Driving efficiency and profitability with AI security surveillance

In London’s growing hotels sector, AI video surveillance is the new key to driving efficiency and profitability, writes Jamie Barnfield, Senior Sales Director, IDIS Europe.

Recent, major hotel developments that IDIS has been involved with in London show how, for hotel and hospitality businesses looking to grow, the best video surveillance solutions need to tick three boxes: They need to be easy to scale, easy to adapt and upgrade – especially with features such as fast-emerging AI functions – and cost-efficient to operate and maintain. 

London is an interesting example because it has long ranked as one the world’s most visited tourist destinations.

The UK’s capital has consistently maintained its top three position as an attraction for travellers from Asia, the US and Europe, and the city’s hospitality sector has performed strongly since COVID, despite economic challenges.  

This is why we are seeing continued investment in new hotel offerings, including refurbishments, regeneration projects and new builds.

In 2024, over £400m of office buildings were converted into hotels, boosted by the City of London’s supportive planning policies which allow vacant offices to be repurposed – a practice that has helped to revitalise urban areas in the US and looks set to continue in London.

Overall it’s estimated that around £5.8b total investment went into the sector last year, a return to the levels of 2019.

A strong interest from investors shows no sign of letting up. 

Upbeat outlook – but with risks 

The UK hotel industry also faces challenges, notably from above inflation increases in employer NIC (national insurance) costs, higher minimum wage and rising property rates.

Hotel operators and investors are focusing on productivity and operational efficiency.

In its Hotels Forecast 2024-2025 consultancy PWC highlights the opportunities for outsourcing non-core functions, automating working practices and operations and investing in employee wellbeing; all of which it points out can contribute to reducing staff turnover and maintaining a “productive and lean level of headcount”.  

Video technology has an important role to play in each of these areas, assisting automation, driving efficiency and helping employees (and guests) to feel safe and cared for.

And when systems are scalable, flexible and affordable to run, they provide a solid foundation to build profits and remain resilient to risk.

The locations where IDIS end-to-end solutions have been used include high-end boutique hotels in exclusive neighbourhoods; mid-market chains closer to tourist hotspots; small independents and franchise hotels and budget no-frills hotels, including hostels. 

The importance of video system scalability 

In one case we have systems being used, and monitored centrally, by a single operator which is investing in each of these hotel types. For businesses like this on a growth path, scalability is vital. 

In this sector, businesses looking to expand their portfolio of locations are finding it valuable to connect multiple video systems to a unified control centre, expanding on a site-by-site basis.  

As each hotel is added, they can build a centrally managed solution, taking advantage of economies of scale while retaining the ability to authorise and enable surveillance locally as needed. 

Key to this is having a video solution with a robust federated architecture as a module within its VMS (software platform), meaning that, in effect, it has endless potential for expansion designed in. Crucially, this feature should be provided without recurring license fees or other hidden additional costs that act as a disincentive.  

The operator mentioned above, for example, is building and expanding a centralised in-house monitoring facility at one of its larger hotels to cover all its locations across the city.

It’s worth noting that the portfolio includes different categories of hotel, so the camera systems at each site are designed differently, to meet different priorities.

An extensive choice of cameras – from discrete, low profile compact cameras and mini domes to vandal-resistant bullet cameras and full HD IR dome cameras and fisheyes – allows gap-free surveillance of every type of location to be optimised. 

A unified approach to surveillance 

What all these systems have in common is that they can all take advantage of IDIS’s federated architecture which allows them to be linked and managed under a single umbrella solution.

This makes the challenge of growing the business easier to manage, with a unified approach to surveillance.

Increasingly, that matters, because video is now being used for more than just traditional security. This is why the second point, flexibility, is so important.

The best video solutions make it easy for users to adapt as circumstances change or as new technologies become available.

The rapid rise and advancement of AI video analytics is the most important example of the latter.  

New and powerful suites of analytics tools are being used by hotel operators, from occupancy and queue monitoring to line-cross and object detection.

These are unlocking accurate automated surveillance capabilities to drive efficiency in applications from security and safety to access control, vehicle management and business intelligence.

With the latest offerings, hotel operators are able to take advantage of customisable features, easy to use dashboards and support tailored for specific applications with flexible, project-based pricing. 

Risk-free adoption of AI video 

The possibilities with AI video are growing rapidly. Such is the potential, and the pace of change, that upgrading to an AI video solution can feel like a major investment decision and therefore a risk.

But, as long as systems are designed with flexibility built in, and allow a step by step approach to adoption, it isn’t.

As an example, one hotel that we worked with wanted to use analytics for an immediate and straightforward purpose – to detect intruders attempting to gain entry via a skylight.  

This request was made following a break in, where thieves had taken advantage of an accessible neighbouring roof to reach the hotel.

We addressed this weakness using edge AI cameras, which are designed to be added to a system to allow analytics to be targeted at specific locations.

Unlike older forms of detection, line-cross video analytics provides immediate visual threat verification (and thanks to PoE camera tech, installation is quick, without the need for additional cable runs). 

It will be easy to extend this system as opportunities are identified. More Edge AI cameras can be easily added to desired points in and around the hotel, for example, with analytics that can alert staff when visitors arrive at reception, that can detect movements in back-of-house service areas or that alert managers when queues form at the bar. 

To further enhance security, cameras can help with both real-time surveillance and investigations, thanks to deep learning analytics that provide precise attribute search, allowing users to quickly filter footage by colour, gender, backpack, glasses, mask and more.

Taking a step up from edge AI cameras, full system-wide analytics can be delivered via the VMS, allowing hotel owners to test and deploy a range of capabilities using any camera. 

Better value and upward migration paths 

Whatever level of AI sophistication is needed, it’s easy to upgrade as long as systems are flexible and technology is forward-compatible.

This leads on to the third element of the equation: Ensuring that the solution offers the best long term value (or lowest total cost of ownership).

Clearly, being able to scale up and add new functionality contributes to this because it prevents the system from becoming redundant and needing replacement.

The days of regular system rip-and-replace are behind us. 

Any tech that offers an affordable entry point but provides an unbroken upwards migration path to a full enterprise solution will score highly on longevity – that’s as long as cameras, recorders and VMS are robust, high performance products and as long as the manufacturer provides the reassurance of long term product support and technology investment.

With these elements underpinning solutions, hotel operators can invest confidently and realise the benefits that video has to offer.