Kings partners up for innovation in high street

DSG – which includes brands such as Currys, The Link, and PC World – has harnessed its existing IP network to relay alarm signalling, and claims it is the first retail business in the UK to fully achieve this.

Many IT departments have been reluctant to release their networks to carry IP alarm/CCTV signalling and data, for fear of bandwidth loss, but DSG now believes these fears are ill-founded. Anthony King of Kings Security Systems, which installed the technology, said: "Traditional signalling from an alarm or CCTV camera demanded a bespoke line rental with all the associated costs. Multiply these costs by 1000-plus sites for some retailers, and eliminating them can give cost savings well into the significant six-figure region. More than this, however, signalling flowing along existing IP networks gives massively improved functionality, and clearer picture and voice data."

DSG security support manager Paul Harte said: "We now have a continuously-polled IP network with GPRS back-up and automatic recourse to digital audio verification in the event of an incident. Since the inception there have been instances when all lines to a store have been cut, but the GPRS secondary signalling has notified us of an attack and this information has been passed to the police."