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"Before Solink, I was constantly dreading the Operations Team coming up and asking why a camera was down. Now, Solink sends me push alerts when a camera is down and why, so I’m able to get it back up and recording."
Table of Contents
Concerns
- Remote monitoring isn’t possible with standalone DVR, which is critical for a growing business.
- Offline cameras leave expensive equipment vulnerable to damage or theft.
- A lot of technology needs to be onboarded for success, and with growth, time constraints are becoming more noticeable.
Results
- Solink brings 33 stores and the head office under a single pane of glass, allowing the Director of IT Infrastructure and Deployment to do much more work remotely.
- Solink ensures the safety of expensive equipment, staff, and patrons by notifying Megan Runge any time a camera is offline so she can get it up and running again ASAP.
- Solink is an active partner, arranging for the installation of video security equipment at new locations and configuring the platform. Then, the intuitive user interface makes it easier for individuals to perform tasks without IT’s help.
The Client:
Sandbox VR
Sandbox VR offers exclusive virtual reality experiences. Using proprietary hardware and software, they offer group VR experiences at close to 50 locations globally. Megan Runge, Director of IT Infrastructure and Deployment at Sandbox VR, discusses why she chose Solink and how that decision has benefited the company.
“We're a fully immersive virtual reality company with about 40 locations in America along with several more locations globally. Customers book an experience online, go to one of our locations, put on some haptic gear, reflective trackers, a VR headset, and then are just fully inside the game together. It’s totally different from at home VR, where you are by yourself and only have the VR headset element. All of our experiences are proprietary, so we build them all in house and they're all unique to us. You can't play them anywhere else. It’s a really fun hang with friends or family and definitely a workout too.”
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The Challenge:
Effectively scale the business with a small team
Sandbox VR is growing rapidly, both locally in the USA and internationally. To keep all current locations secure while setting up new ones, remote access has become a must. Flying to a new location to manually reposition cameras and configure a local DVR is no longer practical.
“Of the roughly 45 stores we have globally, 10 to 15 are new this year. Just getting them up and running can take a lot of work, and anything we hand off to partners like Solink is beneficial.”
Ideally, Megan Runge wouldn’t need to visit locations in person for the installation or maintenance of video surveillance hardware.
“To visit every location, I would need to be on the road almost all the time. It’s definitely a huge benefit to be able to monitor, support, and manage everything remotely with Solink. It’s a benefit for the Operations Team as well.”
Once installed, every security camera needs to be operational. Sandbox VR is an intense workout and can lead to injuries or equipment damage. When cameras go offline, if no one knows about the issue, then it won’t be resolved, leading to potential risks.
“There's a lot of money put into the stores with our technology, so we obviously have serious security needs. We need to ensure our employee safety as well. Making sure our cameras are online is important for asset protection, employee safety, and customer safety.”
As the Director of IT Infrastructure and Deployment, Megan Runge has a lot of responsibilities. To support the company’s growth, she needs to balance today’s priorities against those of tomorrow. One way to do this is to find systems that work well and most users can figure out on their own.
“I need a system where the Store Managers and District Managers can go in and find what they are looking for without my help. Solink provides the user experience I’m looking for. It’s easy to use, there’s an app and cloud services, and when there is an incident, employees can find their own video clips easily. I don’t have to be involved in every investigation and that’s really helpful for me.”
Summary:
- Sandbox VR is expanding rapidly, requiring a fine balance between maintaining all the current systems at existing locations and making sure new locations are set up correctly and opening on time. Remote monitoring is needed to make sure this happens.
- Sandbox VR currently operates about 45 locations globally, with hundreds of cameras in total. Keeping all of these cameras online and recording is essential to security, which would be impossible without automated alerts.
- Sandbox VR is a high-tech entertainment business with many different types of hardware and software to maintain. Megan Runge needs as many systems as possible to be simple to use for staff so she can focus on other important tasks.
Every user of Solink has their own perspective on why they want to use the system. Whether it’s easier case management, improved loss prevention, or new business insights from pairing video with data, Solink provides organizations a lot of value. Different users at Sandbox VR working in the retail locations or at the headquarters on the Operations Team understand this first hand.
However, as the Director of IT Infrastructure and Deployment, Megan Runge has a different perspective. She needs systems that work well, are easy to use, and automate simple but time consuming tasks so that a new tool doesn’t become a burden for her department.
“A little selfishly, as the head of IT, I want to work with tools that tell me when there are issues instead of needing to go in search of them. With camera health monitoring, Solink does that. I want a product that employees can use on their own without needing me to show them how to do it. With a great user experience, Solink does that. I also don’t want to hear the Operations Team complaining about the new tool. With all of its features, if anything, they are on the platform more than me.”
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The Solution:
Solink is making life a little easier for Sandbox VR’s IT Department
Megan Runge is now able to do most work from the head office, and when she is on the road helping at one location, Solink’s mobile app keeps her connected to all the other locations.
