IFSEC International could be said to be the safest exhibition in the world — and certainly the safest in the NEC.
With more than 650 security companies exhibiting and 30,000 security professionals visiting, it’s probably safe to assume that, if you leave your iPad lying around, someone will hand it in to security. But it’s good to know that the Birmingham NEC has one of the most state-of-the-art surveillance systems watching over delegates and exhibitors alike.
Looking around the NEC’s security control room while IFSEC and FIREX International were in full swing this week, we were able to see the heart of the exhibition centre’s security operations. It recently installed around 375 Axis cameras producing 720p high-definition images, as well as 40 ANPR cameras to monitor parking facilities.
The new system is “worlds from where we were” with the old analogue system, according the NEC staff member who gave us the tour.
375 Axis cameras protect the NEC where #ifsec and #firex are twitter.com/ifsecglobal/st…
— IFSEC Global (@ifsecglobal) May 15, 2013
When we visited the control room, there was a surprising sense of calm, probably due to the thousands of additional surveillance cameras monitoring visitors. On the wall to our right, though, there were indications of the serious task at hand. A sign read “Current threat level: Substantial.” A TV alongside the banks of surveillance screens showed the latest news — no terror or crime, just Theresa May addressing the UK’s police forces, along with an advert for golf.
The situation around the NEC (located on the outskirts of Birmingham) was also clear to be seen. The latest traffic information sat alongside the many images coming from surveillance cameras inside the building.
The NEC’s system is supported by Genetec and runs on its Omnicast solution. It comes complete with redundancy in case of a failure across the wireless MESH network. With 120TB of storage on the NEC’s SAN servers, the centre could store up to 31 days of recordings.
In the event of an incident, the NEC uploads images to Facewatch, the UK service that lets businesses share images with the police quickly and, crucially, in the right format for the police and the courts.
Monitoring the VIPs
ANPR and video analytics keep track of how many vehicles are in the car parks. But the centre has also been experimenting with using ANPR to improve the experience of important visitors. The ANPR system can recognise VIPs’ number plates and give them speedy and seamless access to the car park without making them pay.
The NEC is also offering a CCTV rental service — probably not in use too much at IFSEC International, given the thousands of products on display. The service allows exhibitors to hire a surveillance camera for use with their stand. This was easy to implement, because the NEC was already running CAT5 cables to the stands for Internet use. These cameras are networked, and the stored images are available for use by the exhibitor for marketing or evidence purposes — or just to make sure staffers weren’t slacking off at the show.
IFSEC may be getting ready to move next year to London, but it’s good to know that the remaining events on the NEC’s calendar will have a state-of-the-art security system at their disposal.
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