Milestone Systems

STANLEY Security, one of the UK’s renowned security providers, has completed a major CCTV installation for Bridgnorth Aluminium Limited, the UK's only manufacturer of aluminium flat rolled products. At 27 hectares, Bridgnorth Aluminium’s site in Bridgnorth, Shropshire is extensive. It is home to a casthouse, rolling mill, two litho centres, a multi-slitting line and finishing lines. IP CCTV system The IP CCTV system is critical to our business in terms of health and safety of our employees and site security" The company had previously been using three separate CCTV systems, each covering different parts of this large site, one of which was over 15 years old, had very poor image quality and was starting to show signs of failure. Furthermore, none of the CCTV systems had any level of redundancy, so if one failed access to those particular cameras were lost, along with any recorded footage.  Steve Denton, IT Manager at Bridgnorth Aluminium, explains the decision to upgrade, stating “We needed to consolidate everything into one single CCTV system, including all of the cameras from the other three systems, and we needed to add a level of redundancy. The IP CCTV system is critical to our business in terms of health and safety of our employees and site security.” IP video surveillance Following detailed discussions with Bridgnorth Aluminium, STANLEY Security designed a new site wide IP based CCTV system, covering external areas and the perimeter of the site, along with internal areas including key indoor production spaces.  The system takes advantage of Bridgnorth Aluminium’s existing IP network which is deployed in most areas of the site, negating the need to install COAX cable. Opting for an IP-based CCTV system has also enabled Bridgnorth Aluminium to make use of newer technology with better quality images, which was the key. STANLEY 2MP bullet cameras and dome cameras The cameras feed is stored in two Milestone Husky M500 Advanced Network Video Recording hardware platforms The new IP CCTV system features STANLEY 2MP bullet cameras and dome cameras, including 360⁰ dome models. The cameras feed is stored in two Milestone Husky M500 Advanced Network Video Recording hardware platforms; one of which is used in case of redundancy.  Bridgnorth Aluminium is pleased with the new CCTV system as Steve Denton comments, “The image quality of the new system is streets ahead of the old system. The area of coverage is also far greater thanks to the addition of 180-degree wide angle and 360-degree cameras. The software is very easy to use and has some very useful features to aid with playback of recorded footage. The software has already helped us to retrieve footage that we would have had little chance of retrieving before.” Enhanced site security STANLEY Security has been working with Bridgnorth Aluminium since 2017 when it took over the support of the company’s existing CCTV systems. “The transition period had proved successful” states Steve, commenting on their decision to appoint STANLEY Security for this project. He adds, “The service from STANLEY has been excellent, our account manager Amber is one of a kind and always goes above and beyond for us to ensure that we receive the best service possible.”

Today’s market wants access management systems that are easy to set up and use. They must be easily scalable and able to integrate with other security solutions like video and intrusion systems. And access management systems need to be highly resilient and always available. With the introduction of the Access Management System 2.0, Bosch has addressed all these needs. Access Management System 2.0 The entire customer journey is designed to be as effortless and as simple as possible. Specifying the system is easy: the software is offered in three pre-configured software bundles for different sized organisations: Lite (max. 144 doors and 200,000 cards) Plus (max. 512 doors and 200,000 cards) Professional (max. 10,000 doors and 200,000 cards) Easy configuration The graphical user interface (GUI) is simple and easy to understand Configuration is easy - Existing floor maps can be imported into the system and icons are dragged and dropped on the map to represent controllers, doors and building objects. Onboarding of users is straightforward: for example, enrolment and assignment of access profiles are all implemented in one dialog manager. Operation is also easy - The graphical user interface (GUI) is simple and easy to understand. The dark colour-scheme of the GUI reduces eye-strain and fatigue, so operators stay fresh and alert. In addition, the colors of the Access Management System 2.0 GUI are aligned with the colours of the Bosch Video Management Systems (BVMS) GUI, so operators enjoy the benefits of an integrated solution, which is easier to operate than two distinct systems. Future-proof and highly scalable system Users can start small and add extra capacity whenever necessary. The Access Management System 2.0 can be expanded to 10,000 doors and 200,000 cardholders. No hardware needs replacing when expanding; users just require software upgrades and possibly additional controllers, readers and cards. Henceforth, increasing system size is not only easy but also pretty cost-efficient. And since it is regularly updated with the latest data security enhancements, it is a future-proof investment that is ideal for office and government buildings, retail environments, educational institutes and more. Master Access Controller (MAC) For maximised resilience and high availability, the Access Management System 2.0 includes the Master Access Controller (MAC) as an additional layer of resilience between the server and the access controllers. If the server fails in the Access Management System 2.0, the MAC takes over and ensures that the controllers still communicate with each other and share necessary information from the card readers. Thus, even functionalities, which include various controllers such as anti-passback and guard tour, can still be performed. Anti-passback functionality The anti-passback functionality prevents a card holder passing back their card to another person The anti-passback functionality prevents a card holder passing back their card to another person and thereby enabling their unauthorised entry. Guard tour is a safety functionality offered to security guards, which uses access readers as checkpoints along a defined route. Access management systems are required to be seamless with high functionality. They can seamlessly integrate with other video and intrusion systems. And these access management systems need to be highly resilient and online at all times. The Access Management System 2.0 is Bosch Building Technologies’ answer to all these requirements. High level of safety with threat level management Up to 15 configurable threat levels such as lockdown, controlled lockdown or evacuation mean that safety measures can be initiated quickly in critical situations such as fire or terrorist attack. The threat level state is activated by one of three triggers: operator workstation, emergency button, or specially configured “emergency” cards that are presented to a reader. The different threat levels can make all doors open, all doors blocked, or a mix of some open and some blocked. Individual doors can also have their own security profile and allow only certain cardholders access. High data security and privacy protection To protect against cybercrime and loss of personal data, the database as well as the communication between server and access controllers is encrypted at all stages, e.g. through support of the secure Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) v2 protocol.  Access Management System 2.0 also has trusted digital certificates for mutual authentication between server and client to prevent tampering by unauthorised clients and uses secure design principles such as “secure-by-default” and “principle of least privilege”. Seamless integration with third-party video systems Access Management System 2.0 is a flexible access management system for medium- to large-sized organisations The Access Management System 2.0 is a flexible access management system for medium- to large-sized organisations. It is easy to set up, operate and expand.  Access Management System 2.0 can grow with the needs of the customer and can be integrated with video systems such as the BVMS (version 9.0 and higher) and third party systems such as Milestone’s XProtect. It will as of the second quarter 2020 be able to integrate with the B-/G- Series intrusion system from Bosch and other third party systems. With this integration capability, the Access Management System will serve as the solid platform to mix and match various security systems, depending on the customer’s individual needs. Enhancing safety of security guards Overall, the Bosch Access Management System 2.0 makes access management simple, scalable and always available. Any deviation of sequence or timing causes an alarm in the Access Management System 2.0. Colleagues or first responders can be notified at once improving the safety of security guards. In the extremely rare event that the Access Management System 2.0 server and the MAC fail, cardholders can still enter and leave areas with their badges because the database is stored directly on the Access Management Controllers. Thanks to this offline capability, it is furthermore possible to save millions of events even during down times.

