360 Vision Technology has been chosen to supply the camera surveillance technology for a CCTV town centre network extension for Plymouth City Council.
Designed to cover hot spots of activity, both criminal and anti-social, the extension was required to tackle areas of rising anti-social behaviour and surfacing security issues at disparate areas around Plymouth.
“We had considered a hard-wired permanent extension to the existing camera network to cover the required areas but were put off by the cost of this option,” says Stuart Venn, CCTV & Street Lighting Engineer, Street Services, Plymouth City Council. “Plus, many of the reports of criminal or anti-social activity in the areas concerned had yet to be confirmed, so a permanent extension was a big commitment without any guarantee of making a significant impact and benefit to each area.
“We already had a long-term technical relationship with 360 Vision, as they had assisted us to transition from an analogue camera network to an IP one, via the use of their clever Invictus Hybrid camera.”
An alternative solution
Capitalising on this long-term technical partnership, and the successes it had brought in the past, Plymouth City Council again turned to 360 Vision, for advice on an alternative solution to extending the existing CCTV network with costly permanent cameras, to cover the emerging hotspots.
“Once we had our Community Team involved, it was clear from the reports we were receiving about the requirement for coverage, that a network of redeployable cameras would yield the best coverage and return on investment, to provide the communities involved with the best protection,” says Stuart. “Using redeployable and rapidly deployed cameras would allow us to assess and confirm the problem at each individual location – without committing to a permanent camera installation.
“Our close technical relationship with 360 Vision really paid off here, with the team suggesting a network of Invictus PTZ cameras similar to the Invictus Hybrid camera we had purchased to extend the network previously, but this time, equipped with innovative 360 Vision TX technology, to enable simple and rapid deployment utilising video transmission over mobile phone networks.”
360 Vision Technology’s TX wireless video camera transmission technology delivers camera video & PTZ control from just 6 Kbps, full 1080p HD edge recording, remote retrieval on demand, and saves the council time and money on fixed camera video transmission infrastructure costs and on-going cost of ownership.
Wireless transmission
Delivering high-quality camera video over low bandwidth, 360 Vision Technology’s 3G/4G LTE/5G TX wireless CCTV camera range provides a reliable wireless video transmission solution, even within difficult wireless video transmission environments.
Additionally, these cameras use highly efficient optimised video compression, with unique minimal latency that is fully encrypted and secure.
“The Invictus TX complies to all our network security requirements, so we can always be confident of the results when adding Invictus TX units to our camera network,” says Stuart.
Keeping running costs down to a minimum, the Invictus TX Range of 3G/4G LTE/5G TX wireless CCTV cameras operate without the need for expensive airtime contracts.
With complete control of bandwidth used, Plymouth City Council can choose the resolution and frame rate to transmit, to suit the bandwidth available. Additionally, operators can switch dynamically between low and high bandwidth video streams, dependent on network capability, adjusting CCTV camera video quality to suit.
“With our network of 19 Invictus TX cameras, we can rapidly install a unit at the site of a complaint, sometimes within hours of the complaint arising,” continues Stuart. “Once installed, we can assess the real-world requirement for surveillance at the site, and the effect a CCTV camera impacts on the area.
“If the camera is not required or has helped to tackle the issue, we can then remove it, usually after 3 months and the unit either goes back into storage or because of demand, goes straight back out to another site awaiting surveillance. Being able to set-up cameras where they are most needed ensures we are using our resources in the most economical way and extracting the maximum return on our camera investments.”
Varied applications
In use, the deployable network of wireless TX cameras has been installed at many disparate locations and covered an array of applications, from tackling anti-social behaviour on suburban estates, to securing crime hot spots across the city.
Such has been the success of the cameras that they are even being used within Plymouth’s traffic camera network, where they are deployed to cover large highway construction projects, covering health and safety, and traffic flow monitoring while work is being carried out.
Linked directly to the combined public safety and traffic control centre via innovative 360 Vision TX technology, the cameras are seamlessly integrated into the control room’s Genetec Omnicast video management system and can be locally powered via the street furniture they are mounted to, such as street lighting.
“Fixing the TX cameras on street lighting gives us access to any number of surveillance locations, a convenient and easy site to install them at and local power to connect to,” continues Stuart. “As we drive towards a greener street lighting network, thanks to the low-power consumption certification of the Invictus TX camera, each unit can be connected to the audited street power network without a problem.
“The cameras are providing high-definition images of places that were previously inaccessible with traditional camera deployment and are in such demand that we rarely have any TX cameras in stock awaiting deployment, as they are usually all out at sites. Once they have done their job, they are simply moved from one site to the next.
“With the benefits of these units clearly demonstrated, we are looking to further increase the Invictus TX network, with plans to deploy cameras to tackle the council’s fly-tipping issues, and to assist the Event Team to cover large events and organised gatherings across the city.”
“Unlike standard or off-the-shelf wireless video transmission systems, the Invictus TX has been specifically designed to suit low bandwidth or unreliable network conditions, such as the cellular networks used here,” Jason Wyatt, National Account Manager at 360 Vision Technology said. “Along with ‘Always On’ and ‘Rugged at the Roadside’ IK10 certification, our Invictus TX cameras include built-in cyber security, local point-to-point Wi-Fi access, easy Plug & Play set-up, require no fixed cable infrastructure and can be easily integrated into existing VMS control systems – attributes the forward-looking Plymouth City Council are taking full advantage of.”
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