Axis IP solution monitors footfall at Mullingar Shopping Centre

27 Sep 09

Axis Communications is enabling Irish commercial property consultant Mason, Owen & Lyons to provide its retail clients with accurate, real-time data about the number of people entering or exiting its premises.

By Brian Sims

Mason, Owen & Lyons has successfully piloted the Traffic Central People Counter at The Mullingar Shopping Centre, a new fully-enclosed shopping mall located in Mullingar, Co. West Meath, Ireland.

Traffic Central is a simple, network-enabled, real-time footfall counting system based on the Axis Communications range of network IP cameras and encoders.

The Mullingar Shopping Centre trialled a number of people counting solutions, but Traffic Central outperformed the competition in terms of ease-of-use, accuracy and cost. Subsequently, the Axis 209 fixed dome camera was installed. Featuring the Traffic Central People Counter, the data rendered will be used to help identify shopping patterns and trends.

People counting or footfall analysis is a key metric employed by the retail industry. By combining this data with other statistics such as sales figures and staffing levels, retailers can gauge how many visitors actually make a purchase and if their stores are adequately staffed. Marketing campaigns can also be evaluated for their effectiveness.

Processing within the camera

Traffic Central counts the movement of people entering and exiting the shopping centre. All processing takes place within the camera, combining the advantages of IP camera-based surveillance with the simplicity of traditional sensor technology.

Traffic Central People Counter works with the Axis 207, 209 and 212 network cameras, all of which are ideal for discreet indoor surveillance and offer excellent image quality in any lighting conditions.

Ruth Cody – the director of Mason, Owen & Lyons – commented: “Traffic Central outperformed competing solutions but, most importantly, offered accurate footfall figures. We now have an easy-to-use, plug-and-play solution that provides us with invaluable data which will ultimately help our retailers increase their sales and ensure they offer the best shopping experience they can for their customers.”

Phil Doyle – managing director at Axis Communications – added: “This solution takes intelligent video surveillance to a whole new level for the retail industry. It is a simple idea that offers accurate monitoring and provides information that will be extremely beneficial to the retailers on top of the basic security advantages realised.”

Quick and easy analysis over the network

The image quality and flexibility offered by the network cameras means

that data can be analysed quickly and easily over the network.

The people counting solution used in Traffic Central was designed by Alpha Vision Design (AVD), the provider of total solutions in video analytics. Niall Dorr, the company’s commercial director, explained: “Traffic Central is simple to use and includes reporting software to view and evaluate the recorded data. People counting zones can be automatically set from one custom interface allowing users to control all zones from one location.”

Dorr concluded: “Users can choose to receive automated daily, weekly or monthly summary reports. The scalable solution is quick and easy to install and can be deployed remotely on a LAN or WiFi network.”