After a gruelling tender process against five other competitors, Sensormatic SA has been chosen as the supplier and project management company for the Business Against Crime (BAC) surveillance project in Cape Town.
According to a Sensormatic company spokesman, all six companies involved in the tender process were required to install a dome camera at a high vantage point outside the Control Room in central Cape Town. Test criteria were set up and 10 independent observers were asked to award points for different performance criteria, which included daytime and nighttime viewing, camera features, size, speed, zoom etc.
"It is imperative that anyone considering utilising CCTV for CBD surveillance gets expert advise on selecting the correct technology. BAC (Western Cape) has spent the last two years evaluating scores of products against strict criteria," says John Penberthy, MD of BAC (Western Cape).
One of the main reasons Sensormatic secured the tender was the superiority of its Ultra Dome 4 over the other products. Other contributing factors included the strong representation of Sensormatic in the Western Cape, together with the proven commitment of its skilled people in planning and delivering successful CCTV projects for major retailers and embassies. Bob Vanourek, President and CEO of Sensormatic Electronics Corporation, further strengthened the relationship with BAC by donating a video matrix to the project worth R148 000.
Working in close partnership with BAC, Telkom and Southwest Systems, Sensor-matic's Ultradome cameras have identified many perpetrators during the trial phase, whilst meeting the stringent requirements as specified by Thys Le Grange, Gray Security Services, acting as design consultant to BAC.
"Some important well-publicised arrests have already resulted from this system, with scores of petty crimes identified and acted upon," says John Penberthy of BAC.
"To be effective in this environment, you have to have versatile, rugged and reliable cameras, together with state-of-the-art control room technology which will perform to the optimum under many challenging lighting and weather conditions," says Richard Pople, Managing Director of Sensormatic South Africa.
Sensormatic has custom built consoles for the control room, ergonomically designed with the assistance of Leaderware's Dr. Craig Donald, along with other equipment including Sony colour monitors and Sensormatic Touchtracker controllers for ease of use.
Phase 1 of the project will be worth in the region of R6,5 million, and R8,35 million has been made available to complete the first footprint of the City Centre Surveillance Project by the City Council. Local business is also contributing to this effective solution to the threat of rampant crime.
There are currently 12 cameras installed in the city centre with the intention to expand to over 100 in the near future. Planning has already started to further increase the installation to 120 locations by early next year to include other high priority areas.
For details contact Sensormatic SA at its Johannesburg office on tel: (011) 466 0444, Cape Town (021) 559 4425, Port Elizabeth (041) 365 0747, East London (043) 721 0290, Durban (031) 702 8206, Zimbabwe (09263) 433 2181/2 or visit its international website at www.sensormatic.com
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