Background
The Møller Centre in Cambridge is a leading residential training and conference centre, owned by Churchill College and designed by Danish architect, Henning Larsen. The AP Møller Foundation of Denmark funded the building to promote continuing education and to encourage links between the college and the industrial world.
The centre has 16 training/conference rooms and 67 bedrooms and, like all residential centres, there is a requirement for effective, but discrete security. The Møller Centre already had a number of cameras in place, but this security system had become outdated. The centre's management commissioned Huntingdon-based Meridian Surveillance Systems Limited to upgrade their existing CCTV system with a security monitoring system that would give them coverage of key areas of the building.
Meridian, which was established 12 years ago, specialise in providing individually designed, bespoke security solutions for health trusts, government and blue chip corporate clients.
Making the choice
Meridian's sales director, Alan Roberts said: "As security is such a fundamental element of business, it is important for us to ensure our systems are up-to-date. While the system in place was doing a good job, the centre really needed improving. This overhaul was part of an upgrade policy to move the current CCTV system onto a digital platform, allowing images to be monitored via the college intranet infrastructure. The contract also included an upgrade of the existing cameras and display monitors."
Because of the need to migrate to a digital system, Meridian specified Siemens Building Technologies Security Products' equipment. At the heart of the set up was an Eventys Pro 16 channel Digital Video Management System (DVMS), which comes with an integrated CD recorder and a 500GB swappable hard drive.
Alan Roberts said: "The system offers more than enough capacity for this location, giving plenty of scope to upgrade in the future if required."
The installation
Fourteen new cameras were installed at the centre in key external and internal locations. The images from the camera are fed through via the centre's IT network to a central security monitoring point which has two screens. The Eventys Pro DVMS provides effective control over these cameras as well as recording of all the images.
The high specification of the Eventys Pro system means that each camera can be set individually to record in different modes at different times of the day or days of the week. This allows for added flexibility and can increase security when activity levels vary.
In addition, motion detectors will search for the first movement within an area and can automatically alert staff as well as increase the recording frame rate. The system can also synchronise all cameras to the time of the incident to see where the target has been, prior to, and after the recorded movement.
The benefits
Alan Roberts, said: "Crucial to the decision to install a Bewator Eventys Pro DVMS was its ability to integrate with the centre's intranet. Centre personnel with password access can not only view images on their own PCs at work, but also, if required, view live or recorded images remotely."
In fact, as well as offering a total accessibility platform across LAN, WAN or internet channels, Eventys Pro also allows authorised users to remotely configure the entire system, and make setting changes from virtually anywhere in the world.
Conclusion
The Centre now has a monitoring system that is flexible, easy to access and above all extremely effective.
Alan Roberts said: "The powerful features and ease of use of the Eventys Pro outperformed other DVRs. We will also be demonstrating the new features of the SOLARIS dome camera from Siemens Building Technologies Security Products on the system soon. As part of a forward thinking college, the Møller Centre is keen to harness the very latest technology as it becomes available"
