Time and again detector activated CCTV has demonstrated its ability to stop crime at the earliest possible stage on commercial and industrial sites across the UK and, crucially, to assist the police to apprehend the culprits.
The types of site where remotely monitored CCTV is applied are many and varied, ranging from out of hours protection for builders merchants', with valuable stock in yard areas, to schools which face the threat of vandalism and arson attacks. More recently we have even started to see it being adopted to protect the homes of high net worth individuals.
The growing interest in this intelligent approach to CCTV has been fuelled not only by the positive experience of end users on the ground but also by the introduction - for the first time - of an all embracing standard BS 8418. The pulling together of the key elements associated with this type of security by the Code of Practice, unveiled in September 2003, delivers an invaluable benchmark for anyone considering this type of protection for their premises.
It was certainly encouraging to see in a survey of BSIA CCTV Section members that 95% of respondents were either reasonably aware or very aware of BS 8418, so from an industry perspective the message is getting through.
Looking more closely at remotely monitored CCTV the overriding attraction has to be the fact that there is visual confirmation by an operator regarding the cause of a specific activation. This minimises false alarms and, crucially, enables the fastest possible appropriate action. In practice, this means transmission equipment linked to CCTV cameras and detectors on commercial, public sector and, increasingly, domestic sites.
If an alarm/detector is triggered images from an associated camera can be transmitted to a specialized Remote Video Response Centre (RVRC). Here operators can manage an incident by accessing a site plan, issuing audio warnings (via on-site speakers) to intruders - a sufficient deterrent in over 90 per cent of incidents - and if necessary alerting the emergency services, who as the incident is confirmed visually, should provide a priority response. Images of offenders can even be stored for evidential purposes.