The Zoo at Night

The Zoo at Night

Giving customers a unique experience thanks to security features

  • By Courtney Dillon Pedersen
  • May 01, 2015

The fierce competition in the hospitality market has created a need to think creatively in order to increase the number of visitors. Therefore, Copenhagen Zoo constantly looks for new ways to give their customers an interesting and out-of-the-box experience.

Copenhagen Zoo has previously been successful with occasionally opening up the zoo at night to give the customers access to enjoying the animals that are not possible during the normal opening hours. The management wants to expand on this initiative. Copenhagen Zoo was founded in 1859. Today they have 180 fulltime employees and around 1.2 million visitors every year.

Meeting the Challenge

To meet the challenge of differentiating in a competitive market, Copenhagen Zoo partnered with Milestone Systems, which is a developer of globally leading open platform IP video management software (VMS).

Today, Milestone XProtect Corporate VMS manages cameras situated all over the zoo. Copenhagen Zoo has installed six AXIS PTZ cameras, 22 bullet cameras and eight dome cameras from Axis and Mobotix, among other camera vendors. The network cameras are installed inside animal cages, at treatment plants, at gates, in the stores and in the tool yard. The zoo is looking to expand their solution to include even more cameras in the future. That can easily be done with Milestone’s platform that makes it possible to easily scale the solution up or down according to needs and budget.

Live Video

The use of streaming live video has created massive online interest for events like animals being born. Together with Milestone, Copenhagen Zoo has extended the ways to experience the zoo with huge response from customers: zoo patrons were able to watch the rare birth of a rhino calf in 2015, resulting in more than 40,000 displays of the recorded video. It is very important that the animals can be left alone during and after a birth so therefore, it is normally only the zookeepers that have physical access to the animals during this time.

Now, however, the zookeepers are not the only ones who can experience the exciting event of an animal birth. The patrons can take part virtually, as well, thanks to the Milestone video setup. During the rhino birth, two AXIS P5534-E cameras were used and Copenhagen Zoo also shared the recordings on national TV.

”Milestone Systems has opened our eyes to a market we wouldn’t have found ourselves,” said Steffen Stræde, CEO of Copenhagen Zoo. “The video software helps us keep an eye on the animals and secure their safety, but it can do so much more than that. We found it to be an excellent tool for creating experiences, which is a whole new way of using video software in our business. The software makes our zoo available to the customer whenever the customer wants it. It is very valuable for us.”

A Cooperative Plan

Copenhagen Zoo has made several cooperative plans with Milestone for the creating new kinds of engagement with customers. The latest idea is to install a camera that live-streams from a waterhole in Pilanesberg in South Africa where the zoo has a research facility.

“Our visitors are looking for new things to happen at our zoo,” Stræde said. “If we just continue as we have always done, the number of visitors will gradually decrease. We also see great opportunities in providing something extra for our customers by using video and digital platforms such as Pinterest and Twitter, which is widely used among the younger segment. None of this would have been possible without Milestone’s software.”

In the future, Copenhagen Zoo would like to integrate even more functions in XProtect and is planning to expand the solution with at least 30 to 50 more cameras. Among other things, they would like to enable their employees to open and close the main gates to the zoo using XProtect on their smartphones instead of having to use separate radio devices as they do now. Copenhagen Zoo is also considering the option to add voice calls, enabling the security officer to communicate via smartphone with people in their cars looking to enter the zoo.

Stræde said this is only the beginning of the zoo’s innovative use of video to improve not only safety but also operations and customer experiences:

“In the future we might even be able to use GoPro-technology so you can follow the animals around when they are moving. We might also install more stationary cameras. There are almost an indefinite range of possibilities for Copenhagen Zoo to pursue that can benefit our customers. We can thank Milestone for all of this.”

This article originally appeared in the May 2015 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • Allegion, Comfort Technologies Implement Mobile Credentials at the Artisan Apartment Homes in Florida

    Artisan Apartment Homes, a luxury apartment complex in Dunedin, Florida, recently transitioned from mechanical keys to electronic locks and centralized system software with support from Allegion US, a leading provider of security solutions, technology and services, and Florida-based Comfort Technologies, which specializes in deploying multifamily access control, IoT devices and software management solutions. Read Now

  • Mall of America Deploys AI-Powered Analytics to Enhance Parking Intelligence

    Mall of America®, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America, announced an expansion of its ongoing partnership with Axis Communications to deploy cutting-edge car-counting video analytics across more than a dozen locations. With this expansion, Mall of America (MOA) has boosted operational efficiency, improved safety and security, and enabled more informed decision-making around employee scheduling and streamlining transportation for large events. Read Now

  • Security Industry Association Launches New “askSIA” AI Tool

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has unveiled a brand-new SIA member benefit – askSIA, a conversational AI agent designed to help users get the most out of their SIA membership, easily access SIA resources and find the latest information on SIA’s training and courses, reports and publications, events, certification offerings and more. SIA members can easily find askSIA by visiting the SIA homepage or looking for the askSIA icon in the top left of webpages. Read Now

    • Industry Events

  • Industry Embraces Mobile Access, Biometrics and AI

    A combination of evolving workplace dynamics, technology innovation and new user expectations is changing how people enter and interact with physical spaces. Access control is at the heart of these changes. Combined with biometrics and AI, mobile access control has become increasingly crucial for deploying entry solutions that are seamless, secure and adaptive to user needs. Read Now

  • Sustainable Video Solution Delivered for Landmark City of London Office Development

    An advanced, end-to-end video solution from IDIS, with a focus on reducing waste and costs, has helped a major office development in the City of London align its security with sustainability objectives. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.