18 minute read
Meet the installer
Security life with Mark McGoldrick of Panthera Group based in Redhill
What would be a typical project for you? There’s no such thing as a ‘typical project’ for the security division at Panthera Group. The projects we secure range from domestic properties –whether that be a single house or block of flats to commercial or historical buildings, or construction sites.
Essentially, our project scope varies hugely –one day the engineers might be installing an alarm on a scaffold at Westminster Abbey, the next a residential building on the Isle of Wight. Installation sizes can range from a small scaffold tower with one detector to a multi-zoned system with over two hundred different technology detectors. All scaffold alarm systems installed and certificated to NCP115.
Do you have any ‘go to’ technology and manufacturers? All system we install are ‘temporary’, they might be required for one week or three years depending on the projects requirements. Choosing the right manufacturer and equipment technology to meet the demands of the construction sector cannot be underestimated, it is vital that the kit we install is robust, reliable and quick to install. After nearly twenty years of trading, we have tried many different manufacturers and technologies, we now use a mix of mains-powered and wireless systems, and have found that Texecom, Takex and Daitem suit our needs best.
What is the best thing about working in this industry? For me it is supporting our clients throughout all stages of the project life cycle. Assisting with technical and costing advice at tender stage, designing the system, overseeing the installation, and finally providing on-going support until the system is finally dismantled.
I have personally been responsible for securing some of the most prestigious and historical buildings in the UK during their external refurbishment – that’s pretty cool.
Is third party accreditation beneficial to you? Absolutely! The Scaffold Alarm industry is saturated with installers, but what really sets us apart is our NACOSS Gold accreditation. With every installation we provide a certificate of compliance to NCP115, giving every client the peace of mind that their project has been secured to the highest standard within the industry.
Do you think there is an engineer skills shortage? Any trouble recruiting? The industry, without a doubt, is suffering a shortage of labour. We haven’t felt the effects of this too much. We are very lucky to have a fantastic group of long serving engineers who are all highly experienced and love that our work is so Name: Mark McGoldrick
Job title: Director of Security Time in security/fire: 18 years Company: Panthera Group Location: Redhill, Surrey Areas of expertise: Complete construction site set-up: scaffold alarms, temporary site services, office and welfare fit-out, and hoarding and fencing (including EnviroHoard) Accreditations: Scaffold Alarms: National Security Inspectorate Gold Installer
varied. They tell us that they like to work for the UK’s largest and leading scaffold alarm installer –it gives them kudos.
For this reason, when we do recruit, we have always found it quite easy to attract the best engineers. Additionally, we operate a fantastic inhouse training scheme for those that are just starting out!
What is the industry’s biggest myth? For us specifically, I think that it is that people think that if they have an internal alarm system that they do not need an external scaffold alarm system. This is not the case. Insurers require homeowners, business owners and contractors etc to take all reasonable precautions to protect the building contents whilst works are underway. Over the years, more and more insurers are now advising or in some cases stipulating (as a condition of the insurance) that an approved and monitored scaffold alarm is installed. “The Scaffold Alarm industry is saturated with installers, but what really sets us apart is our NACOSS Gold accreditation”
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What would make your job easier? Longer lead in times from clients to install our larger systems; we work on 24 hours for standard installations but on larger fully designed schemes it would help if clients got in touch with us a little sooner.
What is your ultimate/fantasy electronic security/fire product? A fully wireless system with unlimited zones, range, outputs and with the ability to solar powered cameras.
What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself? To make memories, enjoy every moment with your friends and family, aim high and don’t be afraid to fail.
Will England ever win the World Cup again? Forever the optimist – I’ll say yes, I believe they will in the next 8 years.
If you won £25,000 what would you do with the money? Easy; road trip around America in an RV.
BE SMART!
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Secure your future in a connected world
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IDIS AI box for retail delivers advanced video intelligence, even for smaller stores
The new IDIS AI Box for Retail, the DV-1304, gives retailers all the benefits of AI-powered business and customer intelligence, without the usual associated price tag. Increasingly stores are using analyticsdriven metrics of activity in-store to increase sales and build customer loyalty, now the IDIS AI Retail Box makes this approach practical even for the smallest of stores. The new IDIS AI Box for Retail is an NDAAcompliant, 4-channel add-on appliance that gives users powerful additional functionality from either their existing IDIS DirectIP® network cameras and NVRs or new systems.
With the advantages of rapid plug-and-play installation and no upfront or ongoing license fees, the DV-1304 gives retailers essential actionable intelligence, including queue monitoring, heat mapping, occupancy monitoring and real-time activity data from specified locations.
