Security Features - September 2008

VSG is four times a winner at the BSIA Awards
By delivering services well beyond the call of duty, employees of leading manned security provider, VSG, have won no fewer than four out of the eighteen national awards at the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) Annual Security Officer Awards 2008.
The VSG employees carried off the prestigious and keenly contested awards in the Best Newcomer, Outstanding Act, Best Use of Technology and Best Team categories.
Best Newcomer, Kim Blunt, received her award for working during the start-up phase of Carlsberg’s new Chandlers Ford depot. Acting on her own initiative, she contacted other Carlsberg sites to understand how they operated. She used the information she obtained to implement a security environment at Chandlers Ford, which has been recognised as one of the best of any Carlsberg depot.
For a courageous response to a dangerous situation at the Cineworld Cinema complex in Bedford, Michael Benham received the Outstanding Act Award. When a former employee of the cinema doused himself and the foyer in petrol, and then set the fuel alight, quick thinking Michael and the cinema’s duty manager rolled the employee on the ground to prevent further harm, and then extinguished the fire in the foyer. The employee was saved from almost certain death, and the cinema protected against the high probability of extensive damage.
Qadim Hussein was recognised with the Best Use of Technology award for his work at the Carlsberg Leeds Brewery, where he has continually endeavoured to improve site security systems. He took it upon himself to create and develop a computerised floor plan of the whole site, which benefits visitors to the site as well as the staff themselves.
The coveted award for Best Team was won by VSG employees working at the High Chelmer Shopping Centre in Essex. The award recognised the team’s efforts in consistently exceeding the client’s expectations, and in engaging with key stakeholders to ensure the safety of the shopping centre at all times. The same team is also three times winner of the Annual Town Centre Management Best Customer Service Award.
VSG’s Chairman, Bill Muskin, is hugely proud of the company’s winners. “We make a huge investment in providing our staff with Photograph shows: BSIA Award winners with their certificates, left to right: Michael Benham, Quadim Hussain and Kim Blunt, with VSG’s Managing Director, Keith Francis and Sales & Markting Director, Leon Barwell.
the best possible training, and we only select employees of the highest calibre. Nevertheless, the individuals who have won these awards have all gone far beyond what could reasonably have been expected of them. They’re a credit to the VSG organisation and a major asset for our clients”.
Formed in 2000, VSG is the fastest growing company in the UK security industry. It currently has 4,200 employees and an annual turnover in excess of £100 million. A key factor in VSG’s undoubted success is the company’s investment in staff and in training, all of which is structured to meet or exceed the requirements of the forthcoming industry regulations.
As a result of its commitment to training and raising standards, VSG has won numerous awards including the Best Guarding Company at the Security Excellence Awards, twice in the last three years.
For further information please telephone VSG on 01604 744014 or E: sales@vsg.co.uk

Trellicor Installs State-of-the-art Safety Doors in 18 Sheltered Housing Complexes
Security specialists, Trellicor, has installed state-of-the-art safety entrance doors on 18 sheltered housing complexes in Scotland, as part of an ongoing contract with Orbis and Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association.
The properties, in Edinburgh, North Berwick and Penicuik, required a combination of door upgrades and entirely new doors to assist older tenants by making the doors safer and more user-friendly.
Trellicor installed new DDA-compliant steel and aluminium door sets, featuring automatic low energy swing operators linked to proximity readers, with individual key fobs for the tenants. The doors feature set timers, enabling Sheltered Housing Managers to set the closing of doors to residents’ own individual requirements – especially suitable for residents with mobility problems and wheelchair users. Additionally, wall-mounted push pads enable residents to exit rooms easily.
“This project was a great example of us working closely with the client to achieve the desired results,” says Stevie Strang, Trellicor Operations Manager for Scotland. “Our engineers liaised closely with the Sheltered Housing Managers at Castle Rock Edinvar to come up with bespoke timings for the shutting of the doors. This way, they can be sure that the doors will never shut on residents or cause injuries or distress.”
Louis Fordham, area manager for Orbis, said: “In our day-to-day role in securing properties, we know that good quality security is key in helping communities become better and safer places to live.”
Margaret McIntosh, a Sheltered Housing Manager for Castle Rock Edinvar said: “Trellicor delivered a very professional service, taking time to explain the operating functions of the door systems to managers and tenants. The project was completed quickly and efficiently and the after-sales service was first class”.
Website: www.trellicor.co.uk.

