Monthly Archives: February 2012

benefits of HD CCTV

Posted on by

Police were able to go into such fine detail using HD CCTV they were actually able to literally see the whites of the criminals eyes. As more convictions are held up after the London riots using CCTV evidence. This is by far the best example yet.

 

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/cctv-snares-cross-eyed-arsonist-172421515.html

“Despite covering his face, officers combing through CCTV footage spotted Burls, of Purdon House, Peckham, because of his distinctive crossed eyes.

The 23-year-old originally denied the offence, but was jailed for a total of eight years at Inner London Crown Court after pleading guilty on January 30 to two counts of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered, and one of burglary with intent to steal at Iceland in Rye Lane, a court official confirmed.”

 

 

Bold Communications integrates Panasonic and Samsung into Gemini

Posted on by

Axis, Panasonic and Samsung are the latest big name manufacturers to be integrated into the Gemini front end CCTV from Bold communications.
Bold communications has already integrated many CCTV, intruder, fire and lone worker monitoring
products into their alarm monitoring control room solution. Gemini allows a large variety of different security systems to be monitored by one common interface allowing the central station operator to easily handle many different alarms with ease.

By displaying pre alarm information, the operator is more easily able to tell the difference between real and false alarms.With the Gemini event centre all alarms are processed by a common interface, this reduces operator training time and means a more professional response to alrm situations.

Sophisticated system features, for example, associating any standard
intruder or fire panel with a remote CCTV system, creates a truly
integrated solution with a high level of intelligent and targeted site
monitoring for your control room.  Gemini is now being specified for a wide variety of security solutions and projects worldwide, a totally integrated CCTV solution offers a high level of targeted response from within the control room.

For over 30 years Bold has been working with central stations developing management systems for
the alarm and CCTV monitoring. Bold now has a reputation within the security industry as a reliable robust solution for central stations with Gemini management software.

Hard drive price rises

Posted on by

We asked back in October after the devastating flooding in Thailand if the world was about to run out of hard drives. Well as yet we have not seen any issues of major shortages. However there is a warning sign and that there may be some round the corner and this is in the form of huge price rises.

1 tb hard drive price.

A Western Digital RE4 1TB 3.5″ SATA Internal hard drive has risen in price from just over £72 to a  current high of £216 and the 2 TB version has gone from £129 to an astonishing £323.

1 tb hard drive price

Now some  may say suppliers and manufacturers are profiteering of the back of the disastrous flooding .Other may say its simple economics of supply and demand. However with the prices looking like they are here for some considerable time to come cheap DVRs are a thing of the past and this will definitely slow demand for all things megapixel as storage and falling prices are key to its success.

We will continue to watch the prices of hard drives and keep you up to date as they hopefully begin to fall back towards the summer.

Changing security companies

Posted on by

When is it time to change your security provider? Is it better the Devil you know when it involves CCTV, access control and Intruder alarms or, if you don’t shop around are you in danger of paying well over the odds for your security systems?  There are generally two driving forces that make end users look at changing their security providers. The first is the after service they receive, the second is ongoing costs.

security service provider

Most companies decide to make a change because they are fed up of service levels they are receiving. Recent economic conditions have meant many security companies have had to make cut backs in order to survive, this invariably leads to poor service. It is also the case that prices have had to be squeezed at point of sale and this often leads to poor installations or the provision of cheaper, sub-standard kit. This can only lead to problems for the end user in the future.

So what is the best advice when choosing both a service provider and installer?

Firstly get references, talk to other companies that have used the security supplier and ask about their weak points and service levels.

Next, run a credit check. A good security company is a solvent one.

Always ensure they belong to an affiliated inspectorate such as the SSAIB or the NSI.

Ask to look at an installation or get a demonstration of their products.

Make sure the goods you buy are not closed protocol, once this type of system is installed you are trapped , going elsewhere for service becomes very difficult.

Always insist on a specification.

Ensure the equipment is of good quality and comes with manufacturers guarantees.

Good installers will have health and safety well covered. Ask for examples of  risk assessments.

Check their insurance meets your needs as a company.

 

Swapping service providers can be a pain and many security companies will do everything in their power to make things difficult. Not providing codes or central station details will make life tricky and keeping drawings and specifications away from the end user will mean they can’t provide it to third parties to help them formulate a quote . As a customer you have every right to this information, so insist you get it at the point of installation.

At the end of the day, you, the customer have the power to change and seek better value if you are unhappy with your security provider so don’t hesitate to take action, where your companies security is at stake.

50% of metal theft is actually from metal recycling companies

Posted on by

Imagine , you are a metal thief, where is the best place to steal your valuable metal products from? Perhaps use a mini grinder to steal a valuable Bronze statue from the streets of London . Perhaps an easier target would be bronze plates from war memorials or maybe the local brewery and a few aluminium casks from their back yard. Even easier perhaps, the metal could be stolen from the high street in the form of manhole covers or the local railway line could be targeted with all its associated steel and copper signalling equipment? Well no, most thieves are a bit brighter than that . It seems the best place to steal metal from is the scrap metal dealers themselves . Often portrayed as part of the problem, metal recyclers of whom most are towing the line and complying with  all the constraints and regulation now being put upon them are often the main victims of metal theft.

According to figures released by the BMRA the trade association of the British metals recycling industry. 50% of all metal theft is actually occurring from the scrap yards or should we say recycling centres themselves. Perhaps this is true, but worse of all it seems most of the crime is more a result of criminals stealing and then moving metal from one scrap metal site to another and getting very well paid for it .. Something not lost on those traders who are sick to the back teeth of being blamed for the problem..

As a result the need for security is becoming more and more important but most sites have historically been difficult to cover with dark corners and lighting almost impossible. The solution though is here . The White light predator is the answer to those recyclers who have been on the end of some nasty losses. The white light predator can identify culprits  in full colour with a zoomed in shot that once captured can be circulated amongst fellow recycling members, meaning they can easily reject these individuals from their sites when they turn up with their wares . The act of being identified and with full colour zoomed in images  is a good start in the effort to  break this cycle of crime. Deterrent in this case is everything and there is nothing worse for an intruder than being “caught in the headlights ” of the white light predator. For more detail on the product see the 360 vision technology website.

White light Predator camera