The challenge
With over 1000 sites, McDonald's is one of the leading quick service restaurant chains in the UK. As with many other restaurant and hotel chains in the United Kingdom, McDonald's have had their fair share of unruly patrons, gangs of youths and homeless vagrants who harass or assault staff and disturb restaurant guests. McDonald's wanted to prevent their restaurants from being favoured by these groups. They wanted to proactively protect the safety of their staff and the families that enjoy the McDonald's experience.
With this in mind, McDonald's sought a CCTV solution that could handle remote monitoring of multiple retail sites from one central location. Their requirements also included audio-integration to be able to communicate directly with offenders whilst visually monitoring their actions simultaneously over a data network. The system also had to be compliant to the new BS8418 security standard. This standard is the first British standard to cover the installation and remote monitoring of detector-activated CCTV systems. It specifies best practice installation and monitoring, and has recently been adopted by the UK police as a mandatory requirement for rapid response. It is also rapidly gaining momentum in the British insurance industry.
The solution
McDonald's selected the award-winning ADPRO® remote video monitoring solution from Xtralis. The ADPRO solution was initially installed at 20 restaurants in known trouble areas. The system uses multiple cameras at each site to film the interior and selected exterior areas. The cameras are connected to the ADPRO FastTrace unit that records and transmits the video to a centralised control room. Each restaurant is also fitted with speakers and microphones to ensure high quality audio reproduction.
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| ADPRO security system has decreased security-related incidents at McDonald's |
Customer success story
Staff at the central control room can now keep a watchful eye on each restaurant. If they see public disorder in a restaurant, or staff notify them of a problem customer by pressing a duress button, staff at the central monitoring station can directly connect to the video system and view live images of the incident. They can then use an audio connection to address the offenders with a message such as: "You in the blue baseball cap. You are causing disruption. Please leave the premises immediately or the Police will be called". The offenders quickly leave. Word has circulated through the gang scene that McDonald's restaurants are to be avoided as a gathering place for these groups. Peter Bolton, Regional Security Manager with McDonald's comments "Within seconds of receiving an alarm notification our security staff can now intervene by a live voice response. This has reduced the time that an offender has to cause trouble to seconds, and in most cases they leave the restaurant immediately."
The results
Since the BS8418-compliant ADPRO security system has been installed, security-related incidents at McDonald's restaurants have decreased and this has, in turn, dramatically increased customer numbers, particularly young families. Peter Bolton comments: "The ADPRO security solution has contributed to increased repeat business from young families who want to enjoy a safe and positive McDonald's dining experience, free from disruption and intimidating behaviour from youth gangs".
Not only has the ADPRO solution contributed to increased revenue for McDonald's, but employees can feel safe knowing that they are supported by the video and audio security system 24/7. Peter Bolton comments: "By implementing the ADPRO solution we have increased the safety and wellbeing of our employees. In turn this means higher staff retention, which again means that we are better able to serve our customers' needs. ADPRO FastTrace has been a win-win solution for us".
