The importance of interoperability for organisations with a large number of satellite operations has been demonstrated by a project in which Vanderbilt has supplied a managed security system for some 1310 post offices throughout Austria.
The system was supplied to Österreichische Post AG to protect their network of Post Offices which provide a wide range of services to the people of Austria on a daily basis. With banking services in the guise of the PSC Bank being an integral part of every Post Office, along with an operation which sees some 40 million parcels delivered to more than 3 million households every year, the importance of a robust, reliable and easily monitored security system was identified as critical.
Vanderbilt SISTORE AX range
By using the existing LAN network, Vanderbilt were able to provide a solution which combined intrusion detection and video surveillance for each Post Office, with the system reporting back to the Vanderbilt control centre located in Nuremberg, Germany.
The system was rolled out throughout the country and the scale of the project is demonstrated by the equipment that has been supplied: the video surveillance element features 6,000 Vanderbilt video surveillance cameras—installed in sensitive areas within each post office building, such as entrances, safes areas and parcel delivery & collection areas—and 1,650 Digital Video Recorders from the Vanderbilt SISTORE AX range. The intrusion detection system includes 2,500 Intrunet IR200ME motion detectors, 1,400 seismic detectors and magnetic contacts, 3500 alarm push buttons and 1310 Intrunet SI120 intruder alarm systems and operating keypads.
Permissions regarding access by designated Post Office personnel can be remotely changed from the centre |
Intrunet SI120 systems control motion detectors
The intruder alarm system is pre-programmed to activate/deactivate at specific times, based on business hours. For out of hours security, the Intrunet SI120 systems control motion detectors strategically placed inside each Post Office, as well as seismic detectors which immediately alert in case of an attempted attack on the safes, and magnetic contacts triggering an alarm in case of windows or doors being opened. The system is linked to the SISTORE AX DVRs, which are set to record in real time in case of an intrusion alarm. Access control readers are used to control entry to sensitive areas, enabling staff to perform their daily tasks whilst customers are kept out of non-public areas.
Comprehensive remote services
All of this equipment feeds information over the LAN directly to the Vanderbilt control centre from where all monitoring and response to security alerts is coordinated. In the event of an alarm condition, personnel at the control centre identify the location, verify the source of the alarm and then co-ordinate any necessary response from the police or emergency services, providing a single partner solution for the entire Post Office network. Permissions regarding access by designated Post Office personnel can be remotely changed from the centre, with the key administration through which the system is activated or deactivated also the responsibility of Vanderbilt through this central control process.
With video surveillance, intruder detection and access control moving over increasingly wider areas, the importance of networks is growing. In the case of Österreichische Post AG, by employing the existing LAN network, the costs of secured phone lines were avoided.
The interoperability of the Vanderbilt approach has also allowed the potential for an access control system to be added at a later date, the management and control of which again lies with the single front end system located within the control centre.