Bristol Cathedral migrates to IP video surveillance to ensure the safety and visibility of religious events

The new network security system, based on Sony IP technology, not only protects the facilities of this important center of worship of this English city from frequent robberies and acts of vandalism, but it is used to transmit images in high quality to the screens distributed on the main floor so that all visitors can visualize the religious acts.

The old Bristol Abbey, Cathedral of the Anglican Church in this English city, it is not only an important center of worship but also a tourist cultural environment, although in recent years, the increase in robberies and acts of vandalism has been a growing concern to protect the enclosure and its assets, which showed that the analogUE CCTV system, installed ten years ago and connected to a single 7" monitor had become obsolete for effective incident management and control.

To this were added the difficulties in obtaining an adequate view of the visitors who accessed the enclosure, which prevented controlling the entry of suspicious individuals, as well as the limited visibility of the altar area, where the celebrations take place, by the congregation.

After analyzing the situation, its managers decided to look for a video surveillance solution that would allow them to monitor the entire space, both to prevent further incidents and to obtain evidence of possible crimes, in addition to having a visual solution that counteracts the limitations of vision in the main area of worship to the faithful with the sending of images from the cameras to the LCD screens distributed on the main floor.

Contacted the local company Ten Ten Systems, technology integration experts, which proposed a tailor-made solution based on IP security technology from Sony. The project is specified with the installation of ten Sony SNC network cameras, both inside and outside the cathedral, configured in a network video recorder.

In addition, three IP cameras of the Sony SNC RH124 model have been deployed that connect to the ten LCD screens, of 50 Inch, distributed throughout the enclosure. connected to ten 50" LCD screens; These Sony network devices equip 30x optical zoom, Full HD capability and 360º rotation to deliver a high-quality image to the screens.

This IP solution is also used for multiple simultaneous transmissions, both FTP and wireless.

As Steve Birks explains, responsible for Ten Ten Systems, "We worked closely with Bristol Cathedral and Sony to design a truly unique facility that would improve temple security and ceremony visibility for all attendees., with an IP solution that offers both high definition images and a flexible access system, which allows us to choose compression options and adapt it to the specific needs of the cathedral".

For its part, Andrew Phillips, cathedral administrator, stresses that "the improvements we needed were very particular and we did not know how to apply them. Thanks to the reliable and intelligent technology of Sony and the good work of Ten Ten Systems we not only have a high quality visual solution inside the cathedral, but also with the tranquility of having a one hundred percent safe enclosure. We have full confidence in the reliability and durability of this installation.".

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