VuWall, global provider of video wall control and AV network management solutions, has announced an update to its flagship video wall control and collaboration platform, VuWall2. New enhancements to the powerful software solution include coloured borders and colour detection, support for the Milestone XProtect unified security platform, further integration with the IHSE Draco tera matrix, and extended KVM support of IP sources. VuWall2 solution "A control room must be a highly flexible environment where end users can monitor multiple streams of information efficiently and effectively in order to make critical decisions quickly and accurately," said Paul Vander Plaetse, CEO. New features enable unattended operator stations to remain under 24/7 surveillance He adds, "This update to VuWall2 is part of our commitment to ensure our customers work as optimally as possible. Each of these enhancements serves to make the integration and operation process seamless, which is key when there's an ever-increasing number of equipment, data streams, and sources needed to support real-time decision-making." Coloured borders for fire alarm and intrusion detection VuWall2 boosts operational awareness and productivity with new coloured borders around windows that are automatically triggered by events such as intrusion detection or fire alarms. The borders' width and colours are configurable and can even be enhanced with a flashing effect, increasing operator responsiveness. Furthering the platform's automation and awareness capabilities, the software also includes a colour-detection feature that triggers a new layout on the video wall after a colour change has occurred in a specific pixel location on a source computer running process-control applications. This enables unattended operator stations to remain under 24/7 surveillance. Customisable VuStation taskbar VuWall2 also introduces a customisable taskbar that facilitates common operations directly on a video wall, including opening and closing windows, launching layouts, and running preset commands. The new VuWall2 release includes upgraded support for its Milestone XProtect plug-in (Smart Client 2019 R1 and R2) In crisis situations where operators need to be able to visualise content ad hoc, the task bar allows them to display any content directly from the touch video wall or from the central keyboard and mouse of the video wall processor. By putting critical information at users' fingertips, it improves the productivity of control room operators. Milestone XProtect software support As part of the company's commitment to supporting third-party video management software solutions, the new VuWall2 release includes upgraded support for its Milestone XProtect plug-in (Smart Client 2019 R1 and R2). Originally released a year ago, VuWall's innovative Milestone plug-in enables security system builders to integrate VuScape processors into their ecosystem to simultaneously visualise all Milestone streams along with other sources on the video wall. The plug-in also allows security operators to manage the video wall directly from the Milestone interface. This builds upon VuWall's effort to offer customers a comprehensive and elegant approach to security and surveillance, which also includes a complete integrated solution with Genetec Security Center. Full KVM control VuStream content can be controlled from anywhere on the network The new VuWall2 software release features additional support for IHSE's Draco tera matrix switch. VuWall released its first integration with IHSE in April 2019, which made it possible for users to control and visualise all matrix sources on a video wall. In addition to intuitively routing the IHSE inputs directly to the video wall, operators now have the capability of routing the related USB feeds, bringing full KVM control to the video wall. Further expanding the platform's KVM capabilities, VuWall2 now facilitates the control of IP sources, namely VuStream low-latency 4K HDMI encoders. VuWall2 previously allowed HDMI sources to be controlled on a video wall using the VuWall KM Module. Future-proofing video wall processing Now with full KVM functionality, VuStream content can be controlled from anywhere on the network via a video wall or personal video wall controller. This additional KVM capability increases the platform's flexibility, accommodating the evolution from AV to IP and future-proofing video wall processing.