In High Wycombe, March 2008 saw the Eden Shopping Centre open its doors, offering big name stores, a 12-screen cinema, bowling alley, library, and restaurants.
CCTV is based on Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) transmission from Network Video Technologies (NVT).
Images
During construction, centre owners Brookfield, wanted CCTV images to be relayed to the on-site control room, and initially specified a fibre optic transmission network as part of the build schedule. However, once construction began, it became apparent that a fibre CCTV network and associated camera peripherals required would fall outside the allocated security budget.
Robbie Taylor, Project Manager for specifiers Total Security Protection Ltd (TSP) says: " In order to obtain the quality of camera images that Eden’s management required, they initially deemed it necessary to transmit the centre’s camera images back to the control room via a fibre network. However, when we came onboard as specifiers for the project, it became clear that the budget the centre had, versus the number of cameras they required, meant this method would be too expensive, and that an alternative transmission solution would be needed. The problem was to find a solution that would cost a fraction of the cost of a fibre network, and yet provide the same high quality of transmitted images."
Robbie specified NVT UTP video transmission technology. Using a network of Honeywell cameras with the UTP connectivity ‘built in’, camera images are transmitted from over 200 cameras via Cat6 cable, installed in a network of underground ducting and above-ground containment (at the time of its build) by Eden’s own electrical contractors.
Robbie says: "Utilising NVT UTP technology meant that we could be confident of a reliable, effective cable network, supporting the building contractors at the Eden site who were adhering to strict time scales. These deadlines meant that the CCTV cable network would be completely encapsulated before the installation of cameras and transmission equipment would begin. Using Cat6 cable meant a greatly increased resilience to the rigours of the construction process than would have been the case using coax or fibre, and the methodology also allowed us to include a number of ‘spare’ UTP pairs in each cable bundle. These could then be easily used, should an original pair become damaged, or for use if additional cameras are required to be added to the system in the future.
"The speed of connectivity of the NVT equipment and simple installation of the CAT6 cable also helped us to save on valuable installation time and subsequent costs, both of which we were able to pass on to the customer."
Surveillance
In the centre’s specifically constructed server room, multiple NVT NV-3262 32-port active UTP receiver hubs are employed. The active receiver devices allow real-time transmission of colour video up to 1 mile (1.6km) using the Category 6 cable employed at Eden, terminated via easy-to-use screw terminal video inputs on the rear of each hub.
From here, images are viewed and controlled in the comprehensively equipped control room, by up to three operators, during the centre’s busier periods. The operators not only detect and track any incidents on the surveillance system, but also provide a fast response, by directing members of the comprehensive manned guarding team to assist if necessary.
CCTV cameras cover all the centre, including pedestrian walkways, stairwells and atriums, car park entrances and exits, bus station exterior and interior, as well as the exterior of the Eden building itself, including the cinema and bowling complex and the entrance/exits of the apartment building. This gives operators an overview of the centre, allowing security, management, and health and safety decisions to be made based on a visual summary of any monitored situation.
Specific challenges
As the existing Octagon centre remained open and fully operational throughout the build of Eden, NVT technology was used to supply ‘mirrored’ transmission, which saved time in the switch over between the original Octagon control room and the transfer of monitoring to the new Eden control room.
Robbie says: "We were able to keep the Octagon control room fully operational using a ‘temporary’ NVT set-up. When we wanted to transfer control and monitoring across to Eden, we simply unplugged the Octagon control room from the NVT receivers in the server room and plugged-in the pre-wired and tested Eden system. This provided us with the confidence of a simple, fast changeover procedure and our customer with minimal downtime, as the whole operation took only two hours from start to finish."
