Optometry Practice Remotely Monitors Seven Office Locations

mobiDEOS Inc. recently announced that Drs. May, Hettler & Associates, OD PC, one of the largest optometry practices in the United States, uses MobileCamViewer for surveillance of seven offices and 50 staff members.

The solution helps the business owners respond intelligently to security and staff management situations; and to quickly and consistently address issues that affect customer satisfaction and revenue retention.

Drs. May, Hettler & Associates, OD PC is the largest private Optometry practice in the state of Virginia and rated the 50th largest in the U.S. In business for more than 30 years, the practice is among the growing number of small businesses using mobile surveillance to remotely monitor office activities. Practice owners and managers use iPhones to monitor general business activity, communicate with staff, and respond to shoplifting and other security issues.

The practice reports that MobileCamViewer has helped to prevent shoplifters and assist in suspect apprehension, accounting for more than $4,000 of recovered merchandise last year.

“Prior to getting the MobileCamViewer application, we were quite limited because we had to have access to a workstation or laptop to view the offices," said Daniel Bean, chief operating officer of Drs. May, Hettler & Associates, OD PC. "Now we can manage all locations from just about anywhere in the world via the iPhone."

The practice installed 26 cameras across the seven sites, with views of the front desk, lab or backroom area, and sales floor/display areas. Most locations allow office managers to view webcams from the front desk to keep track of staff and patients. The complete solution includes Hikvision HD and Axis 210 cameras, and a Milestone Systems DVR.

"The value of MobileCamViewer comes from the hours saved when you have the right people doing the right things, and can spot a problem situation immediately,” Bean said. "The ability for us to ‘visit’ the offices, manage staff remotely and not spend so much time on the road going from office to office has resulted in an increase of staff productivity and morale."

Featured

  • From Surveillance to Intelligence

    Years ago, it would have been significantly more expensive to run an analytic like that — requiring a custom-built solution with burdensome infrastructure demands — but modern edge devices have made it accessible to everyone. It also saves time, which is a critical factor if a missing child is involved. Video compression technology has played a critical role as well. Over the years, significant advancements have been made in video coding standards — including H.263, MPEG formats, and H.264—alongside compression optimization technologies developed by IP video manufacturers to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality. The open-source AV1 codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media—a consortium including Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Amazon and others — is already the preferred decoder for cloud-based applications, and is quickly becoming the standard for video compression of all types. Read Now

  • Cost: Reactive vs. Proactive Security

    Security breaches often happen despite the availability of tools to prevent them. To combat this problem, the industry is shifting from reactive correction to proactive protection. This article will examine why so many security leaders have realized they must “lead before the breach” – not after. Read Now

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

  • Survey: 48 Percent of Worshippers Feel Less Safe Attending In-Person Services

    Almost half (48%) of those who attend religious services say they feel less safe attending in-person due to rising acts of violence at places of worship. In fact, 39% report these safety concerns have led them to change how often they attend in-person services, according to new research from Verkada conducted online by The Harris Poll among 1,123 U.S. adults who attend a religious service or event at least once a month. Read Now

New Products

  • Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden Door Controls is pleased to announce that, in response to soaring customer demand, it has expanded its range of ValueWave™ no-touch switches to include a narrow (slimline) version with manual override. This override button is designed to provide additional assurance that the request to exit switch will open a door, even if the no-touch sensor fails to operate. This new slimline switch also features a heavy gauge stainless steel faceplate, a red/green illuminated light ring, and is IP65 rated, making it ideal for indoor or outdoor use as part of an automatic door or access control system. ValueWave™ no-touch switches are designed for easy installation and trouble-free service in high traffic applications. In addition to this narrow version, the CM-221 & CM-222 Series switches are available in a range of other models with single and double gang heavy-gauge stainless steel faceplates and include illuminated light rings.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.