Constructed from high tensile steel walls and itself secured by Pelco’s ever-popular Endura IP cameras (in addition to a ten-inch high density reinforced concrete floor and full coverage wall, floor and ceiling vibration sensors), the all-new multimillion pound MiTec security hub was officially opened at lunchtime on Wednesday 13 April by Ruby McGregor-Smith (CEO of MITIE Group plc) and Alastair Hamilton, the chief executive of InvestNI (Northern Ireland’s own economic development agency).
An exclusive security trade press invitation was extended to SMT Online, whose editor Brian Sims attended the opening ceremony and detailed tour of the facility alongside security industry practitioners including Andy Williams (head of security EMEA at Nomura International), Richard Bingley, the CEO at City Security and Resilience Networks (CSARN) and, of course, Bob Forsyth (managing director of MITIE’s own Total Security Management operation).
Indeed, over 60 delegates from the security sector – encompassing representatives from several top end clients such as Eurostar, Capita and Capgemini – arrived in time for the official opening ceremony.
Also attending from MITIE’s security division were Darren Gamage (director, Total Security Management), John Wills (managing director for London), sales director James Gilding, Julian Tomlin (finance director), Tony Medhurst (managing director, aviation), northern region managing director Tom Ward, Stephen Burn (Ward’s opposite number in the south of England) and risk and resilience director Andy May.
Protection of locations, assets and personnel
In essence, the MiTec hub – configured and operated to the accepted NSI Gold and BS 5979 standards – will assist businesses from a host of verticals in the UK and beyond to protect their locations, assets and personnel by dint of them ‘locking in’ to a suite of managed services.
Among the solutions on offer to partner organisations are round-the-clock remote CCTV monitoring and maintenance, vehicle and asset tracking, employee screening services, intruder/fire alarm monitoring, disaster response and contingency management, building management system alarm monitoring, various command and control applications and, in the very near future, lone worker protection.
Given that the oft-stated epicentre of MITIE’s bold approach to security is “innovation and being resilient to risk”, an ongoing priority for Bob Forsyth’s security division is to work in partnership with end user customers on delivering new technology-driven and, just as important, future-proofed security solutions.
On that last point, in relation to MiTec this means the centre’s internal workings may be easily upgraded as technology moves forward and the requirements demanded by the company’s customer base change.
Equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and software, the Silverwood Business Park-based MiTec centre, then, is very much the outward manifestation of MITIE’s Total Security Management approach.
It’s also far more than just an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC). Rather, MiTec – in which MITIE Group has invested over GB pound 2 million of development capital and helped to create 38 new local jobs into the bargain – now serves as the focal point for the company’s technology operations.
In addition to the aforementioned monitoring facilities, the MiTec centre affords real-time response to incidents through call-outs to both local police services and, of course, MITIE’s dedicated band of mobile security officers.
Operator pods: the latest thinking in ergonomics
Once beyond the obligatory airlock and inside the completely sterile zone (no mobile phones, cameras or memory devices are permitted), the sheer scale of the MiTec facility – and what it can accomplish on behalf of MITIE’s customers – becomes readily apparent.
Bespoke operator pods framed by the latest thinking in ergonomics – aided and abetted by mood lighting and, it must be said, an excellent climate control ventilation system – offer multi-platform capabilities.
By way of example, the remote CCTV monitoring service is specifically arranged to realise end-to-end solutions, creating cost efficiencies through value added technology.
Trained and fully-focused monitoring operators can help prevent unwanted incursions or losses at customers’ premises by way of real-time reactions to situations. The chosen Pelco Endura surveillance system is based on megapixel technology, and allows the MiTec operators to instantly playback and review potential security incidents.
In turn, security personnel can then be deployed to those locations and areas where the overriding need for their presence is greatest. Thus the client can rest assured that levels of security personnel cover are of the right level and in the right places.
Put simply, live intervention at a given customer’s site leads to more effective incident management.
Speaking of security personnel, the opening of MiTec is revolutionary in that MITIE has become the first organisation to base its employee screening team within a Category II ARC. That fact alone, of course, means the highest levels of protection possible for sensitive personal data.
The PeopleCert employee screening operation (which sits inside MiTec but external to the main pod-based monitoring floor) offers customers – including those emanating from the financial services sector – tailored screening services based on defined needs.
At the same time, the necessary checking procedures for MITIE’s own staff are carried out with due diligence, great care and attention to detail.
Naturally, PeopleCert is an IT-based function so every facet of it may be tracked. That being the case, this offers total peace of mind for the customer in terms of banishing the commercial and/or financial risks an un-checked employee might pose to the business.
Assisting MITIE’s 12,000 security personnel
Continuing the people-based theme, also operational in the MiTec centre is iSAMS. This software package was instigated to assist MITIE’s 12,000 security personnel in the delivery of 4,000 contracts across 10,000 sites.
Using the iSAMS platform – launched last month – officers can securely log in from remote locations and check their shifts, access training information, update their personal details and so on.
Vehicle telematics monitoring, meanwhile, provides real-time tracking and control of fleet management for the protection of both vehicles and assets.
