By Jose Pinero, Owner, Coffee Beanery, Lakeline Mall, Austin TX
I own and manage the Coffee Beanery coffee shop in the Lakeline Mall in Austin, Texas. When I purchased the Coffee Beanery store, it already had a “cloud” surveillance system in place, with cameras covering the lobby, the storeroom, and of course, the cash register. The cameras were placed well, but due to quality and reliability issues, the system was unusable.
I knew I needed something different, so I looked around and chose the Eagle Eye Networks cloud security camera system. I really like using the Eagle Eye Bridge 303 because it has integrated POE ports, which made the installation simple and fast – plus I didn’t have to purchase an external switch for my POE cameras.
The Eagle Eye Security Camera VMS met all of my needs and even allowed me to expand the use of the system. I have the specific details below.
Remote Video Viewing – Live and Recorded
As a business owner, it’s important to see what’s going on at all times. Since my coffee shop is located inside of a mall, it’s open seven days a week for very long hours, and I can’t be on-site all of the time. Checking in remotely helps me make sure that my employees deliver high quality service to our customers.
- Prior cloud security camera systemThe old system had remote access, but I could only view 30-second clips or still images for the recorded video. It was also limited in terms of what devices I could use to view the video. It only worked with certain versions of specific browsers and didn’t work on my smart phone at all.
- Eagle Eye Networks cloud security camera VMSNow I can watch both live and recorded, high-resolution video streams – not just clips. Using my mobile phone, I can get access anytime, from anywhere; I’m not stuck just using my PC. I’ve set it up to view all 3 cameras at the same time and then zoom into a particular camera whenever I want to do so.
Coverage – Dealing with an unreliable Internet connection
The Internet connection at the mall is not very good – the bandwidth is inconsistent and occasionally goes down for 15 minutes or more at a time.
- Prior cloud security camera systemBecause there was no local storage, there were times when I would completely lose chunks of video, leaving gaps in the coverage.
- Eagle Eye Networks cloud security camera VMSAs part of Eagle Eye’s “Intelligent Bandwidth Management”, when our Internet goes down, their on-site recording continues, and is later pushed up to the cloud. This gives me 100% coverage, regardless of the Internet status.
Video Quality – Camera Choice
I wanted high quality video so I could better understand what’s happening in my store, as well as for security reasons – it’s hard to determine who’s causing trouble if you can’t make out their face.
- Prior cloud security camera systemI had older, lower resolution cameras, with poor image quality – I was told they were the best I could get and still have remote viewing.
- Eagle Eye Networks cloud security camera VMSWith Eagle Eye I was able to choose the cameras I liked best. I chose Samsung cameras, which have much clearer images than I had before.
Video Streaming Quality – Bandwidth Management
There is limited bandwidth in the mall – the best connection available is 215 KB of upstream bandwidth.
- Prior cloud security camera systemOur old system did not have a way to support all 3 cameras on the low bandwidth. So even when my security camera system did have a solid Internet connection, the live video streams were choppy and inconsistent.
- Eagle Eye Networks cloud security camera VMSThe Eagle Eye system has been a huge improvement. They have sophisticated bandwidth management and even with our limited bandwidth we still get:
- Smooth video streams
- Higher video image quality, allowing us to take advantage of the better Samsung cameras.
Business Operations Improvement
I use my surveillance system for more than just security. In fact, I think I get the most value out of it for my daily business operations.
- Prior cloud security camera systemThe quality issues and constraints limited our usage of the prior system. It was just too painful to use.
- Eagle Eye Networks cloud security camera VMSThe improved quality of Eagle Eye’s system makes a big difference in terms of overall system usability. We actually use the system every day now, for activities such as:
- Keeping our customer service level high through monitoring and staff training.
- Manage staffing level in real time. If the store is unusually busy or slow, I can call in extra staff or I can send someone home.
- I make sure that the coffee shop opens and closes on time, ensuring compliance with mall rules.
Conclusion
Eagle Eye Networks’ cloud video surveillance system is so much easier to work with and a much higher quality than our prior cloud system, that I use it much more often and more broadly. I am already seeing results in improved customer service.
Eagle Eye Networks gives us better video image quality and remote video accessibility, while overcoming our challenges with Internet connection inconsistency and low bandwidth. The Eagle Eye Bridge 303 has integrated POE ports, making installation simple, secure, and fast, as there wasn’t an additional switch to purchase, configure, or worry about.
Finally, with all the headlines on data breaches at retail stores, it is especially reassuring to know that the Eagle Eye founder and CEO, Dean Drako, was the founder and former CEO of Barracuda Networks. Because the Eagle Eye cloud VMS is hosted and managed by experts, they take care of maintaining a “cyber-secure” environment, which lets me focus on running my business.
###