JM Lexus is the world’s largest volume Lexus dealership since opening in1992. Their main showroom, service centeree, parts, and Lexus certified body shop are all located in Margate, Florida while the JM Lexus Certified Pre-owned Superstore is located across Sample Road in Coconut Creek, Florida.

The requirements were not only for the two JM Lexus sites but also for a long-term infrastructure that could be easily managed and maintained across its enterprise and second, implement an "evergreen" process. The evergreen process, as defined by JM Family, is to have all equipment covered by a four-year warranty and then replace those units at the end of the warranty period.

The project was split into two simultaneous phases: phase one concentrated on the system’s design aspects including camera views and locations, infrastructure pathways, electrical requirements, bandwidths, and installation limitations. Phase two concentrated on the selection of equipment including cameras, video servers, switchgear, fiber, and structured cabling. This approach proved very beneficial. The new design and layout for the system was neither restricted to only re-using existing conduit pathways, nor by a limited product offering. The results achieved the coverage JM Lexus needed as well as wanted.

After months of discussions, site walks, and testing equipment, a team was assembled. For infrastructure: C. Davis Electric handled conduit pathways, field equipment housings, camera poles, and all high voltage circuits. Waveguide Communications was in charge of structured wiring, and all fibre. Video equipment manufacturers chosen were: Alliedtelesis for switch gear, Axis Communications for IP video cameras and, Exacqvision for network servers and video management system (VMS) software. Lastly, the integrator responsible for tying all of these together: Intelligent Access Systems (IAS), a Securadyne Systems company.

Selected for video management and storage at JM Lexus were the Exacqvision Z-Series servers with pre-installed Exacqvision Enterprise VMS software. Each of the four Z-Series servers have an i7 processor, Linux operating system and 32 TB of RAID storage. This enterprise-class storage allows JM Lexus to store a minimum of 30 days of video.

With the Exacqvision Enterprise VMS, JM Lexus could now administer different access levels to multiple users across the system as appropriate to their respective work responsibilities. The Exacqvision’s intuitive interface has proven to be one of the most beneficial features of the VMS system. Security officers and JM Lexus associates quickly learned the software and feel very comfortable with the functionality. "We thought training our associates to use the software would be the biggest time constraint, but it was really the easiest part of the installation," said Dufresne, appointed Project Manager. "It’s so intuitive; our associates were proficient on the exacqVision client after one day."

In addition to the continuously monitored security officer’s post, other JM Lexus clients in use include sales managers, service, parts, and body shop managers, and even their reservation specialists. At any given time, more than 20 clients are using the Exacqvision client accessing live video with no latency. The Exacqvision clients do not negatively impact the dealership’s business bandwidth usage, which impressed the IT department.

As an integral part of the video design, JM Lexus now has the ability to accurately document every vehicle that is brought in for service. Strategically placed cameras capture various angles of every vehicle as it comes in and goes out of the service centre. If there is a discrepancy, the service managers, together with the owner of the vehicle, instantly pull up the Exacqvision system to review video of the vehicle from arrival to final parking to determine if the damage in question happened while the vehicle was in the care of JM Lexus.

Prior to the new system, JM Lexus would absorb the repair cost of these discrepancies. These unexpected repairs, an average of $1,000 per incident, were a continued costly proposition. Now with the video documentation provided by Exacqvision and Axis cameras to immediately resolve their client’s concerns, JM Lexus estimated a cost savings of $10,000 within the first month of using the new system and a cumulative savings total of $85,000 as of September 2014.

"The biggest benefit beyond the cost savings is the level of trust the security system has brought to our relationship with our customers," said Brad Schafer, Fixed Operations Director at JM Lexus. "At the end of the day, we can show our customers video evidence from start to finish of their car repair, which has given them 100 percent assurance and faith in JM Lexus."

Beyond its ease of use and investigation tool, the Exacqvision VMS provides real value added benefits to JM Lexus and their clientele. JM Lexus has even begun using it as a training tool by reviewing their associates’ performance on how they greet and evaluate clients and their vehicles arriving for service. The service managers even use it to monitor traffic flow through the service centre, reallocating personnel as required.