November 29, 2007 -- Open platform IP video management software provider Milestone Systems has released version 2.5 of its XProtect Transact, an integrated platform for managing loss prevention through combined IP video surveillance and transaction data.
The platform is aimed at retail, banking, transportation, hospitality and other industries are looking to optimize the handling of "shrinkage" due to fraud, errors and theft. In the retail sector alone, both shoplifting and employee theft is a well documented cause of major financial losses, notes Milestone.
According to the company, Milestone Systems XProtect Transact 2.5 has the capability to: track goods all the way through the store, from receiving to sales; determine if items get lost in the storage/warehouse facility, or are shoplifted or mistreated at the checkout counter (either in the sales process or as return goods); follow activities visually; easily produce evidence; help resolve wrong-doings before they escalate.
The newest version of XProtect Transact offers improved search functions including a search list that makes for easier browsing, and a SQL database that enables support for Microsoft Vista. Also with the new software, transactions can now trigger generic events in Milestone's XProtect Corporate, XProtect Enterprise, XProtect Professional and XProtect Basis+ platforms, leveraging the full power of the company's IP video surveillance management platform.
In releasing the software upgrade, Milestone cites the following figures: the 19th Annual Retail Theft Survey recently quoted that in the US, the average shoplifting case involved $128.71 in lost goods. Further, one out of every 27 employees was found to steal products with an average value of $851. Over half a million people were apprehended in these cases with a total of $116 million in stolen items. Across the Atlantic, the UK has reported that "the retail industry as a whole is estimated to be losing around £2 billion per annum through fraud and theft."
To help reduce this incidence, the combination of digital video tapped into transactions is proving to be a solution that enables detection of suspicious incidents, contends the company, with measurable results. The US study, for example, showed that $56.6 million was recovered from employee theft apprehensions. Improved procedures in hiring, training and monitoring (specifically the use of Point-of-Sale exception reporting software, coupled with video surveillance) have also helped, says Milestone.