Netto supermarkets had used traditional analog technology since 2001, where images taken by surveillance cameras were stored on videotapes unlike today's digital surveillance archived on a computer, which is more flexible and much easier to operate. In 2007, because of the many robberies, thefts and steadily increasing shrinkage in their 84 Swedish locations, Netto decided to take a closer look at the latest technological advances for surveillance.

"We could see that the future without a doubt lies with IP-based software for video surveillance management. This is where there is constant development and innovation with new ideas and we've already seen big improvements in the quality of our surveillance," says Mads Bering, security chief at Netto.

Throughout his collaborations of many years with security partner MKS, Netto learned about Milestone Systems software: as of August 2008 Netto has implemented their IP video platform in 54 of its Swedish stores. The goal is to continue expanding the solution to include all of the Swedish Netto sites.

"When customers come into our Swedish Netto locations, the first thing they see is a screen where they can view themselves walking into the supermarket. There's no doubt that the surveillance has a preventive effect, thereby reducing not only the number of thefts in our stores, but also ensuring better safety for our employees against robberies," states Bering.

Each Netto store has 12 megapixel cameras from Axis Communications and some network cameras from Sony; two at the registers, one in the storage area, one in the administration office and multiple cameras set up around the supermarket. All of the cameras are controlled by the Milestone XProtect Enterprise IP video management software, which archives up to 30 images per second for up to 30 days. The software interface also provides Swedish menus that make it easy to manage and operate in this country.

Via the software, Netto's headquarters also has remote access to all the video, live or recorded, which makes it possible to very quickly search and find any sequence of images, and export them to a DVD or USB stick. In this way, the police can have important evidence material fast in cases of theft or robbery.

By converting the traditional analog surveillance approach to IP video, Netto has already achieved noticeable savings. Relevant images can be accessed centrally from all the locations' cameras via the Milestone software interface, so Netto does not have to use unnecessary resources physically travelling to the individual stores.

In addition, the Milestone IP video management solution requires only minimal central administration, which is a big advantage for a supermarket chain the size of Netto.