COMPANY
OUR TEAM
Ruslan, being a CEO in Ufatech, coordinates the work of the department of strategic development and innovative products, while working on the creation of electronic parts and devices, prototypes, bringing a new product design from the development stage to the start of series production. This business model allows us to create a sustainable IT business platform, which is focused on qualitative characteristics of the product.
Venera is engaged in financial management and strategic planning of the project, responsible for pricing strategy and business development. During an internship at Metzler group in Frankfurt Venus had a great experience that allowed to refocus the business processes of company into the SaaS model, resulting in a significantly changed the trajectory of development of the company at the moment. She has a diploma of Berlin Perspectives at the University of Humboldt. |
Vyacheslav manages the R&D part of the project and coordinates the technical support dept, effectively manages all engineering processes in the company and sets the direction of the technical development of the formation of the terms of reference and to the new solutions introduction, realizing large-scale projects of shopping centers and retail chains. Vaclav has extensive experience in working on automation projects of shopping centers and buildings.
As head of marketing, Cyril is responsible for developing an analytical framework that form the model of development of the company. Since joining Ufatech he has participated in the creation of a team that is involved in virtually all areas: from the business strategy and the design of new products to retail analytics and data management. Cyril had practice in the United States in New York Consumer Center, where he studied the psychology of visitors shopping centers and retail chains. |
GREETINGS
I would like to welcome you to the Ufatech official website. I hope the information, shared here, will be useful for you, and the site’s navigation system will help you find the necessary equipment easily. This Internet resource is a key element of our information strategy. Its main goal is to keep you up-to-date about the work, principles, values and goals of our company in an easy-to-understand way.
Ufatech Ltd. was founded in 2007, so we are a relatively young project. Despite this, our team has come a long professional way, and over the past 9 years we have managed to demonstrate that commitment, responsibility, and ability to find creative solutions can break new ground for the trust-based relationships. At this website you can take a look at our projects and achievements. The site is constantly being updated with information on the progress made.
More than 9 000 companies all over the world have opted for Ufatech as a fault-free system for analysis of consumer behavior. Such an onrush of our technologies is a sequence to high level of professionalism of each member of our team and the quality policy introduced by our company. Ufatech focuses on every order it gets. We treat our partners with respect and appreciation, and we always do the utmost to find the best solution within the shortest possible time.
We have come to this business line with distinct strategic approach, in-house engineering developments and clear vision of the main tasks in mind. We have all the technologies and manufacturing and human resources necessary for successful implementation of our ideas.
Thank you for taking interest in our company. We hope you will soon join us as an Ufatech partner.
Russell Ak, CEO UFATECH
MANUFACTURING
Only high-quality components and quality control at all stages of production
High-tech automated production
The process of soldering products
PCB prepared for production
OUR STORY
UFATECH'S WAY FROM A START-UP TO THE GLOBAL PEOPLE COUNTING SYSTEM PROVIDER
At Ufatech, we all come to work every day because we want to solve the biggest problem in retail - a lack of data. Throughout our history we have designed a wide range of devices that provide retailers with a smart instrument to research visitors behavior.
Ufatech was founded by a group of alumni keen on radiotechnics and engineering. Firstly the company was focused on building automation, LED lighting, access control and retail automation. Many retailers have requested us to create a people counting system which would be reliable, useful, easy to operate and low-priced.
We've had some experience so the idea seemed rather attractive to us and we were very excited about a brand new project.
HISTORY:
2007 - Foundation, implementing access control, building automation
2008 - RS485 radio channel extender and USB-RS485 interface connectors development
2009 - Analytical software development, technical specification is written
2010 - MC-USB is developed. It becomes popular due to easy installation, useful software and competitive price
2011 - MC-GSM is developed. It's a perfect decision for those who do not have a computer or LAN at the spot
2012 - MC-ETH & MC-WiFi - are finished. These systems allow to connect sensors to LAN and automatically send data to the company's server. Systems become extremely popular among the companies with stores in different cities
2013 - RCOUNT systems are launched with connection via USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Such devices are absolutely unique - wireless sensores are able to work up to 6 years using 1 set of batteries. Modern design, compact size, high-precision two-way counting, reasonable price and installation time less than 5 minutes - that is why RCOUNT is the most popular system of the year.
2014 - VideoCount 3D ASSIS has come to conquer the market. Incredibly accurate count on large and small heights, wide detection area and price 3 times lower than any analogue.
2015 - UFATECH becomes a highly rated global manufacturer of people counting systems with widest range of sensors for any purpose: small shops or large stores, museums or stadiums, airports or railway stations.
