Tag: integrated security

CCTV Engineer required ?

Installation engineer.

CCTV engineers are a breed unto themselves. They combine the skills of drilling, fixing and cable running for starters. Add to this the need to be able to wire up intricate panels and program them .They also have to fault find and commission what are  sometimes very large systems. Add to this the ability to work at height and you can see they have a to have a large and varied skill set.

More skills

However it does not stop here. The CCTV engineer must be able to have other skills such as being able to fit access control and intruder alarms and all sorts of integrated security. They have to work in extremely varied environments from scrap yards to car sale showrooms to high- tec manufacturers to garden centres, the list is endless. Simply because CCTV, Access control and intruder alarms have to be installed into just about every business environment in the country.

A rare breed!

Can they need any more skills? Well yes they need to be able to read drawings and specifications. They must carry out risk assessment and be able to deal face to face with customers. They must complete paperwork and be clean and tidy. They have to think on their feet and have the ability and training be able to operate cherry pickers. Most of all they must present a good company image at all times.

Difficult job?

If you look  into everything listed above you would be right to think that your friendly CCTV engineer is expected to be all things to all people and to some degree it is true, the best ones are quite simply the life blood of a security installer. A thought here now though. Much of the above is associated with running cables and terminating connections!

But for how long will all these skills be required?

Things though are changing and probably at the fastest pace for the last 20 years. IP solutions are beginning to dominate the market and this certainly means that the CCTV engineer needs to adapt into something quite alien to what he has been used to for the last few years.

Networks and Laptops.

Understanding of customers networks, loading and operating software and a total understanding of Internet protocol. These will soon be the new tools of the  CCTV engineer. Admittedly many products already require a laptop to set them up but this can nearly always  be done by the IT department before the product goes to site. Remote connectivity is almost rendering the commissioning process on site redundant and the engineer as we know him is being pushed to one side by the IT departments. This however is inevitable, Integrated CCTV , IP intruder alarms and access control is now the prefered option of many companies and the CCTV engineer needs to be ever more technically minded and versatile.

Conclusion.

Finally we ask will the CCTV engineer actually ever be replaced ? Well more and more functions can be carried out remotely and with customers networks being used instead of coaxial cable runs many skills are being lost or replaced by IT functions. It seems to me that the the friendly CCTV engineer must evolve quickly or sadly, very soon he could be replaced by the IT integrator.

NSI, SSAIB why they are needed within the CCTV industry.

SSAIB, NACOSS, NSI

It does not matter what inspectorate you use, the need to audit is an unquestionable asset in the security industry today. To be fair most of the big companies are “forced” to subscribe to an auditor to be able to give the correct certification to their customers in order that the customer can comply with their insurers demands.

The dreaded visit.

It is fair to say that most company Quality assurance managers dread the impending visit by their inspector,  MD’s also tend to fuss around at the last minute trying to ensure that all their paperwork is up to date and all their internal and external audits have been completed. Staff are briefed what to say and the office and vehicles are meticulously cleaned ready to greet the unwelcome guest.

Think about it though!

Why is this necessary though? At the end of the day all the inspector will look at is to see that you do what you actually say you do in order to give your customers fair service , well installed equipment and value for money. The company should always work to these standards and seek to continuously improve on them. Whats wrong with doing what you have agreed to do when you are certificated? After all it is usually the MD or QAM who has written the proceedures your company will be following anyway.

What are the benefits of being audited?

Well, training is audited , administrative procedures to, Installation standards, stock control, security screening and so on. All of these things are a crucial to maintaining the highest standards within your company. Lets be honest would you want to let anyone into your house or business to install something as sensitive as a security system if they had not been audited on the above subjects? I would think not!

It should be easy.

It certainly should be easy. All your company and its employees have to do is follow the instructions written down in your company manual , simple! Any changes or improvements to procedures simply need to be noted and updated within the manual and adhered to. Anyone cutting corners or breaking company procedures really do need to be reprimanded and bought to book . After all you must want staff to do as they are are asked and follow the instructions laid down pretty much to the letter.

Changes within the industry.

With the rapid introduction of integrated CCTV, IP cameras and integrated access control companies and inspectorates alike must adapt to these changes. Manuals will need to be re-written and procedures changed especially bearing in mind that third party networks will form the backbone of any IP CCTV solutions in the integrated security market place. This being said it will not be insurmountable to introduce standards to ensure the end user is not short changed.

Summary.

So in summary being regulated and inspected is actually good for all involved . Security companies get the staff they deserve and the staff get the training and clear working mandate they need. Most importantly the security industry is thankfully short of cowboy installers and this of course means that the end user can be rest assured that they will get a well installed reliable security solution.

Biometrics, things are not as bad as they seem!

Are biometric readers the future?

This is a question that has recently been raised in the security community. After all biometrics have been around for a long time now and their impact in the market has been very limited indeed in integrated systems.

To many things to too many people.

For those who have looked closely at the subject the reason for this lack of  market penetration is simple, manufacturers are trying to do too much with the biometric reader. By trying to appeal to everyone and install too much functionality into each device the units have become cumbersome , over engineered and very expensive, literally pricing themselves out of the market.

Why has this happened with biometric readers?

