Property management company Segro, which oversees the Kings Norton Business Centre near Birmingham, decided to enhance its CCTV system after receiving feedback from customers that highlighted the importance of security and safety. But rather than using a traditional hard-wired system, Segro opted to employ a Fluidmesh 2200 wireless mesh network to help reduce the cost and time of the installation.
Kings Norton Business Centre is the premium business park in south Birmingham, meeting the business space needs of a diverse range of companies. Located on a 24.3 hectare site, the development is wholly owned by Segro, whose local management team is able to cater for the needs of the occupiers from its on-site regional office.
Customer service
Segro carries out regular surveys looking at how it can improve its service and facilities. In response to one of these surveys, customers at the Kings Norton Business Centre indicated that security and fear of crime were their biggest concerns.
Crime rates at the park have always been low, but the company immediately looked at increasing security in line with these expectations. Because there are no ducts on the estate, and the cost of installing ducting was prohibitive, Segro needed a solution that wouldn’t rely on hard wiring. After approaching a number of companies for competitive quotes, Mitie Security Systems was chosen to carry out the installation.
“In contrast to the other companies, they offered a wireless solution based on IP rather than radio, which was very appealing to us,” says Segro surveyor James Sherwood.
Mitie installed eight Pelco Spectra IV dome cameras, all mounted on Altron columns, around the business park. Each column has Optex Redwall 4010s detectors used to detect activity and automatically move cameras to preset positions.
The system uses Fluidmesh wireless IP transmission to relay the signal back to the on-site control room. PelcoNet converters have been used to convert the analogue signals from the cameras to IP.
A Dedicated Micros DVIP digital recorder is used to record all incoming information and link the system to the Business Watch control room in Slough, from where the site is monitored.
“We regularly use Pelco cameras because of their reliability and we use Norbain to supply them because of their service and fast response times,” says Mitie sales manager Dave Brazenell.
“We were initially looking at using a system that utilised radio signals, but our account manager at Norbain suggested we use IP, and this played an important part in us winning the contract in the end.”
A fine mesh
The Fluidmesh 2200 series employed at the site is the only wireless mesh networking product designed and manufactured specifically for security, video surveillance and mission critical condition monitoring applications.
It takes advantage of two radios simultaneously, one operating in the 2.4GHz range, and the other one on the 5GHz range. This means it minimises latency and doubles the available bandwidth.
The whole system is also ‘self healing’, so if there is an incident such as a power cut, it will automatically restore the network to full capacity with no external intervention.
“Because the Fluidmesh technology was new to everyone involved, there was a pretty steep learning curve at the start of the project,” Sherwood says.
“Mitie were very accommodating, though, and worked very hard to get any issues sorted. Now that we’ve worked through the teething problems I’d definitely use the technology again in another of Segro’s properties.”
With the system now up and running, there is a new sense of security around the business park.
“CCTV is a great deterrent, and the system gives people using the park a visual sense of security and safety,” Sherwood says. “This is what is most important to us as a business, so we’re very happy with the results we’ve achieved.”
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