2016 - Stereo 3D sensor is developed. The solution provides the best counting quality and guarantees most accurate results. Ufatech Stereo 3D people counter has proved its effectiveness in various projects and shortly earned customers' respect.
CONCEPT:
UFATECH is a leading provider of customer tracking equipment for retail.
We solve the most complex problems of counting, providing our customers with significant advantages in business processes and business adaptation for various external factors.
Easy connection, the optimal price, and friendly interface allows you to quickly implement solutions for a variety of areas. Based on our reliable hardware and powerful software UFATECH gives you the tools and technology to quickly and easily raise the profitability of your businesses.
ABOUT US
Developing wide range of products for people counting
The professional team of engineers, united by one purpose to provide the best solution for retail analysis have created the highest quality and precision equipment recognized worldwide. Ufatech people counters are a universal solution for retail chains and shopping centers, museums, libraries, stadiums, airports and railway stations.
Researching technologies for comprehensive analysis of customers behavior
Ufatech private Research Laboratory is engaged in research and solving tasks in the field of computer vision and smart systems. We use long-term experience of leading experts to develop a revolutionary new people counting technology.
Creating software package with powerful analytical platform
Ufatech Statistics is a next-generation tool for solving multiple tasks: from assessing attendance peaks to controling the conversion level. Working on software creation we carried out experience we earned and the recommendations of global research companies. The basis of the Statistics is built on the latest achievements in the field of cloud services, mobile technology and machine learning.
MegaCount Ufatech in figures:
- Experience - 9 years.
- Number of customers - more than 9,000.
- Manufactured more than 60,000 people counters.
- Wide usage – 23 countries and more than 170 cities.
- Warranty - 36 months.
- Prompt delivery - no more than 10 days.
- Most compact device among the others – 66x67x28 mm.
Our benefits:
- Different types of sensors – you can combine them as you like;
- Various connection interfaces - Ethernet, Wi-fi, USB, GSM, Ethernet PoE, RS485, Radio 430 Mhz;
- Powerful software;
- The accuracy of calculation - 98% and more;
- Compact size and modern design, three colors to choose from;
- Easy to install and configure;
- Guarantee data integrity.
Our achievements - your appreciation
Ufatech’s not just selling people counters. We provide you with opportunity to learn more about your visitors. Each project we accomplish is unique and important for us, and as we do care about the result, we pay special attention to customer service we provide to help you improve your business performance.
High quality and reliability, simplicity of installation and configuration, as well as the powerful functionality of the system has enabled us to gain the trust and appreciation of our partners and customers.
The unique difference
We do realize the reason why you implement people counters and therefore each device is equipped with a powerful suite of software so you can receive multifunctional reports based on your traffic.
QUALITY POLICY
In the Ufatech Quality Pledge, we set forth a commitment to "respect our customers' viewpoints in striving to deliver product quality and customer service that exceed their expectations." To this end, Ufatech promotes continuous, decisive efforts to enhance product quality and to reinforce its quality management system.
Our main goals in Quality Management are:
- Constant product quality assurance to meet the requirements of our customers
- Preserving and improving the reputation of a high quality and respected brand
- New product development and launching
- High volume manufacturing
- Forming good customer relationships
To achieve these objectives the company has implemented eight principles on which the quality management is based.
Principle 1: Customer focus
Companies depend on their customers and therefore should understand their current and future needs, meet their requirements and exceed their expectations.
Key benefits:
Increased revenue and market share through flexible and quick response to market opportunities;
More efficient use of resources to meet the needs of customers;
Improved customer loyalty leads to long-term cooperation.
Principle 2: Leadership
Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which every employee can take an active part in achieving the objectives of the company.
Key benefits:
Motivating employees to achieve good results;
A common approach to the assessment, approval and implementation of the company;
Minimizing misunderstandings between different levels of organization.
Principle 3 Involvement of employees
At all levels of the organization employees are the most important element. Full involvement can reveal their potential for the benefit of the company.
Key benefits:
Employees are eager to participate in and contribute to the continuous development;
Motivation, loyalty and involvement of employees;
Innovative and creative approach to achieving the organization’s obkectives.
Principle 4: Process approach
The goals are achieved most efficiently when activities and related resources are managed as a single process.
Key benefits:
Lower costs and reduced cycle times through effective use of resources;
Improving the predictability of results;
Identify opportunities for targeted improvement of processes.
Principle 5: System approach to management
Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated processes as a system contributes to the organization's performance and the effective attainment of the objectives.
