Site security as a package: camera, perimeter and access combined

Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands

At many locations, security has grown up piecemeal. The fences came with the site set-up, the cameras later through a rental company, and the gate was arranged by the contractor who happened to have one spare. Individually, each part does what it should; as a whole, it does not work. Site security as a package means that camera, perimeter and access are designed as one system from the start.

1Where separate parts leave gaps

A gap in security rarely sits in a single component. It sits between the components. The camera sees the fence, but not the corner where the containers block the view. The gate registers who comes in, but that registration cannot be linked to footage. When an alert comes in, the monitoring centre calls the camera supplier, who refers it to the contractor, who does not know who manages the gate.

You notice the difference during a fault too. If a camera loses its connection, you want to know whether it is the camera, the power or the network. With three suppliers you get three different answers, and in the meantime the location has no footage. Nobody owns the whole, so nobody feels responsible for the seams between the parts.

2Camera, perimeter and access as three layers

A well-designed site consists of layers that reinforce one another. The perimeter is the outer layer: fences, gates and detection along the edge that pick up an intrusion attempt before anyone is inside. Camera surveillance provides the image, so an alert can be assessed straight away. Access control determines who may pass through the gate at what time and records who has been inside.

The difference from separate parts lies in the integration. When detection along the fence is triggered, the camera turns towards it and the monitoring centre sees immediately what is happening. When someone passes through the gate, there is footage to go with it. When a gate opens outside working hours, that is an alert. That way each layer works with information from the others.

3When a package is not the same as a standard

A package sounds like something that is the same everywhere. That is not the idea. A construction site in the city centre needs a different set-up from a storage yard beside the motorway or a solar farm in the polder. What the package does fix is that all the components belong together, fall under one management and are matched to one another. Which towers, how many cameras and what type of gate vary from location to location.

On most projects, the standard portfolio is enough. A camera tower or mast for the image, detection along the edge and a gate with access control. Only when a location really falls outside that picture does custom work come into play.

4An example from practice

A logistics company is extending a distribution centre with a new warehouse. During construction, the existing centre carries on as normal. Instead of hiring a separate rental company for the construction area, one set-up is designed for the whole site: towers on the construction area, cameras on the existing loading docks and a shared gate with access control for construction traffic and lorries. All alerts come in at one place. After handover, the towers on the construction area go, while the gate and the cameras on the centre stay.

5How Darwin delivers site security as a package

We design camera surveillance, perimeter detection and access control as one managed system. Our own engineers install everything, and we build the towers ourselves in Eemnes. We safeguard everything technically 24/7. The monitoring centre that follows up the alerts is your own or that of our regular partner. You have one point of contact and one fixed project price for the technology, for a term of 4 months to 10 years. If the location changes, we scale up or down in consultation. An overview of what we supply can be found under Darwin Solutions.

6Frequently asked questions

Do I have to take all the components?

No, the package is whatever your location needs. On some projects camera surveillance is enough, on others a gate with access control is part of it.

Can existing fences stay in place?

Usually, yes. We design the detection and cameras around the existing perimeter and indicate where it needs to be reinforced.

What is the difference from custom work?

A package consists of products from our standard portfolio, combined for your location. Custom work is needed when those products do not fit and something new has to be built.