Case Studies

IP upgrade for parliament

by Mark Rowe

A case study of the upgrade of CCTV at the Jordanian national parliament. The 100-plus cameras from Chinese manufacturer Hikvision secure all aspects of the House of Representatives, pictured.

Like most legislatures, when the House of Representatives is in session it is thronged with its own members, their advisors and officials, foreign dignitaries and their diplomats and officials, plus visitors. Thus when the House of Representatives’ Security Team decided that the CCTV system needed an overhaul, it was not only concerned with protection, within budget, but also with allowing the business of government to continue as normal. As a result, access for the design and installation team was severely restricted.

Ammar Awamleh, IT Manager at the House of Representatives, says: “The house was functional throughout the period during which we had to complete the CCTV installation. Therefore, we were limited to a mere three-hour window on each day for the installation and the implementation team was under pressure to plan and execute accordingly. It was quite a challenge, as was the need for the system design to provide full CCTV coverage of vital areas of the building, including several key offices, the House of Representatives’ data center, as well as the main wall surrounding the entire complex.”

Hikvision came up with the 100-plus camera system, each camera connecting to one of four 64-channel network video recorders (NVRs) in the main control room. In use are nine types of IP network camera chosen from the Hikvision Easy IP and SMART IP series.

According to Ammar Awamleh, “Despite budget constraints, a high level of coverage of the main building and all its grounds and entrances was an absolutely key requirement of the new system and we made extensive use of Hikvision’s 1.3MP and 3MP 2-series IP cameras to achieve this. Around 100 2-series cameras were deployed, mostly DS-2CD2312-I and DS-2CD2332-I Outdoor Network Mini Dome cameras but supplemented with 9 DS-2CD2212-I5 and DS-2CD2232-I5 EXIR Bullet cameras.

“The Mini Dome cameras were a perfect choice: the low profile fitting in discretely while offering true day-night functionality with 30m IR range, IP66 environmental protection and 3D digital noise reduction, Digital Wide Dynamic Range and programmable backlight compensation for excellent video quality. In particular low-light situations we chose to deploy the EXIR bullet cameras, their extended 50m IT range proving a real asset.”

A variety of Hikvision’s SMART IP 4-series cameras were also installed to cover selected key infrastructure points. Ammar Awamleh says: “We recognised that the Smart features, such as Smart face, audio and intrusion detection, would greatly assist our control room personnel in recognising potential threats. What’s more, the Smart codec, Smart IR and Smart VQD (video quality detection) is invaluable in areas where video quality is vital.

“Special mention should also be made of the DS-2CD4065F 6MP Smart IP Box cameras, five of which were deployed to provide much needed coverage on the main wall. Each is capable of providing three independent video streams and the digital zoom in these cameras is excellent.”

Inside the manned control room, which operates 24-7, the i7-powered PCs access the four DS-9664NI-XT 64-channel NVRs using Hivision’s iVMS-4200 video management suite.

Ammar Awamleh says: “These high-end NVRs were chosen to fully support the 6-megapixel resolution of the Smart box cameras that keep watch on the main walls and, in supporting up to 256 connections, give us room for further expansion. Also, the iVMS-4200 software provides a powerful and complete solution to our video management needs. ‘Smart’ and ‘Open’, it allows us to freely access the huge quantity of video data we are now collecting, being very easy to use and requiring minimal training to operate.

“Although the process of installing the new system within the stringent time-constraints was very challenging, the new solution has proved to be a resounding success, with previously vulnerable key areas of the building now under full, round-the-clock coverage from the Hikvision equipment. A small expansion is already planned and we have also recommended Hikvision to other projects holders.

“I can confidently state that the Hikvision CCTV solution provides total control over the site and has made life much easier for the building’s security team.”

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