Key benefits:
Approval and implementation of processes that best meet the goals;
The ability to focus on key processes;
Providing confidence to interested parties, and later - a high performance organization.
Principle 6: Continual development
The desire to improve the overall level of efficiency of the organization should be a permanent goal.
Key benefits:
Alignment of improvement activities at all levels of the strategic objective of the organization;
Flexibility to react quickly to emerging opportunities;
Increased productivity by improving organizational processes.
Principle 7: Situational approach to decision making
Effective decisions are based on effective analysis
Key benefits:
Increased ability to review, challenge and change opinions and decisions;
Creating opportunities to demonstrate the effectiveness of past decisions through reference to factual records;
Informed decisions.
Principle 8: Mutually beneficial relationships with partners
The organization and its partners are interdependent and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the capabilities of both sides benefit.
Key benefits:
Advanced features to create benefits for both sides;
Flexibility and speed of joint responses to changing needs and expectations of the market and clients;
Optimization of costs and resources.
ANTICORRUPTION
Ufatech Anti-corruption Policy reflects the company's ambition to maintain the ethical standards of fair business practices and is established to improve the corporate culture, keep up with best corporate management patterns and preserve business reputation at the proper level.
The policy was developed in accordance with European legislation, the Charter and other internal documents of the Company based on the requirements of generally accepted principles and norms of international law and international contracts.
The Anti-Corruption Policy is an essential document defining key principles and requirements aimed at preventing corruption and is applicable to all employees and everyone we do business with, including agents, representatives, consultants, independent contractors and anyone acting on behalf of Ufatech.
ETHICS
#1 The concept of security data - our customers have total data control, Ufatech solutions do not require buying special services.
#2 Fair and open pricing policy - our price is open and equal to the entire market, regardless of the status of the customer's company.
#3 Corruption is unacceptable - we do not appreciate personal benefits, we do not make individual discounts.
#4 Complete functionality of our system - sets are fully equipped with everything you need to run a vistors counting system.
#5 Open and honest relationships with partners and customers in terms of pricing and technical support.
#6 Reasonable prices for the Global market - we provide optimal prices for small businesses, and large shopping centers.
#7 Total absence of hidden charges - that is the price for a set, that is our equipment, that is the solution to solve your tasks.
WHAT WE DO
- PRECISE COUNTING
- PROJECT PLANNING
- CHOOSING EQUIPMENT
- TENANTS TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
- SUPPORT
- MALL PLANNING
- BOOST MALL TRAFFIC
- CHAIN STORE COUNTING
- MARKETING
- PRECISE COUNTING
- PROJECT PLANNING
- CHOOSING EQUIPMENT
- TENANTS TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
- SUPPORT
- MALL PLANNING
- BOOST MALL TRAFFIC
- CHAIN STORE COUNTING
- MARKETING
PRECISE COUNTING
Everyone is talking about high quality people counting. Few can prove it.
It is no secret that the equipment for visitors counting is used by many companies to assess critical performance indicators, such as the efficiency of the staff, return on investment or the performance of marketing campaigns. And it is especially important to get reliable information on attendance, because decisions are made that affect the entire company.
To provide an opportunity to conduct an accurate visitors counting for any project conditions is a main Ufatech principle. Many customers testing our system prefer accuracy of the values, and minimum error for them is a key factor when purchasing equipment.
We make no distinction between customers, and each counter produced by Ufatech is thoroughly tested and quality controled. Choosing Ufatech people counting system thousands of companies around the world opt for functionality and reliability. We set a record in this area: 100% of the companies from those who took the equipment to test, have installed our counters for further projects.
PROJECT PLANNING
Planning a Customer Counting System Implementation Project
If you want to launch a successful project, you will need a well-developed plan, define the start and target points, settle the deadline and be ready to spend money. You won’t reach good results, if you don’t have a clear idea of these aspects. A special emphasis should be put on such project success criteria as payback time and NPV, that demonstrates the efficiency, accumulated during a certain period of time.
The MegaCount professional team has a great experience in execution of customer counter implementation projects of different kinds and levels – from small shopping centers to federal retail chains. We perfectly realize the twists and turns of the modern retail business and are ready both to provide the customer behavior evaluation tool for your company and to do an efficiency analysis of the MegaCount counting system installation project.
We will help you answer the following questions:
What is the best place to install a consumer counter at?
How many sensors will guarantee the accuracy of calculation?
How to save money on service lines pre-installation works?
How to integrate data from counters into the existing data base?
How to adjust the conversion calculation process and implement the KPI system?
How much time will one need to compensate the implementation expenses?
