The Leadership Trust relied on Bosch IP technology

Bosch improves security of Leadership Trust training centre

When the Leadership Trust, one of Britain's top providers of leadership development solutions, wanted to improve the security of its training centre, set within the tranquil grounds in the Herefordshire countryside, it turned to Bosch Security Systems.

The Leadership Trust, which is set within 10 acres of land, receives more than 2,750 visitors each year from private, public and voluntary sector organisations. Its visitors are its clients and The Trust has a commitment to protect them, as well as its training centre. Ian Beddis, Health and Safety Officer, and his team wanted to improve security at the site, as he explains:

"Our existing system comprised of a seven camera analogue system with traditional tape recoding. This had been in place for a number of years but had become unreliable through normal operating wear and tear, despite regular maintenance. A number of security issues made us realise that the old system was providing low quality recorded images that were difficult to search. It also became obvious that the cameras were poorly located. We needed a more up to date system that would provide high quality and easily searchable recorded images."

The Bosch VIPX1600 is a modular, high-performance CCTV camera video encoder

Ian also wanted a future proof system that could incorporate the existing cameras, and was recommended Bosch via the installer Security Alarm Services. As Proprietor Robin Swan-Liddell explains: "When Ian and his team saw Bosch technology in action, they knew that it was what they were looking for."

An onsite demonstration of the camera quality, followed by a weeks working trial, quickly convinced The Leadership Trust that they were making the right decision. Ian continues: "From the trial, we knew that the DiBos recording system would offer us everything that we currently required of our CCTV system, whilst having enough scope for upgrades to make it viable for years to come."

The system was installed by Security Alarm Services and project managed by The Leadership Trust's Ian Beddis. It uses the Bosch DiBos Software on a high-end Hewlett Packard Desktop machine running Windows XP service pack 3.

"On the hardware side of things, we integrated our existing analogue cameras into the DiBos system using Bosch's VIPX1600 Video encoder to send digital images directly over our existing network, which are stored on a Buffalo," Ian adds. "We've also installed seven new Bosch Autodome dome cameras, two of which are PTZ external cameras with one using Bosch's Autotrack functionality, and the other five are internal miniature Flexidomes."

When Ian and his team saw Bosch technology in action, they knew that it was what they were looking for

The Bosch VIPX1600 is a modular, high-performance CCTV camera video encoder and the unit accommodates up to four hot-swappable modules, each with four analog audio/video inputs. The VIP X1600 delivers real-time MPEG4 video over IP, which for The Leadership Trust is viewed on a PC using Bosch's Dibos software.

Commenting on the installation, Paul Wong, Bosch Security Systems UK Managing Director said: "The Leadership Trust is a recognised authority on leadership issues and we are pleased that it took the initiative to provide enhanced security at the site, using reliable technology integrated with their own IT systems. As IP technology is embraced more and more we will see more of these types of projects that marry security technology with reliable IT storage.

In terms of the hardware the Autodome range provides the perfect solution for a site like this. The modular nature of the domes means that, should The Trust wish to update the cameras, this can be done quickly and easily without the need to remove or re-wire the dome. The cost of ownership of a system will always be an important consideration," Paul concludes, "so it makes sense to invest in reliable, future proof technology."