intruder alarms and IP

An intruder alarm is just an intruder alarm isn’t it? Well yes but what if you are a facility manager responsible for intruder alarms across the country?

You will be fed up of trying to coordinate lots of different invoices from lots of different companies.You will be fed up with trying to keep track of different faults and organizing service calls.

There is a way to sort this out and that is to standardize and use IP to link all your intruder alarms together.

Read more on how to do this.

CCTV news, Global MSC encourage End user involvement

We talked sometime back about the need for Installers and End Users to involve Manufacturers in the supply/decision chain.

Recently, a great one day seminar pretty much did that…………… organised by Global MSC, a security consultancy from Bristol, put together  a one day event in Newcastle that was attended by all kinds of key decision makers from Councils, Local Authorities, Education, Medical and Police organisations………….a series of keynote speeches on current, relevant topics within our industry, were accompanied by refreshment breaks and a superb lunch!

At the same time, a rather well packed conference room was brimming with new Technology from all sorts of Security Manufacturers – CCTV, Intruder, Access Control etc…………and these seemed to focus on Megapixel and HD technology

Talking to the Manufacturers, they commented on the value of being close to the right people, with a captive audience to demonstrate their Products and Services…………….End Users appreciated the focused approach to keeping it local, personalised, the right size and the right layout – unlike IFSEC !

Installers were able to exhibit with their partner Manufacturers safe in the knowledge that everyone knew everyone in the chain!

We believe this should be repeated more often throughout the UK (Global MSC have already announced another Seminar for March 2011 in Bristol) – it may not replace IFSEC, but it just might allow the triangle partnerships a chance to flourish!

End User, Installer and Security Manufacturers

CCTV installation,before Xmas,lets wait and see

CCTV for Xmas?


How things turn around. For the last 18 months the CCTV security industry has been eerily quiet. The reasons are obvious. The recession has driven many areas of business to cut back and one of the casualties of this has been the security budget. A make do situation arose where by end users were happy to cancel service agreements and ignore faults that would have normally been rectified as matter of urgency. However the last 2-3 months has seen people seriously considering their security needs again.

CCTV installations start to grow.

CCTV installations have picked up slowly as the economy starts to grow again and there is now signs that with the many bankruptcies that occurred to security installers means there may be a shortage of good installing companies left out there to meet demand.

Can we get installations on the wall before Xmas?

Now it is always the same, Xmas seems to bring mass panic and everyone wants their intruder alarms and CCTV working, upgraded or installed for the holiday period. There are rumours that the “big boys” are already telling their clients that they can’t meet the deadline and intruder alarm and CCTV camera manufacturers are suddenly quoting 2 week lead times for delivery where we have all been used to next day for last couple of years.

Buy cheap buy twice!

So the moral of this story seems to be if you have a fault , fix it sooner rather than later. If you need an installation don’t expect miracles from installing companies who have had to cut staff and prices just to stay in business. And finally those who stuck by their favoured , reliable installing companies instead of shopping around for cheap inadequate replacements, will find that they will have their CCTV and security systems working for Xmas while others are left woefully exposed to crime. It will be very interesting to see how this one pans out.

integrated security systems

Integrated security solutions.

Integrated security systems are becoming an ever more popular security solution for larger organizations today. Many facility managers are fed up with dealing with lots of different companies for lots of different sites and all the associated paperwork and costs involved. It is now a lot easier with the advent of IP security solutions to integrate fire, intruder, access control and CCTV into one simple package covering a multitude of sites.

Integration is the way forward.

Honeywell, Cortec and Risco are just a few of the big manufacturers out there who have recognised that integrated security systems over IP offer the end user huge advantages and exceptional cost savings, once that is the initial outlay is taken into consideration.

So easy.

The beauty of  total integration of security systems is detailed mapping and fault analysis from one location. It is difficult if not impossible within larger organizations to control costs on fragmented security arrangements with lots of different security companies, sorting all the different administration and keeping track of engineer visits. Quite frankly this can be daunting.

Integrated access control.

It is also true that within large organisations and multiple site locations that staff movements and employment changes make it difficult to control and administer access control rights. However one person using one lot of integrated security software in one location will have far more control. This is also true of compulsory fire tests, CCTV maintenance visits CCTV camera outages and so the list goes on. IP has now made it possible to get a realistic view of the whole company suite and keep control of what may have previously been uncontrollable.

Expensive?

So what would you expect to pay for an integrated security system? This is difficult to assess without knowing the full specification of the sites you wish to integrate and the security systems that will be integrated. Most CCTV security software packages have a basic product and then additional bolt ons that require a licence per module. It is crucial therefore that when specifying a fully integrated security system that detailed planning is put into place before any decision is made on the software package you decide to purchase.

Specify an integrated security system.

If you require further guidance or information on integrated security solutions that are out in the market place today, feel free to make contact and we will be happy to help

Navtech Radar

An interesting twist on Perimeter protection!

We became aware recently of a new, emerging technology in the Security Industry……….Radar

It’s not a new technology, but certainly new in our industry.

Is it expensive?

Well, yes…….but, you need to look beyond the capital outlay and see what it replaces…

historically, protecting a huge perimeter, such as that of an airport, would involve 10’s or even 100’s of sensors, whether beams or detectors, alarm or dedicated CCTV beams such as those from companies like Optex etc…..

but, one single Navtech Radar unit, placed centrally, can monitor movement in an 800m 360 degree zone………and link various zones to multiple cameras……controlling PTZ cameras such as MIC-400 from Bosch or the new and excellent 360 Vision Predator product, moving them automatically to moving objects and dynamically tracking as the object moves within the detection zone………

Offering a complete revolution of the mentioned 800m 360 degree view in ONE SECOND this represents a very different way to think of sensor detection.

We think this is a very exciting new product, there is defintely a cost increase, but we are prepared to bet that if installation costs and labour are factored in, there is very little in it!

Navtech’s website can be found here – let us know what you think!