The main reason is speed. To open the door quickly most readers incorporate a card reader or a key- code that must be entered first before the finger is presented, this is so that when the database makes a search for the fingerprint, it already knows where it is looking because the card or code will point the database to where it has to match the fingerprint. Fingerprints are complicated, if you had no card or key-code, a search of the whole database to match the exact print would leave someone standing outside the door for several seconds, hardly ideal.

Ergonomics

So we have slow expensive readers that quite frankly are unreliable and require two elements for them to work, its no wonder that something that has such promise has fallen so far into obscurity. Add to that the fact that many readers just don’t look the part and you even have the architects refusing to specify them in new build situations.

Externally quite frankly they have failed to perform in hostile conditions such as rain or snow and are badly effected by dust and grime.

So where do we go from here to sell the biometric reader?

The answer as far as we see it is integrated access control. The biometric reader needs to provide a more secure solution than the humble fob or card. It will need to look  good, be small and easy to fit to doors in place of existing card readers, be 100% read reliable and most importantly integrate directly into an existing access control system.

Does such a product exist?

We are sure it does but have yet to track it down. The ability for 100% read reliability is pretty much there and by decoding finger prints from an image into simple 1’s and o’s means that this information can be integrated into existing access control systems in the same way that a card or fob is read.  Get the cost to around £800-£950 installed and you have an extremely competitive product with all the benefits that Biometrics have always promised.

Summary

Partnership’s between some of the big suppliers of integrated security in the form of access control and the manufacturers who produce the biometric readers are inevitable. If a producer of the biometric reader can  overcome all of the problems we have highlighted above, incorporate a sleek and ip65 rated design and secure a partnership deal with an access control manufacturer, then the future of the biometric reader is very promising indeed.


Car dealer is spending 70K on security guards

Cost savings. Are they realistic?

We have talked about integrating various systems together without actually giving any real examples so below is one that integrated CCTV came across late last year and the solutions we provided.

The scenario

A large car dealer is currently spending nearly £70k per annum on a manned security guard to look after their site 365 days a year. Although the guarding company is doing a fairly good job, a risk assessment has proved that in the case of a break- in the chance of him being in the right place at the right time is slim. Therefore the company in question has concluded that it needs to source a far more cost effective method to secure the site.

Where can the cables go?

The site is 30,000 square meters and has no real secure fencing, anyone can enter the site at will and they have millions of pounds worth of stock on show. Due to the lack of fencing there are no real cable routes and also no fixing points for sensors on the perimeter and the whole site is block paved and this leaves no opportunity to trench or put up many poles.

The solution… Integrated security!

We concluded that a radical solution was required. One that used cutting edge technology together with an effective visual and audible deterrent, We also need to effect a manned response to a genuine alarm situation but not scare off any genuine customers viewing cars up to a certain time in the evening.

To add to our problems as mentioned before there was very limited scope to fix poles and run cables so sensors and fixed beams had to be ruled out. There was only one realistic answer left and this was to use analytics to generate alarms.

Light levels

The light levels were good and we decided to recommend a mixture of IP, wireless and traditional analogue cameras together with analytics to get the ultimate system and bring it in within budget.

The cameras on the building are wired in a traditional way, coax back to a standard codec to produce the analytics, then onto a hybrid DVR that was connected via broadband to a remote monitoring station. The IP cameras on the perimeter are to be  fixed  onto just two poles and linked via a wireless IP transmitter back to the hybrid dvr.

Controlling alarms

Sitting in between this was a control panel used to process alarms, generate on site verbal deterrent and sounders designed to remove unauthorised intruders. If this failed then the system was designed to call out the manned response but only as a final measure again helping to keep on going costs to a minimum.

Analytics

The use of analytics to generate the alarms however was the key to this working. Only in very recent times have we been able to use them effectively outside and in limited lighting conditions. This type of alarm generation will soon supersede traditional sensor technology and can only get better and better as large cooperation’s begin to invest heavily in analytics.

Conclusion

In conclusion the recommendations mean the car dealer now has the opportunity to lower security costs and will start to see savings filter through after 18 months or so. He has a system that is future proofed for at least the next 5 years and beyond. He has eyes all over the site 24/7/365 and as well as better security he has also got a sales tool and a health and safety watchdog as well as a deterrent system. Quite a few benefits for a great deal less money.

IP CCTV

IP CCTV.

It’s the buzz word currently in the CCTV industry. Everyone is talking about it but why?

It’s getting cheaper.

Yes the main thing is it is becoming affordable now and can certainly be considered for most applications involving integrated security.

Integrated CCTV.

Again a new buzz word. This is because most systems installed within the next 2-5 years will effectively be a mixture of analogue and IP cameras the reason behind this is because most customers out there will want to upgrade to IP but still have to include their legacy equipment wherever practical to give them a cost effective security solution.

What is better IP or analogue?

That actually does not matter . The move is slowly but surely moving to IP camera solutions because everything else out their is using IP and needs Internet connectivity to function in today’s market place.

Conclusion.

So we wont stop the march towards IP cameras and integrated CCTV systems very soon all security including access control and intruder alarms will cease to function using the old traditional ways. The future is here today!