Levis: Number One Name in Jeans – Number One in Customer Service.

Levi Strauss & Co. ® is one of the world’s longest standing and most successful clothing brands. Founded by the young German, Levi Strauss in San Francisco in 1853, the brand has been growing ever since. With global sales of more than 4 billion dollars, the company now employs more than 16,000 people worldwide, with regional headquarters in San Francisco, Brussels and Singapore. In Germany, the native home of Levi Strauss & Co.®, the brand is experiencing a renaissance brought about by a drive for ever higher levels of customer service from the headquarters in Frankfurt. Across Germany’s 50 Levi Strauss & Co.® stores, the company is striving to make exemplary customer relations as much of an icon of the clothing industry as the red-tab on the back of a pair of 501s.

The Challenge: Upgrade its Old Analog Surveillance System.

The challenge for any large chain of retail stores that wish to unify and enhance its shop security, or in fact make any improvements across a diverse range of outlets, is how to monitor and regulate such improvements. In the case of Levi Strauss & Co.® Germany, this problem was exacerbated by a surveillance practice in which each individual store operated an isolated analog monitoring system. Under this partitioned surveillance program and some of old systems no longer functioned stably, the headquarters in Frankfurt decided that the time had come to move this classic brand into the future by upgrading an integrated and IP surveillance system across all 50 German Levi Strauss & Co. ® stores. After consultation with Tango Security & Investigations, system integrator DCD Karlsruhe and distributor SECOMP Electronic, it was clear that there was only one surveillance provider that could provide a total solution for such a challenge – VIVOTEK.

The Solution: VIVOTEK – The Best Fit for Retail, The Best Fit for Levi Strauss & Co. ®

No stranger to a challenge, VIVOTEK, along with local distributor SECOMP and DCD Karlsruhe’s highly qualified and experienced engineers and sales team, were able to provide the strongest solution and exceed the expectations of Levi Strauss & Co.®’s management in Frankfurt. The broad coverage, high resolution, variable focus and specialized design of VIVOTEK cameras ensured that all 50 Levi Strauss & Co. ® retail stores could be monitored on a secure and stable high-performance IP surveillance system. Cash counters, back offices, entrances, shopping areas, and the entrance to fitting rooms could all finally be guarded in real time through hi-resolution IP surveillance system. Levi Strauss & Co. ®, the global fashion icon and brand leader, had finally found a surveillance system which could match its commitment to quality.

High-Quality IP Cameras Secure a Vast Network of Retail Outlets.

The largest demand for coverage was found at cash counters, back offices, entrances, customer shopping areas, the entrance of fitting rooms, and in back office storage. For this diverse range of spaces a total of 400 VIVOTEK FD8167-T Fixed Dome Network Cameras were installed across 50 Levis retail shops nation-wide. Chosen for its exceptional video quality and remote focus capability which allow for centralized viewing and fine tuning of surveillance footage, the FD8167-T is a stylish, indoor-style network camera designed for diverse indoor applications. Equipped with a 2MP sensor enabling viewing resolution of 1920x1080 at a smooth 30 fps, the FD8167-T is an all-in-one camera capable of capturing high-quality and high-resolution video up to 2-Megapixel, even in low light environments.

Further empowering all shops managers to monitor their own stores without having to be onsite; the FD8167-T also comes with a P-iris lens, which controls the iris with extreme precision with its built-in stepper motor. Thanks to the PIR (Passive Infrared Sensor) function, the human movement can be detected instantly even in the total darkness. By using software controls, the lens maintains the iris opening at an optimal level at all times, resulting in superior sharpness and depth of field as well as image quality. This flexibility and adaptability made the FD8167-T an ideal choice for Levi Strauss & Co.® whose management was able to relax in the knowledge that all 400 cameras across 50 retail locations would constantly and automatically adjust to their changing particular environments and return the very highest level of surveillance imagery.

Combing Local Smarts with Universal Intelligence.

The intelligence of each VIVOTEK IP Network Camera is impressive on its own. When united in a nationwide system through a series of VIVOTEK’s ND8301 NVRs, PoE switches and VIVOTEK’s professional video and central management software, VAST, this fleet of cameras becomes even more powerful. Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters in Frankfurt can now ensure the safest possible shopping environment. With access to the same intelligent systems, staff at each store can search for specific incidents or receive instant alarm notification via VIVOTEK’s intelligent functions. Patrick Wierauske, account manager of SECOMP Electronic, is extremely excited, both by the success of this project and by the potential for similar applications in the future: “By pairing the power of locally installed VIVOTEK intelligent IP surveillance solutions, all 50 stores of Levi Strauss & Co.® Germany, are now both fully protected and able to offer a tangible sense of security.” Clearly, where great technical innovation meets a commitment to excellence in details, anything is possible.

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Special Thanks

• Levi Strauss & Co.® Germany
• Tango Security & Investigations GmbH
• DCD Karlsruhe
• SECOMP Electronic Components GmbH