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Oxford Street shopping in style and safety

One of London's busiest shopping centres has upgraded to a digital security system controlled by three Dedicated Micros' DS2 multiplexers. The Plaza on Oxford Street is a 3-floor complex comprising of 38 retail outlets, a food court and a health club. With long opening hours and a prime location at the heart of the capital's shopping district, security is a key management issue.

The existing VCR-based system could no longer meet the stringent requirements for high quality images and reliable security coverage. Management at the centre were experiencing problems with tape management issues and poor image resolution, so it brought in retail security specialists Unitec 24 to advise on the best upgrade.

Paul Marsh, managing director of Unitec 24 takes up the story. "As part of the new security desk which we installed in the central control room, we recommended DM's DS2 multiplexers, combining video multiplexing, digital recording, network video transmission and dome control in one package. In comparison with other digital systems on the market, which can often be quite complicated to get to grips with, the DS2's menu-driven approach is very straightforward and easy to use.

"There had been a couple of incidents where images from the previous video timelapse recorders - taping activity in 24 hour mode - were simply not good enough quality to use as evidence, which was obviously very frustrating.

"With the new system, we have set up many of the 48 cameras to record on activity only, freeing up a lot of extra recording power to capture far more accurate images. For example, a number of cameras were trained on a basement corridor in the centre. Although this had proved itself to be a potential escape route for shoplifters in the past, and was therefore a core priority for cameras, the vast majority of the footage was usually of blank walls. The video motion detection capability with the DM system means we avoid all those wasted images, allowing us to capture the images we really want at a much higher resolution."

The system is fully networked, enabling live images to be viewed directly by centre management from the comfort and convenience of their own PCs - they simply have to click on an icon to gain access to the network. This does not merely allow viewing of images, it also enables cameras to be selected and controlled remotely and extends the system's usefulness as a management tool.

Centre manager, Wayne Pearce added, "It is very important to us that our retail outlets are satisfied with the security we operate, so our system must be able to provide the safest possible environment.

"Our staff have found the new system much easier to control than the analog one - using the remote keyboard it is quicker to move between cameras, for example, to review incidents as they are happening. In addition, we no longer have the hassle of video tape management. The digital system removes the need to constantly change tapes and allows security staff to find recorded images within seconds rather than minutes, via the GOTO and event preview facilities."

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