Stay safe in GCL's hands…

Over the past decade the face of security has changed almost beyond recognition. These changes have been brought mainly due to the demands of commerce, which has found that it is no longer enough to protect their property by means of an Intruder Detection System. With the development of the computer chip and the worldwide web the very data generated by a company needs to be protected be that by encryption or by managing and tracking its access.

At the basic level, the means of securing a property has moved away from Intruder Alarms into the realm of Integrated Security Systems. These are LAN or WAN based to minimise hard wiring and the associated problems such as voltage drop.

By utilising an existing network, a manager can track employees movements within one or several buildings, can automatically lock and unlock doors, can view their buildings remotely and can even find out who has accessed which files and for how long they have been online. In addition, such systems can be used to perform a "Roll Call" of employees after a building evacuation in order to see who is still within a building and where they are.

Although Access Control can allow management to dictate who has access to which areas and within what time frames, modern systems are based upon integration. Historically, such systems have been designed to act as a point monitoring system too, but the modern system can also integrate with Time and Attendance and Vending Systems, allowing one ID card to be used for a wide variety of purposes.

With the expansion of the Data Protection Act to include CCTV Systems, Digital Recording Technology has truly come into its own. As has been proved in court, images are now accepted by the Police in a variety of formats such as CD ROM, 3.5" disc or E-Mail because the original will have been encoded and time and date stamped to prove that no tampering has taken place.

The amount of data stored at any one time is dictated by the size of the Hard Discs, which allows for images to be kept for the necessary period of time. Cameras can be set up to record only on alarm eventing only, which saves redundant/inactive images being stored. Being computer based, the search facilities are simple and fast, enabling expedient responses that can be vital after an incident has been reported.

Some situations may not be large enough to warrant the implementation of a Digital Recording System. In such circumstances, IP addressable cameras come into their own due to their ability to record directly onto a hard disc on an ordinary networked PC.

In short, the security systems of the 21st Century allow better and efficient time management as well as the protecting of the data and assets ranging in size from a PalmPilot to an HGV. GCL has embraced and thoroughly understands these emerging technologies and can offer the same high levels of service and skills in this vital area.