“A little selfishly, as the head of IT, I want to work with tools that tell me when there are issues instead of needing to go in search of them. With camera health monitoring, Solink does that. I want a product that employees can use on their own without needing me to show them how to do it. With a great user experience, Solink does that. I also don’t want to hear the Operations Team complaining about the new tool. With all of its features, if anything, they are on the platform more than me.”
Moving over the existing stores to Solink might have been prohibitively expensive if all the working security cameras needed to be replaced. Thankfully, Solink takes a technology-agnostic approach to development and was able to work with all of the existing cameras. Furthermore, Solink is sourcing new cameras for all of Sandbox VR’s new locations at a highly competitive price.
“Everyone needs to be very cost conscious right now, and Solink definitely offers great value. We were able to use all of our existing cameras and then acquire new ones through Solink for our new locations. That’s a huge benefit and overall made Solink a better deal than the local DVR option we had been using previously.”
Opening 10 to 15 stores in 2023, having Solink as the all-in-one source for hardware and cloud video security makes life a bit easier for Sandbox VR’s IT Team.
“Solink is definitely easier to set up and configure. We're able to handle it ourselves and then let the Solink Team know when we are ready. Once Solink is ready to go, I get a notification, which is great. I got a notification just this week that the new store we have in Virginia is all set up and ready to go. That's my cue to go in and check how it is looking and whether the camera angles are correct. Actually, the Virginia location is still under construction but Solink is up and running, so now we can monitor the rest of the build out, too, which is helpful for the Operations Team."
Making sure every camera is online is critical to keeping people and equipment safe. However, reviewing hundreds of cameras by hand would be impossible. Solink proactively lets Sandbox VR know when a camera is offline or occluded so IT can get it back up and recording as soon as possible.
“Solink provides a ‘push’ instead of us doing a ‘pull’. That’s critical with so many locations. The monitoring and preventative health checks lets us know what’s going on in all of our locations, saving us a lot of time and making sure issues are resolved quickly.”
Unlike some tools, Solink hasn’t become a burden on the IT Department. Because it is so easy to use, everyone from Store Managers to the Operations Team has access to what they need without having to rely on IT’s help.
“We were previously using two different CCTV systems and I was trying to convert the whole business to a single platform. Someone at the company mentioned they had worked with Solink at their previous job and liked it. It needed to be simple and be able to have multiple users who each have custom permissions so they have access to what they need and nothing else. Solink does that. At this point, I think the Operations Team is on the system more than me. They’re using it in many surprising ways, for example to confirm Store Managers put up marketing materials or that customer service standards are being met.”
The Result:
Customizable video surveillance that gives everyone the information they need
Megan Runge can rely on the Solink Team to make sure every new location has a working system before opening day. Whether by email or the in-app chat function, she can get a hold of someone at Solink when needed.
“As soon as I reach out to the Solink Team, things improve, projects get done, and I have the information I need. Working with Solink has been really good.”
Different people on different teams need different information. There are some obvious examples, for example Store Managers should only have access to their location’s cameras, and District Managers to those only in the stores in their district. Solink makes it easy to create users for every position with custom permissions.
“We’re currently getting usernames for all the Store Managers and District Managers. That’s really easy and secure on Solink.”
For different members of the Operations Team, these individual needs are a bit less predictable.
“The Operations Team uses Solink a lot. Some people are constantly on the platform to check whether operating procedures are being followed. For example, they can check to confirm every customer is being greeted as they enter the store. Before, if Marketing sent out a new display, they’d need to trust the Store Manager when they said they set it up. Now, they can just check all the cameras and then call if a location doesn’t have the new display up yet.”
Overall, Solink offers the information and features needed and then gets out of the way. For IT Departments, that’s an important factor as some tools can become a burden to those who need to keep them operating.
“As a company and as a product, Solink is reliable, supportive, and easy to work with. I look forward to continuing our partnership.”
Learn how Solink can support your business.
Sandbox VR’s three favorite features
Mobile App
Solink has a full-featured mobile app for both iPhone and Android devices. Gain peace of mind by being connected to your locations remotely from anywhere. Save and share clips, review footage using motion- and event-based search functions, and monitor your core metrics. With the Solink mobile app, you can do everything remotely.
Camera Health Monitoring
When you don’t know there is a problem, then you can’t fix it. When a camera is down or occluded, your business is vulnerable until you are aware of the issue and rectify it. Solink automatically monitors the health of all of your cameras to make sure that they are operating effectively. That way you know as soon as there is an issue and can get the camera back online before something happens.
Customer Success Team
Solink is an easy-to-use platform that can be taught to new employees in a few minutes. However, it is packed with a lot of interesting functionality that you might not notice at first. Our Customer Success Team is there to make sure you get the most out of Solink. From configuring new sites to building out your dashboard, Solink is there to help your business succeed.
