The restaurant industry has become taxed as never before to protect their patrons, employees and bottom line performance. Growing demands upon business owners range from an increased need to protect the food preparation cycle from receipt-to-serving to mitigating the escalating loss of assets both in the dining areas and kitchens alike. The need for a comprehensive security program in every restaurant is undeniable.

There are many elements in a broad scope restaurant security program, not the least of which is effective, all-inclusive video surveillance. A digital video surveillance system from FocusMicro with demonstrable image capture quality can be a highly effective and powerful deterrent tool to secure your restaurant from a wide variety of threats.

Food Security

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) has issued a statement that restaurants across the nation “… have no greater priority than providing Americans with an enjoyable and safe dining experience”.

Food security has long been a priority for the nation's restaurants. The restaurant industry has been diligent and dedicated to food safety for many years, however there is a newly heightened awareness for food security since the tragic events of September 11th.

Food security deals with the deliberate introduction of a dangerous substance into food. With all food security issues, prevention is the main focus. Thorough coverage of food handling areas by a FocusMicro digital video surveillance system is not only a deterrent to this type of threat, but it also decreases the likelihood that such an event would remain undetected.

Food Safety

In spite of constant employee training and retraining, the restaurant industry continues to have several well publicized and unfortunate incidences of food contamination each year. With the annual turnover of servers and prepares exceeding 200% in many areas, insuring that food safety preparation and handling procedures are diligently followed is a daunting and ongoing task.

A digital video surveillance system can positively affect employees performance in many ways. First and most obvious is that the presence of cameras in the work area aid as a reminder to employees, and keep safety and quality procedures foremost in their minds. However a recently realized benefit of a FocusMicro digital video server is the clarity and quality of the captured video, allowing managers to use recordings as training and reinforcement tools.

Customer Theft

Restaurateurs have long been puzzled by the psychology that allows an otherwise honest and law abiding citizen to blatantly steal restaurant decorations and accoutrements. Many owners and managers have long since resigned themselves to this “shrinkage”, feeling that the costs of addressing the situation will outweigh the benefits realized by the effort.

Highly visible surveillance systems have long been identified as an effective deterrent to customer theft. With the advent of newer technology FocusMicro digital video servers, the crispness and clarity of captured video combined with ease-of-use features that make specific images and video segments easy to locate and replay. These new tools at the disposal of restaurant management not only deter customers from their “harmless” pranks, but also make the recovery of assets much easier and painless as well.

Customer Fraud

One of the perceived costs of doing business is the problem of credit card fraud and bad checks. Restaurant owners and managers have responded to this threat in a variety of ways: subscribing to various credit card and check guarantee programs, purchasing insurance to cover major losses, insisting upon multiple forms of customer identification or simply no longer accepting certain types of cards or checks.

One of the more frustrating and difficult aspects of this problem is proving a suspected perpetrator’s guilt. Time lapse VCR recordings are notoriously poor and inconclusive, and employee eye witness accounts are only marginally more reliable. With the implementation of a FocusMicro digital video server, restaurateurs can now reproduce video clips and still images of fraud perpetrators. Used in conjunction with point-of-sale systems, precise video date and time stamps allow managers to conclusively document an event, making restitution and prosecution a certainty rather than a hoped for occurrence.

Employee Theft

As painful and sometimes embarrassing as customer theft situations can be, they pale in severity when compared with the problems of employee theft. Employee theft problems are widespread, affecting all segments of the restaurant industry ranging from small cafes to downtown four star establishments.

A recent study by a Minneapolis based research firm calculated that restaurant employees steal an average $218.00 per year. Some consultants disagree with this number, arguing that the true figure is much higher – as much as $1500.00 per year. Overall loss estimates due to employee theft for the U.S. restaurant industry range from $15 billion to $25 billion each year.

A full coverage FocusMicro digital video surveillance system is a very effective tool in stopping employee theft. Orientation and training for line staff on the capabilities and ease-of-use of a digital video server make the futility of undetected theft obvious. Case studies have shown that the installation of comprehensive video surveillance systems nearly completely eliminate large-scale theft incidences and substantially reduce petty theft.

Robbery

One of the most terrifying threats that restaurant owners face is that of robbery. Understanding the nature of a robbery and minimizing the contributing factors to becoming a robbery target are necessary to reduce the likelihood of such a crisis incident.

Analysis of robbery incidents and interviews with convicted perpetrators have shown that robberies are rarely random, and that targets are selected and actions are planned well in advance. One of the largest considerations in selecting a robbery target is the reward versus risk factor. When the risks outweigh the perceived reward, would-be robbers look elsewhere for easier targets.

As part of a comprehensive security program, one of the most effective deterrents is a digital video surveillance system from FocusMicro. Robbers have long known the failings of older analog, time-lapse video recorders and the difficulty that prosecutors have had obtaining convictions based solely on the images from those systems. The crisp, clear images and video segments that can be retrieved from a FocusMicro server can provide positive identification of people and conclusive authentication events.

Training

The most powerful tool at the restaurant owner’s disposal is a well trained and focused staff. Nothing prevents accidents and insures security better than employees who operate like a well oiled machine, operating as directed by safety, security and food processing procedures. Training involves not only the indoctrination of new employees, but also requires constant reinforcement for current employees, as well as educating them with updates and changes.

A FocusMicro digital video server is the newest and one of the most valuable assets in a restaurant’s training program. The crisp and clear images can be used to show “how to” and “how not to” perform tasks. Video clips can be extracted from the digital video server to allow managers to build a montage for a multimedia training presentation. Image snapshots can similarly be captured and used to document events and create reminder posters and teasers.

All restaurants deal daily with many threats to their livelihood. There is no one single answer, nor can any guarantees be made that all threats can be eliminated or prevented. A professional security review and implementation of a detailed and comprehensive security program is essential. A program that includes FocusMicro digital video technology as a key component of the plan will significantly improve the overall effectiveness and efficacy of surveillance measures and reduce the likelihood of a security incident.