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Shopping mall security systems move with the times

Video Domain Technologies from Israel and its local distributor, Emergency Reaction Services, have developed a new generation of shopping mall security systems that now include live CCTV monitoring of in-store emergencies when a panic button is pressed. Emergency Reaction Services has shopping mall security system installations in large centres such as Sandton City, Menlyn, Eastgate and Nelson Mandela Square.

The operation of the system is simplicity itself. The Neteye unit is connected into the existing in-store panic alarm system and existing or new CCTV cameras. When the panic alarm is activated, the Neteye unit 'dials' into the control room. It immediately displays live images of the problem in the store on the control room screen. At the same time it also sends the pre-alarm images to the control room. The control room can now monitor the situation live and view the events that led to the alarm being activated. The alarm incident and the pre-alarm frames are recorded off-site on the control room computer, while the incident is taking place. The control room base station is configured with twin screens and is able to receive multiple alarms simultaneously on each screen.

Morris Maram, MD of Emergency Reaction Services says: "The new system fills the void required to keep tenants and their customers safe in an emergency. There is no question that reaction teams will be able to provide an improved and safer response when they are fully aware of the problem that exists in the store."

The Neteye system provides total privacy for tenants. Control room staff cannot view a store unless an alarm has been triggered. In that instance the store unit connects into the control room. The system is not part of the centre CCTV system that would require the costly option of rewiring the centre and would, of course, create privacy issues with tenants.

The tenants have an added advantage. Store management can dial into their stores whenever they want to, using either a PSTN dial up or an ADSL connection, from anywhere in the world. The stores can even be viewed from laptop computers using 3G cards.

Emergency Reactions Services is the sole distributor of the new system and provide country-wide backup.

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