TM Security provides surveillance solution to Winnersh Triangle

IQ Winnersh has been provided surveillance solutions from TM Security the specialists in IP network security

IP network based security solutions specialists,TM Security, has provided an innovative surveillance solution for one of the largest industrial and office estates in the UK.

IQ Winnersh is an 80 acre site located close to Reading and a short drive to the M4. Developed by Segro, Europe's leading provider of flexible business space, the site's 2,000,000 sq. ft of offices, production and warehouse buildings are occupied by a diverse range of organisations who are able to enjoy the advantageous location as well as facilities which include on-site shops, restaurants and a hotel.

TM Security was asked by Segro to design and install an expansion of an existing system so that additional areas of the estate, historically known as Winnersh Triangle, could be monitored by CCTV. "Not surprisingly, Segro has a zero tolerance policy towards any unwanted visitors who, particularly at night might come onto the site with criminal intent," said Roy Pugh Business Development Manager for Fareham based TM Security. "We therefore carried an extensive survey of the site with the purpose of identifying blind areas where any activity taking place could not be seen by operators working with the existing CCTV system."

Roy Pugh and his colleagues concluded that eleven dome cameras and a fixed camera would be needed to achieve the client's objective and recommended the SANYO VCC-980 and VCC-N6695P to do the job. The VCC-9800 is a fully functional 520 TV lines true Day/Night speed dome camera which can pan at 435 degrees per second. A combination of 36 x optical zoom and a 16 x digital zoom capability allows operators to view distant objects in great detail. Additional features include the ability to see 5% above the horizon, up to 256 pre-set positions, auto-tracking and an image stabiliser which electronically removes blurs caused by vibration.

VCC-9800 is a combination of 36 x optical zoom and a 16 x zoom capability to view distant objects in great detail

The VCC-N6695P is a high resolution network Day/Night colour network camera which supports bandwidth friendly H.264 compression method as well as JPEG compression. "To some extent the decision to use the VCC-9800 and VCC-N6695P was the easiest part of the project," added Roy. "It was clearly a speed dome camera that ticked all the boxes in terms of our client's requirements and the fact that it came with the option of a Network board, gave it an advantage over the other dome cameras, we considered for the project. The image stabiliser feature was significant as we knew we would have to install the 16 VCC-9800 on the top of columns and vibration caused by windy conditions was therefore a factor."

The challenge for TM Security was how to transmit the images from each of the VCC-9800s to a control room. With no conveniently located ducting available, the client would have been faced with an unacceptable high bill for the civil works needed to run underground cables from the cameras which were to be installed at far flung locations around the vast site. TM Security asked Wavesight, a UK based manufacturer of high bandwidth and low latency wireless Ethernet bridges, to provide a solution. Wavesight recommended and subsequently supplied a combination of its Sprint and Flow radios to create a microwave video transmission system, boosted where needed around the site by satellite transmitters which resulted in the high quality images captured by the VCC-9800s being transmitted over a wireless network without the substantial costs and disruption cause by civil works.

The industrial premises of Winnersh is now under complete control of the video surveillance network

An onsite router onwardly transmits the video from all the 12 cameras over a broadband link to the Business Watch control room in Slough where operators use graphical user interface powered by Milestone XProtect Enterprise software to monitor activity and exercise control over the VCC-9800's pan and zoom capabilities, as well as their other functions.

XProtect Enterprise is designed for medium and large-scale installations, including multi-site deployments, and is designed to make it simple to view and control an unlimited number of cameras and other devices.

"This is a great example of advanced technology supplied by three different manufacturers being integrated to deliver an innovative and cost saving IP network based solution," added Roy. "With a complex project such as this there are many potential pitfalls. Our technicians have however been well extremely well supported by SANYO's technical support team and as a result we have been able to deliver a solution which has exceeded the client's expectations,"

The manager of the Business Watch control room shares Roy's admiration for the way SANYO has cooperated to assist TM Security in providing Segro with an effective surveillance system. John Devine, who is responsible for managing the operators who monitor the Slough Trading Estate and other sites, as well as IQ Winnersh, said: "We have been most impressed with the quality of the images delivered into our control room. Most importantly, with minimal training, our operators are able to take full advantage of the telemetry which provides complete control over the cameras."