Add to My SourceSecurity | Send to a friend | Email me this article

Videoswitch prove to be a perfect match

It's in London.  It's one of the most famous world sporting venues.  It holds international events and it's televised.

These are just four of the reasons why the Brit Oval can be considered a prime target for troublemakers and why Senior Operating Manager and Safety Officer, Scott Carey, is determined that the cricket ground's security facilities are regularly updated to take advantage of the very latest technology.

Scott who has been responsible for security at what is the home of Surrey County Cricket is determined that the Brit Oval will always remain a safe and secure environment for staff, the players and the paying public.

With this in mind Scott has recently seen a complete revamp of the ground's CCTV system and this has included upgrading the digital video recording systems.  Four Videoswitch VI 405 DVRs have been installed with two in the match day control room and two in the security hut located at the Hobbs Gate entrance.

All four Videoswitch DVRs are networked and collectively they record the video captured by 54 cameras, a mixture of PTZ and fixed dome cameras.  Videoswitch keyboards enable operators to remotely control both the cameras and DVRs.

"An effective CCTV system is essential in an environment such as the Brit Oval as we need to comply with the rules and regulations specified by our Local Authority," said Scott. 

"We don't however just want our CCTV to be a "me too" system that is sufficient to only allow a match day licence to be issued. We see CCTV as a tool that our control operators and the police, who are present on match days, can proactively use to identify potential problems and deal with them quickly and efficiently."

The system has been upgraded by CCTV specialists, IC2 (UK) Ltd, a Beckenham based installer which has been involved with providing electronic security for the Brit Oval since 1998.

Videoswitch and the Brit Oval have had a long association as Videoswitch DVRs were chosen when the original CCTV system was designed.  "We were happy to retain Videoswitch as our digital recording supplier.  We knew they would be reliable but equally important is that Videoswitch DVRs have removable hard drives.  This is absolutely crucial, particularly when the police may need to take evidence away at any time."

England's Test against New Zealand on 25th June will be the first major opportunity for the upgraded video recording system to show its full potential.  As usual, Scott will be at the ground at 5am each day and is likely to still be there until after midnight planning the security arrangements for the next day.  "There is a lot to prepare for but I am very confident that we now have a CCTV system which we and the police can use to its full potential," said Scott.