CHOOSING EQUIPMENT
Choosing the Customer Counting Equipment
Making the right choice of equipment is an essential part of customer counting system integration. Indeed, the future work of the whole system depends on what customer counters you choose and install at this stage. So as to get a deeper insight into the consumer counters, you can browse the following articles: Choosing a Customer Counter and Top Ten Mistakes: Choosing a Customer Counter.
Due to the experience, gained over more than 8 years of work, the MegaCount specialists are eager to render any assistance in choosing the most efficient equipment to fit your project, despite the circumstances. The knowledge base, that we have, allows us to understand, how this or that device will work in a certain situation. Our main goal is not just to sell the consumer counters, as many Russians companies do, but to give our partners a chance to study their clients, understand the psychology of their behavior and be ahead of the curve to provide the first-rate services.
TENANTS TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
Footfall Analysis for Store Tenants
It’s essential for a store renter to know not about the footfall only, but also about the way the customer paths are distributed within the shopping center. What kinds of store tenants attract most customers and who has problems with customer traffic? How successful are the anchor tenants and what are the most visited parts of the shopping center?
The consumer counting system will allow you to get the detailed and structured analysis of the customer traffic of the whole shopping center and each tenant individually. It will help generate the substantiated rent rate coefficient, based on the way the customer paths are distributed. Besides, one shouldn’t forget about attraction of new customers. Show that you are a strong and reliable partner and arrange a promotion campaign together with your renters. This is the way you will be able to create an image of an attractive lessor and move to a new level of cooperation.
SUPPORT
Technical Support
Sad to say, but lately we have often heard from our clients, that they faced the irresponsible companies, selling consumer counting systems, but refusing to give technical support in case of troubles. Moreover, these are the companies that identify themselves as the market leaders. They are dying to sell expensive equipment, but are not very enthusiastic about solving problems, caused by poorly organized optimization or half-baked hardware.
MegaCount treats business in an absolutely different way. We understand, what role the implemented device plays, and focus on the idea, that our clients should fully trust the MegaCount people counting system. The team of technical specialists is always ready and willing to answer the questions you have and consult on counter adjustment. MegaCount knows that it’s not easy to earn respect at the B2B market and appreciates relations with each partner.
MALL PLANNING
Equipment for Shopping Center
If you want to enhance the profit, produced by your shopping center, you should define the areas, which can help earn more money and boost profit.
The MegaCount consumer counting systems will give answers to the following questions:
How effective is the current marketing campaign and what are the real results of the promotions arranged?
How are the consumer paths distributed in a shopping center and do you cooperate with the right tenant pool?
In what way are the consumer trends changed and what do they depend on?
When does the traffic reach its peak and how high is the level of the services offered?
Any shopping center is a one-of-a-kind project with particular arrangement of entrance areas, escalators, elevators and stairs. So as to count the customers and analyze the way the consumer paths are distributed inside a shopping center, it’s very important to choose the right number of counters and select the right place for them to be mounted. That’s why it’s so essential to trust this job to the professional, who has already realized dozens of similar projects. The complexity of the MegaCount consumer counting system allows to use different devices simultaneously, depending on the conditions provided, and bring them together, using the Statistica analytical software package, developed with needs of shopping malls in mind.
BOOST MALL TRAFFIC
Helping Realize the Shopping Mall Traffic
At the present day the shopping malls cooperate with tenants according to two models. The first one is a widely used fixed-sum rent policy, when a tenant should pay a fixed monthly rent, despite the number of attracted customers and the tenant’s real income. Such model is becoming outdated, as it neither allows to form an equitable price, nor does it depend on the main criterion – traffic.
The second model (supported and developed by MegaCount) is based on equitable rent sum. This method is centered around the real traffic of a shopping center during a certain period of time, which is actually the key coefficient. The attracted amount of visitors is tracked in each part of the shopping center, and the tenants get invoiced, according to this information.
Hint: if you are to rank the parts of your shopping center according to the footfall criterion, trust this job to the Statistics software package. Just mount the MegaCount sensors in the key areas of the building and start collecting data.
Such model seems to be more reasonable and right, as the renters should pay for the real customer traffic only. If a shopping mall has managed to attract 200 000 people this month, and 150 000 of them have come there to visit a perfume shop, located near the entrance and only 10 000 visitors have found a jewelry shop in a remote corner of the mall, then it will be fairer, if the rent of the first shop is 15 times higher, than the rent of the second one. This way the shopping mall sells traffic, but not the rented space.
