A Scottish college has achieved an upgrade in security thanks to a digital CCTV system.
A Scottish college has achieved an upgrade in security thanks to a digital CCTV system. James Watt College of Further and Higher Education, in Greenock near Glasgow, has four sites; the main site on campus in Finnart Street has had a 48-camera system installed, controlled by four EDR1600 digital recorders. One of the four recorders handles the six existing, external cameras, Pelco domes. The system allows for up to 64 camera inputs, which are expected to be utilised when other sites are networked to the main system.ÿPeter Dickson, of WS Steele of Glasgow, one of CIE?s approved installers, reports that the end user wanted internal CCTV, to cover corridors, lift areas and an underground car park. He demonstrated the CIE-Security equipment, and the college liked what it saw. The main campus facility houses eight of the college?s 11 faculties within a seven-storey, 200-room building, catering for about 6,000 students. In such a busy environment, student and staff protection and, the securing of college property, are paramount at all hours. Staff monitoring the CCTV system use menu-driven PCs. Peter Dickson sees the advantage of digital over analogue recording in terms of picture (and replay picture) quality. Transmission is by fibre-optic cable; the college handled the power supply side of the installation. On installer advice, it was agreed that the EDR1600 Digital System was the best solution for the college needs; providing benefits in cost and time effectiveness, instant incident retrieval, instant, high resolution hard copy and electronic images and a simple, user-friendly desktop interface. For example, images of suspects can be downloaded onto a floppy disc and handed to the authorities. The worth of the system was clear within days of installation. Even before the system was complete, when thefts from classrooms were reported, video of two suspects were recorded on the EDR1600, copies of which were forwarded to the police, via floppy, for review. Hard copy images were distributed so that college staff could be on the alert, should the suspects return to campus. CIE-Security are developing their Approved Installer Network, a series of CCTV installation companies throughout the UK.
