IP video for schools with real Vision
CCTV surveillance using IP video technology delivered by IndigoVision is being made available to London’s schools via the London Grid for Learning’s existing IT network.
The London Grid for Learning was established in June 2000 to provide Capital-wide Broadband Internet services to London’s 33 Local Education Authorities. The Synetrix-supplied network went live in 2002, and now covers well over 90% of London’s schools.
IndigoVision’s IP video technology will allow any participating school to be monitored 24 hours per day via the central Control Room for the project, which is located in the London Borough of Bromley. The Control Room makes good use of ‘Control Center’, IndigoVision’s enterprise video and alarm management software which enables the security staff to control and view live and recorded video from any of the cameras at any of the schools.
IndigoVision has supplied a complete end-to-end solution which provides for visual verification of alarms over IP, and is fully conversant with BS 8418.
Redbridge CCTV, the consultant on the project, has set up an additional central Control Room in London to monitor other schools outside of the London Grid for Learning as well as numerous commercial sites.
During the day, school staff use ‘Control Center’ software to monitor the buildings. IndigoVision’s Networked Video Recorders (NVRs) provide storage for recorded video and, being a networked solution, the location of any NVR is totally transparent to the system.
With so many cameras being monitored around the system, advanced analytics are deployed to ensure that potential events are quickly brought to the attention of the operators.
For example, virtual ‘trip wires’ will ignore passing cars outside a school. However, when a person crosses the ‘wire’ in to the school, an alarm is raised and that camera is monitored.
- IndigoVision – Enquiry 101
In motion at Terminal 5
Security planners working on Heathrow’s controversial Terminal 5 scheme have specified Forward Vision’s MIC1-400 PTZ cameras for the surveillance of key external areas in a project that’s being handled by NTL Business. No less than 46 of the rugged speed domes – popularly known as ‘Metal Mickeys’ – are being used as part of the GB pound 70 million security and telecommunications network.
Previously, 20 MIC1-400s featuring 18x optical zoom had already proven their capabilities at the airport. Since 2002, they have provided uninterrupted surveillance of one of Heathrow’s key road tunnels.
The creation of Heathrow’s new IP-based security and data hub is a major undertaking, with each component being tested on a dummy system before installation on the real network. The high bandwidth network comprises around 2.5 million metres of cabling which will carry a range of operational systems (including CCTV, access control data and building management systems).
The MIC1-400 is reckoned to be one of the most robust and versatile PTZ cameras ever developed, and is supplied with an IP68-rated casing.
- Forward Vision – Enquiry 102
Light pollution cut in Gillingham
Night-time safety and security at a new leisure park based in Gillingham has been improved thanks to the introduction of a new lighting system that reduces pollution.
Carried out by TJW Electrical, the installation at the Gillingham Strand uses a combination of Ganz infrared illuminators and WL white light illuminators. The former allow high quality black and white CCTV images to be captured without ‘spilling’ light into nearby residential areas.
The white light illuminators are being used in certain higher risk locations closer to the river. The designed solution employs a combination of Ganz WL300 and WL500 illuminators for accurately targeted visible light, in addition to IR700 and IR500 illuminators. These render light invisible to the human eye.
The infrared illuminators are located at points where there’s a clear line of sight to neighbouring houses. Although they cannot be seen by residents, they allow the CCTV cameras to pick up crisp, clear images. They’re also very energy efficient compared with halogen lamps.
Ganz illuminators feature high output light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and ‘cool running’ thermal management that controls output and LED lifespan.
- CBC (Europe) – Enquiry 103
Bosch ‘piers’ into the future
Walton Pier in East Anglia is the second longest in the UK, taking in over 30 rides and amusements. As a major tourist attraction in the Essex region, the Pier’s security is understandably a key priority to ensure the safety of thousands of visitors each year.
A major CCTV upgrade carried out by EJ Thurston involved the installation of 32 cameras from Bosch Security Systems’ Flexidome and Dinion ranges. These cameras transmit images to one of two Divar DVRs housed within a state-of-the-art Management Suite, complete with two control joystick pads and LCD monitors. All are linked to a fixed IP address.
- Bosch – Enquiry 104
Cracking down on vehicle crime
ADPRO video surveillance technology combined with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and wireless communications from Motorola are being used to help Greater Manchester Police (GMP) crack down on vehicle crime.
Bury Council has piloted the scheme by targeting one of the busiest car parks in the district. A single infrared ANPR camera is installed and connected to an ADPRO FastTrace (incorporating ADPRO Transaction software) that, in turn, is integrated with the ANPR technology. A standard Pelco PTZ camera also provides overview coverage of the area, with images from both transmitted by wireless Motorola Canopy to the off-site Control Room.
As a vehicle enters the site, its plate is read and then compared automatically to a stolen vehicle and intelligence database (which is regularly updated by GMP). If the vehicle is then identified as stolen, video images of the vehicle and driver are captured via the ADPRO FastTrace, along with specific details such as the time and date of capture.
The Control Room is equipped with ADPRO Video Central software that enables staff to search and review details of any and all cars ‘captured’.
- Xtralis/ADPRO – Enquiry 105