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Tighter security for the taxman

The Inland Revenue, along with all government departments in the UK, has bolstered its security arrangements since the events of 11 September.

Benton Park View, a six building office complex in Longbenton near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is home to NICO (National Insurance Contributions Office) and a number of Department of Work and Pensions offices. It is the largest Inland Revenue site in Britain (and reputedly contains the longest corridor in Europe!).

Alongside the ongoing redevelopment programme, a major upgrade of the CCTV system has recently been implemented.

ADT Fire & Security has been spearheading a £1million modernisation programme including access control and CCTV whilst the site has undergone the construction of some new buildings and the revamping of others.

To improve previous arrangements seven networked Dedicated Micros Digital Sprites have been installed in the control room, which is manned round the clock by security guards. 96 cameras, the majority of them PTZ, offer colour coverage during the day for accuracy and switch to black and white at night to allow for infrared monitoring.

Neil Titterington from ADT Fire & Security explains the rationale behind the decision: "We went for Digital Sprite for two main reasons - one, because it is so easy to use and uses such a familiar interface, it is actually a very easy sell-in to customers, and secondly because it is so cost-effective. It is about 40% cheaper than anything else with similar features on the market."

Neil continues: "The lack of VCR tape maintenance issues and the clarity of images are obvious benefits of digital over analog. But the time saved through instant access to images when reviewing is already really starting to add up."

Plans are also underway to remotely link the system to the NICO Security Team - five employees who look after the security for this and two other local government sites. Previously they had had to literally walk to the control centre to review any incidents at the security guard's request. Once the link is in place, they will be able to simply dial up and access the system from their own PC to view live and recorded images.

All seven multiplexers are controlled by two keyboards operated simultaneously by two security operators. As all the units are networked together, the guards can access images from any of the system's 96 cameras from either keyboard. Images are saved on the Digital Sprite's built-in hard drive.

For further details contact RGB Technologies on tel: 011 760 6437 or VisionLine on tel: 011 538 7000.

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