by NVT
At the end of 2007 the Ministry of Defense of Colombia, perhaps one of the most protected facilities in this country, implemented a security system that replaced the old video surveillance module with a new security system that guarantees perfect video quality at distances greater than 300 meters. The solution to this very specific technical need was found in the video transmission equipment of Network Video Technologies, which, thanks to their quality and performance, became the perfect complement to the ccTV system implemented.
The work, installed by Diebold Colombia, has the particularity that it integrates the transmission systems of that manufacturer and unites them within an IP video monitoring and recording platform. NVT contacted Leonardo Gutiérrez, sales engineer of the integrating firm, but also collected the opinions of Ricardo Díaz, computer solutions engineer of this dependency of the Colombian executive.
As background, it is important to mention that Colombia has been one of the Latin nations with the greatest adaptation to electronic security technology. Due to the unmemorable criminal acts that occurred in the 80s and 90s, the public and private sectors began to make significant investments in electronic protective equipment.
Such a trend paid off and being one of the most dangerous countries in the world, this nation today has criminal averages similar to Latin America and even in some localities the homicide rate is below some of the US cities.
Efficient protection for a large crowd
The Ministry of Defense of Colombia groups about 8000 officials in several buildings, to which are added another 3000 people who enter its facilities daily.
Therefore, the public agency needed a security system that would allow them to increase the degree of security through the use of the video tool (monitoring and recording in real time), being able at any given time to take action in the event of any eventuality. "We needed to record video and observe it in real time, in order to have full control of the perimeter and all the corridors of the facility," explained Ricardo Díaz.
On average, the buildings are separated about 300 meters from the control room and are interconnected by a fiber backbone in star topology; as Díaz put it, the protected areas include 100% of the perimeter, certain neighboring areas (for this high-performance cameras were used), as well as all the corridors of the buildings. In addition to the Ministry's own complex, its authorities had to take into account factors such as the surroundings of the place.
The protection of the perimeter is based on three fundamental elements: one is the southern part of the complex, which overlooks Avenida 26, one of the exits of Bogotá, which makes the sector well crowded. In another of the areas there are some district and national facilities, such as the Ministries of Education and the National Institute of Roads, the Registry and the Superintendence of Societies. To the north is a fairly busy sector composed of a vast corridor of restaurants, as well as a banking area, which adds special ingredients to the needs of protection.
Despite the fact that the protection is quite rigorous, the high floating volume of citizens has led to medium-impact criminal acts, such as assaults on ATMs and robberies of passers-by.
But despite the above, the measures implemented have turned out to be so efficient that the authorities and security bodies have managed, thanks to this video surveillance system, to capture individuals with outstanding accounts with the justice. "At the entrances we have been able to detain some people who had criminal records and since the system is connected, so it has provided us with information on the degree of reliability of each person at the time of their entry," Diaz said. {mospagebreak}
Total modernization
The video surveillance system replaced an old CCTV system that the institution had and as Ricardo said it comprised a pelco system completely analogous and based on coaxial cable. The cameras were black and white, transmitted by coaxial and their resolution was not the best; controls for domes were also very limited. This security solution only protected the main entrances and one or another corridor and had only about 30 cameras.
In contrast, the new system currently has 140 cameras and there are plans to expand it. As has been emphasized throughout the note, the end customer's need was to record and be able to supervise online. The platform is quite modern and comprises an IP solution that allows you to monitor the video and record it, as well as adjust camera by camera and optimize the video obtained.
However, this hybrid platform had a problem and it was the distances. As Díaz explained, the standard says that IP cameras do not allow to have a space greater than 100 meters. "With this equipment we reach between 300 and 400 meters in cameras that are far from the control center or the nearest data center," Ricardo explained. To be able to reach these distances, a 100% fiber solution is needed, which greatly increases the costs, even if the cable is laid from the nearest wiring center; this situation is minimized with the use of UTP cable and NVT transmitters and receivers, which, in Díaz's opinion, allows the same advantages to be obtained.
In detail, the layout of the system begins in the control center, from which only the visualization is made. They have a main wiring center which is where the storage and management equipment is located. In this last location there is also an active core equipment that is the one that connects by fiber all the other cabling centers that are in the network. In total there are about 10 wiring centers scattered throughout the complex. These are known as edge centers, and it is from here that the cameras are connected.
According to Gutiérrez, the NVT equipment transports analog video from the cameras to the cabling centers, where the video signal is digitized and inserted into the CCTV data network, where it goes to the NVR (Network Video Recorder) and to the place of visualization. Leonardo explained why analog capture equipment is still preferred today, even when many people talk about IP cameras: "analog equipment such as PTZ domes and fixed cameras have performance characteristics in terms of handling the levels of lighting, backlight and approach that are not achieved with cameras or IP domes."
For more information go to www.nvt.com .
The role of streaming devices
When it comes to video transmission equipment, equipment that can guarantee high performance rates with the highest quality is required. According to the representative of the end customer, the issue of support is fundamental and in this case NVT offers a lifetime warranty, which was a decisive factor when choosing the equipment to use.
One of the great advantages of the methodology under which this solution was implemented is that these active transmission equipment allowed to use the wiring infrastructure that was available in most administration centers, otherwise the assembly would have been very expensive.
Today, the end user considers that the experience of having worked with teams like NVT has been very positive and completely transparent. "The people in charge of monitoring the video do not notice any difference or variation in the quality of the video, in addition to the fact that its installation is very comfortable and easy to use for any official in the network area. {mospagebreak}
From the integrator's point of view, it coincided with the end user by highlighting the final quality of the video, as well as highlighting the ease of installation. Most important of all, the system has managed to prove its efficiency with its definitive contribution to the prosecution of some citizens with outstanding debts with the law.
Colombian authorities know this: violence has subsided, but eyes must remain open and having the best video quality in video surveillance systems is an integral part of success in the fight against crime.
Equipment used
The project currently has the following devices installed:
• 140 cameras between PTZ domes (Spectra, from Pelco) and fixed cameras, located at average distances of 700 meters. The cameras are of different types, among which are day / night and outdoor cameras, which withstand adverse weather conditions.
• The lenses have recognition capabilities of 200 meters.
• Storage is done by five NVRs of 48 channels each (four of them have capacities of 9.6 Tb). They also work with a system manager and some workstations.
• The visualization is done through a Pelco videowall.
Sheet
Installation firm: Diebold Colombia S.A.
Key contact: Leonardo Gutiérrez
Phone: + 57 1 5953300 Ext 2126
E-mail address: [email protected]
Locations: Bogotá
Installation date: November 2007
*About the author
Network Video Technologies, Inc. (www.nvt.com) develops and promotes CCTV transmission systems for sending real-time audio and video over common unshielded twisted pair telephone cable. Founded in 1990, NVT is incorporated in the state of California. All products are guaranteed for life and are listed and/or meet UL, CUL and CE requirements. For contacts in Latin America you can contact Antonio Pérez in the mail [email protected] .no of the Republic of Colombia
