While reminiscing about 2011 to prepare myself for 2012, I came across a year-old article from Time magazine called the "Top 10 Commonly Broken New Year's Resolutions." Unsurprisingly, these oft broken resolutions are lofty goals that range from getting in shape to getting out of debt. Human beings seem to have the best intentions in mind when it comes to goal setting, but it's in the execution where we sometimes fall short.

The same could be said for our Loss Prevention goals. The end-of-the-year planning meetings usually conclude with high hopes and new resolutions, but budgets, staffing, and our day jobs can get in the way of execution. But what if I told you I could help you STOP breaking these "LP Resolutions" with IP video surveillance technology?

So let's go through the Top 10 list and see how the migration to IP video can help you keep your new year resolutions... "Hedgie Style!"

Lose Weight (the DVR) and Get Fit - I think I've broken this resolution every morning – since I go to sleep each night with the great intention of doing something in the realm of running a marathon. Yet after hitting the snooze four or five hundred times, I end up only running late to work.

But how does this apply to your LP initiatives? It's all about cutting the surveillance "fat" that you've been hanging onto for years: the DVR. Migration strategies to IP via video encoders, edge storage, and/or hosted video can cut costs associated with the total cost of ownership and scalability issues of analog systems. By getting out from under the weight of those proprietary systems and migrating to the open standards of IP-based surveillance, you will have renewed energy and life. And, of course, you will be operating much more efficiently thanks to other benefits of IP, including remote access, video content analytics, image quality, standard communication protocols to integrate solutions, and so on.

(Shameless plug to help you get your body fit: http://www.lpportal.com/feature-articles/item/8-fitness-balance-at-home-and-on-the-road.html)

Quit Smoking . . . and Breathe Easier - Quitting the tobacco demon helps people do what? Breathe easier. By implementing network video solutions, your systems can be integrated to work together and help you sleep better at night. If a door opens during a time frame when it shouldn't, you'll get a video email with the necessary footage. If a camera goes down, is tampered with, or the system has some issue, you'll be alerted in real time instead of three months later while investigating an incident. You can even be alerted if the HVAC system is malfunctioning or if a cooler door has been left open too long.

Learn Something New . . . About Your Store - How about using surveillance data to learn more about the shopping patterns in your stores? With the advent of Video Content Analytics (VCA) not only can you do very simple tasks like people counting and cross-line detection, but you can also measure a bevy of sales and marketing data. Think you'd learn something new if a staff member could sit on the ceiling to watch and measure every little detail? With VCA through IP technology, you will know where your customers went (heat mapping/flow charts), what they bought (POS analysis), and how long they stood in front of a display or line (dwell time analysis).

Eat Healthier and Diet . . . To Run Lean – No, this doesn't mean to cut staff. After all, our people are our number one asset. This is more a matter of improving operational efficiencies to run the business better. On top of VCA technology benefits, IP video gives your staff the ability to quickly and more efficiently do remote investigations – as opposed to forcing your team to waste time and money traveling to sites behind the wheel or in a plane. Actionable video from HDTV quality IP cameras combined with video management systems of today allows for much faster video archive search and identification of individuals for prosecution. Additionally, it's much easier to share video and still images with the push of a button. Just think of how many audits and investigations your team could accomplish with this technology in their tool kits.

Save Money . . . with New Storage Solutions – The real truth of the matter is that the ROI on surveillance in retail was proven so long ago that it is pretty near impossible to find any hard data on it any more. But on top of IP being more reliable today (which we'll cover in #8) and the fact that it's already more cost-effective for systems greater than 32 cameras, IP is moving into a more cost effective option for even your smaller systems. Innovations in technology have virtually eliminated the need for an onsite DVR. Hosted video solutions, edge storage on the camera with SD cards, or simply a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device – or a hybrid of all three – are extremely cost effective options and easily implemented with the right partner.

Spend More Time with Family . . . Thanks to Remote Viewing – Wouldn't having more time for family be nice for all of us? With the proper implementation of IP surveillance, you are going to have much more "actionable" and pertinent video. Being able to bookmark video clips based on events as well as cut out meaningless motion such as "video noise" in low light conditions, your investigators will be able to find that video that they need faster in order to spend more time with their work family on projects and tasks designed to be more beneficial to the common good. Also, imagine what it would mean to their real family if they were able to access that video remotely from their home computers or even their smartphones from the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Travel to New Places . . . with Hosted Video – Not only can you go to new places like Europe or the Caribbean and still access that video through your network, but your video can go to new places as well. Hosted Video allows you to implement a strategy that might include offsite storage of your video, saving you the expense of a DVR or server on site. Additionally, with your video stored in one central location that's accessible via the Internet, you can virtually travel to multiple stores from just one desk. This is especially great for the franchise owner or VP of LP who has responsibility over many geographically dispersed stores.

Be Less Stressed . . . Thanks to Reliability – Lest I re-hash item #2, you can certainly be less stressed and breathe easier with the implementation of IP video and open systems. But let's take that one step further with the fact that quality IP video products have an average mean time between failures (MTBF) at around 100,000 hours. Using common-off-the-shelf (COTS) components also allows for much more reliable up time as well thanks to the ability to be alerted when a system is not functioning as it should be. Take another deep, cleansing breath with redundant storage. You are able to implement the same protocols you use to protect the company's valuable data on your video surveillance as well. Finally, your investigation and claim closure rates will improve with IP video with better image quality, intelligence, and faster search capabilities. In fact, a major retail chain recently increased their closure rate by 25% simply because of better video with IP.

Volunteer . . . Video to Other Departments – The LP department typically uses video to prevent crime, fight liability claims, and prosecute offenders. But with the eye in the sky coming from an intelligent device (the IP camera), now is the time to "volunteer" your video for other departments. You can engage with Ops, Merchandising, and Marketing to further enhance the value of your solutions. Take it to the next level by volunteering the video for the local community and give certain rights and privileges to law enforcement as well as partnering with your fellow retailers to pursue and thwart local ORC.

Drink Less . . . "Kool-Aid," That Is – There is a lot of information out there regarding IP video and the benefits, technology, implementation, and viability. But don't allow a strong sales force to influence you – do your own homework and find out what's right for your LP program. Seek out information and listen to those that you regard as trusted advisors. Find the right partners that truly have your best interests in mind. At the end of the day, implement your plan. Too many organizations are getting "analysis paralysis" right now and you need to keep in mind that so long as you are adopting open standards based technology, you have the ability to change the path you are on with very little pain. Just because you bet on a horse doesn't mean that you have to stick with it. And thankfully, going IP isn't an all-or-nothing proposition – you should look to a migration strategy if you're not yet ready to let go of your initial investment. Let's face it, business needs change and technology changes even faster, so you have to remain nimble. If you wait until you have all your questions answered before deployment, you may have a whole new set of questions to answer.

So, have a very happy, healthy, safe and prosperous new year in 2012! This is going to be a terrific year and, if you have any questions regarding video surveillance for your LP programs, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Hedgie Bartol has more than 15 years of expertise in retail loss prevention in the areas of access control, identity management, fraud prevention; network video surveillance and systems integration. He is currently Business Development Manager for Retail at Axis Communications.