cafe soo
Hospitality

Café Soo enhances store safety and customer experience with Axis solution

Organization: Cafe SOO
Location: Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Customer need: Property and asset protection, Remote monitoring, Customer experience
Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 

Café Soo, a gallery-type coffee shop is using Axis network camera and audio solution to monitor the entire store without blind spots, check the store situation remotely with mobile device 24/7, and play background music to provide a comfortable atmosphere for customers.

Mission

Café Soo is a small coffee shop and cultural space that offers regular photography exhibitions and tarot card readings. Located in the middle of a residential area, the store has security concerns as there are not many people around at night after operating hours. When opened last May, Café Soo sought the introduction of a monitoring system for the security and safety of the store. It wanted a system capable of monitoring each section of the store without a blind spot and watching inside and outside of the store through a mobile device after opening hours including early morning when the supplies are delivered. All equipment should have an elegant design that can blend in with the store’s interior design that looks like a gallery, and the number of cameras in the store should be minimal to avoid psychological discomfort customers might feel. However, the store has a unique difficulty in the layout as the ceiling is lower than that of a general commercial facility.

Solution

From the beginning, Café Soo considered a network camera to simplify the installation, increase the management convenience, and minimize error points. After consulting with Axis solution partner Darwin System together with a design from AXIS Site Designer, the store decided to install an Axis product, which is optimized for small stores with a beautiful design and chose a system set integrating an Axis 360º panorama camera, mini dome camera, ceiling mount network speaker, and audio bridge.

Café Soo’s security system consists of the AXIS M30-V series 360º panoramic camera and fixed mini dome network camera, AXIS C2005 Ceiling Mount Network Speaker, AXIS C8033 Network Audio Bridge, and free video management software AXIS Companion. Since all the equipment were products from one vendor, the installation and management were easy and issues could be addressed on the spot. Moreover, the beautiful Axis product’s exterior design and compact size blended nicely with the interior design of the gallery café.

Result

Café Soo was able to ensure safety at the store at all times and create a comfortable environment by installing the all-in-one system consisting of an Axis network camera, network speaker, and AXIS Companion video management software. A small number of cameras monitor every section of the store day and night thanks to their wide-angle view and high-quality image. The compact size and beautiful design blend in with interior design of the gallery-type store, and customers barely notice the existence of the cameras. Although the café initially planned to install a Bluetooth speaker for background music in addition to the system, it is now playing music only with the Axis network speaker since it is satisfied with the excellent sound quality.

Thanks to the camera’s high image quality and wide-angle view, we are able to monitor all sections of the store in detail with the three cameras. The speaker’s sound quality creates a nice store atmosphere, so we didn’t need to add an additional audio device. There are photos I took while traveling to different parts of the world displayed at the store, and I’m so glad the Axis equipment blends in with the store’s interior design.
Shin TaeSoo
Owner of Café SOO

Use design tool for optimal camera positioning

The cafe is a long L-shape structure divided into a reception area, lounge area, and tarot reading room with a ceiling lower than that of a general commercial facility, so it was expected to require a relatively large number of cameras for a sufficient coverage. However, another concern was that too many cameras could make customers feel like they are being watched and ruin the interior design.

Darwin system addressed these customers’ concerns using AXIS Site Designer, a free web application that supports efficient surveillance system design. By uploading the floor plan of the store, we checked and adjusted the model, quantity, and location of cameras in the application. As we visualized the speaker’s sound range as well as the coverage of the cameras, the customer was assured that three cameras and one speaker were enough to satisfy all their requirements. Also, we optimized the SD card capacity for local storage since the storage capacity could be estimated.

Create an atmosphere using Axis audio with excellent sound quality

Café Soo plays music provided by a music streaming service (Melon) with an AXIS C2005 Network Speaker by connecting to AXIS C8033 Network Audio Bridge and MacBook Air. The background music creates a store atmosphere suitable for a certain day’s mood, the weather, and operating hours to ensure happy customers.

The ceiling-mount AXIS C2005 speaker does not require a power amplifier (amp) or digital signal processor (DSP) and can always play background music in clear and clean sound quality as well as broadcast pre-recorded voice messages. The AXIS C8033 is a convenient solution that connects and integrates analog equipment and a network audio system. Since all Axis audio equipment can be connected to the standard network, it does not require a special audio cable, so equipment installation is simple, which significantly reduces costs.

Check the store at anywhere and anytime through a mobile device

Also, Café Soo’s manager checks the real-time video from a store camera even from a remote location through a mobile app. The video is saved in the edge storage (SD card) of each camera. Since the camera does not require additional hardware (NVR) for storage and management, it saves equipment costs and space.

Supply delivery in the early morning can be checked from home in real-time, and the application in the camera sends an alert as soon as it detects an invader during the night, so that the manager can understand the situation and immediately respond when needed.

Beautiful design blended in with the Interior

Shin TaeSoo, the owner of Café Soo explained, “Thanks to the camera’s high image quality and wide-angle view, we are able to monitor all sections of the store in detail with the three cameras. The speaker’s sound quality creates a nice store atmosphere, so we didn’t need to add an additional audio device.” He added, “I feel attached to my café because I participated in most of the interior design from the ground up. There are photos I took while traveling to different parts of the world displayed at the store, and I’m so glad the Axis equipment blends in with the store’s interior design. I’m definitely planning to install an Axis product at the second branch.”

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Darwin System

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