PSK IP CCTV system protects Kenyan National Archives

(26/05/2008)

PSK Ltd is opening its doors into the Kenyan public and corporate business markets, following a landmark installation of CCTV equipment in the country’s capital, Nairobi. The official company launch is set to take place on Wednesday, 28th May 2008 at the Police Headquarters where PSK will unveil a new pilot CCTV system to the Nairobi Central Business District Association.

The pilot CCTV system uses IP static and pan, tilt & zoom cameras, which have been mounted on the outside of Kenya’s National Archives Building – offering a bird’s eye view of the adjoining streets and surrounding areas. The cameras allow operators to zoom in on car number plates and on to faces in the area, and the system has a direct link to the local police for analysis, recording and action.

Martin Parry, PSK’s Technical Advisor, says the location and system design were both carefully chosen for maximum impact. “The National Archives Building lies in the centre the intersection of five of Nairobi’s most important roads, so it’s really the perfect choice for a pilot installation such as this,” Parry says.

“From the National Archives Building, we use the fibre infrastructure of the Kenya Data Network to send images live to a control room at the city’s Police Headquarters, two miles away. We have trained between 25 and 30 police officers on the use of the equipment in the control room, which has now been set up as a Special Surveillance Unit.”

All video from the eight cameras is recorded in high resolution to hard disk drives, and can be easily retrieved to provide evidence of any suspected criminal activity in the area. The control room boasts a Bosch VJ8008 1TB image storage system, together with LCD screens for monitoring and Sicura System’s DigiFend NVR video management software. DigiFend was selected because it can incorporate video help points and automatic number plate recognition, all key requirements for the future.

Now that the installation has proved its worth, PSK’s MD, Gary Stubley hopes that other businesses in the area will take advantage of the security infrastructure his company has set up. “The Surveillance Unit is now in use 24/7, and our aim is to supply other businesses and organisations in the area with CCTV systems that can be connected to the network,” he says.

“At PSK we can offer system design and procurement from the UK, while our local office in the Westlands district of Nairobi carries out installation, commissioning, training and support. We are putting together a leasing package that helps customers with their budgeting, and we offer a five-year maintenance contract, so that in exchange for a monthly fee, users can rest assured that their systems are going to be running 100% of the time. We can even incorporate legacy systems into our network, ensuring that any investment customers have made in older technology still delivers value.”

Related topics:  CCTV cameras and domes   CCTV recording, DVR, VCR, Multiplexers   CCTV system and accessories   Digital CCTV   IP monitoring 

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