24
|
HIRE
AND
RENTAL
NEWS
| MAY 2013
INDUSTRY IN FOCUS
Kerr’s Hire in Geelong and its sister hire
yard at Grovedale have implemented a
new state of the art security system that
allows real time security and monitoring.
The system, Videofied includes a series
of PIR (passive infrared system) motion
detectors with integrated video cameras
set up in strategic places around the hire
yard and offices. This system complements
recorded CCTV also installed on site,
allowing owners Gary and Jarrod Kerr to
use their smart phones to view live CCTV
footage in real time if ever the Videofied
alarms are triggered.
According to Jarrod Kerr, the system is
saving the company a lot of valuable time
as well as expense.
“
As soon as motion is detected in areas
it shouldn’t be after hours, footage of the
event is sent to the monitoring service
who determine the cause of the Videofied
detection – whether an animal, beam of
light or intruder. The monitoring service
then calls us and we can view the live CCTV
feed on our smart phone in real time,”
Jarrod said.
“
If the footage indicates an intruder, we
then call the police, who must respond;
as opposed to a security guard who isn’t
prepared to put his life on the line for my
business premises – nor should he have to.”
“
We’ve had security systems installed
in our hire yards for many years as a form
of protection - all based on CCTV and
regular security alarms. We used to use
systems with photo electric beams and
infrared beams which ran across the yard
to alert us to intruders and movement
in unauthorised areas after hours. But
we would get a lot of false alarms; for
example: birds flying through the beams.
The CCTV was only available to be viewed
on site; so we had no idea whether
the alarm trigger was an animal or a
Real time CCTV security direct to smartphone
Kerr’s Hire recently caught youths stealing petrol from its Grovedale site; who
were captured on their security system, arrested and charged
perpetrator until
we physically
went into the
yard to view the
footage.
“
We found this
style of system
wasn’t very user
friendly and
effectively tied
us to the yard.
We would have
to come down
to the yard and
reset the alarms
or try to find
out what what
triggered the
alarm.
“
When we began looking at new
systems, we knew our current limitations
and thought we’d see what was available
in the market. We were building the new
yard at Grovedale at that time and decided
we would set it up with the new system
and get it right from the start.
“
We went to three local suppliers. Two
came back with systems similar to what
we already had. The third came back,
however, with Videofied, a passive infrared
system (PIR) with integrated camera
manufactured in the USA.
“
We were so impressed we went ahead.
The bonus of our new system is the
camera/detector units run on batteries
and it is all wirelessly connected so
each camera/detector component can
be easily moved to our liking. If I find a
camera would work better elsewhere or,
for example: a tree branch blowing in
the wind is often triggering the sensors
inadvertently, then we can easily move the
camera to accommodate that.
“
All we really need is a GSM signal –
or mobile phone signal. Certainly the
system has proven itself with arrests of
perpetrators. To date the Videofied system
has led to approximately 700 arrests in
Australia.
“
In the 10 years we had CCTV in our
yards, before we implemented Videofied,
we had one capture of an intruder, but
had a total of 15 break-ins.
“
Over the years we’ve lost maybe $20-
$30K of gear. This new system cost us
$10,000 but we consider this to be a win-
win in terms of cost and benefits.
“
It is completely portable and you don’t
need security patrols; the units themselves
tell you when their batteries run low.
“
We used to have security patrols
patrolling our district which cost between
$300-$400 per month. Now, we no longer
need that service so that’s a major saving.
“
Videofied can even be linked and
integrated into an existing system, to allow
keyless entry and smoke detection.”
Contact: 03 5278 6011 or visit:
www.kerrshire.com.au/footage.
HR