By Steven Sachoff, editor
PORT TALBOT, UK—What does the owner of a manned guarding company do when he comes to the conclusion that high costs are relegating that business to the ash heap? If you’re Alun Evans, you start a new remote monitoring company, team up with an industry heavyweight and invest in cutting edge technology to position yourself for the future.
Evans has been running the Shield Security Group, which focuses on manned guarding, for 28 years. As the minimum wage and regulations have continued to increase, pushing up costs, Evans’ clients began approaching him about alternatives to expensive manned guarding, and he realized there weren’t many out there. Recognizing the problem and seeing the opportunity for a solution in the form of remote monitoring, Evans began scouting around for a partner. “I went to all the majors, all the suppliers of DVRs and cameras and said ‘are you prepared to sit down with me and write a new program?’ and basically none of them were interested until I met Siemens,” Evans
ing plan that spreads the cost out over a three-year period which requires no initial capital outlay.
So far, the results have confirmed Evans’ expectations. “What we’re finding is that since we’ve put Red
Alert into the marketplace the growth has been phenomenal,” he said.
Clients are turning to Red Alert not just for security, but also for employee management, business intelligence and health and safety is-
sues. For example, one company is paying Crown to watch a single machine at a quarry and alert the site manager if the machine stops working.
One of the biggest advantages of Red Alert is its VOIP capability. Evans employed a psychologist to craft the most effective response for an operator addressing an
See Crown on page 17
explained.
The result for Evans’ Crown Security Group, a new company he launched three years ago to focus on remote monitoring,
is the Red Alert remote monitoring service and a new GBP 1mln state-of-the-art monitoring center.
The Red Alert system, which Evans developed with
Siemens, is based on pixel disbursement motion detection that he says delivers more effective security than Inside Crown’s new monitoring facility
manned guarding at a fraction of the cost. Compared to the average GPB 1,000 per week cost of a security guard in the UK, Crown can deploy an 8-camera system for around GBP 180 per week, Evans said. “That’s big savings if you’re talking about one guard. If you’re talking about several, it’s massive.”
Crown is making getting the system to clients as easy as possible with a financ-
Siemens helps UK police
Report sees stable
monitoring revenues
despite economy
By Steven Sachoff, editor
nel. In addition to designing the systems, Siemens is also handling the installation.
The Lincolnshire Police carried out the upgrade to its custody suites in order to comply with the legal framework in which they must operate, according to acting chief inspector Stewart Brinn. “We have a diverse mix of people coming into our custody suites, from drunks to criminals facing serious charges,” Brinn said in a statement. “Our
priority is to hold all detainees in a safe and secure environment, as per the Association of Chief Police Officers (APCO) guidance.”
In addition to meeting the regu-latory guidance, Brinn said the technology also offered another level of protection for the police officers. “Being able to provide solid material evidence of a specific sequence of events will prove invaluable should the actions of any of our officers ever be called into question,” he explained.
With an eye on cost, Siemens has set up a number of bespoke Police Framework Agreements
See Siemens on page 17
LINCOLNSHIRE, UK—The Lincolnshire Police have become the first police force in the UK to deploy a new system designed by Siemens to help monitor people in custody and ensure that detention guidelines are met.
The Custody Suite solution comprises CCTV cameras located at key points at the police station such as the book-ing-in desk, the
Lincolnshire police headquarters
intoxilisor room, live scan room, detention rooms, cells, corridor areas, the exercise yard and the van docking station.
“From working closely with the police over several years we have developed a clear understanding of the changing needs of the custody suite environment,” explained Siemens Building Technologies Security Solutions managing director Peter Hawksworth.
As a result, the system can be integrated into the police IT infrastructure so archived or real time digital video and audio recordings can be monitored either on site or remotely by designated person-
LONDON—Link CCTV Systems has deployed digital video recorder servers from Mirasys as part of an upgrade and expansion of the video surveillance system at London’s newly renovated Marriott Grosvenor Square hotel.
The two Mirasys V5000 servers support 48 cameras positioned throughout the Marriott and allow for digital images to be recorded on up to 64 channels simultaneously. The hotel’s existing analog cameras have been seamlessly integrated within the Mirasys solution, which provides the option of introducing high resolution IP cameras in the future.
That kind of flexibility was key to Link CCTV’s selection of Mirasys for the project, according to Paul Morton, the hotel’s head of loss prevention. “We were very impressed by the versatility of the Mirasys V5000 system,” Morton said in a statement. “As the needs of the hotel change, so the range of surveillance capabilities we look for is increasing.”
By Daniel Gelinas, contributing editor
DALLAS—A January report from Parks Associates, an international market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services, finds security system monitoring revenue is likely to be very stable despite current economic conditions, and customers may even tolerate a rate increase.
The report, “Home Systems: Home Security Update,” finds the number of monitored security households intending to cancel their service is only four to eipercent higher than normal due to the economic downturn, but still quite stable. This is good news for the industry, but Parks also warns that the resilience of this service category will attract new competitors among telcos, cable companies, and others.
Tricia Parks
“Anybody who is already getting into the house has the potential to do security as one more thing when they get there,” said Parks Associates CEO Tricia Parks. Parks said with broadband slowing down and cable approaching saturation, telcos and cable providers are beginning to look elsewhere. “They’re looking around, if not for this year, then for years ahead, saying ‘Where’s the next incremental revenue come from?’ And in that context they’re all looking at security.”
Parks said end users will tolerate a slight increase in monthly monitoring fees, especially if companies begin adding value to their solutions, citing in particular the recent partnership between ADT and iControl. “A slight rise in monthly fees, such as from $25 to $26.95, will not cause current subscribers to abandon their services,” Parks said. “We’re not saying, ‘just go raise your fees,’ but, ‘find out what you can do.’ Or offer another kind of benefit to accompany what they already have.” SSNE
DOHA—Capital Technology, a security system integration and installation firm based here, has deployed an IP-based video surveillance system at Doha’s new 5-star, 26-floor Mövenpick Tower & Suites hotel.
The 116-camera system is fully integrated with the GE Secure Perfect access control system via IndigoVisions Control Center IP video and alarm management software. Four workstations running Control Center are used by the hotel’s security team to monitor live and recorded video from the cameras and manage alarms from the CCTV and access control systems, both of which are integrated over the IP network. IndigoVision’s compression technology means the IP video and access control system can share the hotel’s network with other services like IP-TV, IP-telephony and guest Internet.
References:
Archives