Background
Local community benefits from enhanced video protection
The historic village of Leybourne in Kent is situated close to the M20 and benefits from easy access to London, the channel ports and the motorway network. It’s a village with a strong community feel and an attractive rural character, however good transport links can bring problems. Leybourne Parish Council was particularly concerned by the risk of crime coming in from outside the area and to protect the community from vandalism and anti-social behaviour and wanted a video surveillance system capable of deterring wrong-doers.
The Challenges
Updating a poorly working system within a budget
Leybourne already had limited public area surveillance, but the system used outdated analogue technology that was proving costly to maintain and difficult to adapt to changing needs. Budget constraints also meant that data-streaming had to be capped and as a result video evidence was only being recorded part time. London-based integrator iC2 CCTV was consulted and asked to devise a solution that would extend coverage, improve image quality and guarantee no data loss – and all that had to be achieved within the parish council’s limited budget.
The Solution
A flexible, wireless solution with robust evidence storage
For significantly upgraded coverage, but with the lowest total cost of ownership, iC2 CCTV recommended installing the latest IDIS technology on a 5GHz point-to-point wireless infrastructure. At the heart of the new system is a powerful 64-channel, full HD NVR recorder – model DR-8364D – which offers the important advantage of flexible H.265/H.264 dual codec performance. This feature allows recording in high-definition H.265 but viewing on a variety of older screens using H.2264, so it means existing display equipment can be retained. A combination of 3-megapixel and 5-megapixel IDIS domes and bullet cameras mounted on lamp-posts in key locations gives significantly improved coverage and image detail. And IDIS Smart Failover provides the best guarantee against data loss: if Leybourne’s network connection is compromised for any reason, all recordings continue to be stored on SD cards within the cameras and are then automatically downloaded as soon as the connection is re-established.
Results and Benefits
Improved video protection reassures local residents
The IDIS technology together with the wireless network, installed over five weeks by iC2 CCTV without disrupting the village, gives Leybourne significantly improved protection without high ongoing costs. Unlike the old analogue system, recordings are now easily searchable with time/date stamped footage and the high definition image quality is ideal for use in investigations and as evidence. IDIS Smart Failover ensures that uninterrupted evidence is always retained in the event of transmission failures, without the need for time-consuming manual data downloads from individual cameras. More cameras can now be easily added, or the location of cameras changed, as the need arises.
“This robust, new video system is proving very popular with Leybourne Parish Council and the Community and enables us to provide excellent quality data and images for Kent Police and the Local Authorities,” stated the chairman of the Parish Council Bob Ulph, who went on to say, “It has already deterred a lot of the anti-social behaviour that councillors and residents were concerned about and is providing reassurance that any crime in the future will be dealt with.
Bob Ulph – Chairman of the Parish Council 
Photo credit: Leybourne Castle, Kent by Glen via Flickr