Checkpoint Systems has come up with a new innovation: EVOLVE-Store. This is a new app that the manager or owner can access from their smart phone or tablet from anywhere at any time. There is a battery of information this app can supply, and it is all in real time. You can get accurate, up to the minute, customer counts. It reports to you if the system is working properly, and if it is turned off at any time. You will be able to look at reports and check for patterns in alarm activations. When it comes to booster groups, you know they tend to have their routes planned out, and generally hit about the same time of day. You will also be able to use it as a training tool. If you have video surveillance, you can look at your alarm activation times, and see exactly how your staff handled the situation. Did they wave that regular customer on through the door. What if it was one of your employees that caused that alarm to sound?
EVOLVE-Store will definitely aid in stopping boosters, but it will also help in identifying any internal theft issues as well. I hate discovering an internal theft issue and that terrible sinking feeling that comes with it. It is obviously important to investigate and put an immediate stop to it. You have to gather all the pertinent information, including the who, what, and why. Another big part of that is to learn how the theft was pulled off. I am right smack in the middle of a drug investigation at this time, and part of me dreads what I am sure to find. In the past two weeks, we have made some odd discoveries in our pharmacy. The first time, we had some anxiety medications disappear. These are a CIII classification, meaning they are not required to be locked up. We searched for the missing medication, and when they were not found, we corrected the count to zero so we could get them back in. Then a few days later, we found the missing bottle hidden in a different section of the pharmacy, behind some boxes of inhalers. This happens to be the one area back there without any camera coverage. Then just days after we found that bottle, we found a pack of medication patches in that same place. These are also CIII, and they are used to treat opium addiction. So, now we have two drugs that are commonly abused, that were not returned to their proper shelf, and appear to have been staged for a future theft. I’ll bet you are asking yourself how EVOLVE-Store could help with this issue. We process more that 3,000 prescriptions every week, so we have a lot of technicians, and we are always busy. Sometimes we get too busy to notice little things. In order to keep everyone in line, we adhere Checkpoint labels to drug packages, to discourage thefts. We also wrap clear tape around them, so they cannot be peeled off and discarded. If one of our technicians decides to try to remove a package from the pharmacy, they will inevitably activate the Checkpoint Systems. This one only goes off when the delivery guy comes to the store and brings our stuff in. Otherwise, these pedestals remain silent, as they should. There should be no shrink back here. If I am at home and I get an alert that these pedestals have activated, you can bet I am going to get to the bottom of it. I know when we get deliveries, so I could easily rule that out. But I do not have the EVOLVE-Store app yet. So, it’s going to be several hours of mindlessly scanning video footage instead. I’m so excited I just can’t hide it.
I have already told my boss about this new app, and I am hoping he is as impressed by these capabilities as I am. I also hope he is sharing it with the powers that be. Whether it is internal or external, we spend a lot of time data mining, watching video, hunting for reports with similarities, and just searching for that one nugget that will shed light on any kind of theft. It would be nice if something was doing some of the work for us. With all the technology in the world, it’s about time for an innovation like this. EVOLVE-Store is going to be a hit!
For more information about EVOLVE-Store, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
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