SINGAPORE - Soon it may be harder to spot a security officer at the taxi and vehicle drop-off points at Plaza Singapura, The Atrium @ Orchard and IMM Building.

Starting from Saturday (Oct 1), these malls will roll out new security teams that rely more on technology and less on manpower.

For example, the malls will rely on smart CCTVs that can monitor the taxi and vehicle drop-off points, removing the need for a security officer to be there all day.

The smart CCTV can alert officers in a central command centre at Certis Cisco's headquarters in Paya Lebar, if, say, a car is parked in a yellow box in the driveway. The command centre will then alert an officer on the ground to handle the situation.

Such uses of technology will cut the malls' outsourced security manpower needs by 20 per cent, said Certis Cisco. It is part of Certis Cisco's business process re-engineering operations - what the company calls a "design thinking framework".

In working with the CapitaLand Malls, Certis Cisco said it "spent weeks studying the operating terrain of the participating malls, mapping out the myraid daily processes and understanding the consumer sentiments".

Five other CapitaLand Malls will later adopt the Certis Cisco solution.

Labour Chief Chan Chun Sing, who toured the command centre at CertisCisco on Wednesday (Sept28), said this was not just about cutting manpower but also creating quality jobs.

"In the past you have maybe 90 security prowlers. You've 90 jobs of that kind. After the review, you've 60 of those - you save about 30 - but you've created 10 new jobs who are behind the scenes, of a higher quality, and that allow us to pay our workers better and at the same time the jobs are more meaningful," said Mr Chan, referring to security workers who could now work in the command centre.