Besides, you shouldn’t forget that to keep the traffic at attained level the welcoming environment is to be arranged. More than half time, spent at shopping malls, has nothing to do with making purchases – people eat, communicate with each other and entertain themselves. It’s clear, that the more time people spend in the shopping mall, the more purchases they make. Try to use different stimuli – changing in-store music, making illumination softer, making loud speaker announcements. Watch the people behavior and improve the strategy you have chosen. The MegaCount customer counters will bring your shopping center to a new level.
CHAIN STORE COUNTING
Counting Visitors in Retail Chains
Retail chains differ in their sizes – there are extremely big retail chains, including thousands stores, there are smaller chains, and there are really small ones (up to 10 stores). Still, all of them need their own people counting systems.
At an early stage, when the people counting systems were just in the making, the equipment, used at that time, didn’t allow to include a few objects into one system simultaneously. The MegaCount company entered the market with its integrative customer counting system, which is able to integrate an unrestricted number of counting areas into one network despite the type of equipment, installed in the store.
The Statistics analytical software package allows to collect data from all the customer counters and convert data into easy-to-comprehend reports, available for an unlimited number of company employees.
The consumer counting systems for retail chains will help answer the following questions:
How much interest does your product generate in each certain place?
How many visitors turn into customers and how is this number changed from store to store?
How does the personnel work and how does the change of personnel influence the conversion rate?
How effective are the sales promotions and are the expenses covered?
Is the work of each store and the whole chain well optimized?
MARKETING
Consulting. Marketing Research
For over 8 years of practice in people counting technologies we have gained great experience - we know how to use the analytical information in the right way to reach the best results in business.
The cutting edge MegaCount sensors efficiently collect the data on the customers and transmit it to the STATISTICS software package for processing, and here we have most fun!
A professional marketing specialist with STATISTICS software package in his/her pocket will easily improve the profitability of your business and plan the marketing strategy of the company in a proper way. The software package includes a powerful and very informative reporting system, helping to size up the situation competently and choose the right strategy to be used.
Due to our knowledge and numerous success stories in the context of business consulting we are able to take on responsibilities and make the right decisions.
ADVICES
10 MISTAKES
Top 10 mistakes to avoid in choosing a customer counter
Today the people counter market offers a large variety of products, and a novice to this field, who has taken an interest in such equipment for the first time, can easily make a wrong choice and buy a device of poor quality. The situation becomes even worse, when we face unfair sellers, who want to make a profit at any cost. We would like to tell you, what you should not do, when choosing the customer counter.
1. Seeking Lower Prices
Any equipment includes components, and its reliability depends on the quality of these components. The reputable equipment manufacturers prefer to buy components kits from reliable suppliers, such components can cost more, but the probability to get a flawed product is brought to naught. One must admit, that it’s better to spend a few thousand rubles more and be sure, that the equipment won’t fall off after a week of being used, than to wait for the counters to be returned from the maintenance shop. The customers can be counted properly by means of high-quality visitor (customer) counters only.
2. Calculator-Counters are Good for the Start
Calculator-counters are screen devices, showing the number of visitors. Such counters have quite a few disadvantages. First of all, they don’t allow to acquire data in dynamics. It means, that, of course, you can ask one of your employees to enter the data into a file daily and make up some kind of statistics, but in practice they always forget to do it. Besides, the employees can provide the wrong, intentionally underreported data. Secondly, everybody can see the data, demonstrated by such wall calculators. Any of your competitors can come to you store and see, how many customers have come to it today. Tomorrow, you will find their promoter, standing at the entrance of your store and stealing your clients. If you want to play with a new toy for a couple of weeks and boast, that you had 500 visitors last Friday (What else can you do with one figure? Indeed, on Saturday and Sunday you had no one to record the data), then, you are welcome to pay the extra money.
3. Underestimating the Software
One should understand, that a customer counting system allows to analyze the consumer traffic. The counters are just an instrument for data collection. Beyond all doubt, it’s an important process, that’s why the counters should be reliable, of high quality and resistant to external actions. They should promptly perform their function – count the objects within the counting area. The software is the brain, that serves as the center of this instrument. It processes all the information, coming from the counters, and allows to display it in the form of information-bearing reports. Such reports affect the conclusions you will make after the consumer traffic data has been collected. That’s why it’s so important to pay particular attention to the report patterns, when choosing a customer counter.
4. More Expensive Items are Better
You should just once understand, how the prices are determined and what the price components are, and you will find out, that there is no sense in relying on the opinion, formed by a generation of snobs. There is a great number of factors, having an impact on the price of customer counting systems. These factors greatly differ from one seller to another. For instance, those sellers, who buy imported equipment, have to take the ever-changing currency rate into consideration, and include the transportation cost and customs duties into the final price. If the price is the only criterion, one can easily waste the biggest part of the budget.
