Government & Public Sector Alarm Monitoring Solutions

The public sector encompasses a wide range of requirements. 

The protection of schools, universities, hospitals, police and military sites all call for different approaches and solutions - for overseas clients, requirements can be quite varied again. While return on investment is as important an objective as for the commercial sector, operational focus is often quite specific.          

For example, many UK Local Authorities combine town centre CCTV surveillance and other security activities with alarm monitoring.  This extends the value of the public sector control room, providing an enhanced service, utilising local skills and knowledge.  Doing so can also generate internal revenue to support overall running costs. 

Colleges and Universities, on the other hand, are mostly concerned with the safety of their students. Protection of vulnerable persons and fire monitoring are high priorites for these clients.

Hospitals can have crime and disorder issues in the accident and emergency departments, but also need to be sure that vital systems - like refrigeration and air conditioning - are effectively monitored.     

Military airfields and quarters are highly controlled environments where perimeter protection is the first line of defence.   

A common objective for all these types of operations are ease of use, quality service levels, efficient operation and reliable support.

Runnymede Borough Council, located just outside London, provides a range of different security monitoring services including public space CCTV and alarm handling.  When they recently redeveloped their new control room, security alarm monitoring was identified as a key activity and Bold Communications identified as the best supplier for this project. 

Control room manager, Bob Collins, commented:  "At present we monitor fire, intruder and panic alarms for all our council properties.  These include council depots, public halls, sports centres, parks, museums and multi occupational blocks. We intend to further develop our alarm monitoring services to county council properties as well as schools, colleges and universities.  This is all part of our programme of partnership working. We have a long standing working relationship with Bold Communications and our experience is that their equipment and software have proved both reliable and durable as has their maintenance and service”.