Integration gets complex

The integrated system in use at British Airways’ new Waterside headquarters represents a glimpse of the future. The £2.1 million system combines perimeter fencing, vehicle barriers, security and fire alarms, CCTV, access control, lighting and air conditioning. Yet it’s not the number of different systems working in tandem that impresses, but the innovative way in which they work for each other.

Alan Glynnister, facilities manager for the site situated near London Heathrow Airport, explains: “If a member of staff drives up to the main entrance, an Amtech card reader will read their ID card from eight metres away and raise the vehicle barrier.” If you’re entering the office out of normal office hours when the building’s empty, integration provides added benefits: “Once you’ve gained authorised access, PIRs (passive infrared detectors) just inside the building can trigger the lighting and air conditioning to go on,” reveals Glynnister.

The system does just about everything for the arriving worker except make them a cup of tea, yet provides intruders with a less cordial welcome, pledges Glynnister: “If someone tries to gain unauthorised access, they will break the perimeter’s buried loop detection system, which triggers the nearest surveillance camera to monitor events.”

Both the on-site control room and remote monitoring station are alerted by audio alarm and CCTV automatically records incidents and, like all the systems integrated at Waterside, is operated from a single on-site control room, on a PC running Aztec system integration software.

British Airways isn’t alone in realising that security, fire safety and facilities management systems can complement each other. The British Museum will soon be controlling CCTV, alarms, lighting, power and air conditioning from a new, sophisticated control suite. Bluewater Park shopping centre in Kent is controlling a similar range of systems using a web browser-based software package called Sensorium iBMS, supplied by E-Squared.

Easier said than done

The system at BA’s Waterside headquarters is the result of close consultation between facilities manager, consultant, installer and manufacturers. However, not all integrated systems are implemented with such meticulous planning, according to Keith Crowdy, principal security adviser for TPS Consult.

Crowdy, who designs and manages security systems for a number of high security Government sites, carried out a survey of integrated systems earlier this year. He estimates that 95% of systems either don’t work or aren’t operated properly.

This is because the vast majority of integrated systems are installed without any thought given to the operator and often simply for insurance purposes, he claims: “Installing an integrated system might satisfy the insurer that a site has security under control, but the system will rarely work for that particular site,” warns Crowdy. “Also, if you don’t have a good idea of how you want your systems integrated, the installer will tend to over-specify — it’s more money for them and you’re unlikely to argue.”

He adds that while some sites integrate CCTV and access control effectively, they often overlook decent ‘nuts and bolts’ physical security: “Brick walls and solid security doors are the all-important first line of defence — without them, integrated security is pointless,” comments Crowdy.

Overly-complicated

The effectiveness of most integrated security systems is dependent on the ability of security staff to operate them. This is where the vast majority of systems fall down, claims Crowdy. “I visited one site earlier this year where CCTV had been integrated with perimeter fencing and access control,” he recalls. “The guard operating the system told me CCTV had been integrated into the system months ago, yet he hadn’t received any training on how to operate the system and respond to any incidents.”

Another problem is that security officers, even if properly trained, have difficulty keeping up with increasingly complex integrated systems: “At Buckingham Palace, they’ve got two police-trained, full-time operators monitoring a bank of monitors, as well as audio alarms and access control, yet many sites expect a security guard to monitor all of this equipment on his own.” Crowdy urges sites to either deploy extra manpower, or use remote monitoring to alert on-site guards to incidents.

John Herbert, facilities manager at GE Information Services’ headquarters in Sunbury, recognised the need to keep things simple for staff when integrating security. He has implemented Feedback Data’s Microtrak access control software, in order to integrate control of building access, CCTV and alarms.

“The system will visually and audibly warn guards on-screen if an intruder alarm has been activated within the building,” enthuses Herbert: “Also, if the guards are on patrol away from their PC, the system will alert them to an alarm by sending a message to their pagers.”

The Midas touch

There’s burgeoning demand for touch-screen PC systems which can make control of integrated systems easier, claims Steve Bartram, co-founder and technical expert for Leeds-based Security Design & Installation.

Currently designing integrated systems for a textiles manufacturing site and a Yorkshire hospital, Bartram reveals both sites are adopting touch-screen technology. He explains: “They’ll be using software that runs GIS [graphic information systems] site maps, that indicate which part of the integrated system has caused an alert and where.”

This way, says Bartram, a security guard can get on with his other jobs, while the system will alert the guard to an incident when it happens: “The big trend at the moment is to bring all different building management systems together in one central control room, so a user-friendly interface is required,” he adds.

Security consultant Stuart McAinsh runs Security Advisory Services and “took Chubb into integrated systems in 1975”. He’s designing a console for the British Library where operatives will look after all the security systems on-site, with touch-screen technology. “It’s all about planning system integration ergonomically, yet you’ve got a lot of companies which put in systems that you need a PhD to run,” says McAinsh. “Equipment people look down on security guards as lesser beings, but there’s no point integrating security if guards can’t operate it.”