A security service provided for the Crown Security Group of Port Talbot already “easily surpasses the effectiveness of traditional on-site guards, yet the recurring costs are typically around one-tenth of those associated with the guards”.
The RedAlert service is proving so popular that the Crown Security Group of Port Talbot has invested more than GB pound 500,000 to equip a new control centre to support the growth in demand.
In addition to Siemens Sistore digital recording and video switching equipment, the new control room includes 18 32-inch plasma monitors and a further 12 22-inch monitors. It was designed to meet the specific requirements of Crown Security, and Siemens was responsible for the supply, installation and commissioning of all major items of equipment.
It is currently used to monitor 500 remote sites, to which it is linked by broadband Internet connections. It has sufficient capacity for monitoring a further 500 sites and provision has been made for the future addition of a second control room adjacent to the first. This will also have capacity for monitoring up to 1,000 sites.
Message to miscreants
The RedAlert service also uses live audio feedback equipment supplied by Toa Corporation, which delivers a message from the control room “directly to the potential miscreants. This has so far proved effective in all cases to deter criminal activity,” says Siemens. The service is routinely achieving impressive results, says Siemens, not all of which relate to traditional security activities.
One client, for example, has achieved productivity gains worth GB pound 250,000 per year by acting on information provided by the monitoring service about inefficient working practices. Another was able to successfully defend a GB pound 100,000 insurance claim by using video recordings from the system to show incontrovertibly that the claim was based on an inaccurate description of the events that had taken place.
More directly related to security were the problems of a fastener supplier whose business premises had been broken into so many times that he could no longer get insurance cover at any price.
Shortly after the RedAlert system was implemented, the control room operators spotted an intruder and alerted the police who arrested him in less than seven minutes! The premises have since been crime free, and insurance cover is reinstated.
Fruits of collaboration
“The Siemens equipment gives us an efficient, flexible and dependable platform on which to base our service,” said Alun Evans, managing director of Crown Security Group, “and we’re delighted with the results the equipment enables us to deliver, as are our clients. However, we are continuing to work closely with Siemens on more developments, and we anticipate that, in the very near future, the fruits of this collaboration will enable us to make further enhancements.”
The key is the use of advanced video analytics to alert control room operators instantly to suspicious activity at any of the sites being monitored. A leader in the field of video analytics for security applications, Siemens is already able to provide these facilities for CCTV installations where monitoring is carried out off site. The high data rates involved mean that applications that rely on remote monitoring via a standard broadband link can be provided.
The effectiveness of Crown Security Group’s RedAlert remote monitoring service has been recognised by the police service, major insurers and consultants as well as by the company’s clients. Siemens says this “clearly shows that, with the latest equipment in the right hands, CCTV-based remote monitoring is now a practical, dependable and affordable alternative to traditional security guards”.