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| Samsung’s SNP-6200HP PTZ, SNO-7082R bullet, SND-7082 and SNV-7080R dome, and SNZ-5200 zoom cameras are installed at the college |
The College was originally founded as a boys' school, the Farnborough Grammar School, when in September 1936, the Aldershot County High School outgrew its premises and the boys were relocated to Farnborough. Incorporated as a sixth form college in 1992, it has grown fast from 1,180 full-time students in 1992 to over 3,500 students supported by nearly 400 staff.
A basic analogue CCTV system was installed circa 1998 and provided recorded imaging in keeping with the performance capabilities of the time. Kevin Balenzuela, Head of College Systems and Communications Department explains, “To combat some minor pilfering and monitoring of visitors and vehicles, it was realised that a more dedicated solution was required to run alongside the existing security system, to provide high quality imaging that could be used for effective and clear identification of individuals in the event of an incident”.
In November 2012, Kevin, having extensive experience in Electronics (Computerised Control Systems) as well as Digital Forensics, set about an R&D phase to establish a technical specification to meet the demanding operational requirement set out by the College management team – “with quality of imaging that could deliver a clear view down to the emblem on a shirt!”
Kevin and his team embarked upon a full market evaluation of technologies to identify a performance product, along with manufacturer and distribution, to deliver an operationally compliant installation along with a solid ongoing support infrastructure. The system chosen was Samsung, supplied and supported by Aasset, “The Samsung solution was clearly ahead of other solutions in terms of image quality and low light performance; and the lack of licencing burden made Samsung a best value long term solution”, Kevin says.
The original system installation was an immediate success and resulted in a roll out across the campus to replace also the original aging analogue solution. The system now consists of over 60 cameras; SNP-6200HP PTZ, SNO-7082R bullet, SND-7082 and SNV-7080R dome 3Mp cameras, with also several SNZ-5200 zoom cameras. Cameras are recorded to 5 SRN-1000 NVRs carrying some 80Tb of storage to record cameras at 1080p Full HD in real time for 45 days. The system operates on a fully independent network so as to have no impact on the quality of service across the College IT network; and also to provide additional data security and compliance to Data Protection and management requirements.
“The system has seen continuous growth and development and we will continue to monitor Samsung product development to ensure that we can maintain best performance from the system" |
Live monitoring is provided via Samsung Security Manager from the Lock down Control Centre (LCC) where day to day management as well as major incident control management is operated. The LCC is then supported from 4 sub control positions around the campus. The College operates within strict Data protection requirements and maintains tight control of data and authorised access to the system. Simon Jarvis, CEO says, “We are committed to providing a safe learning environment for our students and staff but we deliver this with non-oppressive systems and operations. As a result our students embrace our security concept and have confidence that their well-being is our priority and that incident, while rare, can be investigated quickly and thoroughly”.
The R&D phase identified Aasset and Samsung to deliver a best value installation but more importantly a scalable solution that also could allow value orientated expansion. Colin Spicer, Network Technician comments, “The system has seen continuous growth and development and we will continue to monitor Samsung product development to ensure that we can maintain best performance from the system. This year we will evaluate the new Samsung SRN-4000 NVR solution to establish benefits of the latest bandwidth capability and storage capacity”.
This system has been a clear success in terms of CCTV deployment. But the real success is as a demonstration of deployment to meet duty of care as a primary function and deliver a system and service that is indeed embraced by almost 4,000 beneficiaries on a daily basis.