There are timed routes for the monitoring of expected arrival times. Corridor mapping will automatically send an alert to the MiTec operators if a vehicle strays off route, and there are geo-fence ring compounds for automatic alerts when a vehicle arrives at its destination.
MITIE boasts the capability to fit covert CCTV and panic alarms to vehicles while the automated control of vehicle doors, tail lifts and engine management may all be conducted remotely – again by the MiTec operating officers – if a driver is under duress.
From the MiTec base, MITIE is able to conduct remote locking/unlocking of premises for automatic access and egress to unmanned sites. In practice, automatic door entry can maintain a given building’s ‘operational independence’ on a 24-hour basis without the need for any on-site security presence in the form of an officer.
Routine patrol visits will check for suspicious activity, while any deliveries to site can be timed such that access and egress is efficiently managed. If an alarm activation should occur, MITIE operators are able to facilitate instant site access – thus eliminating the requirement for a designated key holder.
Gemini integrated security software
MITIE is making effective use of Bold Communications’ advanced Gemini integrated security software for fire and intruder alarm monitoring. That software is proven and used in Control Rooms worldwide.
It’s also underpinned by completely new code scripted to suit the .NET Visual Studio development platform which makes it possible to create advanced applications both quickly and efficiently.
The system is used to piece together reports for the customer and to inform dispatch of the emergency services. It can help prevent false alarms, too.
MiTec has been designed with the business continuity side of the equation in mind. Remote monitoring of all building management and security systems in the event of premises evacuation allows real-time situational awareness to come to the fore.
Further to this, MiTec’s operators can establish an emergency situation central command facility to management communications in the event of serious incidents.
There’s also a Helpline in place for staff should an accident or serious incident arise.
In addition, a Control Room-style support service will be offered to take care of matters arising as the on-site control function is brought back on stream.
Support systems in place
The MiTec centre’s functions are supported by four-hour fire protection, VESDA early warning gas detection systems, triplicate redundancy (there’s an internal 60 KBA UPS, two 130 KBA on-site back-up generators and a fuel farm) and a scalable fibre optic communications network – not to mention a MITEL IP contact centre telephone system and an IP-networked flood floor.
A 70 ft wall of screens displays all core platforms and alarm queues, and there’s a full lockdown capability (encompassing security and life support systems).
The general manager responsible for MiTec is Phil Murdock, who was instrumental in the centre’s design, construction and overall project management.
Murdock joined MITIE in the summer of 2009, having previously worked for some of the Top 5 UK security companies. Since then, he has been influential in growing MITIE’s Northern Ireland portfolio and assumed overall responsibility for sales and operations.
Today, Murdock champions the Craigavon branch of the FTSE 250 strategic outsourcing company as “a centre of excellence for fresh thinking and development.”
The timeline for the new MiTec facility began not long after Murdock’s arrival, in fact, the development partnership with InvestNI being forged in November 2009. The designated executive committee gave the go-ahead for the project the following February, with the platform design stage beginning in April last year.
Construction started last July, and the initial recruitment process to enlist staff in August. The assigned MITIE team members eventually moved in to MiTec this January, the transition of regional operations being secured in February.
Nothing other than a monumental achievement in a very short space of time, then, and one that has the full support – and admiration – of Ruby McGregor-Smith (herself a staunch champion of MITIE’s efforts in the Total Security Management arena).
Technology driving operational change
“Back in 2003 and 2004 we recognised that licensing and regulation would change the security industry, and we also saw that technology would change the way in which we operate as a company,” said McGregor-Smith.
“Over the last two to three years, we’ve certainly seen the use of new technology completely changing the way in which we deliver our services, including security.”
In McGregor-Smith’s eyes, MiTec is very much a launch pad for the company to say: ‘This is what we can do with remote monitoring services’. Certainly, McGregor-Smith feels that the operation will be a hugely positive addition to the MITIE stable in terms of supporting customers when it comes to their security requirements.
“MiTec will be an incredibly important part of the development of our security business,” continued MITIE Group’s CEO, who also stated that the decision to locate in Northern Ireland was based on “a talented and motivated workforce”.
“It’s an advanced security centre operating to world class standards, and will allow us to protect our clients’ properties, information and personnel in the most cost-effective way.”
Adding to the message, Bob Forsyth told SMT Online: “What we’ve done over the last two years as far as the security side of the business is concerned was to review the predominantly manpower-related and successful service we offered to clients and amend that to reflect the changing industry shape and look so that we would become a risk-based security provider.”
According to Forsyth, the launch of the MiTec centre has effectively ‘closed the loop’ around all of MITIE’s product lines.
“Whereas before we outsourced elements like CCTV provision and intruder alarms as well as other areas,” explained Forsyth, “we’ve been able to totally close that gap. We can now offer everything from risk and review processing to security guarding, systems integration and monitoring all through one management team.”
In addition to covering the MiTec centre opening, SMT Online conducted exclusive interviews in Craigavon with Ruby McGregor-Smith, Bob Forsyth and Brett Lovegrove (strategic advisor to MITIE Group on issues pertaining to the public sector). Keep an eye out for these features over the next few days…
