Access Control and CCTV Articles

N.B. The following two articles have been reproduced from the SecurityPark newsletter. The link to this site is given on the side bar for more details (click on Security News and Articles).

BPT System 300 video door entry system secures Manchester landmark building
The BPT Entry Control Solutions System 300 video door entry and Impro16 proximity access control systems has been installed by Tailored Fire & Security into Great Northern Tower, one of Manchester's most prestigious new developments. Great Northern Tower, a development by George Wimpey City, is a modern, sophisticated building, designed to look like a shard of glass with metal and grey coloured decorative tiles. It features 257 high spec apartments, with 24 hour manned concierge and secure underground parking.

BPT's System 300 video door entry system, which uses just two wires for all video, audio and data signals, providing maximum installation and cost efficiency. System 300 has been used with BPT Lynea monitors in all 257 apartments at Great Northern Tower, a single main digital vandal resistant video entry panel on the main entrance and an IPD-300 porter switchboard at the reception desk. The door entry system has been integrated by Tailored Fire & Security with an Impro16 proximity access control system, also from BPT. Impro16 supports up to 2,000 tags operating 16 doors and allows residents to freely come and go, whilst restricting access to all other visitors, who must then request access via the door entry system.

The system is controlled from a PC on reception and allows all admin tasks to be carried out on site via a GUI, without the need for specialist programming.In addition to controlling the pedestrian entrances at Great Northern Tower, reception also has full control over the car parks and trade entrances. This has been achieved by Tailored Fire & Security linking the BPT switchboard to ten single button vandal resistant audio panels with integral Impro proximity access control readers on the car park and trade entrances.

Tailored Fire & Security Project Manager Ian Gratix is very pleased with his choice of manufacturer for this installation, which is one of the largest the company has done using BPT equipment: "We have used BPT before and found the equipment to be very flexible and our engineers are familiar with it. The price was right as well, plus the client's preferred manufacturer was BPT."

IndigoVision IP Video solution protects Qatar Airport
As part of the preparations for the 15th Asian Games, the Doha International Airport (DIA) in Qatar expanded its main passenger terminal, added new first and business class lounges and increased the capacity of its cargo facilities. The existing analogue CCTV system was replaced with an IndigoVision IP Video solution following an in-depth evaluation of competing technologies by the IT department of QATAR Airways, the managing authority for DIA.

IndigoVision’s IP Video solution is at the heart of a 600 camera CCTV surveillance system at the newly expanded Doha International Airport. The 600 cameras are a combination of PTZ and fixed, with each being connected to an IndigoVision 8000 transmitter/receiver module which converts the analogue feed to DVD quality full-frame rate digital video for transmission over the newly installed LAN.

“In our technical evaluation IndigoVision’s system scored 87%, well ahead of the other systems tested” said Sourav Sinha, Head of IT Department at Qatar Airways. “We were particularly impressed with IndigoVision’s ability to deliver very high quality video with minimal bandwidth, its integration with the access control and alarm systems and the powerful features of the video management software.”

The new system, installed by IndigoVision’s local partner Capital Technology WLL, provides security staff with centralised monitoring of the whole airport complex from one control room located in the main passenger terminal – the furthest camera being located some 5Km away. In addition there are satellite monitoring stations in the cargo terminal and the new first and business class terminal. In total, 11 operators and 2 supervisors use dual-display workstations running ‘Control Center’, Indigovision’s enterprise video and alarm management software.

‘Control Center’ allows operators to monitor live video feeds from any of the 600 cameras and recorded footage from the IndigoVision Networked Video Recorders (NVR). Ten NVRs have been installed to provide a redundant recording solution that can record in excess of 30 days of video from all cameras at 4CIF 25fps, via 225TB of Raid 5 storage. The flexibility of IndigoVision’s IP Video means that a ‘Control Center’ workstation can be located at any point on the network, which has allowed the location of further workstations in the DIA CEO’s office and with the Qatar Airways security supervisor.

Capital Technology also installed a new access control system that was fully integrated into ‘Control Center’ to provide full alarm management. The tight integration of alarms with video management in ‘Control Center’ allows the virtual matrix to be driven by alarm events, e.g. a salvo of cameras can be displayed when an alarm is raised from a given access point. IndigoVision’s compression technology minimises bandwidth requirements and ensures that the operators view video that is indistinguishable from analogue. This project demonstrates IndigoVision’s IP Video technology is flexible and provides CCTV solutions that cannot be matched by traditional analogue systems.