Fueling the Journey to the Cloud
Refuel uses March Networks’ cloud-managed video solution in gas stations and C-stores across the Southeast.
When you’re an expanding Charleston, South Carolina-based, convenience store chain with 17 acquisitions and growth from five to 227 locations over the span of four years, standardizing on one video surveillance system can help you optimize performance. This was a priority for Wes Pate, Senior Director of Loss Prevention and Risk Management and Robert Leonard, Manager of Loss Prevention & Investigations at Refuel, when re-evaluating their security solution.
Each acquisition came with a different video surveillance system. “Sometimes, even the same company had multiple systems,” recalled Pate. However, a March Networks system that came with one of its acquisitions stood out for its advanced functionality and was selected as Refuel’s best choice for a company-wide loss prevention program.
Working with March Networks gave Refuel the opportunity to take advantage of some of the most advanced video surveillance technology available, including cloud-based services. Refuel selected Searchlight as a Service, which integrates high-definition video with their store’s point-of-sale (POS) transaction data and business analytics to help improve loss prevention and drive profitability. With Insight Cloud Services, March Networks’ team of trained professionals proactively monitors and troubleshoots Refuel’s video surveillance network, including its cameras, recorders, hard drives, fans, battery backups and overall network connectivity.
The system is powered by a cloud-based vendor-hosted version of March Networks’ powerful Command Enterprise Software, an advanced video management solution that supports hundreds and even thousands of video recorders and video channels – ideal for a rapidly growing company like Refuel.
“When you’re growing like we are, everything is about scalability,” explained Pate. “If you can scale a video surveillance solution across an enterprise, you’re going to have better results and manage things a lot more efficiently.”
Relying on March Networks’ experienced professionals to produce reports of suspicious POS transactions, oversee health monitoring, and manage Command Enterprise system architecture allows them to stay focused on reducing losses from internal fraud, shoplifting and dubious liability claims.
“Searchlight as a Service has given us the ability to conduct investigations quickly, easily and remotely,” said Pate.
Searchlight provides Pate and his team with transaction summaries and reports of instances with potential theft, including no-sales, voids, refunds and discounts with links to the corresponding video and receipts, providing evidence of any misconduct. “The way Searchlight integrates with the camera system is like nothing I’ve seen before,” said Leonard. “We use it every day”.
Searchlight has other capabilities that Refuel can take advantage of in the future. This includes business analytics for people counting and queue length monitoring, and an Operations Audit feature that transmits video clips to district managers or senior management wanting to check store traffic, verify compliance with health and safety rules and discern other operational issues.
Standardizing on March Networks is still a work in progress, but approximately 85 percent of the company’s 227 locations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas have been fully converted. Within the next 12 months, the loss prevention team expects all of Refuel’s locations to have made the transition.
“It’s the best option we looked at and one of the best systems I’ve ever used, and I’ve been in the industry for over 20 years,” said Leonard.
Each location is equipped with either a 16 or 32-channel March Networks X-Series Hybrid Recorder or 8000 Series Hybrid NVR and a mix of cameras, including March Networks’ IP cameras and third-party analog devices from legacy systems. Refuel records video from 2,200 cameras covering fuel pumps, cash registers, sales floors and back rooms. Approximately a quarter of the cameras are March Networks VA Series IP cameras.
Refuel is also using March Networks’ Command Mobile Plus app that allows loss prevention staff and district managers to view live and recorded video along with Searchlight transaction reports from their smartphones or tablets.
Despite the sophistication and advanced features of the March Networks system, Leonard credits it with being easy to learn and operate — a definite bonus for a system that’s used by more than 150 Refuel staff. He also likes the reliability of the March Networks technology, declaring, “I don’t think we’ve had an NVR go down.”
Looking to the future, Pate expects to continue replacing the remaining third-party systems with March Networks recorders, expand the use of Searchlight, and invite other departments to use the system.
Pate applauds Refuel’s primary systems integrator, Atlantic Communications and March Networks sales, engineering and customer support teams for making the transition as smooth as possible. “Atlantic Communications has been an outstanding partner and March Networks has always been there when we needed them,” he said.
Technology Suite