5. No Goal
You can choose the right consumer counter only if you know, what tasks the customer counting system should complete in your specific project. For example, you should find equipment for integration of acquired data into the existing data base to calculate the conversion rate. I promise, by far not an every manufacturer will be able to offer a proper solution of this problem.
Besides, it should not be overlooked, that the reliable companies always have a few consumer counters to offer. Each kit is designed for certain tasks and certain conditions. Try to define the tasks you need to buy the customer counting system for and think about the environment it will be used in, then, tell your consumer counter supplier about your preferences for him/her to be able to find the most effective solution for you project.
6. Device without Warranty
Hereto the lack of seller’s technical assistance can also be included. The companies, involved into resale of imported equipment, sometimes can’t boast the qualified personnel, having the profound knowledge of the equipment they work with. A reliable manufacturer is always ready to offer the technical assistance and support to his/her clients, and hot lines for technical assistance (hot phone numbers or technical support e-mails, for instance) are a good way to demonstrate it.
7. Making no Difference between IR, Thermal and Video Sensors
When choosing a consumer counter for your store, you should find out as much information about them as possible. Making the difference between different kinds of sensors and understanding their advantages and disadvantages are the basic criteria to make the right choice. Here we would like to tell about them briefly.
IR (Infrared) consumer counters (horizontal and vertical) operate according to infrared beam breaking principle. There are different kinds of them: wired and battery operated counters; one or two-direction counters; with built-in memory or without it; with display or without it (transmitting data to computer). The infrared sensors also have a few connection interfaces - USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and GSM. Low price and simple installation are among their advantages. However, they can’t be mounted in entrance areas wider than 6 meters and their inaccuracy increases with the width of the entrance.
Thermal sensors use thermal imaging technologies for counting the customers, detecting the thermal spot. They are the most accurate ones, but the most expensive as well. Besides, they can’t be used in some entrance areas, equipped with blow heaters.
Video sensors combine the accuracy, functionality and availability in the best possible way. The system applies certain algorithms to recognize the visitors in the continuous video stream. Their advantages are: high calculation accuracy, ability to work with a big number of visitors and unique system of reports, offering tracking maps and time maps. Their pretty high price is among their disadvantages, besides, they are not easy to adjust onsite. Still, you can find devices at affordable price, which won’t be so hard to install.
8. Trusting the First Seller
When you think you have finally found the right solution, which satisfies you at first glance, and the seller makes you believe, that his/her counters are the best at the market, don’t hurry to make a bargain. Try to find time to search for similar solutions, and you will most probably discover the offer, that will be much more profitable.
9. Disregard of Integrator Portfolio
Would you trust your family to the first one, trying to convince you, he/she is the only specialist in the world, who did training in the Tibet mountains and Amazon rainforests and can scan your body to find viruses at a glance? In the same way, you shouldn’t trust the companies, pretending to be reputable organizations, but not being able to demonstrate the real achievements. Try to find a place to see the customer counting system at work, study the manufacturer’s portfolio and take pains to dig up information about the company. This way you will most likely understand, whether you should trust the manufacturer or not.
10. Extra Costs
Many manufacturers deliberately make the consumer counter adjustment more complicated to earn money, installing them. So, you will hear, that apart from the counter you should also pay for the technical maintenance. Another way to earn extra money for the sellers of consumer counters are subscriber fees for data storage and processing. It’s the same thing as if you bought a suit and had to pay extra money each time you wanted to put it on. Not a very fair deal, isn’t it?
The market is overwhelmed with offers, and it’s very hard to choose a high-quality and productive consumer counting system, that will fit your project. We hope you won’t make the mistakes we have talked about and will find the right kit to meet your needs. You can start choosing here.
HOW TO CHOOSE
Choosing a Visitor Counter
The modern market offers a wide variety of people counting systems of different manufacturers and kinds – infrared, video and thermal sensors, produced by European, Chinese and American companies. A novice to this field, who is not that much aware of the peculiar properties of each system, won’t find it easy to make the right choice and buy the system, that will really meet his/her needs. Let alone, that every seller will try to convince you, that his/her counters are the best to fit your project.
Here, we will talk about the main criteria to help select the right people counter and give the insight into the visitors counting systems, their peculiarities and specific features.