SIA Sets Up Public Space Surveillance CCTV Operatives Network
As part of the Security Industry Authority Stakeholder Engagement Strategy, the SIA is inviting Public Space Surveillance (CCTV) operatives to register their interest in attending a network meeting with the SIA and other representatives from their sector.
This is an opportunity for those in the CCTV sector to engage with the SIA and others in the industry, to act as a contributor to the meetings and discuss topical issues such as regulation, SIA developments, and moving the sector forward.
The SIA will arrange and facilitate the first meeting, after which it is anticipated that this new interest group will self manage subsequent meetings.
The network meeting will be held on Mon 27 Oct 2008, at a central London location. To express an interest in attending the meeting please visit www.the-sia.org.uk/cctv-network by 22 Sept 2008.

SIA and Strathclyde Police Join Forces for Operation Protector - Licensing Checks
On Tuesday 12th August, investigators from the Security Industry Authority (SIA), and officers from Strathclyde Police and Department for Work and Pensions, made surprise compliance visits to 15 construction sites in the Greenock area.
Concerns about the deployment of unlicensed security staff, benefit fraud and organised crime led Strathclyde police to instigate the operation. Of the 12 security personnel checked, 7 did not hold a valid SIA licence and 2 were not displaying their SIA licence – both are offences under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Alleged benefit fraud offences were also discovered.
Christy Hopkins, an SIA Head of Investigation said: “This is another example of the excellent co-operation between the SIA, police and other agencies. We will continue to work closely with our partners to ensure that customers of security and the public receive the highest possible standards from security providers.”
Superintendent Bobby Shaw of Strathclyde Police commented, "My intention is very clear. Strathclyde Police will not stand for security companies working outside the law, and along with our partner agencies, we will continue to enforce this new legislation rigorously within Inverclyde.”

TeleEye Releases Central Monitoring Station Version 3.0 (CMS V3) for Professional and Reliable Central Monitoring & Visual Alarm Verification
TeleEye, a global leader in IP and mobile surveillance solutions, has released a new version of Central Monitoring Station Software (CMS V3) for its RX video recording servers and NX network cameras. As a British Standard 8418 compliant video management tool, CMS V3 provides a robust alarm management platform used by central monitoring station managers to offer a reliable central monitoring services to their clients.
BS 8418 Compliance
CMS V3 is designed to comply with British Standard 8418, the new guideline endorsed by the Association of Chief Police Officers for remote CCTV monitoring. Features includes tamper detection on alarm inputs of RX and NX Series, power failure detection, data retention, arming / disarming entry/exit zone configuration… A BS 8418 compliance system gives central monitoring station a faster and upper level response from the Police and achieves best practice of CCTV system design and installation.
Robust & Reliable for 24x7 Operations
Designed for multi-user, multi-site environment in remote video response centre (RVRC), individual operator authorities can be set by the administrator. A flexible operator account system ensures operators can monitor the clients’ premises for 24 hours even on a shift basis. The operators in a group can manage different sites cooperatively, balancing workloads when alarms occur.
Sophisticated Event Management
The operator will be alerted once there are events triggered by external alarm sensor, video motion, power interruption and tamper. Pre- and post-alarm images are received for speed visual alarm verification. Operators can carry out off-site arm/disarm, remote public addressing or other necessary actions. The event and activity reports are saved in a centralized logging system and traceable whenever required.
Modular & Highly Scalable Design
CMS V3 consists of 5 functional modules. Microsoft SQL Server stores comprehensive client information, user’s settings and event logs. Information Server acts as a communication platform for all CMS V3 modules. Video Server is the connection gateway between CMS, TeleEye video recording servers and network cameras. It supports 8 concurrent connections from TeleEye video recording servers and network cameras via Internet. Playback Server locates and streams the selected video footage to Video Server. Video Server is an interactive interface for operators to configure CMS V3 and conduct video monitoring according to access rights. The architecture is expandable for monitoring up to 200 sites and employed on different PCs, depending on the designed capacity of the CMS V3 system.
TeleEye provides an end-to-end, BS 8418 compliant CCTV monitoring solution comprising of TeleEye RX video recording server, NX Series network camera and CMS V3. CCTV video to be transmitted to the CMS V3 in a central, fixed location or RVRC from multiple sites. The entire process to deliver a BS 8418 compliant CCTV surveillance solution is simplified and can be managed from one point of contact.
Other features include full screen display, reference images of client locations, electronic patrol, telemetry control, portable player for video backup and playback, remote public addressing and many more.
TeleEye CMS V3 is a professional and powerful solution designed for central monitoring and visual alarm verification applications. It is also suitable for a diverse range of high security, multiple site industries that require centralized security management such as banks, public utilities and property management.
Fig. 2 - TeleEye RX with CMS V3 Fig. 3 - Central Monitoring Station

