Introduction
Perth Access Control and Security (PACS) is a company that has been operating in the security industry for over 10 years. The owner, Daniel Francis, has extensive knowledge and experience in access control, CCTV alarms and locksmithing. He is always looking for innovative and cost-effective solutions that meet his client’s needs and expectations.
One of his clients was a library that wanted to know how many people visit their facility and at what times. This information would help them to determine how many staff are required for different periods of the day, week and year, as well as to plan their marketing campaigns accordingly. The library also wanted a solution that was easy to install, maintain and use, without compromising on quality and accuracy.
Problem Statement
Daniel Francis decided to use NX Witness as his preferred video management system (VMS) for this project, as he had been using it for several years and was impressed by its features and functionality. He wanted a camera that would have a smooth integration with NX Witness and would provide reliable and accurate people-counting results. He approached ISCS after noticing the release of the high level integration partnership with Milesight, a leading manufacturer of network cameras.
ISCS recommended Daniel to use the Milesight Pro Series cameras, which are designed for high performance applications such as people counting. The cameras have a built-in deep learning algorithm that can detect and count human faces and bodies in real time, even in complex scenarios such as occlusion, crowding and backlighting. The cameras also support H.265+ compression technology, which reduces bandwidth and storage consumption by up to 90% compared to H.264.
Methodology
Daniel Francis installed four Milesight Pro Series cameras at the entrance of the library, two on each side of the door. He connected them to an ISCS Cube server, which is a compact and powerful device that can run NX Witness VMS smoothly. He configured the cameras to send people counting data to NX Witness via ONVIF protocol. He also set up rules and notifications in NX Witness to alert him of any abnormal events or system failures.
He then used the NX Witness dashboard to create custom reports and charts that display the people counting data in various formats and time intervals. He also used the NX Witness smart search feature to quickly find specific video clips based on criteria such as motion detection, face recognition or people counting.
Results
The people counting solution installed by PACS delivered accurate and reliable results that met the library’s expectations. The library was able to obtain valuable insights into their visitor patterns and trends, such as:
- The average number of visitors per day, week, month and year
- The peak hours, days, weeks and months of the year
- The distribution of visitors by gender and age group
- The conversion rate of visitors to members
- The correlation between visitor numbers and weather conditions, holidays or special events
The library used this data to improve their customer service, resource allocation and promotional campaigns. For example, they were able to:
- Adjust their staffing levels according to the expected number of visitors.
- Allocate more books, computers and other resources during peak times.
- Offer discounts or incentives during off-peak times or low seasons
- Target their marketing messages to specific segments of visitors based on their demographics or preferences
- Measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns by comparing the visitor numbers before and after
The library was also satisfied with the ease of installation, maintenance and use of the solution. They appreciated the high level of integration between NX Witness and Milesight products, which ensured a smooth operation without any compatibility issues or conflicts. They also praised the performance and reliability of the ISCS Cube server, which provided sufficient storage capacity and processing power for running NX Witness VMS.
Quotes and Visuals
Here are some quotes from Daniel Francis, the owner of PACS, and the library manager about their experience with the people counting solution.
