EZUniverse Inc., a software development company, and Independent Purchasing Cooperative Inc. (IPC), the independent Subway franchisee-owned purchasing cooperative, revealed cooperation details regarding a store management platform called Subway Loss Prevention Surveillance System, now available to all 38,000 Subway restaurants worldwide.
“Subway Loss Prevention Surveillance System is a great tool that helps franchisees view and manage their stores remotely from their home or their office,” says Frank Panikulam, Subway surveillance program manager. “You can take a look at the key POS reports without having to go to a store and looking at it on your POS system.
“It is more than just watching video; it’s all about the corresponding POS transactional data that goes with the video, which provides the franchisee a more complete picture of what’s happening in their store,” he adds. “With the powerful loss prevention tools that we have, a franchisee has the ability to look at reports and quickly identify those suspicious transactions that merit further scrutiny and potentially reveal a problem at the store.”
Debra Odum, a multiunit Subway owner, says, “The best part of this new system is that it is Internet-based, so I can get on any of my stores from anywhere in the world and look to see what is going on.
“One of the great features of the Subway Loss Prevention Surveillance System is the dashboard. It enables me to go and look at a glance at the total business picture and then also click in and look at each store’s individual data or video,” she adds.
“Crafting the most intelligent productivity, management, and surveillance tools available to Subway franchisees has become our most prestigious endeavor thus far,” says EZUniverse’s CEO Leszek James. “Working collaboratively with IPC, we were able to support the deployment of more than 1,500 systems in about 12 months.
“We are delighted to work closely with IPC, the results-driven organization and team that is not afraid to set and address the most challenging goals in technology to benefit Subway franchisees,” he adds.
“Subway's goal is to continually increase the value of the franchisees' investment in the restaurant and to help them successfully compete in the [quick-service] industry,” says Brian Wheeler, IPC’s director of services. “Franchisees, especially multiunit owners, don’t have time to sit around watching hours upon hours of surveillance video hoping to uncover an operational or theft problem. With our software, the business intelligence data, real-time alerts, and loss prevention reports allow identifying potential problems on an exception basis and then viewing the underlying video to confirm that a problem actually exists.”
The new system is based on EZUniverse’s flagship product, EZConnect, and was exclusively redesigned to meet demanding requirements of Subway stores.
Its new functionality has been proven and tested in collaboration with a distinguished group of Subway franchisees led by IPC.
Subway Surveillance is a comprehensive, intelligent store/restaurant productivity booster and management system that uses a powerful data mining engine utilizing advanced loss prevention business methods.
The system offers unprecedented management mobility (ability to see live video via desktop PCs, tablets, and smartphones), ease of use, and a modern design.