Security provided for prestige office group across Asia
SALTO Systems has been selected by Hong Kong based The Executive Centre to install their latest electronic access control solutions, to manage day-to-day security across their pan Asia serviced office network. Central to the integrated security system in every TEC office, the solution is being installed by the local SALTO dealer, working closely with SALTO System’s regional service and support centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. TEC currently secure over 1500 doors in 16 cities with SALTO, with more to be added as the network of centres expands.
The Executive Centre (TEC), part of a major global property management group, is Asia-Pacific's leading serviced office network, operating very high quality, customer focused facilities in strategic locations throughout the region. Core products include serviced offices, virtual offices, meeting facilities, video conferencing and business services. They opened their first business centre in 1994 and have now expanded to 29 centres across 16 cities – all focused on addressing global business's demand for maximum office space flexibility, cost effectiveness and productivity.
Security is a very important issue for TEC; they need to ensure that customer’s valuable assets, staff and visiting clients are protected and safe at all times, so a reliable and highly secure access management solution was of vital importance. To meet this requirement TEC chose the elegantly simple to use i-Button system of electronic locks, in satin stainless steel, which provide the 24/7 security and full audit trail monitoring necessary to ensure security is not compromised at any of its centres.
“Each centre contains between 40 and 80 locks, with on line wall readers at the entrances, i-Button locks on the serviced office and meeting room doors and i-Locker locks on various cabinet doors” comments David Rees, Asia Pacific Regional Manager for SALTO Systems.
“The stand-alone access control system fully utilizes the read-write capabilities of the i-Button platform, allowing access information to be recorded and stored in the lock and in the ID carriers and i-Button keyfobs. This enables TEC staff to programme keys that allow access to certain rooms or areas within each centre during specific periods only, and, if required, the doors can also be individually programmed to automatically lock at pre-specified times.
Another essential criterion TEC were looking to satisfy when selecting their new access control solution was that they wanted to minimize the time needed to manage the system, without any loss of flexibility, control or security.
This is achieved by allowing the stand-alone locks and operating system to “exchange” information via the read-write i-Button technology. With the SALTO system, user related access information is stored in an encrypted format on the ID carrier, so the physical restrictions of traditional stand alone electronic locks are eliminated, allowing the i-Button keyfobs and locks to be updated, restricted or cancelled at will.
This also means TEC no longer have the worry or cost of changing lock cylinders. Now they have the ability to immediately cancel an i-Button fob from their security system should a customer or member of staff lose it, or if it is stolen.
And TEC continue to keep pace with the advances SALTO are making by using the latest technology as it becomes available. This includes installing the new XS4 access control platform in their newest centres in Macau, Mumbai and Sydney, offering even higher levels of security and ease of use for their clients, and they are also evaluating our e-cylinder for refurbishment work where it is not practical to replace existing locks with escutcheons. ” Rees concludes.
Alan Seigrist, Chief Financial Officer of The Executive Centre, says: “Integrated security is becoming a very important selling point for all of our customers. In fact, the high level of security provided by our new SALTO system is a major selling point in of itself. There have been several major multinational firms and financial institutions that have chosen to use our services exclusively on the security aspects of the SALTO system.
The functionality of the i-Button system in particular has probably been one of the most fundamental elements to the success of our installations. Being a contact based system; this makes the use of SALTO locks in all of our locations simple and easy to understand for our customers.
Prior to selecting SALTO we also evaluated both magnetic stripe and wireless card access systems by other manufacturers, but found neither met our operational criteria or provided us with the management opportunities SALTO could.
The highest standard of security was a core reason for selecting SALTO. This, together with their outstanding sales support, has made our decision to use SALTO as our exclusive security partner in Asia an excellent investment decision.”
With installation on-going as more centres are planned and opened across the region, their SALTO electronic access control solution will continue to protect and secure facilities and personnel at The Executive Centre.