The Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales was the host course to the recent All*Star Cup celebrity golf championship. It's to host the Ryder Cup in 2010.
The resort is thought to be the single largest private investment ever in the British hospitality industry. Visual surveillance is a key management tool. Security was to the fore during the All Star Cup over the August 2005 Bank Holiday weekend, when stars of sport and show business competed in a USA versus Europe Matchplay tournament covered by Sky TV. But even if there were such a thing as a run-of-the-mill day at Celtic Manor, security is maintained because even without celebrities, there is the sheer size, diversity and net worth of the assets on site. Celtic Manor prides itself on a relaxed and friendly environment for staff and visitors.
Some history
The original analogue system had been installed at the time of the resort's initial construction in 1999. The pace of technological change, and the scale of operations at the resort, meant in 2002 an upgrade strategy was required for a phased replacement of all analogue components to digital. The advent of digital systems and their multi-purpose capability by now meant that the evaluation and operations process was no longer solely a security issue. Security Manager Ian Currie was required to consult in depth with his Vice President for Facilities and Development, Russell Phillips and IT Manager Clive Morgan.
Networking features
March Networks 4000 Series DVRs used at Celtic Manor allows a capture rate of up to 240 frames per second, depending on the number of active cameras. Some 16 NTSC/PAL inputs are provided for video capture, and video compression stores this video to scalable, high-capacity internal hard-drives. With all four hard-drives installed, the internal storage capacity is 1.2 terabytes. Extra capacity and data security is achievable due to options such as mirroring and external RAID-5 archiving. Networking features include bandwidth control to match LAN or WAN capabilities, local and remote management (including compatibility with the DVR manufacturer's Enterprise Management Suite of multi-site management software), and local or remote export of video evidence to CD.
Events
Hosting conferences is a big revenue-earner for the resort and high-profile events are good for business and for the image. The All Star Cup is a prime example of how little margin for error there is in operation of a surveillance system. Aside from the celebrities taking part, a public gallery of 35,000 watchers and television coverage on Sky the whole weekend, meant that any slip-ups would be public.
EU ministers
A few weeks after the golf, the resort hosted the EU Foreign Ministers Conference. The Metropolitan Police among others scrutinised the resort's security. ‘The resort's ability to demonstrate its surveillance system was key in being able to secure the business', it reports. During the conference, police needed to connect to and use the DVR systems to increase CCTV coverage in and around the resort. There were several visits and examination of the surveillance and image management equipment by the Home Office and the Police Scientific and Development Branch (PSDB). At this stage it was determined how compatible the DVRs were with the police's own systems, which remained confidential as they were given access to a secure golf training room, in which to set up as their own CCTV control centre. While the main role of CCTV is crime prevention and detection, health and safety is a consideration. For example, conference delegates have different needs to gym users. Guests who drive to the resort need to know their vehicles are safe, whereas golfers arriving by coach and taxi need to know where their bags are best left so as to be secure while causing the least obstruction. Children in the swimming pool require different monitoring to players browsing in the golf pro shop and so on. A total of 120 CCTV cameras cover the 14-floor hotel and leisure complex, club-house, golf academy, golf maintenance depot, pro-shops, car parks and access roads. The digital data is managed and archived across a range of 14 of the manufacturer's DVRs.
Evolving system
The resort's CCTV has been evolving over years, which means that cameras on site include Dennard, Philips and Sensormatic brands. According to Ian Currie, the DVRs provide him and his team with speed, efficiency and ease of use. He says: "There is no comparison with the previous analogue system. When required, the police have found the system to be compatible with their needs and it has proved effective in identifying individuals." In a recent security issue two persons entered the leisure centre changing rooms and stole from lockers. One suspect was clearly seen on CCTV and it was quickly established by use of a DVR that he was unauthorised. He returned two days later and was identified by security officers using images from the archived video. He was detained for police; he admitted the thefts and implicated another person who, when arrested, admitted burglaries in the Newport area and later went to prison.
What installer says?
Due to the fact that the site security is constantly evolving, the resort sought to retain installers and integrators to ensure smooth operations. Neil Winter, MD of South Wales Cameras of Cardiff says: "The use of DVRs is a major plus for Celtic Manor, as with all modern businesses that operate CCTV. The main advantage is that the images are stored on hard drives and not on tapes. The picture quality is superior and it is extremely easy to find an incident by date and time. Another advantage to the Celtic Manor is that CCTV images can be viewed throughout the network, which is extremely useful to the departmental managers."