The Ramez Hyper Market chain of stores has 39 in the Persian Gulf region. This total is projected to rise to 90 stores within five years. The island nation of Bahrain has three relatively new stores that were opened one shortly after the other. The Ramez Group is set to open its fourth within months.
Ramez Hyper Market is a one-stop shop offering customers everything from home furniture to fresh products over multiple floors. The stores offer outdoor or underground parking, and opening for about 16 hours a day. Specifically, the Ramez Group’s goal is to have the ability:
•to monitor cars in close detail the moment they enter parking facilities
•to closely monitor customers the moment they leave their car until the moment they return to it
•to monitor each and every individual rack of goods within the store; and
• to eliminate camera blind spots on retail floor space
IR Eyes Outside
At the four Bahrain hypermarkets, each store has different parking based upon its location and the logistical requirements. One uses a mix of both outdoor and underground; the others offer open or underground.
Ramez Group wanted to see detail, specifically license plate numbers. Al Wardi Security Trading Co. W.L.L. was chosen to act as integrator to not only Bahrain’s Ramez Hyper Markets, but for all Ramez Hyper Markets throughout the Gulf region.
Murali Nambiar – Managing Director at Al Wardi Security – selected Hikvision’s DS-2CD854FWD-IR5 3MP WDR network box camera. This model was chosen first for its 50M infra-red range, with a vari-focal lens. The IR range provides the needed distance to survey cars, while the vari-focal lens provides the means to see specific detail, such as plate numbers.
The 2CD854FWD-IR5 3MP is placed on outside walls, overlooking parking. Also, it provides overall perimeter security. While lights are present to illuminate the evening hours of opening, the transition from day to night can be different from one side of the building to the other. In this capacity, IR is important, as is a true day-night feature to automatically switch to infrared, and wide dynamic range to take into account the glare of the sun at some hours of the day.
This box camera is not designed as an outdoor camera. As such, it doesn’t have an IP66 rating to protect it against the elements. However, Mr Nambiar felt this was the camera for the job, so Hikvision designed a custom external housing unit to provide protection.
Also installed for covering parking areas is the DS-2CD2632F-I(S) 3MP Vari-focal IR bullet camera. Placed in underground parking, this bullet camera also has many of the same technical specs such as the previous Hikvision box camera. However, in this case, the DS-2CD2632F-I(S) 3MP comes with an IP66 rating.
Another external camera is the DS-2DF7284 Series 2MP IR network speed dome. Used at only one Hyper Market location, this dome camera is placed on the corners of the building to cover particularly heavy customer flow, traffic congestion, and parking. Programmed with a preset search scan, the DS-2DF7284 provides 180 degrees of coverage on all four corners of the property. If anything should catch the security operator’s interest, this speed dome’s 20x optical zoom provides the specific detail.
The Ramez Group puts great onus upon internal camera coverage. For example, in the first two hypermarkets, each rack of goods – regardless of type or location – has its own DS-2CD753F-E(I)Z 2MP vandal-resistant network dome. In total, some 188 units are in such use.
As these racks are about 20 to 30 metres long, the DS-2CD2732F-I(S)’s 30 meters of IR range is suitable the installer says for this application. While the store may be open to customers for two-thirds of the day, it is actually in use 24-7, for restocking and cleaning. During these eight night-time hours, lighting is dimmed, hence IR comes in. Also, should an unexpected power outage occur, this solution has UPS (uninterruptable power supply) as a one-hour backup. Since store ceilings are not particularly high in many of these areas, this dome’s vandal-proof housing also ensures against customer and/or staff damage.
For the two newer stores, this function is being covered by the DS-2CD2732F-I(S) 3MP IP66 network IR dome. Almost 230 units are used in this fashion. Essentially identical in function, this camera provides 3MP of high-resolution, where the former provided 2MP. However, this model is used in all stores to cover such areas as the main entrance and cashier registers, to use the increase in resolution.
To eliminate blind spots and help provide “coverage of the customer the moment they enter the store until they return to their car,” as Mr Nambiar said, is the DS-2CD8253F-EI(Z) 2MP IR bullet network camera. Placed in corners, where the building does not allow convenient access for a dome, this bullet camera fills in the coverage blanks of the overhead domes.
Using Hikvision’s DS-9632NI-ST Embedded NVR, each store has a central security room and is responsible for its own security needs. However, all four stores are tied into the Bahrain’s Ministry of the Interior with an internet connection. This allows store managers to remotely live monitor their stores via a LAN connection, besides the authorities through the internet. Mr Nambiar notes this has cut response times to incidents, and efficiency in response.
Ramez Group and Al Wardi Security Trading Co. W.L.L. plan to replicate this in new Hyper Markets in the larger Persian Gulf region.
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