With the tightening of government budgets, local governments are faced with the challenge to save money on town security but not compromise on quality of service. A major hurdle for local governments to overcome is to install video surveillance in built up town centres or areas where it is too costly or physically impossible to reach with additional cabling.

A recent town security installation in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, deployed a 5 GHz wireless security solution that overcame these barriers. GVD worked with Custodian Electronic Security Solutions to devise a wireless system that extended over 3km, connecting security cameras in a car park monitoring for theft with cameras in the recycling area surveying for illegal dumping and with security cameras in the town centre monitoring for anti-social behaviour. Vincent Byrne, Civil Engineer Technician, Wicklow County Council Greystones Area Office, specified the project and is very pleased with the installed IP security system. The disruption to the town and the cost of laying cable would have made this project financially impossible.

By using a smart IP security solution, the entire installation cost one tenth of a traditional fibre network and resulted in a 90% cost saving. Such cost savings are increasing the demand amongst local governments for more and more wireless solutions.

“The quality of the image in the live picture and in particular on recorded images with the non-pixellation of the images on zoom, are the best features of the megapixel cameras”, according to Declan Greene, Managing Director of Custodian Electronic Security Systems. “Furthermore, Greystones Town Council, were able to protect their investment in the existing analogue cameras, by converting these to IP using video encoders. The wireless solution is very robust, giving the Town Council rock solid connectivity over a wide area without recourse to civil engineering costs, making this security solution a viable option when budgets are tighter.”

For Town Centre security the main advantages of an IP solution are:

* Megapixel picture quality for superior image quality & licence plate recognition
* Wireless networking to minimise disruption and maximise budget
* Milestone software to watch live footage and playback simultaneously
* Deliver pay back on investment by issuing illegal dumping fines with clear evidence from megapixel cameras

The project required intensive planning, consultancy and set up of a telecommunications network. The primary challenge was to stage and set up a media centre with wireless networks on a green field site in the K Club for arguably the most prestigous sporting event staged in Ireland in recent years -  The Ryder Cup.

GVD provided the consultancy during the build up to the event and with onsite presence during the event. The complete solution for this project including installing and configuring the wireless equipment, ensuring full security of the network and completing the physical cabling requirements necessary to join the wireless bridge to the Network was handled by GVD. Designed and managed a media centre to cater for over 1,000 media personnel during the week of the Ryder Cup.

“GVD delivered reliable connectivity, which in turn made our job easier. A contented media is far more acceptable to us than an unhappy media! The European Tour – our Communications Department in particular- would have no hesitation in recommending GVD and we all look forward to working with you again in the future.” - Gordon Simpson, Director of Communications, Ryder Cup Ltd

“In a very confusing world, GVD project managed the whole operation to ensure that the Ryder Cup was 100% successful from a telecommunications perspective. The K Club as a green-field site had very little infrastructure and GVD initiated the planning from the start.The importance of GVD managing the project cannot be over-emphasised and it saved us months of time and hassle.” - Antonia Beggs, Event Staging Manager, Ryder Cup 2006

The challenge was to upgrade the existing analogue network to a digital platform and modernise the security system in line with the image and clientele of The Dorchester Hotel. High-profile clients like celebrities, diplomats, politicians, royalty, business leaders and society patrons have heightened concerns about their safety. The construction of new hotel locations also demanded a security system that could grow with their requirements over time, allowing them to stay on top of new innovations in the industry.

GVD delivered a new system using Milestone XProtect Enterprise IP video management software with ACTi video encoders to digitize data from a mix of existing analog camera brands throughout the hotel and new IP network cameras. The ACTi encoders are fed through Cisco network switches into 5 servers running the Milestone software.

The Milestone IP video surveillance provides a future-proof platform for this hotel’s expanding and varied needs. It scales up for new locations no matter how far, and allows integration with new innovations as they become available. The previous investments in analog cameras are leveraged by the ACTi encoders while newer technologies are easily added, like cost-effective H.264 compression-standard network cameras that give better system utilization.

The new IP security solution has streamlined the system setup and operations. Previously the network server room contained DVR hardware which used too much space with sprawling analog cables connecting disparate sequences of cameras from mixed locations. Now the server room is ultrastreamlined with a set of servers in neatly shelved racks. In addition to live views or recorded archive searching and export, Milestone alerts to cameras that go out of operation and need attention. At no time will the security team lose sight of any key zones of the building.The Milestone system is far easier – not just the playback and finding footage it gives more detailed recordings and playback options than before.

The Dorchester Head of Security says: “The system works specifically for us and that’s what we’ve wanted – we didn’t just buy something pre-determined out of a box from a brochure. We got a system that works for us and is very user-friendly. That’s vital for our performance, especially under pressure when there are a number of things happening at one time.”