Panasonic: Travelodge's secure partnership. Under the steady guidance of the company’s new board of directors, Travelodge is indeed a business at ease with many aspects of the transition that it has made since being purchased in 2003 by investment fund managers Permira. Not content with a national re-branding programme and a growth plan which currently sees a new hotel opening on average one every 10 days, Travelodge has also embarked upon a rolling project to upgrade the security systems at each of its 270 plus hotels.

Both the size of the chain and the individual characteristics of each of its hotels added shape to the planned improvement programme. Many sites already had security systems that were originally specified using a formulaic “one-for-all’ design basis. This had resulted in a set number of products being installed in a similar configuration at each site, irrespective of specific individual requirements; which resulted in a lot of equipment that proved to be largely ineffective. On examination, it was clear that this methodology had led to cameras situated too far away from the type of activity that they were intended to capture, for them to be of any reasonable use.

‘Needs-based’ Model

Theft of, and from vehicles was an issue, but set within a combination of urban and rural locations, the types of crime experienced at Travelodge hotels also varied by locality. Incidents within premises also occasionally prompted the need for good quality video surveillance evidence to be on hand. These aspects became the basis of a ‘needs-based’ security model designed to help maximise the chain’s effectiveness in dealing with, and responding to incidents.

Long-lasting Business Relations

Within the installer/client relationship, OCS, the Bristol based Panasonic Premier Installer, have taken on-board Travelodge’s particular corporate values, acknowledging the company’s informal philosophy, as well as demonstrating an understanding for the operational and financial aspects of their partner’s business. This level of awareness allows OCS to create practical proposals which meet realistic goals, satisfy the available budget and, paramount to Travelodge’s rollout plans, provide a reliable long-term solution.

Implementing the Audit Trail

Travelodge’s defining objective for their national security upgrade programme is ultimately ‘to make the customer feel secure’. Fundamental to the success of the needs-based system design at each facility is what Roger Noakes, OCS’s Corporate Development Director describes as an ‘audit trail’.

Noakes explained: “From an operational perspective, our first step is to cover the ways into and out of each hotel property. Road barrier guarded entry points with associated CCTV camera observation provide the first line of defence and ensure that all vehicles entering and leaving the car parks are monitored. In many cases, a number plate recognition system is integrated with the entry point systems, meaning that a clear image of the driver can be associated to each and every vehicle entering the site. Entry and exit doorways to each hotel building are also comprehensively covered, as are some of the more obvious vital zones such as the reception desk, bar and front doors.”

Beyond those primary areas of concern, individual site-specific solutions are applied wherever deemed necessary. This equates to an average of ten to 12 high-resolution Panasonic cameras at each Travelodge site, with their realtime images digitally recorded. Ultimately, from the moment that a customer, visitor, supplier or employee enters a Travelodge site, to the point at which they reach their destination on any particular landing floor, their movement throughout the premises can be traced.

The second of Travelodge’s needs-based objectives is that the recorded quality of its security surveillance systems’ images is of a consistently high quality. On the understanding that a highperformance camera and lens positioned in an optimum location will achieve the best results, the systems’ external cameras are sited on the hotel buildings themselves wherever possible as these points are generally the closest location to customer activity.

No News Is Good News

Now approximately halfway through the security program rollout, a positive testimony to the efficiency of the three-way relationship is that there have been no notable crimes to report so far in any of the upgraded, or newly installed hotel sites. Whilst this could be attributed to a run of good fortune, other factors suggest that there is more than just luck at work here.

OCS’s engineers are being positively welcomed onto site when conducting system upgrades, which in itself is a mark of the due consideration and planning involved by the company to minimise inconvenience to guests and staff alike. This is in popular contradiction to the assumption that with these types of public area installations, conducted during business hours, one would not be surprised to find a fair degree of upheaval and untidiness.

Panasonic Premier Installer

Panasonic launched its Premier Installer Scheme in recognition of professional companies in the industry who have well trained sales and engineering staff; offer a high level of service and consistently provide excellent customer care and support. For accreditation installers must meet several criteria: engineers must attend at least three training courses per year; companies must provide the highest standards of technical service and support including repairs at component level; companies are expected to carry ample demonstration stock for on-site presentations.

In return, Premier Installers enjoy the full support of Panasonic and the prestige of having achieved a standard of excellence above all other installation companies.

Contact:

Daniella Colquhoun
Panasonic,
Bracknell, United Kingdom 
Tel.: +44 1344 853 698 
Fax: +44 1344 853 221
system.solutions@eu.panasonic.com
www.panasonic.co.uk/cctv