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Tourist attraction uses CCTV to improve customer experience

One of Scotland's leading tourist attractions, The Falkirk Wheel, has used its networked security system to help reduce customer queuing time and improve visitors' experience of the day - as well as increase security.

The world's only rotating boat lift and the centrepiece of the £85m Millennium Link restoration project, The Falkirk Wheel joins canals from the east to west coasts of Scotland, bridging two water levels that are 35 m apart.

"This is a large installation which required a wide range of CCTV capabilities across different areas of the site," explains Paul Bettison of Fairfield Control Systems, the company responsible for controlling wheel movement, river traffic, CCTV systems, call up displays, interior and exterior lighting and water level management.

"In addition to the traditional security remit of retail area monitoring and out-of-hours site protection, the Digital Sprite is put to further innovative use to supervise boat traffic and manage people movement around this popular tourist destination.

The Digital Sprite's wide range of protocol support meant that it integrated well with existing equipment such as the network of static and dome cameras, reducing installation time and costs for the end-user.

Iain Herbert at The Falkirk Wheel says, "We previously had an analog system which was time consuming and tedious to use. In contrast the new Digital Sprite system is remarkably simple to use, which kept training time for our staff to an absolute minimum.

"And rather than simply use our system as a recording device, we can actually pro-actively use the recorded data to bring improvements to our visitors' experience.

"We are able to use Digital Sprite as an information management tool. Rapid data recovery via the menu-driven log allows us to analyse queuing times and people movement across the entire site.

"If we spot bottlenecks at certain times of day in particularly popular areas, for example, we can re-deploy staff and resources accordingly.

"Because the system is digitally networked, we can have additional PC control points at any point on our local area network, which has improved access to data for a rapid response."

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