ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

For years residential, comercial and industrial premises have been designed and built with various electronic building services – such as security and telecommunications – all operating perfectly well, but very much alone. The CCTV signals go directly to monitors in a control room or reception area; the telephone signals are sent from a dedicated telephone in an apartment to an exchange; the signal from a door entry panel connects to the separate internal monitor/ handset. All these electronic systems are operating in a building, but all completely separately, using their own cabling and hardware.

Much of the technological developments have been focused on improving the technology within these separate systems to make them all the more reliable and easy to install, and to increase the number of features on offer. All this has led to some very good products and systems.

But now the focus has been subtly shifted to look not just at how to continually improve such systems, but to 'merge' them to provide users with easier to use and more cost-effective building services. In other words, we are talking integration.

This is clearly not a new concept – the thought has certainly been there with manufacturers and installers, but the opportunity wasn't: the technology wasn't compatible; it was too expensive; there wasn't any real benefit to be had.

But all that has changed. Manufacturers are making their equipment compatible with a wide range of services and with other manufacturers' equipment, making it not only practical to integrate different systems, but also beneficial – there are now real advantages to be had.

One of the most important things behind this move has been the introduction of, and gradual move to, digital technology. Analogue signals are the traditional means of communicating information in a building. They consist of levels represented by a directly proportional voltage and are one continuous 'wave' of information.

While they remain perfectly adequate and cost-effective for small to medium-sized applications, they are restricted in the amount of information that can be held on their bandwidth.

Digital signals are based on a bit stream of information, coded in to an 'on/off' binary signal. This technology is not only fast and provides excellent quality signals, but is highly flexible and able to carry a vast amount of information. This is the key for integrating systems. With digital technology 'information' can be easily shared and signals from different systems brought together, operating along the same cabling and, in some instances, using the same hardware.

As one of the UK's foremost providers of quality door entry equipment, BPT has been keen to forge a way ahead in using digital technology to enable integration of relevant building services. After all, if one of our video door entry systems is installed, doesn't it make perfect sense to integrate it with other systems that use similar equipment, such as CCTV and access control?

All the right elements are in place – video monitors, cameras, door entry panels etc. To combine these systems makes financial sense and is also better for the occupier as they can reduce the amount of space that is taken up by such equipment, making it more aesthetically pleasing at the same time.

So what can we realistically integrate within a commercial or residential property? I'm not talking about the future, but the here and now – what you can readily install and integrate and that will work.

The most obvious systems to integrate it with are other security ones, including access control, CCTV, panic alarms and intruder detection.

Access control, in the form of keypads or proximity systems, is easily installed into the entry panels of a door entry system providing added security and convenience for residents and services.

I’m not talking about the future, but the here and now – what you can readily install and integrate

It works like this: visitors at the main door press either the flat number to speak directly with the flat's occupants, or use the porter/concierge button to speak to him/her. They can then be 'vetted' and admitted by the respondent pushing a door release button.

Residents, on the other hand, simply use the access control system to gain instant access. Of course, one of the other major benefits in such an instance is that the access control system can be set up so that trades people can enter certain doors at certain times only, once again making it a highly convenient and secure system.

Access control systems have their own control unit, reader and either keypad, or in the case of proximity systems, cards or tags, each of which are encoded with the user's identification, permitted time of entry and points of entry. With a keypad, when the user enters the correct code, the electronic door release or electro magnetic lock is released, thus opening the door.

The proximity access control systems perform the same function, but use a different technology. The proximity reader emits a constant field of RF energy via an antenna. The tag also has an antenna which picks up the RF energy and responds by transmitting back its unique code.

Once valid tags are presented within the pre-specified range (from 5cm up to 2 metres), their code is compared to the data in a database either at the reader location, a separate access control unit or at a central computer.

Keypads are the more traditional choice of access control, but proximity systems are quickly taking over as they are more secure and durable, having no moving parts.

Where proximity systems really come into their own is when their use is widened to incorporate not only pedestrian but vehicular traffic. With larger installations, electronic vehicle access control becomes a cost-effective and often necessary addition to the security of premises.

If you have a gate at the entrance to an apartment block's car park, for example, you will need a means of opening and closing it. You could use a guard, but this is expensive. The most appropriate solution would be to use a proximity access control system integrated with the door entry system.

Luxury apartments
Bryanston Square in the West End of London has combined door entry with access control to great effect, making the residents of these luxury apartments, duplexes and penthouses very secure. A modular BPT system was installed featuring video door entry panels with access control to all the main entrances, including the garage.

This allows residents to gain automatic entrance to the car park and the main entrances, while requiring visitors to either contact the porter or the apartment they are visiting to request entry; a porter's switchboard and monitors within the individual apartments have been installed to enable this.

The video door entry system also interfaces with a remote paging device so the porter has the facility of roaming the premises, yet is still contactable.

This is not a new concept – the thought has been there with installers and manufacturers, but the opportunity wasn’t

   Other security systems, such as panic alarms and intruder detection, are also easily combined into the same system as extra alarm signals are taken from each of the flats and brought to the concierge switchboard.

   This allows the concierge to monitor the system and take appropriate action in the event of an alarm, such as checking the premises for any suspicious activity, contacting the police or, if necessary, on-site security guards.

This can be seen in the case of the award-winning Westfield development in Hampstead, London. The 150 luxury apartments have a fully integrated BPT door entry/Multi-Scan II access control system, which also interfaces with a Modtec Security alarm system (installed in every apartment) and a panic alarm.

As video entry systems already have many of the relevant components in place, it becomes both easy and cost-effective to integrate it with a CCTV system. We are seeing more and more residential areas being fitted with cameras to monitor external areas such as car parks and walkways, plus some internal areas including receptions and main corridors. Combining the two systems is very straightforward as the same monitors can be used.

But as we said earlier, integrating a door entry system doesn't have to stop at other security systems. More recently, with the introduction of digital technology and dramatically improved door entry equipment facilities and audio quality, we are able to combine these systems with telecommunications.

An obvious step, combining the two, makes for a versatile, cost-effective and space-saving design, plus reduces the amount of cabling required.

Equipment such as BPT's Exedra and Integra handsets can be used as an integrated telephone and video/audio door entry system. The equipment is being continually developed and will soon come with a wide range of additional features such as video memory and answering facilities.

The Westminster Square residential development in the heart of London has used many of these systems. Consisting of 141 apartments, Midnight Security and Communications has designed and installed a fully integrated system monitored 24 hours per day at the concierge desk in the reception area.

The system features an extensive BPT video entry system incorporating monitors for every apartment, a brass digital entry panel at the main entrance and brass sub panels on the entrances to each block.

In addition, there are more than 20 colour and monochrome CCTV cameras located around the exterior of the building and at the entrances to the underground car park, intruder alarms and smoke detectors in each apartment, proximity access control on all communal entrances and a pager system which can be used to contact the porter day or night.