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| Siemens Building Technologies retrun to Reading's GreenPark business complex for system upgrades |
All these changes have taken place under a renewed rental agreement, set in place at the beginning of the project, thereby providing the customer with flexibility to take advantage of latest developments without major cost increase on the current payments.
Since Siemens installed the first phase of security systems the site has grown from an initial 1 million sq ft office development to an impressive 2.25 million sq ft hub with the addition of Lime Square, a retail development offering amenities such as a bar and brasserie, nursery and health and fitness club.
The new equipment provides high-resolution, low light colour/mono technology for enhanced surveillance of the site roadways and includes the addition of two ANPR cameras each at the Northern and Southern vehicular access points. A further three surveillance cameras have been added to enhance the coverage to include pathways leading onto the park for public safety.
The previous digital recording technology has also been upgraded in its entirety. All of the business park's cameras now record at a higher resolution than was possible when the system was originally installed. The original cameras also recorded only on a motion detection basis, but activity on the park has increased, making this system inefficient. The cameras now run 24 hours a day, recording 25 frames every second across a 31 day cycle. Furthermore, advanced search facilities enable the operators to quickly locate specific incidents on the recordings.
The first phase of the CCTV installation comprised 26 external colour dome cameras linked to a monitoring suite using ‘Touch-screen' technology. In the second phase Siemens engineers have added a further nine external cameras which maintain surveillance on the perimeter roadway, plus 13 cameras at Lime Square multi-storey car park and three more in the premises that house the park's crèche and health club. Siemens is employing its own fibre optic network to transmit images between the cameras and the control room.
The system was designed by Siemens and Kelly Taylor specifically to meet Home Office criteria for surveillance, which means that its performance is not only measurable against published benchmarks, but will meet the client's brief to secure the site more than adequately |
The system was designed by Siemens and Kelly Taylor specifically to meet Home Office criteria for surveillance, which means that its performance is not only measurable against published benchmarks, but will meet the client's brief to secure the site more than adequately. The main control room has been built with room for expansion, and is able to accommodate up to 250 cameras. System configuration provides the control room with complete monitoring and control capabilities of all site cameras, while a secondary control room at Lime Square provides viewing access to all site cameras and priority control of its local cameras.
The installation hardware was bught on a capital cost basis, with the remainder of the CCTV contract placed within a Siemens rental agreement. "The purpose of this split payment agreement was to include Siemens within the life of the system," explained Bill Downie of Kelly Taylor. "That way our client reaps the benefit of maintaining close contact with the CCTV supplier."
An unusual aspect of the site contract was the decision to separate the security requirements from the overall design and build project. "Normally, the security element of a new build project will form part of the overall contractual package and is tendered on that basis. However, this approach can lend itself to lessening the security aspect of the CCTV requirement. For that reason we decided to treat CCTV as a separate item." said Bill Downie.
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