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| Around 150 cameras supervise the site and provide a valuable video record of shipments |
Chronopost International, leading provider of express parcel delivery services in France and worldwide, has deployed a complete end-to-end IP video solution from IndigoVision to protect and streamline its logistics operations of its hub located at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris. Around 150 cameras provide both security monitoring of the site and a valuable video record of shipments. Chronopost owns a network of 80 operational sites that enables them to deliver over 300,000 items a day to 230 countries.
The ability to provide high-quality video recordings is vitally important. The reliability and security of the system and recorded video was therefore one of the main reasons for Chronopost choosing the IndigoVision solution.
"We know with the redundant recording solution provided by IndigoVision the probability of losing any recordings is very small," said Xavier Blanc, Chronopost's Technical Safety Manager. "If we lose a Network Video Recorder (NVR) on a Saturday night, the back-up NVR will automatically take over and we can wait until Monday morning for the unit to be replaced. This saves us money by not needing to have a 24/7 maintenance contract. The new system has also allowed us to improve the operational efficiency of the guards by deploying automatic alarm-based incident response."
The original analogue surveillance system was upgraded and improved using IP Video when a new automatic dispatch system was installed at the facility. Analogue fixed cameras from the original system were reused by connecting them to IndigoVision encoders, which convert the analogue signals into high-quality H.264 compressed digital video for transmission over the network. IndigoVision IP cameras, both fixed and PTZ, were also installed.
"Onboard analytics built into the encoders and IP cameras help us to minimize video downtime," added Blanc. "Obscured or unfocussed cameras are automatically detected and operators immediately alerted. Due to the modular and distributed nature of the system we are instantly aware of any problems, including interruption to video streams. Replacement of any encoders or IP cameras is very easy."
Using "Control Center", IndigoVision's Security Management Software, operators view live and recorded video using one workstation located in the main security room of the Security Department and live-only video remotely in the guard's station. "Control Center" provides an advanced set of features and analytics for analysing recorded footage for specific incidents, together with full video synchronisation, which is an invaluable tool for evidence gathering. Recorded video from several cameras at different times can be viewed on the same viewing window. With a single click of the mouse all the cameras can be time synchronised together, allowing operators to track a shipment across several views as it moves through the hub.
A total of 11 NVRs, including the failover backup, provide Chronopost with a fully searchable, high-quality 30-day video archive of all the cameras. Due to IndigoVision's class-leading compression technology the amount of storage required is typically much lower than comparable systems. This storage requirement is further reduced by the use of Activity Control Framerate (ACF), a motion-based analytics function running in real-time in the encoders and IP cameras. ACF controls the framerate of the camera video stream based on the amount of motion in the scene. When there is no activity, video is streamed over the network at minimum framerate; the instant motion is detected the video is automatically transmitted at the maximum configured framerate.
