The client
The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) is a world leading charity providing information, support and advice to almost two million people with visual impairments or blindness. It relies heavily on public funding to carry out vital research into eliminating avoidable sight loss, as well as supporting research into sight loss and other eye health issues. The RNIB is Europe’s largest Braille publisher. Its main production centre is based in Peterborough, where it produces a wide variety of literature, including books, magazines and commercial documents.
The situation
The production facility in Peterborough requires significant annual overhead and operating costs, which include the security of the site. The RNIB has, for some time, been considering ways in which it could operate more efficiently, and decided that a state of the art security system could help achieve this aim, which would also free up scarce funds to reinvest in the charity’s core services.
The solution
The RNIB selected ICTS (UK) to install a comprehensive, reliable, security system which would enable savings to be made to its Peterborough site security budget through the reduction of its manned guarding requirements.
The ICTS solution was successful for two key reasons. Firstly, due to the cost savings the solution offered the RNIB. Secondly, because of ICTS’s comprehensive understanding of the key requirements needed to deliver such an important project. With over 25 years' experience within the security industry, ICTS had the technical experience and proven track record, to enable it to fully match the specifications and requirements of both the RNIB and its insurers.
Honeywell’s Galaxy® Dimension intruder alarm system was selected by ICTS as the ideal control panel solution. This not only provided the RNIB with significant cost savings over its current security system, but also delivered a versatile and scalable security solution.
“We were looking for a cost-effective and reliable system to reduce our significant manned guarding costs, and decided on a Honeywell intruder alarm recommended by ICTS,” commented Amanda Gackowska, Facilities Manager at RNIB Peterborough. “We are very pleased with the service received from ICTS, and the team’s professional handling of the project, from inception to completion.”
The system installed to protect the Peterborough facility comprises the Galaxy Dimension GD-520 control panel, consisting of 123-zones, two Galaxy MK7 LCD Keyprox, and various Galaxy RIOs and Galaxy Power RIOs.
“Honeywell’s GD-520 panel gives the RNIB the flexibility required - now and into the future,” said Martin Gould, Security Sales Consultant at ICTS (UK) Ltd. “In addition, the Galaxy Dimension control panel provides SIA (Security Industry Association) monitoring which, in turn, provides key-holders and the Police with additional information including the exact location of any intruders within the building. This means that the RNIB’s decision to reduce its level of manned guarding services had the full support of insurers, in full compliance with their stringent requirements.”
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| The key advantage of the Galaxy Dimension is remote monitoring via an Alarm Receiving Centre |
This project was also acknowledged as the Most Prestigious Honeywell Installation 2009/2010. The judges agreed that there was an enormous challenge in trying to protect the facility to a level where the RNIB could reduce guarding levels, and use the significant cost savings to provide extra services to the visually impaired. The RNIB believes that these challenges were not only met, but exceeded by ICTS. “The facility is frequently visited by dignitaries from all over the world, and the security system is a shining example of British Best Practice,” commented Daniel Wan, UK & Ireland Marketing Leader of Honeywell Security Group.
The benefits:
The combination of Honeywell’s Galaxy technology, together with ICTS technical expertise in providing leading-edge security solutions, brought a number of key benefits to the RNIB:
- Cost savings - Reducing the cost of manned guarding was a key factor in this project. By installing a professional security system, ICTS provided the RNIB with a cost-effective solution, offering significant material cost savings.
- Remote monitoring - One of the key advantages of the Galaxy Dimension system is remote monitoring via an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC). The system communicates with the ARC using SIA Format protocols, enabling the ARC to receive data about each individual zone. This ensures that the location and cause of an alarm or fault can be identified accurately and quickly, rather than reliance upon a single general alarm signal.
As the Peterborough facility is a large site, the new system enables both RNIB key-holders and police to respond quickly to alarms, thus ensuring that the security of the site is not compromised by the reduction to its manned guarding services. - Flexibility and scalability - The ability to expand the Galaxy Dimension security system to a maximum of 520 zones offers the RNIB flexibility to expand or reconfigure its security system as the facility evolves and grows, thus future-proofing the system. Additional functions such as access control, environmental protection, and integration with other building management systems can also be added to the Galaxy Dimension system as and when required.
