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*The Customer *

There is an old saying about how everything is bigger in Texas and in the
case of Lexus of Lakeway, the expression certainly rings true. Located less
than 20 miles from the burgeoning technology hub of Austin, the luxury
automobile dealers ship sits on more than 30 acres in the small town of
Lakeway, which is home to just over 11,000 residents. The dealership, which
is a sister store to Lexus of Austin, has only been open for year and
offers customer a unique car-buying experience.

Unlike most auto dealerships that people are accustomed to, Lexus of
Lakeway doesn’t have rows upon rows of cars parked in what seems like an
unending landscape of asphalt. The community of Lakeway has very exacting
standards when it comes to the architectural features of the surrounding
businesses and the dealership was no different. As part of an effort to be
aesthetically pleasing to the town and its residents, Lexus of Lakeway was
built vertically and features multiple levels complete with rooftop
parking, resembling something more akin to a resort than a contemporary
dealership. The cars that are visible on the ground are spread among the
hills and surrounding property so as to keep the facility from appearing
like a cluttered car lot.

However, Lexus of Lakeway’s commitment to being a good business neighbor
doesn’t just stop at the architecture of their building. The dealership
also makes every effort to keep bright lighting and loud noises to a
minimum, which is why the facility’s doors open and shut within just 10
seconds of a vehicle pulling in or out. Not only does this help keep most
of the noise generated by the shop contained within the building, but it
also encourages customer to stay within the confines of facility and shop
at one of the two boutique retail shops that they have on property.

*The Challenge*

The job of securing this expansive and unique auto dealership fell to Jake
Hargis, parts and IT director for both Lexus of Lakeway and Lexus of
Austin. Having experience in managing a somewhat smaller video network at
the Austin dealership, Hargis knew that given the size of the Lakeway
property combined with the challenge of having to secure additional areas,
such as the retail boutiques, that he would need more advanced surveillance
tools at his disposal if they wanted to be able to provide an adequate
level of coverage. And while the 20-camera system they have in place at
the Austin dealership is sufficient for that particular location, Hargis
also wanted to be able to overcome some of its limitations, such as having
to keep and maintain two servers on premises that are solely dedicated to
running their surveillance network.

“Here in Lakeway, our surveillance system had to be way more spread out
because of the logistics of the property, so I needed more cameras and the
ability to work remotely from a workstation without having to access the
server and that type of thing,” said Hargis.

*The Solution *

To address these concerns, Hargis consulted Accu-Tech, a leading nationwide
distributor of security products, which recommended the Arteco Next video
event management software (VEMS) platform. In addition to Arteco Next, more
than 30 high-definition IP cameras were installed throughout the lot, some
of which had to be converted to wireless with the help of antennas to
extend their range given the expansiveness of the property. However, while
the cameras themselves are impressive, Hargis said it is the functionality
of the Arteco Next software that is the glue that holds the entire network
together.

“I can cover a lot more ground with one camera here as opposed to the older
system at Austin,” explained Hargis. “Before I might have had an initial
angle where I could see 20 cars in a single frame and there was just no way
you could read a plate like that. It’s simply too big of an area being
covered. Now, using Arteco Next, I can make a camera change its angle and
go in like I’m walking up behind the car and I can zoom in so close that I
can read a plate.”

Although Lexus of Lakeway has a security team, Hargis and one other person
within the dealership’s IT department are the only ones who are allowed to
access the video management system and, in the event of an incident that
needs to be reviewed, they need the ability to quickly and easily access
video footage, which Arteco Next was able to deliver through its easy to
learn, user-intuitive interface.

Perhaps, most importantly, Arteco Next has provided Lexus of Lakeway with a
powerful tool to combat incidents of fraud and shoplifting, which can be
extremely costly for the dealership. One of the most common types of fraud
perpetrated against auto dealerships is falsely claiming that a car has
suffered damage while in the care of technicians at the facility as part of
an effort to get free body work. But with Arteco Next, Lexus of Lakeway has
been able to nip these claims in the bud.

“We do a walk around on every car that comes in here and there might be a
big scratch that we write on the work order and they’ll sign off on it. But
when they come to pick up the car, they’ll say, ‘that wasn’t there.’ We
can literally pull up the camera now, show where they pulled in, zoom in on
that damage and say, ‘there it is when you drove in,’” said Hargis.

In addition, the Boutique on Stonelake, which offers the dealership’s
customers a chance to shop for a variety of different goods, such as
clothing, jewelry and books while they wait for service to be performed on
their vehicle, is sometimes targeted by shoplifters. Using the video
system, however, Hargis is able to easily identify the perpetrator and the
vehicle in which they left.

Hargis has received nothing but positive feedback about the Arteco software
from the dealership’s managers - many of whom have been able to settle
disputes using the platform - and said he plans to stick with Arteco for
all of their video surveillance related needs moving forward.

*Delphine Thierry*
Account Manager
O: 832-594-1043

<http://www.compassintegrated.com/>
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