Techniques for analyzing operations of one or more restaurants
Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for using operational data and/or video footage to identify and diagnose operational issues. In some embodiments, business metrics represented in data produced by a restaurant's operational systems are identified and stored, conditions which warrant attention are identified, and the metrics that may indicate potential causes for those conditions are identified. Video footage may be correlated with business metric data to assist in diagnosing and remediating issues.
1. A method for use in a system comprising at least one repository storing data relating to operations of a restaurant and a video capture system for capturing video footage depicting operations of the restaurant, the data comprising information relating to a plurality of events and a plurality of alert conditions, the method comprising acts of:
(A) identifying a first alert condition from among the plurality of alert conditions;
(B) automatically analyzing the information relating to the plurality of events to preliminarily identify one or more events from among the plurality of events as potential causes of the first alert condition;
(C) identifying and retrieving video footage captured by the video capture system corresponding to the one or more events preliminarily identified as potential causes of the first alert condition;
(D) causing the retrieved video footage corresponding to the one or more events to be displayed via a review interface to a user; and
(E) receiving input from the user indicating whether the video footage depicts a cause of the first alert condition or does not depict a cause of the first alert condition;
wherein the system comprises an event engine which identifies data generated by the restaurant's operational systems and stores the identified information in the at least one repository, and wherein the method comprises an act of:
(F) configuring the event engine to identify additional types of data for storage in the at least one repository.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the information relating to the plurality of events comprises a plurality of event records, each of the plurality of event records comprising a date and time stamp;
the video footage comprises date and time stamps; and
the act (C) comprises comparing the date and time stamp(s) for the one or more events to the date and time stamps for the video footage to identify the video footage corresponding to the one or more events.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act (C) comprises identifying data relating to the one or more events, and the act (D) comprises causing the data relating to the one or more events to be displayed via the review interface to the user.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act (D) comprises making at least a portion of the video footage available for use in training employees of the restaurant.
5. At least one non-transitory storage device storing instructions which, when executed in a computer system comprising at least one repository storing data relating to operations of a restaurant and a video capture system for capturing video footage depicting operations of the restaurant, the data comprising information relating to a plurality of events and a plurality of alert conditions, cause the computer system to perform a method comprising acts of:
(A) identifying a first alert condition from among the plurality of alert conditions;
(B) automatically analyzing the information relating to the plurality of events to preliminarily identify one or more events from among the plurality of events as potential causes of the first alert condition;
(C) identifying and retrieving video footage captured by the video capture system corresponding to the one or more events preliminarily identified as potential causes of the first alert condition;
(D) causing the retrieved video footage corresponding to the one or more events to be displayed via a review interface to a user;
(E) receiving input from the user indicating whether the video footage depicts a cause of the first alert condition or does not depict a cause of the first alert condition;
wherein the system comprises an event engine which identifies data generated by the restaurant's operational systems and stores the identified information in the at least one repository, and wherein the method comprises an act of:
(F) configuring the event engine to identify additional types of data for storage in the at least one repository.
6. The at least one non-transitory storage device of claim 5 , wherein:
the information relating to the plurality of events comprises a plurality of event records, each of the plurality of event records comprising a date and time stamp;
the video footage comprises date and time stamps; and
the act (C) comprises comparing the date and time stamp(s) for the one or more events to the date and time stamps for the video footage to identify the video footage corresponding to the one or more events.
7. The at least one non-transitory storage device of claim 5 , wherein the act (C) comprises identifying data relating to the one or more events, and the act (D) comprises causing the data relating to the one or more events to be displayed via the review interface to the user.
8. The at least one non-transitory storage device of claim 5 , wherein the act (D) comprises making at least a portion of the video footage available for use in training employees of the restaurant.
9. A computer system, comprising:
at least one repository storing data relating to operations of a restaurant, the data comprising information relating to a plurality of events and a plurality of alert conditions;
a video capture system for capturing video footage depicting operations of the restaurant; and
at least one computer processor programmed to:
identify a first alert condition from among the plurality of alert conditions;
automatically analyze the information relating to the plurality of events to preliminarily identify one or more events from among the plurality of events as potential causes of the first alert condition;
identify and retrieve video footage captured by the video capture system corresponding to the one or more events preliminarily identified as potential causes of the first alert condition;
cause the retrieved video footage corresponding to the one or more events to be displayed via a review interface to a user; and
receive input from the user indicating whether the video footage depicts a cause of the first alert condition or does not depict a cause of the first alert condition;
wherein the system comprises an event engine which identifies data generated by the restaurant's operational systems and stores the identified information in the at least one repository, and wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to configure the event engine to identify additional types of data for storage in the at least one repository.
10. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein:
the information relating to the plurality of events comprises a plurality of event records, each of the plurality of event records comprising a date and time stamp;
the video footage comprises date and time stamps; and
the at least one computer processor is programmed to compare the date and time stamp(s) for the one or more events to the date and time stamps for the video footage to identify the video footage corresponding to the one or more events.
11. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to identify data relating to the one or more events, and to cause the data relating to the one or more events to be displayed via the review interface to the user.
12. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one computer processor is programmed to make at least a portion of the video footage available for use in training employees of the restaurant.