Step 1
Firstly, one should understand what they need the customer counting system for and make a list of problems it is to solve. For example: customer counting to find out what the peak-hours, days and months are, collecting data at a few areas to compare traffic, supervising the personnel, KPI implementation, choosing the most effective marketing strategy, calculation of conversion rate etc. Today, the consumer counters are used in a range of different fields, starting from the retail business and ending with museums, stadiums and parks, and they are to meet various expectations. The list of these tasks is becoming larger by leaps and bounds, as the new technologies emerge.
Step 2
After the tasks are set, one should make oneself aware of the types of devices and decide which of them will fit your project to the best advantage. For instance, you want to find out what the peak hours and days are. For that purpose, the horizontal sensors, transmitting data to computer and automatically processing it, will be the most effective devices for you (the generated diagrams will graphically show you, when the footfall peak is reached). And if you want to track the visitor paths and discover, what the areas of intense interest are, the video-counter, tracking the objects within the calculation area, will be the best choice for you. At this stage you can contact several manufacturers, tell them about your requirements, and they will help you select the right people counting system.
Step 3
After you get all the information on different types of devices, you should think about the number of calculation areas and the budget you are ready to spend. The number of counters depends on the tasks set – if you are just going to count the customers, then the counters are mounted in the entrance areas only. In case you need to solve a bigger problem, such as to find out what the customer paths on the floors or the most popular areas are, then we can give a rough estimate of the number of counters you will need, but the exact number you will get from the counter adjusters.
Step 4
Here you should get a deeper insight into the market of device manufacturers and understand who offers what to whom. Thereto one can choose several companies and define their advantages and disadvantages. You should focus on the following questions: Who makes the people counters? How are their prices formed? How much should you pay for the software? What is their warranty policy and whom should you contact? Is it easy to adjust the system onsite? The portfolio of the company you are going to cooperate with is also worth taking a look at. Try to find out, where their counters have been installed. Companies, making the equipment, have a distinct advantage – indeed, you can contact the manufacturer outright, and don’t have to waste precious time, solving trifling problems.
This stage is really worth taking a deeper look at. Don’t hesitate to go to the effort to study all the hidden pitfalls and you won’t regret the choice you have made.
Step 5
As soon as you choose the visitor counting system, you will have to decide how to install it. Some manufacturers supply all the necessary accessories for the device to be mounted and adjusted without assistance of maintenance employees. The others offer the services of their specialists. In most cases one doesn’t need special skills to install the people counting system, so you don’t have to pay extra money for the job you can do yourself. Anyway it’s up to you to decide.
As you can see, if you break down the process of choosing a counting system into stages, you will see, where you should go and what you should do to select high quality equipment that will fit your project.
It’s not hard to choose a people counter, if you have a clear idea of what you are going to use it for.
We are sure, that the information we have shared will help you make the right choice. You can start getting an insight into the customer counting systems here.
PLAN A PROJECT
Basic Steps to Install the Customer Counting System at an Object
1) CHOOSING THE NUMBER OF SENSORS ACCORDING TO PROJECT
The basic parameters for choosing the number of sensors to fit the entrance area are the width of the entrance group, its height and expected traffic.
For clarity the entrance groups, widely spread in shopping centers and boutiques, can be divided into three categories: A – not wide, up to three meters, B – wide, from 4 to 7 meters, and C- super wide stairwells from 7 meters and wider.
А – not wide entrance groups, up to three meters wide, are very common for shopping centers and small stores. One video counter kit is quite sufficient for such entrance groups – the customer traffic at such objects ranges within 200 – 1000 people a day, and one sensor is more than enough to count the traffic here.
Installation height varies from 2.5 to 5 meters.
B – Wide entrance groups, from 4 to 7 meters wide, with small customer traffic. They are very common for not large shopping centers with ceiling height of 3 to 4 meters. In case of expected traffic of 400 people a day one counting area will be absolutely sufficient to cover the whole entrance group with one video counter.
B' – Wide entrance areas of 4 to 7 meters wide with high customer traffic. They are common for large shopping malls with expected traffic of 400 people and more. In order to increase the counting accuracy at such entrance groups it is a good practice to install two video counters as shown in the diagrams below.
C- Super wide stairwells from 7 meters and wider are common for large entrance areas of shopping malls. In this case the video counters are installed each 3 … 3.5 meters and grouped by means of intelligent grouping into one large counting area of 4 to 70 meters wide.
2) INSTALLATION PLACE RECOMMENDATIONS
The video counter is maintenance-friendly both when it is installed at a high angle to the horizontal and within the minimum operating area of counting, but if you can install the sensor in the right way initially, then we encourage you to comply with the following recommendations, which will help increase the counting accuracy:
For efficient counting the video sensor is to be installed within the area where:
- customer traffic is distributed in the best way
- action of sunlight is minimized
- in-swing door does not interfere with the work of sensor
- camera view does not reach the entrance door
- video counter will be downward directed - the insignificant misalignment or inclination is admissible in case the customer traffic grasped by the counting area is not high.
