星空传媒

At all levels, it seems, Governments are constantly looking for ways in which to improve communication of their ideas and policies, and how they interact and respond to the needs of specific communities. The reason is simple. There鈥檚 a growing public perception that Government 鈥� at both national and local levels 鈥� is bureaucratic, inaccessible and inefficient. Services are seen as fragmented. Bound up in masses of complex, often frustrating administrative procedures. Too often, services fail to deliver.

Factors one and all that have weakened the trust between populus and politician, a truism exemplified by countless surveys of public opinion wherein the general apathy, mistrust, suspicion and, at times, downright hostility towards local Council management underpins many a voter鈥檚 views.

The current Government, of course, has tried to turn the tide by employing the Spin Doctors, papering over the gaping cracks in service provision with carefully chosen words of wisdom. Nonetheless, any lack of substance in policy making will always shine through no matter how many fancy words are tripped from the red tongues deployed on New Labour鈥檚 front benches.

The key task for Government at the local level 鈥� where, after all, national policies are meted out in microcosm 鈥� is to improve the delivery of services and engage with communities and the business fraternity alike. Undoubtedly, the Internet has created the ideal forum in which such interactions and communication can take place.

When all鈥檚 said and done, the World Wide Web is a cost-effective and plentiful resource. However, local authorities must do more than send information one way, from the Town Hall to the people. Rather, the greatest potential for the Internet in Government lies in the possibility of linking together the separate strands of municipal functions and services into a one-stop shop. Welcome to the world of e-Government.

Commendably, Westminster City Council has just kick-started an 鈥榚-revolution鈥� of its own in the heart of London鈥檚 West End, with a blueprint for what Councillor Simon Milton 鈥� leader of the Council 鈥� has aptly dubbed 鈥淭he Wireless City鈥� masterplan. Its roots lie in a challenging series of 20 separate initiatives that mark the Council鈥檚 fourth year of Civic Renewal and, together, will set a new standard 鈥� which chief executive Peter Rogers refers to as 鈥楾he Westminster Standard鈥� 鈥� governing 鈥渆xcellent City management鈥�.

The Council has pinpointed the need to reduce infrastructure costs and ongoing operational costs while still supporting the next generation of service delivery. There鈥檚 also a strong desire to increase Council staff productivity and create an holistic approach to street management (an element of which involves providing greater support to Westminster鈥檚 City Guardians, the dedicated Street Wardens tasked with tackling crime and disorder and clamping down on unlicensed activities). All of which can be achieved by harnessing the powers of the Internet.

Creating The Wireless City

From a security perspective, Westminster City Council made its first serious attempt to embrace CCTV a little less than two years ago, when the main camera scheme for Oxford Street, Regent Street and surrounding thoroughfares hoved into view. However, the video images produced by those predominantly Mark Mercer-supplied domes housing Grundig cameras 鈥� like many others of their ilk 鈥� can only be transmitted to one central location and monitored by dedicated staff at the Trocadero Centre, all of whom are under the charge of specialist CCTV projects manager Robert McAlister.

Nothing wrong with that, save for the fact that this set-up has often led to a situation whereby only a couple of security operatives at any one time are monitoring information relayed from as many as 90 different cameras dotted around Westminster. Make no mistake that this is an excellent CCTV operation. A leading edge implementation. However, it remains a tad inflexible.

Displaying great foresight, one of McAlister鈥檚 colleagues 鈥� information services networks manager Andrew Snellgrove 鈥� determined to look into the possibility of Westminster鈥檚 CCTV becoming an application that would operate over the corporate network in tandem with noise monitoring operations. His ideas running neatly alongside the edicts of The Wireless City, Snellgrove joined forces with network integrator Telindus, systems infrastructure specialist SkyNet and equipment suppliers Cisco Systems, DVTel and Intel to turn his dream of converging CCTV with wireless systems and data networking into reality.

Snellgrove takes up the story. 鈥淭he ability to route video streams around a data network enables CCTV to be used for purposes where previously it was neither technically feasible nor cost-effective to do so,鈥� he suggests.

