Chris Mears, of Bedford Borough Hall explained. "We needed a system that could provide us with detailed images, day and night, that we could supply to the police to help them with their enquiries." Having written an overview of their requirements, Borough Hall sent them out to a number of local installers. "We didn't go into great detail about what equipment we wanted," says Mr Mears. "Rather, we left this to the experts, and we evaluated their proposals. Installers Silas Group were the successful contenders, with a solution that fit our budget and requirements."

The specified cameras were demonstrated to the client at Bedford CCTV control room prior to quotation. "The main concern was being able to provide Borough Hall's security management staff with a high-quality system capable of monitoring the site during the day, and allowing connection to the CCTV control room for operational use out of hours," explains Kevin Burraway, Director of Silas Group.

Providing full perimeter coverage of the hall, the solution comprises ten Pelco Spectra PTZ colour domes. "These cameras provide good quality images for day and nighttime operation, in line with the client's requirements," explains Mr Burraway.
Vista Powerdome Lite cameras were fitted at the reception area, second floor balcony and in the underground car park, joining a number of existing Axis IP cameras. A further five Arecont Megapixel cameras were located in the underground and external car parks.

Other equipment used included a Mirasys 32-channel analogue/16-channel IP hybrid recorder, Siemens V3i keyboard, two LCD monitors, and NVT transmitters and receivers, which were deployed to supply high-quality UTP video transmission.

As well as using the system for security purposes, staff have been able to use the images for day-to-day management, such as checking when deliveries are being made, barrier failures, and cars blocking areas, etc. "CCTV can play a vital role in communities," says Buzz Coates, Norbain's branded CCTV manager. "The public expects CCTV to be in place and for the quality of images to be high enough to be used by the police should there be an incident. The system Bedford Borough Hall now has in place meets those expectations."