The museum is no less impressive; it comprises 39,000 square meters of exhibition with a collection of 300,000 objects on five floors. From this collection on permanent display are 3,500 pieces that the museum considers the most important. The 3,500 works exhibited in the permanent collections are presented in a vast space with no partitions, accessible to as many people as possible. In addition to the permanent collection displays, there will be ten temporary exhibitions each year.


Situated on the banks of the Seine River, at the foot of the Eiffel Towel, the Quai Branly Museum is a forum for scientific and artistic dialogue, a crossroads of exchange between the public, researchers, students as well as contemporary creators. Quai Branly is designed not only to attract one-off tourists but regular visitors and students with research interests, providing them with a library and classrooms. The fusty image of the older museums has been replaced with a vibrancy that should attract large numbers of people. So, the Quai Branly Museum---with public accessibility and priceless collections---is a high-risk site. Security measures, therefore, had to be implemented and a reliable, high-performance security intercom solution was needed.

The key objective was to provide a means of contact between the points and the control station and, of course, assist security in safekeeping exhibits and maintain people's safety. To provide a viable communication solution, the project called for four-channel multiplexers for IP transmission of more than 250 camera signals with associated data back to the control room. In this case, totally 125 units of Hikvision DS-6004HCI network digital video servers were selected and installed as they fully met the requirements demanded by the Quai Branly Museum. Hikvision DS-6004HCI is a 4-channel Multi-purposes DVS and each channel can be real time (with high-quality digital video streams at 25 frames per second). It is completely independent of PC platform, which is built upon embedded processor and real-time operating system.

Museums use the network for both voice and data communication. As such, Hikvision DS-6004HCI also meets the requirement, providing network voice talk and PTZ remote control. Since radio phones are programmed on the network the way that the Quai Branly Museum specifies, in-house security staff are able to use the network to talk to each other or send data, including group calls, text messaging, emergency buttons and data transport. IP intercom integrates with existing telecommunication infrastructure and provide voice, image, and data links and interfaces using standard Ethernet architecture to bring all streams into one cohesive solution. One can also speak directly to the control room or guards on patrol via a handheld device because the intercoms can be connected to paging systems, SMS and mobile phone networks.

"With its expertise and reliability, Hikvision was our preferred manufacture partner," said Nicolas Dupre from Argos, who was also involved in the project of the Quai Branly Museum.