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Giving access a sporting chance

Home to a multi-million rand, state-of-the-art computer system as well as a host of other costly facilities, the new Nike World of Football centre in the heart of Soweto posed a serious challenge to secure.

Explains Zane Greeff, technical director for Elvey Security Technologies: “The Nike World of Football, which opened its doors the day the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa kicked off, was built at vast expense. Designed as both a skills development and football talent scouting facility for the under-privileged, it offers a range of sporting and life skills development resources. These include two artificial pitches, built at a cost of R7 million each and a computer centre complete with 20 Mac PCs and a .5 x 2.5 big screen television. There is also a fully equipped kitchen that provides free meals for players, a kit room stocked with practice gear, a gymnasium and a physiotherapy division, all of which needed to be well protected.”

Accordingly Nike put the security contract out to tender, inviting the security industry’s best to offer solutions. The tender was ultimately awarded to Revert Risk Solutions, which had already proved itself as the stalwart guardian of Nike’s own premises.

Says Jan van Niekerk, business development manager for Revert Risk Solutions: “The centre required a comprehensive system, one that would not only provide impenetrable perimeter protection but would also allow for 24/7 monitoring and access control. Accordingly, we designed a solution utilising Impro Technologies’s IXP 220 software and its own BSHO range of biometric readers, as well as electric fencing, CCTV surveillance cameras and access control.”

Aside from the challenge of designing this system, Revert had an additional challenge to contend with, he adds. “We had just one month in which to install the entire system. That in itself was a test, which was exacerbated by the presence of a number of other contractors on site, all intent on completing their own projects.”

As a result, the Revert team was only able to commence installation a week before deadline. Lynette Mollet, brand events manager for Football SA says, the project was completed in time for the opening.

Powered by a 100 Mbps TCP/IP/USB/RS485 connection, the system can handle up to 1000 sites, 10 000 tags and 100 000 buffered transactions per controller. Able to operate fully redundant offline from one door to up to 256 anti-passback doors, the IXP 220 is powerful enough to run a large business or residential complex, yet simple enough for use in a single house, he adds.

In addition to the features contained in its forerunners, namely the user-friendly IXP 120 and IXP 200 software suites, the IXP220 offers new attributes such as the Controller User Data Protocol (UDP) Output, which allows a unicast message to be broadcast to a third-party device directly from a system controller. There is also the Door Configuration Wizard, which speeds up the process of creating new doors.

Concludes Greeff, “The risk control system at the Nike World of Football is impressive, not only because of its ability to secure such a large, complex site but also because the same technology is now available to home and small business owners.”

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