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Isys Technologies secures Liberty Midlands Mall

KwaZulu-Natal based Isys Technologies, a company that specialises in building integration solutions, has provided the software and infrastructure to monitor essential services at the recently opened Liberty Midlands Mall in Pietermaritzburg.

Integrating such services as CCTV security cameras, smoke detection, uninterrupted power supplies, energy meters and lighting control, security and staff at the mall utilise only one dual monitor PC to manage and control the entire system. If an event occurs such as an alarm being triggered, all CCTV cameras in the surrounding areas are automatically displayed on the screens provided, allowing the controller to investigate and then dispatch security personnel to the relevant section.

"Traditionally, the security control room of a complex is filled with monitors displaying each of the services on separate screens. While it can be effective, it is difficult to monitor each activity individually and operators need to be well versed with the many different technologies that apply to each service," says Chris Grice, who is responsible for sales and support at Isys Technologies.

IP facilitates integration

Using IP technology, Isys Technologies selected network-switching products manufactured by LevelOne, supplied by The Networking Warehouse in Durban.

"In today's competitive ICT environment there are numerous vendors to choose products from, but we selected LevelOne equipment as it was recommended to us for being affordable, offering good support and providing swap out facilities for faulty equipment," says Grice.

The Liberty Mall, which opened to the public in late September, covers a roofed area of 39 000 sq/m. Isys segmented the facility into eight logical sectors served by a fibre-optic cabled backbone. An eight-way LevelOne fibre switch was installed in each sector and is served by a central 24-way fibre switch located in the control room.

This infrastructure caters for an enormous amount of future growth without having to deploy additional cabling, as only two ports of each of the eight-way switches are currently utilised. Additional services such as the monitoring of airconditioning, temperature control, communications, video or any other electronic services can be accommodated at the remaining six points.

INET Industries, Isys' sister company, designed the I/Vision software that allows the various electronic elements at the mall to be integrated. The software has been used at several other large sites.

"The concept of using computers to present building information is not new. What is new is that technology allows us to integrate sub-systems into a single system, thus eliminating the need for several computers to run disparate electronic devices that are often difficult to maintain and monitor effectively," says Grice.

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