Axis and Milestone provide comprehensive security for Galeries Lafayette

A comprehensive network video surveillance system at Galeries Lafayette

Mission

French Department Store LLC, chain Galeries Lafayette, popularly known as France's leading fashion house and one of the top 100 global retailers, opened its first department store in the Middle East, in Dubai Mall. Occupying approximately 192,000 square feet, by approximately 20,000 square meters of gross leased area, Galeries Lafayette is UAE's largest single retail store.

Founded in 1893, Galeries Lafayette has always been a trend-setter in the Parisian fashion world. The retail store is home to scores of famous luxury brands. Galeries Lafayette offers exceptional high quality luxury merchandise displayed in perhaps the most exquisite and luxurious retail environment in the world.

The French Department Store LLC wanted to deploy the latest state-of-the-art IP-based surveillance system available, that would not only satisfy the local security requirements but also increase their ability to run numerous software applications including intelligent and analytic software video packages. In keeping with the store's overall ambience, the solution had to meet a series of strict guidelines in order to maintain the interior design harmony. The IP-based surveillance for the boutique was therefore under particular scrutiny.

Exceptional image quality has always been an absolute requirement for The French Department Store LLC, but in this case, the extreme backlight environment in certain key areas of the store posed an even greater challenge to the system.

Solution

A total integrated security solution was designed and implemented by Axis Communications' local partner, Secutronic Dubai. Prior to approving the concept, The French Department Store LLC conducted a methodical study of the surveillance market. This included testing other competitor's products as well as viewing several other Axis and Secutronic reference sites in the UAE together with live demonstrations to assure compliance with their own key performance targets. In the end, it was the speed and superior image quality provided by Axis network video products, together with an open scalable platform that swayed the decision.

A comprehensive network video surveillance system including AXIS 211M and AXIS 216MFD megapixel cameras, AXIS 216FD (fixed dome) and AXIS 215 PTZ cameras were installed with Milestone software to secure the premises and ensure enhanced safety and security of both employees and customers.

Michael Ladegaard-Pedersen, Regional Manager for Secutronic Dubai explains: "Our client strongly believes in implementing only the best solutions and for this reason choosing a market leader like Axis Communications for the evaluation was imperative. For security reasons, we never comment on specific details that might compromise any of our client's security arrangements, however, from the beginning, it became clear that recorded images from Axis' cameras were far superior to those of the best cameras we had been using in the past. The difference became even more apparent when we installed the latest megapixel and compact pan/tilt/zoom cameras."

"Producing High Definition, the security system installed not only delivered on the expectation of viewing video images in a higher quality, speed and in dual streams, but also enabled us to accurately identify tiny objects in extreme backlight conditions, something that was not easy to achieve in the past."

The new network video system met all the client's highly specific security and design including reliability, flexibility and local support.

Using Power-over-Ethernet allowed the cameras to be powered via the network, without the use of electric power cables, a cost saving method which would have been difficult to achieve with legacy CCTV systems.

"The solution implemented delivers exceptional image quality and has proved to be consistent with the promises made by both Secutronic and Axis Communications" said Farid Kawi, Procurement Unit Manager for The French Department Store LLC. "We feel that this implementation offers enormous flexibility in retail environments and it is definitely something that we will continue to implement in our future projects."

The French Department Store LLC has taken a quantum leap in the quality of its surveillance, significantly reducing installation costs, as well as offering a discreet and compact solution with effective protection against tampering.