Video surveillance in shopping centers: requirements for 2020-2021

The retail segment is a growth driver for the Russian video surveillance market. Despite the difficult economic conditions in the country, shopping and entertainment centers in Russia continue to be built and opened. This means that the task of providing large shopping facilities with modern video surveillance systems is urgent. Details below.

Tasks of video surveillance in shopping centers and shopping malls

The main security tasks in shopping centers, which are solved using system video surveillance, are as follows:

1. Monitoring in surveillance areas in real time. The main passage areas are monitored, such as:

• entrances/exits to the building, including emergency and evacuation exits;
• loading/unloading areas;
• elevators/escalators;
• corridors;
• food courts;
• access zones to the security premises and premises with important equipment for power supply, video surveillance, access control systems, etc.;
• adjacent territory.

For responsible and authorized persons (the owner of the shopping center, administrator, etc.), remote online access is provided, while the operators monitor the image from video cameras to control emergencies and understand the general situation.

2. Video recording for subsequent analysis of individual events.

In the event of emergency situations (theft, emergency, conflict), the shopping center analyzes the case and investigates, and, if necessary, provides video recordings for law enforcement agencies.

3. Prevention of illegal actions

The risk of illegal acts decreases in proportion to the increase in the coverage area of ​​video surveillance. And first of all, the psychological factor of the presence of a large number of cameras in a shopping center is of great importance.

Video analytics

In addition to security issues, video surveillance is capable of solving a number of marketing and business problems. The best option is to consider video analytics capabilities from international leader Faceter.

With it, business owners can obtain important marketing data such as:

• number of visitors and their classification according to various criteria (demography, history of visits);
• maintaining black and white lists and face recognition;
• tracking and detailing the work activity of employees. A useful article has been written on this topic under the title “Video analytics: work process control“.

Complete information on intelligent video analytics for business can be found here.

Organization of video surveillance in a shopping center. Requirements

Important criteria for organizing a video surveillance system in large shopping malls are:

• the ability of the equipment to function in various conditions: indoors, near entrances, in the adjacent territory, large areas with insufficient lighting and temperature changes;
• ability to integrate several video surveillance systems within one workplace;
• high quality video recording;
• automated system operation to reduce the load on operators (security guards).

The law

As a facility with massive amounts of people, special requirements are imposed on shopping centers, which are regulated by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 272 ​​(from September 25, 2015).

The main goal of this regulatory legal document is to ensure anti-terrorist security of crowded places. Basic regulatory requirements:

1. Video surveillance in shopping centers should provide control over the territory of the shopping center with the ability to identify individuals and license plates.
2. Video surveillance cameras in a shopping center must have a power system that ensures their autonomous operation in the event of a power outage for a period of 20 minutes or more.
3. Videos must be kept for at least 30 days. For ease of use, it is advisable to use cloud storage, the storage period and size of a video archive depends only on the tariff plan.
4. Video filming in shopping centers is carried out without hindrance if warning posters about video surveillance are placed on the territory of the shopping center. At the same time, it is strictly forbidden to use photo-video filming equipment in fitting rooms and public bathrooms. And, in addition, the employees and tenants of a shopping center are required to give written consent to filming.

Other requirements

Also, a video surveillance system for a shopping center must meet other requirements:

1. Availability of documentation for the installed system.
2. Availability of a warranty service period not less than 12 months.
3. Open cables, diagonally installed cable channels, classic grey junction boxes and other connections that spoil the design of a room are prohibited and can be a source of danger for visitors.

Conclusion

Taking into account the size of the shopping center and its format, the number of cameras and their functionality may vary, but the areas and objectives of surveillance, as a rule, remain unchanged. Without exception, all shopping center owners are concerned with two goals: ensuring security and obtaining marketing information for solving business problems. An indispensable assistant in both cases is the innovative Faceter video surveillance.