鈥淭here are nearly 1,400 Westminster City Council officers whose jobs are at least in part street-based and public-facing. We really wanted to allow them to view live images while on the move rather than having to rely solely on the Control Room operators, together with providing ready-made access to various computer back office systems.鈥�

鈥楩ast Start鈥� pilot in Soho

A so-called 鈥楩ast Start鈥� pilot project for The Wireless City is currently up-and-running in Soho, with a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) enabling CCTV and noise monitoring in Soho Square, Greek Street, Old Compton Street and Frith Street. In many ways this represents the perfect test bed, given that it鈥檚 difficult to install conventional CCTV cameras in the Soho area due to its maze of streets and alleyways.

鈥淵ou would also have to dig up most of the roads to install fibres if you were contemplating a traditional CCTV installation,鈥� adds Telindus鈥� surveillance business solutions manager Mark Bouldin. 鈥淢ost end users will realise that tends to be quite expensive.鈥�

So what does this innovative installation comprise, exactly? Its 鈥榟eartbeat鈥� is the Cisco Aironet wireless network together with a Mobile Access Router. At present, this

uses the 802.11B licence-exempt wireless frequency (from Phase II of the project the 802.11G system will be deployed, offering even larger bandwidths of up to 54 Mbps).

Connected to the network are four dedicated cameras, all of them Spectra III dome systems developed by Pelco. A variety of video configurations have been trialled, using both MPEG2 and MPEG4 standards and running at speeds all the way down to 727 kbps.

鈥淲e wanted colour-mono, day/night capability and the maximum optical zoom,鈥� stresses Bouldin. 鈥淲e鈥檙e actually achieving 23:1, which means the cameras can see 54 metres under PSDB requirements for recognition and offers far better coverage.鈥� Bouldin and Snellgrove also had to consider the weight of the dome camera units as they鈥檙e bolted-on to existing lampposts in the streets.

鈥淩ather than viewing IP (Internet Protocol) solely as a communications tool, end users should view it as both a communications and virtual matrix tool,鈥� chips in Bouldin. 鈥淗ere, we鈥檝e replaced the need for a traditional analogue matrix as the information generated by the IP cameras and noise monitoring systems is dispersed around the network. IP also replaces the need for recording. Andrew and his team can view video stored on the server located in the Soho Medical Centre at Soho Square, from the dedicated PC in the main Trocadero Control Room, other buildings on the corporate data network or from wireless devices on the street. It鈥檚 totally flexible.鈥�

In practice, those wireless devices translate into notepads, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and laptop computers. Any individual with secure access to the Council鈥檚 data network can view live images and then control the dome cameras to suit surveillance needs. Those individuals might include the aforementioned City Guardians, enforcement managers tasked with checking building skips for potential fire hazards, highways officers (who monitor and administer roadworks in the Westminster area), licensing officers and the Council鈥檚 many social workers.

Interfacing with the police

鈥淭he Metropolitan Police have made use of our new system to view crime 鈥榟ot spot鈥� areas,鈥� continues Andrew Snellgrove. 鈥淔or instance, we鈥檝e had problems with a drug dealer who was selling drugs from a certain street corner on a regular basis. None of the original CCTV scheme鈥檚 fixed cameras could cover the area, so we moved one of the IP cameras to monitor the dealer鈥檚 business. The very next morning at around 3.00 am the Metropolitan Police officers monitoring the video stream were able to apprehend a suspect largely thanks to solid video footage of evidential quality.鈥�

From start to finish, moving that IP camera took around three hours as opposed to fixed camera systems which would need months to be reconfigured (due to the cabling infrastructures, etc). The cameras used on the Westminster pilot project were also supplied pre-bracketed, further reducing the necessary install time. Such flexibility can prove crucial, as the above example shows.

It鈥檚 worth stressing once again that the infrastructure for the entire wireless corporate network operation is multi-service in nature, supporting video, telephony and data systems simultaneously. That being the case, the fact that the IP cameras are linked to PDAs and laptops renders CCTV far more reactive to events as they happen on the ground.

