Palacio do Gelo, Portugal’s premier shopping outlet, implemented a surveillance solution from Sony

9 Dec 2009 Originally built in 1996, the Palacio do Gelo is one of the largest shopping centres in Portugal and in 2006 underwent a complete renovation with sports, health and conference facilities, in addition to the traditional collection of stores. The renovation sought to create a retail hub in the developing area of the country, aimed at increasing the size and the number of services offered by the mall while improving the retail experience for customers. Hundreds of additional staff were employed and additional stores and companies were brought on board as well as an extensive food court on the top floor with two outdoor terraces, a spa, exercise outlets and entertainment facilities.

With the added renovation and additional shoppers expected, the mall's managers identified the need for a modern security and safety solution as a key requirement for the effective monitoring of the new space. It was critical that any system was flexible and could be adapted to meet the changing demands of the mall's managers as they planned additional new services for the increasing number of visitors. However, at 175,000 square metres the malls diversity and size posed monitoring difficulties.

Palacio do Gelo worked with Sony to select a solution that included 200 IP networked cameras, corporate televisions, a public address system, access control and intrusion detection systems. By utilising the centre's existing IP network in the creation of this new surveillance and signage system, Sony was able to provide the diverse range of products and applications needed, while enabling the mall to expand its services if and when required. The new integrated surveillance and communication system saw all areas of the mall - public, technical and private - connected and managed using the same software.

Sony provided a solution that included 200 IP networked cameras, access control and intrusion detection systems

This created greater flexibility than if a standalone security solution had been put in place, with the ability to allocate resource to different components of the system depending on demand. Sony installed a selection of cameras from its range of intelligent mini-dome, fixed and pan-tilt zoom cameras, all supported by its Distributed Enhanced Processing Architecture (DEPA). The diverse combination of cameras improved monitoring quality considerably, while the use of Sony's Distributed Enhanced Processing Architecture (DEPA) was critical to the success of the deployment. DEPA technology assists intelligent video analysis, enabling businesses to deploy high-performance IP monitoring networks without overloading the existing IT infrastructure. This also aids the control and management of the cameras; the IP network enables all 200 cameras to be managed in one central control room using Sony RealShot Manager software.

Only by using the same supplier could Palacio do Gelo achieve such seamless integration across the mall and provide the greatest retail experience for its customers.