An upmarket residential and golf estate in northern Johannesburg sees thousands of residents and visitors entering and exiting the estate each day. When their security and access control systems required upgrading, the Homeowners Association went out on a tender through Cillion Consultants.
Of the five companies invited to tender, Jasco Security was awarded the contract, based on its solid reputation for excellence, its ability to deliver on the required specs, and its range of world leading branded products.
“Through a rigorous evaluation process it was determined that Jasco offered the best combination of value for money, track record, infrastructure and technical skill to deliver the project,” says Morne Wiggins from Cillion.
Jasco Security was contracted to design, supply, install and integrate the entire upgrade solution as well as to install new infrastructure including new cables for the existing cameras, access control units, booms and pedestals, as well as pedestrian routes. The upgrade included moving from a card reader to a biometric solution as well as a migration from analogue cameras to an IP-based CCTV solution.
The project included: vehicle access points; door access control; networking equipment and switches; wiring, sleeving and connectors; static cameras at access control points; a video management system with hardware and software; storage and video recording management tools; customisation of the access control solutions as well as third party integration between existing hand-held scanners and the upgraded system; and all civil work involved in laying of new cabling and construction of new aesthetically pleasing bollards for the biometric scanners.
“Because of the high volumes of traffic and the nature of the estate, the Estate required a robust solution. We selected Bosch Video Management System Software along with megapixel Bosch IP security cameras that enable day/night visibility, along with Morpho biometric access terminals.
“These solutions integrate seamlessly and deliver a stable, reliable and highly secure environment, ideal to meet the needs of the Estate,” says Kobus le Roux, national sales and marketing executive, Jasco Security Solutions.
The Bosch Video Management System is an enterprise-grade IP video security system that provides seamless management of digital video, audio and data across an IP network. It is designed to work specifically with Bosch CCTV products as part of a total video security management system.
It also allows for the integration of existing components and third party systems, making it the ideal solution for the project. In conjunction with the video management solution, Bosch NBN-832 DinionHD 1080p Day/Night IP Cameras were installed at access points.
These cameras use proprietary Bosch digital imaging technology to produce sharper, more detailed CCTV images, delivering the highest standards of performance and availability in a multitude of security and surveillance scenarios.
These products were integrated with best-in-class Morpho Access Terminals which enable the storing of up to 10 000 people’s fingerprints for ease of access, as well as storing logs of entry and exit for record-keeping and control purposes. The installation was required to be conducted without hindering the existing security and access control and to minimise disruption to the residents and guards during the project.
“The project was a challenging one, as we were working on an operational site with high volumes of traffic, which meant that we had to work a piece at a time in order to minimise disruption. Implementation began with civil work to replace pipes and cabling, on a lane-by-lane basis so as not to disrupt traffic flow.
“We then began with the mounting of cameras, new bollards for the biometric terminals and readers. Finally we moved onto the configuration stages, changing over the database from card to biometric and cutting over from analogue to IP on the cameras, and then integrating the solutions for a seamless user experience,” says Leon Cahill, project manager at Jasco Security.
Other constraints during implementation included the need to preserve existing curbs and maintain the aesthetic appeal of the Estate’s entrance and exit points.
Noise levels had to be constrained during certain hours of the day and on weekends so as not to disrupt the lives of residents, and a change management process needed to be followed in order to successfully migrate users from the card reader system to a new biometric solution. The project took three months to complete civils, implement products and integrate all solutions.
“The housing estate market is a new avenue for us, and we are pleased to have been given this opportunity to gain a foothold with such a prestigious estate.
“We look forward to a continued relationship with the estate and to growing our operations in housing and security estates, with the potential for cross selling other Jasco solutions including networks, last mile and Internet connectivity in line with our group company strategy,” Le Roux concludes.
Jasco Security is currently conducting fine tuning on the solutions to ensure optimal integrated operation. A maintenance contract is in place to ensure that solutions remain up and running for the next year, whereupon the maintenance agreement will be revisited.
Jasco Security and the Estate are currently exploring the possibility of extending the relationship into other areas of security, including integration with fencing and other legacy equipment.