Striking up the broadband

Thurrock Borough Council, which runs one of the country's most advanced surveillance systems, has selected Vicon's Surveyor dome cameras to form the controllable core of its network-based monitoring system.

The installation links 17 locations over 64 square miles, offering total control of 50 cameras spread across a 155 MB broadband backbone. Each of the locations is being recorded locally with a CMS viewing live and recorded images over a computer network.

The Surveyor domes were selected due to their low light performance and ease of integration. In use, the cameras watch over housing blocks, car parks and other residential areas. Cameras have also been sited at shopping centres such as Grays.