AMG Systems, the CCTV company, has been shortlisted in the International Achievement category for this year’s Security Excellence Awards.
The project cited is the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. A design had to take into consideration that the Museum of Islamic Art is the first in a series of major investments in National Museums in Qatar and will be joined by additional museums around Doha City. The overall security plan for the Qatar Museums Authority calls for all museums and stores to be on a single, integrated platform mirroring that implemented in the Museum of Islamic Art.
Founder and MD Dr Alan Hayes says: “For a smaller, niche company to get through to the finals of such a prestigious award is a superb achievement and reflects a truly international sales, marketing and after-sales support effort. The impact has certainly been felt in our bottom line and over the past 12 months AMG has opened offices in Oman in the Middle East and in New Delhi in India as a reflection of the increased demand for our solutions. The breadth of work, from road, rail and air links to government projects and civil surveillance in so many parts of the world coupled with our new products gives me great confidence in our future.”
AMG Systems is a provider of transmission equipment for CCTV, founded in 1990. The launch of the New Guardian-Lite series in 2006 which was selected for the NRTS (National Roads Telecommunications Services) in the UK, a number of Toll Roads in India, the O2 in London as well as a series of projects in the Middle East – including the Museum of Islamic Art, has more than doubled export and tripled UK sales for AMG. In 2008 AMG Systems further launched two new CCTV transmission solutions: Vision 1000 for Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) and Skywave for digital and analogue wireless transmission.
Designed by Ieoh Ming Pei (commonly known as I M Pei), the Chinese-American architect who also designed the glass pyramid in the Louvre, the Museum of Islamic Art encompasses a massive 45,000 square metres. The museum is situated on the southern part of the Doha seafront on an artificial island about 60 metres off the coast. A crescent cape has been added to the island to act as a northward tidal barrier and to block eastward industrial buildings from the view.
In designing the security plan for the Museum of Islamic Art it was vital to find a balance between the need to ensure the security of the artefacts and the safety of staff and visitors and the need to make the Museum and Education Centre accessible, welcoming and user friendly.
With CCTV, radar detection across the sea approaches, access control, motion detection and the presence of Security Safety Wardens, the solution constantly monitors activity to meet the needs of the Museum at varying times of the day as well as the needs of the Security and Safety Department.
“Although we have to wait until October to find out who the actual winner is, we’ve already got everything crossed,” added Alan Hayes. “Just to be in the running is excellent, but obviously we’d really like to win. As AMG continues to grow and establish itself further in these demanding foreign markets the possibility of receiving such high profile recognition from our own industry is a phenomenal boost of confidence to the entire staff who are working so hard to secure our continued growth.”
The Awards will be presented at a dinner on October 9 at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London.
