Sentinel is designed to help Shopping centres reduce their operations costs, enhance their internal security, and improve their carbon footprint. It is a comprehensive shopping centre "Mall Management" System which as been designed from the outset to be a modular application, allowing management teams to "pick and choose" the available modules they require to meet their particular needs. Just some of the features and examples are listed below
Retailer security
Example:
A shop staff member is being subjected to potential or actual abuse. Using the “panic” button on the handheld device, an alert is sent to the centre management security team, which shows up as a red flashing icon. The Security team acknowledge the problem, which causes the handheld device to vibrate, and takes other appropriate actions (such as dispatching the nearest security personnel). This whole approach – unlike 2-way radio for instance – is discrete, and makes sure what is already a stressful situation is not made worse, but at the same time can be actively managed.
Delivery truck management
Example:
Sentinel allows the retailer to enter details of any expected delivery for their store, including number plate information, and other additional security information that may be desirable, such as driver name, etc. This information can be automatically passed to an ANPR system, When the delivery arrives, the number is recognised, the barrier is raised, and the truck allowed in. Meantime the retailer in question automatically receives a message from Sentinel telling them their delivery has arrived. Swift, secure, efficient.
Retailer Intranet
Example:
Updating your Centre Handbook? Rather than having to print and distribute a copy for each individual retailer, use Sentinel to deliver it. Sentinel ensures each retailer is aware of the update, it can even track when a retailer has accessed to document, and who within that retailer has read the document. The document is always available to the retailer to refer to at a later date. Sentinel supports virtually any document type, and also supports email type messaging. By removing the need to print and distribute documents, Sentinel not only helps centres to reduce their overheads, but to also improve their carbon footprints.
Daily Sales collection
Example:
Sentinel makes collection of Daily Sales Figures easy. It even reminds retailers if they have missed entering figures for a day. You can easily define which retailers need to enter the DSF information, and from then on Sentinel will handle the process. Retailers enter the information via numeric “keypads”, so anyone who can use a mobile phone can enter DSF information. Sentinel presents the collected information to management via CSV files, which means virtually ANY financial application will be able to accept and manipulate the information provided.
Help Desk
Example:
A customer drops a drink bottle in a shop, and the contents are sticky, and now all over the floor. Using Sentinel and the Help Desk feature the shop requests a cleaner. This task will appear on the Management screen, and either a cleaner is manually dispatched; or, if the centre has also deployed the MobileWorks Maestro system, the task will automatically appear on the cleaners handheld terminal. In either instance, the cleaner performs the required task, and any invoice, if appropriate, can then be generated.
Messaging
Example:
Centre Management wish to inform all retailers that an unscheduled fire test is to take place at a specific time and date. This information can easily be propagated via the Sentinel messaging system. Conversely, a Retailer wishes to inform centre management that their contact details have changed, etc.
Central Database
Example:
Heaven forbid, but take the example of a major security incident taking place in the centre. From the moment that incident is alerted to security staff, and the retailers informed, Sentinel tracks All actions. It monitors which member of the security team raised the incident, the time the alert was sent to the retailers, which retailers actually received the alert, and the times and actions taken by each retailer. It monitor and record voice communications that took place as part of the incident. When the post mortem takes place, it is easy to track in correct chronological order who did what, said what, when. However, the database audit can be used for more mundane tasks, like recording when a retailer looked at a particular document, etc.
Interaction with 3rd party applications
Example:
Sentinel does not have a financial control package, this would make no real sense as there are plenty of very good ones already available, and almost certainly already in place in the centre. Therefore Sentinel passes any financial control information to this package via standard CSV files. Or take the case of a retailer creating a new job vacancy. Sentinel collects the information, and it is then passed to the centre management console for approval. If the centre staff approve it, then the information is passed to the web content management system that is used by the centre – it might be eSense, but it could be any other CMS package – for it to manipulate the data and present it to the relevant media such as web site, touch screens, plasma screens, etc.
Networks
Example:
If you have good global mobile coverage within your centre, then there is no need to create any other network, which can have a dramatic impact on the overall capital cost, and viability of implementing Sentinel. However, Sentinel is equally happy using wireless or wired networks, or even combinations of networks.