Millennium Point continues putting visitors first with the launch of a new high tech security control room
The Facilities team at Millennium Point is happy to announce the grand opening of the new security room. The new room expands the already strong security team in place, ready for the busy 2023 ahead.
The project was completed by AP Mitchell Group who have Divisions in the following disciplines Mechanical, Electrical, Facilities Management, Air Conditioning and Fire & Security. Also included on the project was D Stanley Associates, a project management and building services consultancy practice.
Upgrading without pausing on the safety of visitors
The project, which involved full upgrades of the control room and security equipment, was completed in 26 weeks. During this time, it was vital that there was no reduction in security. This was made achievable with keeping the original control room operational while the new one was being built. The new cameras were put online before the old ones were taken down. Alongside this, our friendly security team continuing their patrols and security was never compromised.
It was also important that the work carried out wouldn’t disrupt our customer’s events, our tenants, or visitors. The project involved lots of careful planning throughout with AP Mitchell Group being aware not to cause any inconvenience to any of the customers and staff . Regular meetings and communication were planned throughout the project duration involving David Stanley, The Project Team at AP Mitchell, and the Facilities team from Millennium Point.
Sleek and bespoke designed control room
The original control room, now 23 years old and becoming obsolete needed a refresh not just in tech but in design also. The whole new CCTV Security Control room was built including bespoke control furniture, a video wall comprising 8 x 44” LED 4K monitors, 2 x Operator control stations each workstation having 3 x 27” LED monitors each station having joystick controllers, allowing the security operators to control the system cameras.
New Video Management software system is now in place which is designed to simplify the control and management of otherwise disparate systems into a centralised graphical user interface. In addition to the streamlining system operations, the software will also increase situational awareness and accountability while reducing risks.
Camera upgrades and radio upgrades
130 cameras were replaced both internally and externally throughout the whole building all sited in strategic locations. There are a mixture of static fixed cameras and full pan tilt zoom cameras. The cameras installed are the very latest in technology giving real time images, along with this, night vision and better-quality cameras increase the quality of the area captured, allowing the security operators to have full CCTV coverage of the whole site. The cameras are all linked into a large network comprising of 11 individual data cabinets linked together with OM4 fibre optic cabling. Each data cabinet has individual data switches backed up with a UPS system.
New digital touch screen radios were also recommended and given to the security team. The radios are digital with better sound quality and has a transmit interrupt capability enabling a supervisor to interrupt and deliver critical communication. It also has lone worker mode which builds safety for our own team. The mode will prompt lone workers to press a button in timed intervals to let the rest of the team know everything is ok.
John Ayre Head of Fire & Security Division at AP Mitchell Group said, ‘Our company was delighted to have been awarded this most prestigious contract.
I am pleased that the installation of CCTV security cameras at Millennium Point and the building of a new state of the art security control room, is now complete, In addition to providing a measure of safety and security to the visitors and staff, the installation of the cameras will provide the Millennium Point Security team with a better and clearer coverage of the whole site. I have been honoured to represent AP Mitchell in delivering this prestigious contract on time and more importantly on budget’.
Linda Degg, Facilities Director at Millennium Point said ‘Our CCTV system and Control Room were out of date and obsolete, so we needed to upgrade both but maintain operational standards. Undertaking such a large-scale project in a live environment has serious challenges so it was vital that we chose the right contractor. With support from our project managers, D Stanley Associates, we selected AP Mitchell and commenced a 6-month programme of work. The project ran smoothly and completed on time. The onsite team worked tirelessly to accommodate our business and were flexible, agile, and extremely professional throughout. Our team is delighted with their new Control Room and the quality of our new security systems. I would not hesitate to recommend AP Mitchell to anyone considering a similar project and hope to be able to work with the team again in the future.’
Keep up to date with Millennium Point
Upgrading our control room is just one of the ways we continually develop Millennium Point to give the best to our guests, tenants and customers.
With a lot planned for 2023, keep up to date with the latest here.