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An industry-first dashboard can integrate up to 32-channels, cost-free, giving store staff at-a-glance intelligence and making it easy for both local managers and head office teams to generate reports on day-to-day activity and long term or seasonal trends. And IDIS has listened to retailers’ concerns around the need to maintain resilience against future infection risks: the DV-1304 retains the tools that proved so effective in its AI COVID Box and helped stores to be managed safely, including people counting, mask-detection, as well as occupancy and social distancing control. www.idisglobal.com/index/product_view/3348
Open Door is an online service from PSI that provides in-depth information from a selection of market leading companies. Here are some of the highlights from the pages of Open Door.....
Does connectivity always have to be complicated?
The Texecom Connect SmartCom is an Ethernet and Wi-Fi communicator that facilitates the Texecom Connect app experience by connecting any Premier Elite control panel to a local area network.
In today’s connected world your customers will be used to 24/7 remote access to a host of technologies and the ability to monitor and manage systems using personal devices such as smartphones and tablets. Security systems are also expected to be fully remotely accessible and many DIY systems are fully operated by mobile technology, but can professional systems also be managed by an app? And what about the complexities of always-on connectivity?
Texecom has solutions that deal with these issues and both enhance the service you can offer your customers when specifying modern, professional alarm systems boasting simple set-up and user experience.
SmartCom and SmartCom 4G Communicating exclusively using outbound connections, the Texecom Connect SmartCom removes the need to open any router ports, ensuring simplicity of installation and maximum security. As such, any installation that has a reliable internet connection can benefit from Texecom Connect with the addition of the Texecom Connect SmartCom.
Texecom’s new SmartCom 4G system adds new connectivity options for Premier Elite systems improving connection reliability. Providing access to Texecom Cloud and Texecom Connect services via single path (4G) or dual path (4G plus Ethernet or Wi-Fi), the SmartCom 4G is always on, always ready, and always available. Use the QR code for more information
Reducing crowding and improving security with integration
Integrating lift controls with an access and security system is a practical solution, whatever your budget, says Tim Northwood, general manager of Inner Range. For customers with several sites and/or thousands of users, a high-level lift integration with our enterprise-level intelligent integrated access and security system, Integriti, provides a seamless, unified solution to manage access very efficiently. High-level lift integration means the lift can read user credentials from entry turnstiles, or door readers. The lift’s ‘destination control’ software takes into account where each of the building’s lifts are, the user’s designated ‘home floor’ as well as where other users are going/due to go, and instantly calculates the quickest lift for the new user. The user is then immediately directed to the most efficient lift. If users have access rights to more than one floor, they can update their preference in the lift itself.
The integration works with access cards, as well as QR codes – including those on mobile phones – meaning visitors can benefit from the high-level lift integration as well as regular users.
Anyone accessing the building will be swiftly directly to the quickest lift, and access can be touchless too – another benefit during the pandemic. In addition, the integration ensures tighter security around accessing different floors because this is all directly controlled by the integrated system.
Lift integration with entry-level access control For customers with single sites, such as small businesses, using our entry-level integrated access and security system, Inception, some lift integration is also possible.
Users must present a valid access card to call a lift, and/or when choosing a floor from inside lift. This process restricts which floor selection buttons users can press, ensuring only legitimate users can access pre-agreed specific floors. The integration allows Inception to keep a record of ‘button feedback’, showing where users have been, which is helpful for both security purposes as well as tracking user movements if any infection is recorded. www.innerrange.co.uk
APPLICATION
Hoover, the cat and auditor, supervises the MultiTransmitter installation process
Smart office gets wireless smart security system
MacPaw has been creating and distributing apps for macOS and iOS since 2008 with products including CleanMyMac X, Setapp, The Unarchiver, and others. The company started in a dorm room as befits a startup and grew into an office space of over 3,000 sq/m. Today, the MacPaw office space is a model for many IT companies: renovation in style, numerous meeting rooms, a terrace, a gym, a room for relaxation and meditation, an amphitheatre area for presentations, two cats, and one of the largest displays of rare Apple equipment in the world.
Eventually, one part of the office was protected by an old wired system and the other controlled by Ajax wireless detectors connected to the wired alarm system via the ocBridge integration module. The variety of technologies had to be expanded with an anti-flood system and then integrated with an app that every team member would have on their iPhone.
MacPaw made a decision to integrate the outdated wired detectors into the Ajax system. This approach provides an opportunity to immediately use the benefits of Ajax and eventually expand the horizon of possibilities for further improvement.
The first step was to replace the outdated control panel with Hub 2 Plus starting a gradual switch to Ajax security equipment. The previously installed Ajax wireless detectors were simply added to Hub 2 Plus. Installers and the MacPaw security team immediately saw complete information about the devices: signal level, battery level, and temperature. The security team can now remotely change the sensitivity level or deactivate the detector. With the old control panel, such capabilities would have been unthinkable.
For example: Previously, the security team could not see the exact charge level of each detector because the detectors were not connected to the Ajax hub. The team had to check each detector manually to know which one needed a battery change. From now on, the company receives the notification and knows when the battery change is required in advance.
