Mall of America®, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America, has officially announced an expansion of its ongoing partnership with Axis Communications to deploy cutting-edge car-counting video analytics across more than a dozen locations.
Under this particular expansion, the company will look to bolster operational efficiency, improve safety and security, as well as facilitate more informed decision-making around employee scheduling. Alongside that, it will also streamline transportation for large events.
To understand the significance of such a development, we must take into account a fact that, standing at 5.6 million square feet and housing more than 500 retailers, restaurants, and more, MOA currently hosts more than 300 events each year. As a result, it enjoys more than 32 million visitors annually from across the globe.
Now, like you can guess, scheduling those events always mandates careful planning so to ensure that the Mall can support parking operations and provide security to those in attendance
Against that, Mall of America’s expanded surveillance system brings forth a reliable, accurate, and scalable solution to supports its 24/7 security operation.
More on that would reveal how MOA has already conducted an initial test on this technology. As for the results, they were encouraging enough to make the company expand its implementation to more than a dozen locations.
“Mall of America presented us with a challenge that required not just technology, but collaboration, trust, and innovation,” said James Stark, Segment Development Manager of Retail at Axis Communications. “We’re honored to be part of their forward-looking approach to safety and operational intelligence. As Mall of America continues to lead the way in experiential retail and entertainment, we remain committed to delivering the reliability, flexibility, and insight-driven technology that their dynamic environment demands.”
Taking a deeper view of what the given expansion will enable MOA to do, the benefits begin from an option to deploy solutions anywhere. You see, a trial began with an Axis camera deployed in a particularly challenging location .i.e. on a light pole isolated from the building. Here, the technology was able to achieve 99% accuracy.
In fact, after a few minor adjustments, the performance improved even further
Next up, there is the prospect of driving decisions with analytics. This translates to how, thanks to AI-enabled line-crossing analytics at the edge, MOA can conceive a more rugged, scalable, and cost-effective approach to decision-making.
Such a mechanism becomes especially useful in and around locations where the mall entrance meets busy intersections. We get to say so because line-crossing technology can precisely draw the distinction between a car entering the Mall against the one that is merely passing by.
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in a facility to create one smarter security strategy. You see, cameras and Axis network speakers, installed in restricted areas, can detect and deter unauthorized access in real-time, while simultaneously sending alerts to the Mall’s central dispatch center.
Rounding up highlights would be the potential for enhancing employee safety. In the given regard, it’s significantly simpler to make adjustments to the devices. Furthermore, unlike the current setup which requires ladders, lifts, and multiple people, the new version only needs a desktop. As a result, non-technical team members can review audits, make changes, and immediately analyze results from a safe location.
Moving forward, MOA plans on exploring more use cases. Some of the seriously considered possibilities include license plate recognition, along with leveraging line analytics to better understand visitor trends, such as distinguishing hotel guests from shopping center visitors.
“We needed technology that could keep pace with our evolving needs and make sure our security team could focus on the highest-priority tasks,” said Aaron Nielsen, Vice President of Information Technology at Mall of America.. “Our previous solution struggled with the unpredictable Midwestern weather, including snow, rain, and cold, all impacting accuracy and reliability. Car counting is one of the most important operational metrics we have. Implementing a system that delivers accurate data allows us to quickly scale from one location to more than a dozen additional locations throughout the Mall, providing efficiency and invaluable information for our team.”
