Community CCTV in Ongar Village: Managed Security Built for the Long Term
Our Special Projects Team was recently on site in Ongar Village, Dublin, carrying out servicing and preventative maintenance on the village's community CCTV system.
Built around the Avigilon video surveillance platform, the system combines fixed cameras and multisensor cameras connected across a secure wireless network to provide strategic CCTV coverage throughout the village.
It is a good example of how Usee.ie approaches community CCTV differently.
We don't simply install cameras.
Through our Managed CCTV Service for towns, villages and communities, Usee.ie can provide the complete CCTV infrastructure, including cameras, communications, recording technology, software and ongoing servicing as a managed solution.
For the community, that means access to professional security technology without having to purchase, design and maintain a complex CCTV network themselves.
Why Community CCTV Needs More Than Cameras
Installing a CCTV camera is relatively straightforward. Building a reliable community-wide CCTV system is considerably more involved.
Town and village environments can require cameras to be positioned across multiple buildings and locations where conventional network connectivity isn't always available.
At Ongar Village, a secure wireless network forms an important part of the infrastructure, allowing cameras at different locations to operate as part of an integrated video surveillance system.
The camera network includes a combination of Avigilon multisensor and fixed cameras, allowing different camera technologies to be selected according to the coverage required at each location.
This type of architecture allows us to design around the environment rather than trying to make every location fit the same standard camera configuration.
Built on the Avigilon Platform
Avigilon technology provides the core video surveillance platform for the Ongar community CCTV system.
For community CCTV applications, image quality is particularly important. There is little value in having a camera covering an incident if the recorded video doesn't provide the level of detail required afterwards.
This is one of the reasons Usee.ie focuses on what we describe as Evidential Quality CCTV — designing systems around the usefulness of the recorded evidence rather than simply the number of cameras installed.
The objective is straightforward:
Put the right camera in the right location, connected to the right infrastructure, and make sure it continues to work.
CCTV as a Managed Service
One of the most significant differences with the Ongar installation is the way the system is provided.
It operates under one of Usee.ie's Managed Service offerings for towns and communities.
Under this model, we can take responsibility for the technology required to operate the system, including:
CCTV cameras and associated hardware
Video management and recording infrastructure
Secure network and wireless communications
System configuration and software
Preventative maintenance
Camera servicing
Fault diagnosis and technical support
System lifecycle management
Instead of a community making a substantial investment in equipment and then being responsible for maintaining an increasingly complex security system, CCTV becomes an ongoing managed service.
It's a model we've developed around a simple principle: the customer shouldn't need to become a CCTV expert in order to have effective CCTV.
Servicing Is Part of Security
The photographs from our latest visit to Ongar show something that doesn't always feature in conversations about CCTV: maintenance.
Cameras are installed outdoors in the Irish environment year after year.
Equipment is exposed to rain, wind, dirt and changing temperatures. Wireless links, network equipment, power supplies and recording infrastructure all need to remain operational.
That's why our Special Projects Team carries out on-site servicing and system checks.
A CCTV system should not discover that something has failed after an incident has happened.
Regular maintenance is an essential part of maintaining the integrity and availability of a community CCTV network.
Helping Create Safer Places to Shop, Work and Do Business
Technology isn't the ultimate purpose of a community CCTV system.
The purpose is the environment it helps create.
For locations such as Ongar Village, CCTV forms part of a wider approach to providing a safe and welcoming place for residents, visitors, retailers, employees and local businesses.
Well-designed video surveillance can provide visibility across important public and commercial areas while providing recorded evidence when an incident needs to be investigated.
And when the underlying infrastructure is professionally managed, local stakeholders don't have to worry about who maintains individual cameras, networks or recording systems.
That's our responsibility.
Managed Community CCTV Systems Across Ireland
Usee.ie designs, installs and manages advanced CCTV and video surveillance systems for organisations and communities throughout Ireland.
Our approach combines relationships with leading security technology manufacturers with our own engineering, networking and software expertise.
For towns, villages, business districts and community organisations considering CCTV, our managed service model provides an alternative to the traditional buy it, install it and maintain it yourself approach.
We can design the system, provide the infrastructure and technology, connect it, maintain it and support it throughout its operational life.
Because installing CCTV is only the beginning. Keeping it working is what matters.
Talk to Usee.ie about Community CCTV
If your town, village, business association or community organisation is considering a new CCTV system — or has an existing system that needs to be modernised — talk to the Usee.ie team about a Managed Community CCTV solution.
Usee.ie — Evidential Quality CCTV.
