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Case Study: The South Bank Centre and Royal Festival Hall
The recent two year refurbishment at the Royal Festival Hall, part of the large South Bank Centre has included more than just a makeover for the building. The modernisation has given Mark Foster, the security manager, an opportunity to review the security systems in place. Since the last update of security at the hall and on the Southbank, the threat to London from terrorism has greatly increased. Note, for instance, the July 07 bombings and recent events at Glasgow airport. The constant changing of technologies, the need to ensure that these new technologies are fully integrated into existing systems and that they are understood by the operatives, complicates the balancing of the level of security against the level of threat - and the maintaining of an unobtrusive system that provides real security.
Security Manager Mark Foster recognised the refurbishment presented an opportunity to review the systems in place. Eugene O' Mahony, a security specialist in overall building security and manned management had been working on this separate project along with a variety of security projects with Hertford based security consultants, VIT Consultancy, and recognised the company's value. He subsequently introduced them to Mark Foster as VIT Consultancy has a reputation in the security industry for its ability to provide niche and bespoke products to the police, military and government markets.
The review at the Southbank highlighted the need for good night surveillance cameras. VIT Consultancy is the only company in Europe with rights to a completely different type of lens and light processing information technology that is over 150 times more sensitive than the industry standard. This enables number plate recognition at night, even when looking into car headlights. The lenses work equally well at long and short distances and provide exceptionally clear images. The low-light technology offered by VIT Consultancy meets one of the many requirements at the South Bank of providing evidential quality images at all times of the day or night.
VIT Consultancy brought a fresh approach to the mix, its ability to work seamlessly with the IT department while maintaining a close working relationship with the staff patrolling and manning the facilities proved extremely useful to the solution required of the Royal Festival Hall. The security review by VIT Consultancy gave the company the opportunity to incorporate not only its optically superior cameras but also to refurbish two of the independent control rooms. VIT Consultancy implemented a new sophisticated digital system using a mixture of wired and fibre optic technology, multi-site monitoring and internal and external systems.
Working closely with the South Bank's IT department, VIT Consultancy carried out the upgrading of the camera system utilising the existing fibre-optic cable network at the facility. VIT Consultancy Limited are specialists in innovation and its expertise in the field means it can offer clients a full service that includes cutting edge technology which is unique because it has been built for purpose in its technical departments. VIT Consultancy also offer a full consultancy role, its experience in security is drawn from many fields including military, police and covert security. The ability to provide such an extensive platform has meant that VIT Consultancy has been able to work easily with manned security and specialised IT departments equally and to provide a level of service both in its quality of equipment and in customer support that is exemplary.
The project at the Southbank and Royal Festival Hall has led to an ongoing relationship between VIT Consultancy and the Royal Festival Hall that continues to provide cutting edge security to protect an area of huge national interest and heritage.