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IP CCTV keeping shoppers safe and secure

Large-scale retail environments are ideally placed to take advantage of the many benefits that IP-based CCTV security solutions offer, as demonstrated by IndigoVision's recent installation during renovations at Northgate Mall in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

The mall has more than 102 000 m² of retail space and over 100 specialty shops and four department stores. 27 cameras monitor the main public shopping areas inside the mall and the surrounding areas around the outside of the building.

As John Loftus, managing director of Norbain SA (distributors of IndigoVision in Africa) explains, "Existing network infrastructure could be used and long distance cables are not required. Cameras can also be moved with minimum time and effort, without needing to replace cables and they can be installed at any location as long as it is near the Ethernet infrastructure."

Control Center, IndigoVision's IP video and alarm management software, allows operators to view live and recorded video from any of the cameras. Two Control Center workstations are used, one in the main security control room and one in the manager's office. Video is recorded using IndigoVision's network video recorder (NVR) software running on a Windows 2003 server.

The flexibility of IndigoVision's IP video solution allows workstations, cameras and NVRs to be located at any point on the network. This creates a 'virtual matrix' that replaces the traditional analogue switching matrix providing for remote monitoring and a truly scalable solution for future expansion.

Each camera at Northgate is connected to an IndigoVision 8000 transmitter/receiver module, which converts the analogue feed to DVD-quality digital video for transmission over the network. Each 8000 module can also transmit two-way high-quality audio and interface to hardwired I/O.

Bandwidth can be controlled for each camera, and different streams at different bandwidths are available for viewing across different networks. WAN uses low bandwidth for instance, whereas bandwidth is set to high for LAN connections.

Northgate Mall's security team works very closely with the local police and has assisted them on several occasions by supplying video clips of incidents from outside cameras. Video clips can be exported from Control Center for evidential purposes using sophisticated encryption and watermarking techniques to ensure the material is tamper-proof.

Loftus concludes, "We have arrived at the point where IP-based systems are not only cheaper in the long run, but even startup costs can be lower than conventional systems, especially above the 64 cameras mark."

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