Video surveillance encoders from Siqura B.V. safeguard possessions in parking lots

Integral to every IP-based CCTV surveillance system are the video servers

Customer

Engineering Group Contractors (EGC) (Lebanon)

Technology

IP-based video surveillance network

Challenge

Provide an IP-based video streaming solution that incorporates the legacy analogue camera network and a third-party VMS system.

Solution

Siqura S-series encoders

Going where you want, when you want

Being able to move about at any time of day or night is one of the benefits of modern society. Yet our independence depends a great deal on feeling safe no matter where we are or where we are going. If you are headed back to your car after a late night at the office, all you really want to have to worry about is whether or not you will hit traffic on the way home, and not if your car is still where you left it.

However, parking garages are notorious for crime; a study in the UK showed that cars were four times more likely to be stolen from a parking lot than off the street; the US Department of Justice cites that parking lots and garages are the second most probable spot in the nation for non-violent crimes and the third for violent crimes. Due to the fact that attendants can rarely oversee the entire situation and parking garages are often open to all who pass by, potential perpetrators may generally view many lots as an easy target.

Improving safety through security

Despite these disturbing facts and figures, technological advancements are helping make the world a safer place. Knowing the importance of safety as well as protecting parked cars from illegal activity, a Middle Eastern development company recently asked the Lebanese systems integrator, Engineering Group Contractors (EGC), to set up an IP surveillance system at a primary parking venue in the heart of one of the Middle East's most prominent cities.

Although the parking garage in question has had an analogue CCTV system for some time now, attendants haven't been able to monitor the complete surveillance situation, and the risks of leaving your vehicle there have been similar to those abounding throughout the rest of the world. Consequently, EGC is implementing a new system that will be capable of recognising faces and license plates, comprehensively identifying and keeping track of everybody going into or out of the parking garage.

Integrating new and old equipment into a single solution

The original surveillance system consisted of over two hundred analogue cameras and these are being incorporated into the new IP network. The improved system will also allow every video stream to be viewed on Genetec's renowned video management system (VMS), Omnicast, in a central control room. From there, operators will be able to follow up on alarms and survey the entire surveillance situation with various fixed and pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) cameras, ensuring that both people and property are protected.

Integral to every IP-based CCTV surveillance system are the video servers that encode or convert analogue video streams into digital signals before sending them to the VMS. Encoders sometimes also apply other information to the stream, such as video motion detection or on-screen displays. Once the digital streams are transmitted to the control room, they are decoded back for viewing on analogue monitors. Since the video servers in an IP CCTV system are the means through which streams become meaningful information to security personnel, video codec's are, in sum, what either make or break a surveillance system.

Ensuring success with intelligent assistance and integrated solutions

In order to guarantee the smooth streaming of compressed video in the parking facility, EGC contracted Siqura B.V. (manufacturer of Siqura®), a supplier of advanced IP and fibre video surveillance solutions, to provide the project with a video server solution. Through Siqura B.V.'s technical support and expertise and given that Siqura codec's are standardised to commonly-known protocols, the Siqura video servers were easy to integrate into both Genetec's Omnicast as well as the existing analogue infrastructure. Consequently, the IP surveillance system was soon up and running, making a principal city centre in the Middle East a safer place to be.

‘'Siqura B.V. has shown that it is committed to providing high-quality products and proficient pre-and post-sales services and technical support," say EGC Engineers. "As a project partner, Siqura B.V. follows up on their customers' requests and needs, ensuring the success of the project and the customer's satisfaction.''

Practical solutions to protect people and their possessions

Naturally, we all want to embrace the perks that prevail in this day and age but in order to enjoy them, we need to know that we are not in any danger. Despite the unfortunate inevitability of criminal behaviour, statistics needn't dictate what we do or where we go. Luckily, companies like EGC and Siqura B.V. are coming up with practical and innovative solutions to protect people and their possessions, even in relatively high-risk areas, such as parking lots and garages. In this way, the same technology that's expanding our horizons is securing our freedom to safely venture out.