Dedicated Micros enhances security at De Montfort University in the UK

The customer challenge

De Montfort is one of the most successful of the UK’s new universities founded in the 1990s and has already established an international reputation for the quality of its professional, creative and innovative education. The new infrastructure at De Montfort which went ‘live’ in August 2007 reflects the University’s desire to be at the forefront of technology and innovation in all areas of its operations.

In developing the solution, installer Security Design Services had to consider elements that are typical of a campus situated in a busy urban environment. With numerous buildings - such as the Library and Campus Centre - and a main public road running right through its Leicester site, it was particularly challenging to secure.

The key security issues included student and public safety on campus - potential assaults, the security of the adjacent parking lots, prevention of damage to buildings or other property such as graffiti, burglary and personal theft and potential traffic accidents. The amount of space that the University administration wanted to protect had a direct impact on the positioning of cameras and number of DVRs required. In addition, as a centre for research, De Montfort’s labs needed protection.

The Dedicated Micros solution

Key elements of the ambitious scheme include using fibre to connect 21 geographically dispersed campus buildings - using a number of Digital Sprite 2 DVRs from Dedicated Micros and the associated user-friendly NetVu ObserVer GUI — to a new control room in the Estates Services and Security building at the Leicester campus.

Additionally, Security Design Services has installed (26) smaller ECO4 DVRs to link-back 26 elevators at various locations across the campus, over the network, and has also started a rolling upgrade program of existing CCTV cameras by fitting the latest Dennard 2060 and 2040 dome cameras - including those at the multi-million pound Kimberlin Library - for both internal and external monitoring.

Morgan Lloyd (Security Team Leader) who is responsible for control room operations at De Montfort was a keen supporter of the upgrade process from the start: “I could appreciate that the networked CCTV was going to make our lives much easier, especially having a centralised system. No longer are we going to have to go through the laborious process of producing multiple incident DVDs from individual buildings and different systems, some of which had incompatible software making it hard to produce a DVD with a coherent timeline. Now the NetVu Connected system can follow an incident right across campus, with one DVD holding the whole incident from start to finish.”

“With remote monitoring and compatibility between the various NetVu Connected elements, we are able to respond faster to situations as they develop. We can take centralised, proportionate, action too — for example, call out the police if we see a serious incident in progress rather than sending University security staff to access the situation on the ground. Where necessary we are now also in a position to supply first generation recordings to the police for evidential purposes.”