Customer: Pinfields Accountants
Location: Bromsgrove
Requirement: To provide a security surveillance system to monitor both the building and the safety of the staff, and to introduce an integrated access door entry system.
Solution: Mobotix Q24 Panoramic IP Camera, Mobotix day/night External Camera, ACT entry V-IP Door Entry & Access Control, ACTpro 3000 Access Door Controller
Services: Design of the new system, installation, training, maintenance and support
Customer’s View: “The new Mobotix Q24 camera has given my business a level of security surveillance that could not have been achieved by a more traditional CCTV offering. I am delighted with ECL-IPS and their level of professionalism.” Nick Pinfield, Partner, Pinfields Accountants
Nick Pinfield, Managing Partner of Chartered Accountants Pinfields, explains how Ecl-ips has made its Bromsgrove offices safer with access control and CCTV
Pinfields Accountants invests in access control equipment as part of office relocation
Pinfields Limited was created by the merger in 2003 of two long established Midlands-based accountancy practices. Based in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, Pinfields has a long established background, with the business first being set up in 1938, and they are committed to providing high quality financial advice to small and medium enterprises.
Due to their continuing growth, Pinfields moved into new purpose built offices in August 2009. The new offices are 5,500 sq ft over three floors. Prior to this move they discussed their monitoring and access control requirements with Ecl-ips, a local business who specialise in monitoring and surveillance using IP technology.
Nick Pinfield commented, “We knew of Ecl-ips as we have provided accountancy services to them and through this relationship we were aware of the innovative solutions that they could provide. We were particularly impressed with their use of high resolution cameras which could be viewed over the Internet. This would mean we could access the cameras from anywhere in the world, as long as we had Internet access.”
The Requirements
Pinfields had a number of distinct requirements:
- To restrict access to the front door, but have the ability to open it remotely from anywhere in the office.
- To know who had entered or left the building at any point in time.
- A time and attendance system.
- Surveillance of the building – both internally and externally.
The Products
After surveying the building and discussing the exact requirements with the client, Aaron Kernaghan, Managing Director of Ecl-ips, recommended a solution that combined the Mobotix IP Surveillance cameras and a door entry and access control system from Access Control Technology (ACT).
After surveying the building and discussing the exact requirements with the client, Aaron Kernaghan, Managing Director of Ecl-ips, recommended a solution that combined the Mobotix IP Surveillance cameras and a door entry and access control system from Access Control Technology (ACT).
Due to Mobotix’s innovative Q24 hemispheric camera, Ecl-ips only had to install one camera in the office building. Thanks to the 360° all-round view, the Q24 is able to capture an entire room. With a panorama function and a quad view, the camera can show images from four different angles simultaneously. Currently the Mobotix Q24 is the only product on the market that offers this functionality and reduces the amount of cameras needed to provide surveillance of a room.
The Mobotix M12 camera was situated at the front of the building to provide external surveillance of the premises. As with the Q24, all of the Mobotix cameras are high resolution cameras which store images that are more revealing and provide stronger evidence than other formats.
Mobotix cameras record approximately 30 times more detail than 95% of all existing video systems worldwide. In virtually all applications, one Mobotix camera can replace several standard CCTV systems because Mobotix technology offers four times more coverage.
Ecl-ips also installed a surveillance class network attached storage device which is capable of recording and storing up to 28 days high definition footage from the Mobotix cameras. Retrieval of these images is made simple by the utilisation of an application called Mobotix Control Centre, which has been set up and deployed on several client PCs within the business.
The ACT access control system recommended by Ecl-ips has exceeded the expectations of Nick Pinfield and his team. Ecl-ips fitted an ACTpro 3000 door access controller which allows the staff to gain access to the building via a key fob. This also records the exact time that they enter and leave the building, and by doing so provides the restricted access that was requested and delivers a time and attendance system.
With the use of the ACTentry V-IP system, which combines door entry with audio video over IP, visitors to the Pinfields office simply press the door entry panel, which includes a camera, and from any PC in the business that has the client software installed they can view who is at the door and speak to them over the phone system before allowing them access to the building.
Nick Pinfield commented, “The system recommended and installed by Ecl-ips has definitely exceeded my expectations. The quality of the Mobotix images is superb and we can even zoom in and out of the recorded images as and when we need to. I have found the system incredibly easy and intuitive to use. The access control has enabled us to be able to monitor and control our front door when reception is not attended. The time and attendance system is also very simple but highly effective and has fulfilled all of my requirements. This has also increased our productivity”.
Result
Nick Pinfield commented, “The system recommended and installed by Ecl-ips has definitely exceeded my expectations. The quality of the Mobotix images is superb and we can even zoom in and out of the recorded images as and when we need to. I have found the system incredibly easy and intuitive to use. The access control has enabled us to be able to monitor and control our front door when reception is not attended. The time and attendance system is also very simple but highly effective and has fulfilled all of my requirements. This has also increased our productivity”. Nick continued, “We have been delighted by the professionalism of Ecl-ips and the team of engineers that have worked on this project. They are a company that understand technology and in particular IP. It has definitely been money well spent”.
The Technology
Both the Mobotix and ACT products work using IP (Internet Protocol) technology which means that they can be viewed via a VPN (virtual private network) connection. This means that authorised personnel can access the images from pretty much anywhere with an Internet connection.
Once the products had been fully installed, Ecl-ips carried out full training with the relevant people within the business.
Download the Pinfields case study PDF