The CCTV system watches over a series of automated bollards that regulate traffic on the city’s streets, alerting officers when malfunctions, accidents or acts of vandalism are detected.
Bollards can be lowered automatically at pre-set times, or when buses and trams fitted with on-board transponders pass by. Local residents and other authorised road users can gain access to the roads using a smart card reader or simply by entering a PIN code on a keypad.
The access control system has been integrated with the IP video network and data from it is sent back to a local traffic centre that acts as a hub for the entire project. A fibre IP-network then relays CCTV footage to the Antwerp Police, who monitor and record it from their centre some 10km away.
Operators use IndigoVision’s Control Center IP video and alarm management software to view live and recorded video from the cameras, and IndigoVision claims its MPEG-4 based compression technology ensures high-quality video and data can be transmitted over large distances with minimal impact on the available bandwidth, without image degradation and with negligible latency.
The company says this means operators can view video images that are as good as analogue and have smooth PTZ camera control – despite the long distance from the monitoring centre.
Police are now said to be able to read licence plates easily, helping to identify vehicles that have been involved with incidents or that have damaged bollards.
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