鈥淲e hear all the time about security needing to be proactive,鈥� suggests Mark Bouldin, 鈥渂ut to be honest it鈥檚 reactivity that鈥檚 most important in this context.鈥�

By way of example, in Westminster it has been simplicity itself to link the CCTV application to that for noise monitoring. 鈥淲hen an alarm is triggered as noise levels at a pub or club reach, say, 75 dB, this will send a message to the CCTV system which brings up the camera image for that location,鈥� opines Bouldin. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the cause of the noise? Is there a disturbance of some kind? You can see immediately, then transfer those images to the PDA of a Street Warden nearest to the scene who鈥檚 able to take immediate action.鈥�

Indeed, the second phase of the project will see Help Points introduced at the bottom of lampposts where the IP cameras are located. Video images of the individual who has pressed the Help Point call button can be brought up on screen immediately, and they鈥檒l be able to talk directly to the central station operator (and, subsequently, the police) to report an incident such as a fire, a robbery or perhaps a fight in the street. Video footage from the incident is then transmitted to mobile police units (or Westminster鈥檚 own CCTV vans which, until now, have been restricted to making use of images generated by on-board cameras alone).

鈥淚t鈥檚 a system that reduces the fear of crime for members of the general public in Westminster,鈥� adds Bouldin, 鈥渁nd makes the entire surveillance operation totally reactive.鈥�

How secure is 鈥榳ireless鈥�?

Given that IP CCTV is quite different to traditional CCTV (ie by definition it鈥檚 no longer a 鈥榗losed circuit鈥� but an open loop), just how secure is such an operation from would-be hackers and cyber terrorists?

鈥淲hen we first thought about the project we were only too aware of the security risks,鈥� states Andrew Snellgrove. 鈥淲e detected a significant number of 802.11 signals in the Soho area that were less than secure. You could easily have a 鈥榣ook around鈥� those networks simply by spoofing them.鈥�

Tellingly, Snellgrove adds: 鈥淭he main reason why certain wireless systems may not be totally secure is that those installing them haven鈥檛 planned them out to a professional standard. A multiple-level security system must be implemented.鈥� Additional security features including VPN circuits and the obligatory firewalls 鈥� on top of unique log-in procedures 鈥� help secure the Westminster LAN.

The take-up of this kind of surveillance monitoring is no longer a question of whether or not it鈥檚 feasible from a technical point of view. Clearly, it is. It鈥檚 more to do with correlating end user needs and requirements, and those end users understanding the benefits to be had from 鈥榞oing wireless鈥�. 鈥淭he benefits are less tangible to correlate when you鈥檙e talking about a traditional CCTV system,鈥� says Mark Bouldin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to pinpoint any return on investment, but that鈥檚 what Boards of Directors want to see before they decide to splash out on security systems.鈥�

With wireless surveillance, it鈥檚 far easier to complete an initial cost benefit analysis. The financial outlay for a conventional CCTV system runs to approximately 拢40,000 per camera installed. For a wireless equivalent, the end user would be looking at parting with between 拢5,000 and 拢8,000 per camera. That鈥檚 five wireless cameras for the price of one. A pretty compelling argument before you鈥檝e even begun to talk about the flexibility offered by IP. Illegal street traders and fly-posters, among others, could be stopped in their tracks.

鈥淲hen the next phase of The Wireless City project is rolled out,鈥� adds Andrew Snellgrove, 鈥渨e can empower our mobile workforce with access to back office computer systems as well as video streams. Via the wireless-enabled portal devices, this will lead to increased portability which, in turn, helps to drive down costs. The Council officer will then have the facility to multi-task across multiple services.鈥�

Where next for Westminster?

Other projects across the country have deployed wireless video, but the Westminster scheme is the first to coalesce with other communications uses. As Mark Bouldin rightly points out: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a mindset. Andrew could just as easily have chosen to go with an extension to the existing surveillance system, but he didn鈥檛. Now he鈥檚 reaping the benefits.鈥�

There are plans to install another 50 IP cameras in the Westminster area that will 鈥榞o live鈥� at the end of October. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l cover the majority of Soho and the housing estates at Lisson Green and Churchill Gardens,鈥� adds Andrew Snellgrove, who now looks after a network already boasting connectivity to over 100 different buildings.

Thankfully, Westminster鈥檚 bold decision to 鈥榞o wireless鈥� means that the Council has at its disposal what might be termed 鈥楾he Martini Solution鈥� to the security dilemma. An IP-based system that renders 鈥楢ny time, Any place, Anywhere鈥� monitoring an operational entity rather than a pipe dream.