by Pelco
The event was born in 2004 in the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, Barcelona; and is held for the second time in 2007 in the city of Monterrey Nuevo León, Mexico; better known as the Industrial and Knowledge City, conceptual axis for the development of society that was included on this occasion in the event. With a duration of 80 days starting on September 20 and ending on December 8.
Considered one of the safest cities in the country, Monterrey took on the task of being the proud host of this great event, in addition to using the best in technology in video surveillance systems.
Security was one of the main interests to be covered in the Fundidora Park and its surroundings, especially to protect the more than 3 million visitors who have witnessed this important event, where Pelco was a key and fundamental part with more than 300 video surveillance cameras and recording systems, not only in the Fundidora Park, headquarters of the Forum, but also in the museums of the city.
To secure the event, it had the support of Crockett International representative of Pelco in Latin America since 1990 and its integrators; being Telecommunications and Services of the North, one of the most important in the Northeast of the Country, which developed the engineering and implementation of the video surveillance system used for the protection of visitors and the works of the event.
Protection everywhere
In just one of the Museums such as the Old Lewis Ship, where the exhibition of "Isis and the Feathered Serpent" is located, a little more than 179 cameras were installed, covering all angles of the exhibition, since the pieces of art were brought for this event directly from Egypt and America, these being of incalculable value; therefore Camclosure and PTZ Spectra and Spectra Mini fixed cameras were used for their reliability, which work together with the digital recording systems of the DX8100 Series and so far no incidents have been reported in this regard.
Pelco has not only been present at the Universal Forum of Cultures Monterrey 2007. The Government of the State of Nuevo León, has implemented in some other places the video surveillance systems of the brand for more than 10 years in the museums, such is the case of the Center for the Arts I and II, which hosted the exhibitions "Principle of Uncertainty" and "Gold and Salt"; the Cineteca-Fototeca de Nuevo León, the Museum of Mexican History, which had the exhibition "Images of the Naturals in the Art of New Spain, XVI to XVIII Centuries", Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO), which presented about a hundred works by "Frida Kahlo", Museum of the Northeast (MUNE) had "Buddha Guayin. Treasures of Compassion", Metropolitan Museum of Monterrey with the exhibition "The Children of Mexico, You see... We are equal". There is also the International Business Center (CINTERMEX), which has had its system for more than 15 years and could not miss the Holiday Inn Parque Fundidora Hotel that has been operating since 1985. The most recent investment is the recently opened Paseo de Santa Lucía, which consists of a canal measuring 2.5km in which you can see different fountains, special lighting systems and cultural spaces where you have a video surveillance system that provides security to your walkers.
On the security provided by video surveillance systems, the Director of the Forum, Engineer Héctor Valenzuela, was interviewed, who comments:
How important is Security in the event?
A/ It has two important aspects, the first is people. For this we install cameras at the entrance doors where we have security personnel, who are supported from the monitor center in order to monitor the people who enter and leave. The second is to the works that are exhibited in museums, since they are pieces of very high value, for example those that come from Egypt, some others from Mexican museums, on the other hand we have private collections, museums in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and the United States, so we can not afford to suffer some damage or be stolen while they are under our protection.
Why did you choose Pelco?
R / We based ourselves on the proposals made by the same suppliers, we had no experience with this equipment and taking into account that the duration of the event was short, we were looking for equipment that was not very complicated in its handling, and analyzing the solutions of the different companies experts in video surveillance systems, we realized that Pelco has worldwide recognition and prestige, so we trust the supplier and its proposal to choose this brand.
How has the implementation of the Pelco brand's video surveillance system benefited the security of the event?
A/ Fortunately to this date we have not had any negative incidents, neither in terms of people nor in the pieces that have been in our shelter. We announced that the whole event was going to be monitored with cameras and maybe that helped in some way so that people did not do some misdeeds. On the other hand with the pieces we have from Egypt, they demanded security from us, so that within their requirements was a closed circuit television, regardless of whether we had physical surveillance.
What has been the overall experience you have had with the teams?
A/ In general I have not had any complaints from the teams, on the contrary I can say that everything has worked well. For example, one of the strategies we follow at the moment when notice is given that a child is lost, what we do is that all the cameras are fixed to the accesses of the Park which are closed and no person is allowed to leave, it is monitored in the control room and in support with physical surveillance until it is not find the child; as an experience it has been a maximum of ten minutes when the child is found and the operations of the Park return to normal. To date there has been no case of a lost child within the facilities of the Fundidora Park, only children have been lost for a period of ten minutes.
This is an event interested in cultural diversity, sustainability, knowledge and peace, which is carried out with the purpose of promoting citizen dialogue, creativity and just, sustainable and peaceful development, prevailing security in the areas and their exhibitions, and most importantly safeguarding the physical integrity of the millions of visitors uses world-renowned equipment such as Pelco.
We thank Mr. Héctor Valenzuela and his staff at the Universal Forum of Cultures Monterrey 2007 for trusting in the Pelco teams. To Crockett International, to C.P Eduardo Vázquez González and to Eng. Mario Ramírez Montañana of the company Telecomunicaciones y Servicios del Norte, responsible for the development and implementation of the video surveillance system for their support and for the facilities they gave us to prepare this report.
