Network Communications News (NCN) April 2016 | Page 13

O N TH E C AS E
Action stations
Working with IT installer
Abzorb Networks, Comelit
has supplied its Ikall digital
entrance panels and hands
free resident audio units
to the Old Fire Station in
Birmingham, a Grade 2 listed
former fire command base
in the centre of the city. The
building is now a £35m high
end student accommodation
complex housing 463 students
in a variety of apartments,
studios and clusters.
Visitors call residents
using Comelit’s Ikall panels,
which have been installed at
entrance points around the
building. The panels allow
bespoke configuration and
can have options such as
numerical pushbuttons, a
name directory, built-in access
control and proximity readers.
Video communication is via
a wide-angle quarter inch
miniature colour camera,
although for this project, the
installer opted for audio-only
for their current design.
Avoiding non-essential
functions generates cost benefits that are passed on to the project developer and add to the life of
the system since more components can be added to the Ikall panel as the site develops.
When visitors call the panels, the students speak to them using Comelit’s Easycom audio units
that feature a conversation privacy option, audio active indicator LED and volume adjustment for call
tone and loudspeaker.

12-13 On the Case.indd 13

On the right
side of the law
The Metropolitan Police Service
(MPS) has awarded the management
of two of its critical data centres to
Keysource as part of the wider strategic
implementation of the force’s technology
transformation programme.
The MPS has identified an efficient
IT infrastructure as a key enabler in its
One Met transformation programme to
deliver its ‘20:20:20’ strategic priority –
to decrease key crimes by 20 per cent,
increase public confidence by 20 per cent
and decrease costs by 20 per cent.
The highly secure, available and
scalable data centres house critical MPS’
IT systems supporting services such as
emergency service communications
which handle an average of 6,000 triple
9 and 15,000 non-emergency calls every
day, automatic number plate recognition
which captures over 38 million plates
daily and the recently introduced body
worn video.
The contract award is designed to
support a number of MPS’ key objectives
including: modernising its IT whilst
reducing costs; improving efficiency;
maintaining resilience, and delivering
energy savings. A key aspect of the
service is collaboration within the multisupplier ecosystem, to deliver end-to-end
services to the MPS. This includes the
transformation of existing services as well
as the ongoing delivery of new services.

17/03/2016 15:41