Matchbox is an American eatery that specializes in wood-oven pizza, American Mini Burgers and signature drinks served in a unique, contemporary environment. The chain opened its doors in 2003 in Washington, DC and started its national expansion a little under two years ago that now includes 10 restaurants in 4 states.

Matchbox does things differently. Some of its locations have opened in iconic buildings and the chain has contracted historians to research the edifice’s past and preserve as much of the original architecture as possible. Authenticity and a piece of history greet the guests at each location.

We caught up with Brian Anderson, Director of Business Intelligence to discuss store design, security needs and the joy of a camera system that does the work for you while you are busy taking over the US.

Brian, what is your role in MatchBox’s expansion and how are things going?

As a one-man army, I support the expansion by managing the IT and the security decisions and maintaining the processes in place. Matchbox’s expansion is going well. The chain is still growing and our plans of opening new locations bring us up to February 2017. The chain currently counts 3 different concepts as we make sure to preserve the originality and integrity of each building that hosts a Matchbox restaurant.

With a different building layout completely changing the design of the security system for each restaurant and limited resources, how do you achieve everything?

This is where i3 International came into play. I was referred to i3 by a mutual connection at the time when I was looking for a video surveillance solution. What really sold me then and is still of value today is that i3 helped with the design of the system and the installation was simple, which cuts down on the construction budget needed. The system is also easy to operate on a daily basis and the ability to access it remotely is definitely a huge benefit.

How long have you used i3 for?

Since October 2015. We use cameras and NVRs from i3 in 5 of our locations so far and plan on using them for upcoming openings as well.

What made you buy an i3 system each time?

The many features and all of the potential for growth that the system provides, the great service and the knowledge that I now have of the system. Andrey Kabakov, our Project Manager came down to our first restaurant and trained me on the system there. I was impressed with his thorough understanding of the system and of the many features available. Knowing that at the flip of a switch we could pretty much integrate with POS and start receiving more data for each location is awesome. This made me think that beyond the potential to mitigate losses and incidents, which is our first priority at the moment, I can leverage the system I have invested in to become more proactive and get insights into our business for each location. That way, we could increase speed of service and have a chance at increasing sales in high-traffic areas.

Who is using the system at MatchBox?

HR and IT mostly. I would say that we use the system in a reactive way; we pull video evidence related to incidents that took place. We could be more proactive and use it to open a window into operations, which would be the next level.

Was there something in the buying process that differentiated i3 from others?

Recently, we chose to get our equipment through i3’s VaaS program and this is just great! VaaS allows us to have an even lower overhead construction cost for a low-monthly payment and we are sure to have the latest technology with a new system being installed at renewal. There is really no risk to us with VaaS! (Video as a Service is a program created by i3 in 2016 which provides owners with the opportunity of renting their system for a low monthly payment).

In conclusion, would you say that you have a favorite feature?

i3’s products have a rich feature set so there are lots to choose from, but I would say the ability to access the system remotely and easily on mobile is key. I have VPC (i3’s remote viewing software) on my phone and my computer is set-up with VPC and connected to my video wall where I can review 40-50 cameras at once. Also, even though it’s not a feature, I would say that Andrey’s support and the proactive updates done on the system have been a huge factor in the decision of coming back to i3 for each location.