XProtect Transact integrates networked digital surveillance with POS transaction system to reduce shrinkage at Statoil service station.
by Courtney Dillon Pedersen

COPENHAGEN – August 2004. A pilot project for the Statoil chain of service stations in Denmark has implemented a new surveillance system based on Milestone Systems software.

The solution integrates networked digital video surveillance with their POS system for simultaneous presentation of video images with the transaction data linked by time and date. This gives clear evidence to reduce shrinkage from both theft and fraud - external or internal.

The Statoil service station in Alleroed, Denmark, is running a pilot project for all of the chain's locations to prove that digital surveillance is an important tool for resolving robberies, errors at the cash register, people forgetting to pay for gas, shoplifting, vandalism and internal fraud.
 

Statoil's video surveillance is integrated with their Point-of-Sale system's transaction data from the cash registers, so they see on a computer screen the video images of the clerk, the till, and the customer linked together with the transaction information. They can search the system by date and time, product groups and financial amounts. It is therefore easy to see, for example, if all the goods have been registered for the purchase, if the right amount of money has been exchanged, or if there's been any 'sweethearting' - giving employee discounts to friends.  
 
"It is a profitable investment for us to use this integrated solution.  We can check all cash register transactions where there have been problems or errors, and together with the images of the incidents, analyse what happened, and by which people. The system resolves the cases very fast," explains Birk E. Hansen, Statoil Service Station Manager.
 
He also reports that they now have an incident resolution statistic of about 96% - which makes Statoil Alleroed the company location with one of the lowest levels of shrinkage in all of Denmark.
 
"When we first started using the new system, we unfortunately discovered many small problems with internal theft, and it was necessary to take it up at the personnel meetings. The outcome is that employees now have greater responsibility for the workplace. All new staff are also advised that we have the system running, which works preventively," he adds.
 
When Birk looks back at the last year's use of Milestone XProtect Transact surveillance with the integrated POS transaction data, he concludes that the results are ”absolutely good”. Statoil in Alleroed has saved money and time, while documenting big reductions in both external and internal shrinkage.