Does your business use video surveillance? If not, why not?
It's funny; when we introduce a product we think we know what it does and how it will be used. By that I mean we spent time, money and thought looking at what people do at work and how we can make it easier. When we launched IP Video Surveillance we thought "Cool! Now people can have their surveillance cameras on the network, they can look at their business from anywhere and we have a storage device that makes it easy to go back to review tapes if you need to. Wow, we're awesome!" We had barely considered the possible uses.
When we launch a new product we go find customers who are using it and produce videos and written stories to share with other customers. So there I was! (I always like stories that begin this way) talking to people who are using our cameras. Guess what, they thought of new ways to use it. Security was cool, and very important but we had overlooked productivity. One of the first customers I met was Dr Tuuyen Do at Skye Dental. She actually told me she had asked for IP Video Surveillance for Christmas! (I can't make these things up, I'm not that good) While I don't think many of us are going to ask Santa for an IP Video Surveillance solution -- The way she uses it is very creative. Her practice is young and growing. Rather than have an employee who just sits at the desk, she uses the cameras to watch the lobby with screens in each of her treatment centers. She can see when someone comes in and her assistant can step out to greet them. Patients feel attended to and she's saving money to invest in the practice! We didn't really see that coming; but it did give us an idea!
Today we announced the Cisco Advanced Video Monitoring System to track customers walking through the store to check how they react to promotional signage or to identify dead zones where no one visits. During ad campaigns, the video monitoring system can count the number of customers coming through the door and follow their journey. And cameras can be linked to point-of-sale (POS) systems to see how many of the customers make purchases and what they bought. It's like having an extra pair of eyes!
IP video cameras like the Cisco VC220 and Cisco VC240 are for more than just security. See how the shop manager at Larry’s Auto uses IP video to check the progress of a customer's car as well as technicians’ workload, regardless of whether she’s in the office or working from home.
Posted by Dawn Allison Brister on Sep 22, 2010 12:22:32 PM
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