For the past three years, freight firm Alloin, a member of the Kuehne + Nagel Group, has been using an array of ultra-high resolution cameras to provide anti-intruder protection for 33 courier depots as well as monitoring the smooth flow of pallets and packages.
To this end, Alloin turned to E-Dentic, a company that had installed hand-held terminal barcode reading over a Wi-Fi network in its depots. E-Dentic has set up wireless networks in industrial and logistic environments, using on-site surveys to pinpoint optimal access point locations. E-Dentic did installations on sites ranging from 1,000 m² to 500,000 and 700,000 m², at an airport and an exhibition centre.
E-Dentic responded to Alloin’s defined requirements by deploying clusters of 3-7 ultra-high resolution cameras at 33 depot sites connected via a wireless local VPN and operating with 4 or 8 megapixels, well beyond full HD (High Definition) format. These megapixel formats were preferred because they enable very wide fields of view, showing the entire warehouse area and providing a perfect remote view of ongoing activity, load and traffic levels, such as pallet truck movements within depots with an area of 3,000 to 3,500 m2, monitoring up to 80m of loading dock area. As the very high resolution allows zooming in on the video software for a detailed view, it is also possible to spot a handling error from the control center even from a distance.
Milestone XProtect Enterprise open platform video surveillance management software was selected, based on its functionality and resilience on high data traffic servers. XProtect handles the megapixel video. Alloin’s courier sites are connected remotely to satisfy the requirement of displaying the whole of the company’s activity and security from one central location. XProtect Enterprise is it’s claimed suited for multi-site operations; the software is capable of handling a large number of cameras. The feeds from the 170 cameras can thus be accessed from a monitor in the office of Martial Darras, Alloin’s Director of Security, or on his laptop equipped with Milestone’s Smart Client, to view video from any one of the 33 sites.
A VPN has been set up using SDSL links. For Martial Darras, "this is a very nice tool, developed on the back of a good synergy with E-Dentic and Milestone. What is more, we demand absolutely zero errors with regular remote monitoring being carried out by E-Dentic five days a week to ensure the systems are operating smoothly."
Alloin customers can be certain that technology can track and find packages. Recordings are retained for 30 days and, as Martial Darras puts it, "customers are demanding. If push comes to shove, they know there’s a comeback. We want to be completely transparent in the way we work with them". Ultra-high resolution cameras will soon be installed outside, similar to what has just been done on one site to monitor outside loading docks for greater security and to track truck traffic around the buildings.
