ACTi megapixel IP cameras installed in Italian shopping centre chain

36 units of ACTi ACM-4200 IP megapixel cube cameras distributed over 10 different points in OSCAR CERAMI

OSCAR CERAMI is a shop chain that counts numerous retail points within South Italy territory. The market is mostly focused on the sale of ceramics and pottery objects for home furnishing; OSCAR CERAMI is familiar to everyone especially for their large presence into the biggest shopping centres.

Especially when monitoring very small objects and little parts, the use of megapixel resolution cameras perfectly fits the demand of high video definition and detailed images, in order to guarantee the best video control and an easier recognition of eventual robberies.

In this new project, 36 units of ACTi ACM-4200 IP megapixel cube cameras have been distributed over 10 different retail points. In combination with the video surveillance software Vidéo, each live video stream flows to a central management station accessed by the security manager.

What makes this project singular is that there's no client software in each retail shop and this means that the centralisation system isn't just limited to settings, management and registration control, but even to real time advanced monitoring functions. Everything, then, is remotely controlled by a central control room. Here the main server  supports the whole system and a second server is ready to start in action in case the main one went down. This architecture was built up in order to ensure the system 24/7/365 operation, according to shopping centre security needs which are open every day the whole year. Furthermore the control room is equipped with 3 LCD monitors allowing real time live monitoring of all installed cameras.

Based on the server-client structure of the software, a "Vidéo" client software was installed on two mobile devices owned by the administrators in order to have

Shopping centre in Italy deploys ACTi megapixel IP cameras

immediate access to the live video streams from any point using 3G Mobile internet network. To provide a quicker operation from the client software during mobility, a touch screen technology was implemented in Vidéo software client.

One of the main aspects of this project was correct management of the bandwidth. Each retail store, in fact, has its own router with QoS (Quality of Service) management  in order to avoid bandwidth crashes and to balance the video stream with voice over IP and retail/warehouse centralised management. Standing to the quite common performances of the bandwidth in Italy, ACTi cameras' advanced bit rate control permitted a good centralising system even at megapixel resolution.