The Williams Group chooses Honeywell Commercial Security at its TraffordCity location
INTRODUCTION
The Williams Group, a leading UK car retailer, has opened Williams Manchester, its new £41million flagship retail centre at Manchester TraffordCity, adjacent to the Trafford Centre. The 14.5 acre site features a new retail centre incorporating a three-storey contemporary BMW glass showroom, a MINI retail centre and an impressive Jaguar and Land Rover showroom. The new retail centre offers parking for more than 1,000 vehicles and will benefit from a Metrolink station to provide easy access to and from Manchester City Centre. The Williams Group has opted for a Honeywell security system, installed by Nu Fire and Security, to effectively safeguard its new retail centre.
REQUIREMENT
As TraffordCity is a highly prestigious site, offering luxurious, high-specification vehicles, the Williams Group needed a complete security solution that would cover the main showrooms and their expansive vehicle compound.
The Group required a fully-integrated security system that could meet different needs across the site as access to the compound is restricted to authorised personnel and deliveries whereas other areas (such as parking) are open to everyone. This needed to include video surveillance cameras both for internal and external spaces, access control and intruder alarm systems.
THE SOLUTION NEEDED TO INCLUDE VIDEO SURVEILLANCE, ACCESS CONTROL AND INTRUDER ALARM SYSTEMS TO PROTECT THE HIGHLY PRESTIGIOUS SITE.
SOLUTION
Williams Group engaged Nu Fire, a specialist installer of automotive and electronic security systems, for its new security solution. Nu Fire previously successfully installed Honeywell’s ADPRO® CCTV systems for Williams’ dealerships, and continues to manage the security for all of the group’s franchises across the Northwest of England.
Nu Fire recommended Honeywell access control, CCTV and intruder detection systems, all controlled by Honeywell’s MAXPRO® Cloud solution. This would enable the group to interrogate and control the system themselves, and to easily manage the addition or removal of authorised personnel from the system – including temporary contractors, visitors and employees – all via the cloud.
Access control
A key element of the security system is a single access control system that is used across the site. One of the Williams Group’s concerns was the secure management of personnel and vehicles entering and leaving the vehicle compound. There are two security barriers with intercoms connected to the control centre, and a large, sliding gate which closes the compound at night.
Across the site, key fobs are used to gain access to restricted areas. The fobs can be used to open barriers, open and close the gates and open internal doors. For instance, the manager of an area can issue a fob to a member of the team, that is programmed to allow them to enter a restricted area in one of the retail centres or to provide access to the compound. This is all controlled via the MAXPRO Cloud interface.
CCTV and detection
“There are many benefits in dealing with a single manufacturer like Honeywell,” explains Neil Pearson, managing director at Nu Fire. “With considerable expertise in providing high-quality CCTV and security solutions for the retail sector, Honeywell’s products integrate easily together, which enables the Williams Group to go to the cloud and get the precise information they need 24/7.
High-definition 4K cameras are used to record any activity during the day or night, and vehicle number recognition (VNR) is used at the site entrance. In total, approximately 120 cameras are in operation throughout the site. In addition to security, the cameras can be used to assist sales personnel. They can be configured to detect the movement of potential customers viewing cars using Honeywell’s IntrusionTrace™ solution. These images are passed to a salesperson, who might be working inside the building, so they can better respond to customers’ needs.
Due to the site’s size, the perimeter protection video surveillance system uses fibre optic cables. Images from any of the cameras can be immediately exported from the Honeywell video recorders when required. Nu Fire conducts video surveillance of the site through its own 24-hour bespoke alarm receiving centre.
Cloud-based control
The Honeywell intruder detection, video surveillance and access control solutions are all controlled via MAXPRO Cloud, Honeywell’s next-generation, cloud-based system. MAXPRO Cloud integrates the different systems within a single platform for easy management, via most handheld mobile devices, from virtually anywhere with Internet access.
This approach provides an integrated and coordinated security solution for the Williams Group. Furthermore, individual components, such as the cameras, doors and areas, can be associated with each other. For instance, an intrusion alert or an unscheduled door access can be linked to associated video clips.
THE BENEFITS
The MAXPRO Cloud solution eliminated additional hardware costs for the Williams Group – there was no need to install physical servers or software, run cabling or dedicate a PC to run the system or control access and fobs, which significantly reduced the overall investment costs. The Williams Manchester team can utilise its existing IT infrastructure through NetAXS IP controllers and MAXPRO Cloud remote hosting. The solution is also future-proof, flexible and scalable as business needs evolve.
Whenever the group requires information from the system, there’s no need to call Nu Fire or Honeywell – they can interrogate the systems using MAXPRO Cloud. This enables them to find out the location, date and timestamp when an alarm system was activated or review camera video footage and access the control parameters to respond appropriately and make any desired changes to the system.
An integrated cloud-based solution reduces the number of false alarms, as any incidents can be identified, verified and the appropriate response can be rapidly initiated.
Overall this resulted in a 25% more cost effective system design than the standard system.
As well as enhanced levels of security, the new system helps the site run more efficiently, providing reassurance to customers and employees alike, and ultimately reducing business costs whilst driving sales revenue.
“Moving to an integrated cloud-based system has introduced a whole new level of efficiency to our operations. It’s not only enhanced the way in which we manage security and access throughout the site but is also improving the business intelligence we can leverage from deploying analytics within the system.”
– STEVEN AINSCOUGH, WILLIAMS GROUP
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