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For whom the video tolls

Tollink and Jasco keep an eye on the new Leandra toll plaza.

Tollink is a South African company specialising in the provision of technology for toll plazas on local and national roads. Part of this technology involves using a video ‘grabbing’ system to monitor vehicles passing through the toll plazas for traffic monitoring, account management and enhanced interoperability with the new open road tolling systems in the country, as well as for fraud management.

Managing the risk associated with fraudulent transactions is an important aspect of any tolling system, as it has the potential to cause substantial loss of income for the toll operators. In order to combat fraud, auditing systems linked into the security cameras are used to monitor booth employees and enable the toll operators to check back on transactions, should fraud be suspected.

When Tollink was commissioned to provide the technology for extending the N17 toll project from Brakpan to Ermelo with three new plazas, starting with Leandra Plaza, they approached Jasco Security Solutions and its Multivid brand to provide the necessary video surveillance solution.

“Having worked with Jasco Security Solutions on another project at the Tsitsikama Toll Plaza in the past, we were impressed with the quality of their work and awarded them a sub-contract to work on the N17 project. Multivid is well known in the South African security space, and we were confident that they had the skills and expertise to provide the solution we required. The quality of work at Leandra is a testament to this. It is a very professional installation and Jasco delivered the right balance of quality, sound reputation and price,” says David Reed, toll specialist at Tollink.

Says Marius Maré, Divisional MD of Jasco Security Solutions: “In terms of security and camera equipment, we provided Tollink with a video management system that has extensive interfacing capabilities with external equipment and is known for the quality of digital video recording it delivers.”

Marius Maré

As part of the security solution, Jasco provided not only the camera equipment and recording solution but also through its ICT division, delivered the network backbone and connectivity. Jasco worked closely with Tollink on the design and implementation of the video portion of the project and provided advisory services as and when needed.

The voice and data connectivity elements were crucial to the development, since the location of the Leandra Plaza places it well outside the range of the closest exchange and the area has limited 3G signal. The solution to this challenge was presented in the form of sites that provided a microwave line-of-sight link. This enabled the Internet and telephones to be connected, allowing the Leandra Plaza to transmit transaction data and videos to the back office as well as to SANRAL, the South African National Roads Agency.

The Leandra Plaza opened on 27 August 2011 as the first part of a larger project, and the same solution delivered by Jasco will be duplicated to the two other new sites along the N17. Installation of major technical equipment including intercoms, telephony systems and networking work will begin at the Trichardtsfontein and Ermelo Plazas before the end of the year.

Tollink is currently exploring future projects with the Jasco Group and is conducting research and development to customise products to meet the specific needs of Tollink.

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