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Centurion estate upgrades security

The Centurion Country Club and Golf Estate is located in a 160 hectare estate close to Irene in the Gauteng province. Apart from the estate’s homes, it also incorporates a golf course and conference facilities.

The estate recently underwent a significant security upgrade. Security director, Vincent Blasl says the estate realised it would have to improve its security technology to minimise the weaknesses in its defence system, as well as to reduce the human factor in making mistakes.

According to Blasl, there were three primary areas identified for improvement. The first was to replace the guarding company with a well-established company. Next, the fences needed attention and needed to be upgraded to consist of multiple layers of security protection including a wall, electric fence and FLIR cameras.

Finally, the entrance and exit points were to be improved by installing IP cameras and a fingerprint access system in conjunction with a new visitor booking system.

Blasl says the goal was to make it as difficult as possible for intruders to enter the estate, while simultaneously spreading the message throughout the estate that criminals will be caught and prosecuted. The ultimate goal was to provide the residents with peace of mind.

Using experts

To start the ball rolling, Centurion adopted a simple approach. It used a specialist consultant who had the right background and experience in the field to identify the estate’s requirements. And while some estates may be concerned about the cost of hiring professionals, Blasl advises decision makers to “use experts to save on costs”.

Once the needs analysis was complete, Centurion identified 11 companies capable of providing the solution required. It narrowed the list to four financially sound and capable companies from which it requested quotes and recommended solutions. Finally, the board of directors made the decision on which company to use.

The changes were implemented in phases, budget and time permitting. Two hurdles the security team had to overcome before embarking on the project was obtaining the financial backing from residents and convincing them that technology does in fact have a limited lifespan.

These problems were overcome and the project was initiated. To ensure everything was on track, the progress was monitored regularly. As a result, Blasl says the result has been complimented by industry experts as having provided a world-class solution. He adds that Centurion probably has the best value for money security solution of any estate.

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