The second step was to connect the third-party wired system to Ajax via the MultiTransmitter integration module. The module has 18 wired zones for connecting devices and tampers that support four contact types: NO, NC (without resistor), EOL (NC with resistor), EOL (NO with resistor). Three MultiTransmitter modules were required for the part of the MacPaw office with the third-party wired detectors installed. More than 50 wired detectors were integrated with Ajax.
The third step was to build a flooding prevention system. After updating the security system, LeaksProtect detectors were added by .simply place devices in the spots of potential water leakage. Relay was added to the system — in case of water leak, the relay sends a signal to the smart office system that sends a command to shut off the water.
MacPaw had a smart office system which controls the level of light, doors opening etc but integration with the old security system did not give sufficient flexibility and restrained the app and the smart office system development. For example, MacPaw had to call a specialist from the security company to come to the office and add a new user to the system, which was extremely inconvenient; from now on this can be done remotely.
APPLICATION
25-floor tower block utilises GSM powered intercom
The Great Northern Tower is a 72-metre (236 ft) high-rise tower block with 25 floors and 287 selfcontained apartments in the heart of Manchester. An effective door entry system plays a critical role in convenient, secure and flexible access control as well as the safety and wellbeing of residents. The tower block has a concierge service too that also requires specific authorisation for entry into and exit out of the building.
The building was completed in 2007 and fitted with a door entry system that, 15 years later, was hugely outdated and causing issues for entry into the tower block by residents, visitors and for concierge use.
Residents were consistently not notified when someone was calling their apartment, so they often missed deliveries and visitors. Parts of the system were failing and proving to be very expensive to replace. Residents enter the tower block via a fob system and although this operated normally, the rest of the system was deteriorating.
A key challenge also presented itself in how a flat or apartment was called. The existing system was very complicated, and visitors had to look up a flat number on the system and then get a threedigit code to dial. This often led to people, from visiting friends and family to tradespeople and delivery drivers, dialling the wrong apartments and calling the wrong people.
There also needed to be a specific concierge function on the system that could alert the main reception desk of a tradesperson coming to visit, or a parcel being delivered, for a resident who wasn’t home.
Replacing the system with a bespoke solution but retaining the existing access control fob reader aspect, all fitted within a glass wall, was highly complex. Installer Access Ability UK opted to fit a Videx 4G GSM system that integrated perfectly with the existing fob reader but, crucially, solved the key entry challenges residents and the concierge team were facing.
Barry Kimber, a director at Access Ability UK, said: “One major issue that we needed to solve was to enable effective, easy but secure door entry for residents to authorise entry in and out of the tower block. By installing a GSM intercom system with a VX2200 panel it meant residents could receive notification of someone at the entrance straight to their phone, whether they were home or not. For example, they could be on holiday or at work but receive a call to say a delivery had arrived, grant entry to the courier driver who can leave the parcel with concierge for safe keeping until the resident returns. In terms of calling each flat, visitors now simply need to enter the number of the flat and it calls that flat directly - there’s no need to look the flat number up on the system to dial a code to then input.
“The GSM powered intercom system also enables the concierge team to authorise entry for visitors to deliver parcels or fix appliances for example, when the resident is away. Conveniently, the intercom is very easy to adapt and modify and the concierge team can programme the system both locally and remotely when flat residence changes as people move into and out of the tower block.”
Alongside the GSM technology, Videx also supplied a highly customised entry panel that was not only manufactured for The Great Northern Tower, to sit within a very difficult-to-navigate glass wall, and feature the existing third-party access control reader, but also carried bespoke engraving too. For example, the block numbers are clearly identified as well as the concierge service button.
Barry Kimber continued: “It’s probably the most challenging entry solution I have fitted but working closely with Videx ensured the job could be done.”
APPLICATION
Prague Airport integrates all security systems
Prague Airport, has selected Qognify EIM (Situator) to interconnect its security systems and provide security control room personnel with a single incident management interface, as well as the ability to verify the validity of identification cards using mobile devices across the airport.
Prague Airport, operates Václav Havel Airport Prague in the Czech Republic. The airport operates many security systems, and it wanted a platform to interconnect them, to correlate information and enable security scenarios and procedures for dealing with incidents to be set up. In doing so, it would provide the security control room staff with one effective tool, providing an overall overview, the ability to manage situations and speed up incident response.
This new platform has been built with Qognify EIM – an Enterprise Incident Management solution from Qognify integrating CCTV, electronic access control, electrical fire alarm, emergency alarm system, perimeter security, oversized cargo entry control, errand system and airport mapping.
These systems that were previously running in isolation now communicate bi-directionally with Qognify EIM, giving security control room personnel a single incident management interface. Now, when an alarm is triggered from any of the interconnected security systems within Qognify EIM, alerts are clearly displayed and presented to the security control room personnel on an on-screen map.
