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Manchester City FC selects Digital Sprite 2 for CCTV upgrade

Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) has adopted the latest NetVu Connected Digital Sprite 2 (DS2) DVRs from Dedicated Micros - part of AD Group - for a new sophisticated CCTV solution delivered by G4S Security Systems (UK) Ltd at the all-seater City of Manchester Stadium.                    

An inherited system of 59 CCTV cameras linked to analogue multiplexers and video recorders was beginning to show the strain.  Peter Fletcher, MCFC's Stadium and Safety Manager, summarised the problem: "We may have been a state-of-the-art stadium but our CCTV system was clearly behind the times, still operating on outdated analogue videotape technology and unable even to record 24/7 - a key requirement for us."

Stepping in to help the club to upgrade, G4S recommended an advanced digital solution based on six of the latest NetVu Connected Dedicated Micros Digital Sprite 2 (DS2) DVRs incorporating 6Tb of hard disk capacity.  The plug and play increase in storage capacity has allowed the club's security team to enhance the record rate on the DVRs, add cameras without the worry of reaching maximum capacity and reduce the frequency of off-line archiving.

Commented Neil Barnes, Business Development Manager for G4S: "The DM range was recommended because the products are so intuitive - they replicate the type of functions end users will be used to.  As they are embedded, designed specifically to do a job, I've always found them to be much more reliable than PC-based systems, which can struggle to cope with the demands of a security system alongside all the other tasks."

Added Neil Barnes: "Installation was very straightforward and gave us a good opportunity to reduce the amount of cabling required.  By using DS2s we were able to take out the existing multiplexers and recorders and replace them with just one unit, reducing the amount of equipment in the rack."

By splitting the hard disk storage capacity associated with the DS2s into everyday and match/event day recording, the new solution has delivered the enhanced flexibility and quality that was required.  The record rate has increased by six times more than the previous analogue system, giving much better quality event coverage.  When one of the disks reaches capacity, images are now archived to DVD rather than videotape, solving the club's storage problems.

Ultimately, the upgrade has provided MCFC with a surveillance system that ensures crowd safety on match days and the best possible stadium security 24/7, a scalable solution that will stand the test of time says Victoria Waude, National Account Manager for Dedicated Micros.

"The Dedicated Micros installation specified by G4S at MCFC has been designed from the start to be future-proof, with further expansion now possible through the simple addition of hard wired or even wireless NetVu Connected products.  It is, we believe, a fitting solution which is very much in keeping with the advanced nature of one of the UK's premier high-tech stadia."