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NVT secures Eden

Eden Shopping Centre in High Wycombe town centre UK, opens its doors in March 2008. Ensuring Eden’s patrons and tenants are safe and secure, management at the all-new retail shopping paradise are committed to an effective security programme, the backbone of which is a comprehensive CCTV system, based on unshielded twisted pair (UTP) transmission technology from Network Video Technologies (NVT).

During the construction of the Eden project, centre owners Brookfield, wanted only the highest quality attainable CCTV images to be relayed to the on-site control room and initially specified a fibre-optic transmission network as part of the build schedule. However, once construction of the centre had begun, it became apparent that a fibre CCTV network and associated camera peripherals required would fall outside the allocated security budget for Eden.

Robbie Taylor, project manager for specifiers Total Security Protection (TSP) explains: “In order to obtain the quality of camera images that Eden’s management required, they initially deemed it necessary to transmit the centre’s camera images back to the control room via a fibre network. However, when we came onboard as specifiers for the project, it became clear that the budget the centre had, versus the number of cameras they required, meant this method would be too expensive, and that an alternative transmission solution would be needed. The problem was to find a solution that would cost a fraction of the cost of a fibre network, and yet provide the same high quality of transmitted images.”

Taylor’s solution was to specify NVT UTP video transmission technology. Using a network of Honeywell cameras complete with NVT UTP connectivity built in, camera images are transmitted from over 200 cameras via Cat 6 cable, installed in a network of underground ducting and above-ground containment (at the time of its build) by Eden’s own electrical contractors.

Taylor explains: “Utilising NVT UTP technology meant that we could be confident of a reliable, effective cable network, supporting the building contractors at the Eden site who were adhering to strict time scales. These deadlines meant that the CCTV cable network would be completely encapsulated before the installation of cameras and transmission equipment would begin. Using Cat 6 cable meant a greatly increased resilience to the rigours of the construction process than would have been the case using coax or fibre, and the methodology also allowed us to include a number of spare UTP pairs in each cable bundle. These could then be easily used, should an original pair become damaged, or for use if additional cameras are required to be added to the system in the future.

“The speed of connectivity of the NVT equipment and simple installation of the Cat 6 cable also helped us to save on valuable installation time and subsequent costs, both of which we were able to pass on to the customer.”

Effective surveillance

In the centre’s specifically constructed server room, multiple NVT NV-3262 32-port active UTP receiver hubs are employed. The active receiver devices allow realtime transmission of colour video up to 1,6 km, terminated via easy-to-use screw terminal video inputs on the rear of each hub.

From here, images are viewed and controlled in the control room, by up to three operators, during the centre’s busier periods. The operators not only detect and track any incidents on the surveillance system, but also provide a fast response, by directing members of the comprehensive manned guarding team to assist if necessary.

CCTV cameras cover all aspects of the centre, including all pedestrian walkways, stairwells and atriums, car park entrances and exits, bus station exterior and interior, as well as the exterior of the Eden building itself, including the cinema and bowling complex and the entrance/exits of the apartment building. This affords operators with an unparalleled overview of the entire centre, allowing security, management, and health and safety decisions to be made swiftly, based on a comprehensive visual summary of any monitored situation.

Specific challenges

As the existing Octagon centre remained open and fully operational throughout the building of Eden, NVT technology was used to supply a mirrored transmission solution, which saved valuable time in the switch over between the original Octagon control room and the transfer of all surveillance monitoring to the brand new Eden control room. Taylor explains: “We were able to keep the Octagon control room fully operational using a temporary NVT set-up. When we wanted to transfer control and monitoring across to Eden, we simply unplugged the Octagon control room from the NVT receivers in the server room and plugged-in the pre-wired and tested Eden system. This provided us with the confidence of a simple, fast changeover procedure and our customer with minimal downtime, as the whole operation took only two hours from start to finish.”

Eden management can now enjoy a future-proofed surveillance solution that will provide years of service and expandability, providing an unparalleled management tool and adding peace of mind to the millions of customers expected to visit Eden each year.

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