Ontario’s 56,000 sq ft Cosmo Music store is using face recognition analytic to help prevent shoplifting.
Needing to replace a 20-year-old analogue video system, Vice President and COO Rudi Brouwers, started researching modern video management software. Initially he intended to purchase IP cameras and a basic VMS with the ability to record and playback but he turned his focus to finding one that went beyond basic video management to offer business intelligence. In particular, he was interested in face recognition, which would enable the identification of suspicious customers.
Working with integrator Northern Alarm Protection (NAP), Brouwers looked at a number of different systems, and ultimately decided on Axis cameras and Senstar’s Symphony VMS with face recognition analytics.
“I was sold on Symphony when I got to actually use it,” said Rudi.
Before implementing the face recognition video analytics, when a suspicious customer was identified through video surveillance, Brouwers would screen capture an image, email it to staff, and ask them to keep an eye out for that person. With Senstar’s Face Recognition video analytic, Brouwers can flag suspicious customers in Symphony. When that person enters the store again, Brouwers is automatically notified. Brouwers tested the analytic saying: “One of our staff had a full beard one day and it was shaved off the next day and the system still picked him up.”
