An existing analogue system originally installed as a deterrent and to support investigations of theft, did not provide adequate picture quality and could not fulfil the new requirements to ensure the smoother running of the food and services operation. The expectations and therefore the challenges for the operator are high at this venue: Patrons want short lines, friendly service, clean toilets and displays with mouth watering fresh food. A permanent focus on service quality and the freshness and appearance of the food on display is a must for the staff and for the management.

After the initial conversations between Otto Botschek, the leaseholder, and the installer, E-Service Ueckert, Business Video Intelligence solutions from Seetec were selected as an efficient solution. Proven reliability was a mandatory prerequisite for staff safety in the 24 by 7 environment of a busy lay-by.  Seetec’s dedicated retail and hospitality solutions with their ability to integrate with existing IT systems gave Botschek the competitive edge they were looking for. The system scales up so that more cameras and even further lay-byes can be added later.

To date the lay-by uses 43 IP cameras from Axis and Sony, some of the high resolution PTZ cameras to monitor especially the food counters. An HP-Server with 2 Xeon processors stores the video footage on an 8 Tb SAN system.  Client workstations are installed in headquarters and the management can take a look at the presentation of goods at any time using smartphones and mobile devices.  Live images of the food counters are also shown on monitors in the staff rooms. For each view of the counter Seetec also displays a reference view from an external web server to give a simple comparison of what the counter should look like. This allows the staff to recognise deterioration early and act quickly.

After this solution had significantly improved operations at the lay-by, more and more ideas for optimisation were developed and quickly realised. The "Lechwiesen” lay-by is one of a few German lay-byes with its own cash management facilities thus allowing faster reconciliation with the POS systems. To prevent any irregularity in the counting procedure the cash counters were directly linked with the Seetec video system.  Any anomaly raises an alarm and focuses the attention of staff in headquarters on the live video of the counters.

The Seetec Retail Module is also connected to the POS systems to reduce inventory differences and to show up checkout fraud. Every image sequence is automatically linked to corresponding transaction data (sales receipt, type of transaction) and stored in the database of the Seetec Retail Module. This also contains a research client, which can be customised individually according to specific customer requirements in the retail and hospitality sector. Analysis can be done by specific items or values. The resulting video can be viewed as a clip or a still can be exported as an e-mail in a single click.

Andreas Waizmann, Chief Information Officer at Botschek, is very satisfied with the Seetec system. "With Seetec Business Video Intelligence we have a reliable and flexible solution that manages both our traditional security requirements and supports the core processes of our business. That makes it an active part of creating business value and contributing to the bottom line. Over time we have been able to realize more and more innovative applications.”

Further applications are in the pipeline with some already in testing. For instance there is a pilot project with Seetec Counting to count the number of people in certain areas of the facility. Even the coffee machines are to be linked with the video system to raise alarms when they malfunction and highlight the live video stream.