U fi ngerprint readers to reduce cash register shrinkage and improve operational effi ciency at the Giant Macaskills’ three Hertfordshire pubs. “The combined Digital Persona and
Unipower POS solution has provided us with peace of mind that our cashfl ow will not be threatened by theft from current or former employees. Nobody forgets to bring their thumb to work,” said Pete MacGaskill, Giant Macaskills managing director.
MARCH/APRIL 2011 RETAIL TECHNOLOGY
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