Here is the illustration of the incorrect choice of video counter installation place – almost half of the video counter operation area is occupied by the wall:
Here is the illustration of the incorrect choice of video counter installation place – almost half of the video counter operation area is occupied by the door and thermal screen
Here is the illustration of the incorrect choice of video counter installation place – video sensor view includes the wall and the lamp, besides the sensor is inclined at a high angle to the horizontal.
Here is the illustration of the incorrect choice of video counter installation place – the sensor view includes the glass door and the in-swing door
It doesn’t mean that the system won’t work in such circumstances. The MegaCount counters allow to keep counting in a complex environment, and such location of counters is admissible though not desirable. Everything depends on the tolerance level you are ready to accept as a result. For example the tolerance level for the aforementioned counters will be of 5 to 7 percent. For some clients these values are quite acceptable, and for the others they are impossible.
3) VIDEO COUNTER INSTALLATION AND CONNECTION
The video sensor kit includes everything one needs for installation. So as to connect the sensor one should lay a twisted-pair wire from switch board router to the entrance group. The sensor is powered up according to PoE technology.
- Installation Master Diagram for Most Objects with Sensor Connection via PoE Injector
- If there is a PoE switch at the object the connection diagram will look in the following way:
- In case the counter is installed in a mall or a store with several entrances the PoE switch can be used:
It is a good practice to use the off-the-rack patch cords as wires. In such a way you will save crimping time and minimize the risk of the wrong crimping of cable caps.
If the crimping cable is used, the crimping is made according to the direct diagram.
4) CAMERA VIEW AND ANGLE CHECK
After the sensor is installed and connected, one should check the camera angle and view using the counter interface.
Examples of the properly installed video counters.
5 STEPS INSTALLATION
Self-Installation of the Video Counter. 5 Steps Guide
Let’s learn to install and launch the video counter quickly and faultlessly and gain the data from it.
What Does the Kit Include?
The VideoCount visitor counter is an off-the-shelf solution, providing everything one needs to connect and launch the counter at any object.
The kit includes:
Video counter
PoE injector
Power supply module
LAN cable
Fastening bracket
Fasteners
Analytical network software
Let’s get to it!
STEP 1. POWERING UP
The video counter is a rather small compact mono-block with dimensions of 65х95х25 mm
On one of the sides the LAN network port for data transfer and power supply is located.
The ready assembled unit includes the video counter with network cable connected to it.
Schematically the connection will look in the following way:
Video counter-> UTP cable --> PoE injector--> UTP cable to router or switch board socket.
Connect the power supply unit to the mains – the counter connection is over now. Let’s start the software-based set up.
STEP 2. ADJUSTMENT OF NETWORK PARAMETERS
The software package includes the VideoCountTool utility, allowing to detect the counter in any network despite the network settings.
Click the Detect button and if everything has been done in the right way, the program will detect the counter in the network.
Using the utility change the counter network address according to the home network settings. Open the WEB interface through the browser:
STEP 3. MOUNTING
If the counter is mounted in a mall, the best thing will be to mount it 1 – 1,5 meters away from the entrance group.
If the visitor counter is mounted in a store, the best thing will be to mount it above the anti-theft gates. In case there are no anti-theft gates, it is to be mounted above the entrance group.
Mind that video counter covers 6-7 meters at the height of 3 meters.
Fasten the counter to the ceiling using the bracket supplied in kit.
The picture shows the counter angle adjusted in the right way – the counter’s center is directed to the entrance group center.
STEP 4. SETTING UP DATA UPLOAD
The VideoCount allows to upload data in any format, such as: TXT, CSV, XML, Streaming XML, HTTP, Excel, JSON, WEB API
Let’s take a look at the most widespread upload of data to FTP server – you should just write the FTP server address into WEB interface and click Save button. Both local and external FTPs can be used.
Only one FTP server is used for the whole network of counters.
Thereupon the interaction with counter is finished.
STEP 5. SETTING UP DATA AQUISITION
Install the Statistica software to any computer. Write the FTP server address, saved in the video counters before, into settings, save it and get the data by default right away.
If it’s a network installation from several counters, you shouldn’t do a thing – the software will independently discover the new sensors and start receiving data from them by default.
CALIBRATION
Prompt video people counter calibration
http://ufatech.com/corporate#sigProId173fdd59ca