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LOCATED ON THE PERIMETER OF HEATHROWAirport, the Renaissance London HeathrowHotel is a modern, elegant building. One of thelargest hotels in the UK, it offers a wide range offacilities including 649 bedrooms, a 28-roomConference Centre catering for anything up to700 delegates, a Business Centre, Bureau deChange, gift shop, hairdressers, Health Club,brasserie restaurant and lounge bar.

Ensuring the smooth operation of thehotel’s day-to-day running requires a notinsubstantial measure of professionalmanagement, and the Renaissance – part of theMarriott Group – proactively drives the sharingof experience and a team working culture thathas given rise to the Group’s acknowledgeddelivery of customer satisfaction.

In this respect, Aram Dhaliwal (theRenaissance London Heathrow Hotel’s directorof loss prevention) fits the slick Marriott Groupcorporate culture very well, exhibiting a

TODAY’S DISCERNING END USER OF SECURITY SYSTEMS IS ALWAYSlooking for the Holy Grail – an installer with well-trained salesand engineering staff that can offer a high level of service andconsistently provide excellent customer care and support.

As one of the industry’s leading manufacturers, Panasonic isalso on the look-out for installation companies with which it can

work in harmony. With this in mind, the CCTV specialist has set up itsPremier Installer Scheme, accrediting only those systems contractors who can meetseveral demanding criteria: engineers must attend at least three training courses per year,the installer must demonstrate the highest standards of technical service and support(including repairs at component level) and carry ample demonstration stock for on-sitepresentations to the purchaser.

In return, Premier Installers enjoy the full support of Panasonic and the prestige ofhaving achieved a standard of excellence above all other installation concerns.

To highlight the benefits of this scheme, Security Management Today (SMT) has teamedup with Panasonic in offering a series of case studies encompassing all manner of differentinstallations, from warehouse facilities through to hotels and office complexes.

What do you need to look for in an installer? How should you work with them? How mightyou extract the maximum benefit from that working relationship? We’ll attempt to answerthese and further questions for the readers of SMT as we continue this popular strand ofdedicated end user articles.

Guest appearanceSecurity systems serving the four-star RenaissanceLondon Heathrow Hotel have undergone a significantupgrade in the wake of an audit carried out by lossprevention director Aram Dhaliwal.Brian Sims examines the end result.Photographs courtesy of Phil Surbey Photographyand Graeme Powell Marketing

Loss prevention director Aram Dhaliwal.

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Renaissance LondonHeathrow Hotel: theinstaller’s equipment list

CCTV cameras● WV-CP474 Super Dynamic II units● WV-CW860 Vandal-resistant

colour/monochrome mini-domes● WV-CS850 Super Dynamic II mini-domes

Recording systems● WV-HD500 320 Gb digital hard disk

recorders● AG-TL350 24-hour VCR

Lenses● A variety of lenses are used on the project

Hardware● WV-CU204 system controllers

Monitors● WV-CM 1780 17” colour monitors

● All equipment supplied by Panasonic (UK)

distinct air of professionalism and attention todetail that the Group is proud to embrace.

Dhaliwal’s attention to detail isn’t surprisingwhen you consider his military background. Heserved with the Royal Green Jackets (where heprovided training in jungle and desert warfare),and was involved with bodyguard and closeprotection duties overseas.

After joining the Renaissance LondonHeathrow Hotel team in December 2002,Dhaliwal’s prime objective was to begin athorough review of the hotel’s securityarrangements. Although responsible – within awider remit – for managing risk and recoveryprocedures in and around the hotel, Dhaliwalalso had to encompass other areas in hisreview, including Health and Safety, businesscontinuity and fire safety issues.

Commenting on the hotel’s security and riskreview process, Dhaliwal said: “Quite simply, Idefine risk as what can be seen to stand

between you and the fulfilment of the primebusiness objectives. To operate in a secureenvironment, you need to identify, evaluate andovercome risk across a broad spectrum ofguises. The successful management of risk willonly be achievable if security managers andloss prevention specialists first clearly assessand measure every aspect of risk pertaining totheir site. The communication of thesemeasures should then be delivered across thevarious departments and levels of staff so thatall concerned know and understand how riskmanagement procedures can help insupporting the company’s objectives.”

In the ongoing quest for an effectiveimplementation of security and risk strategies,even the most experienced of riskprofessionals needs the support of specialistknowledge. Given the time he’d previouslyspent working with Chris Jackson of PanasonicPremier Installer partner Acctive Systems,

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Above and left: Renaissance LondonHeathrow Hotel’s loss preventiondirector Aram Dhaliwal opted forAutomatic Number Plate Recognitiontechnology at the car park’s entryand exit barriers. Left: Dedicateddome cameras watch over thereception area.

Far left: The hotel backs on to themain runways at Heathrow Airport,rendering security at the building’sperimeter a prime consideration.

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Dhaliwal drew on the experience of both thisSurrey-based installer and the HeathrowAirport Police, whose officers were oftenrecruited to join him for a walk around the hotelsuch that they could have an input during thesecurity consultation review phase.

Surveying security needsConducting the review over a period of threemonths, Dhaliwal surveyed every aspect of thesite’s existing electronic security, undertakinga thorough review of the hotel’s videosurveillance and access control systems, as wellas general operational practices.

The site audit survey led to the formation ofan all-encompassing brief that detailed theprecise requirements for the new surveillanceset-up. The level of detail here highlighted thespecific objectives for each CCTV camera, rightdown to the type of unit required (be it static,dome, PTZ or vandal-resistant).

Dhaliwal explained: “Due to the site’snature, we wanted to strike a balance so far asthe CCTV upgrade’s aesthetics wereconcerned, neither having too much nor toolittle security on show. A priority with the newsystem was to make our 650 space-capacity carpark more secure. Acctive demonstrated anAutomatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)system to us, and we opted to deploy this at thecar park’s entry and exit barriers. Now, theregistration numbers of all vehicles enteringthe area are logged and, in the case of suspectvehicles, an alarm is generated to initiate asecurity response.”

Thanks to better quality CCTV images, in theevent of a car being stolen the vehicle anddriver are observed on camera and evidentialquality video footage committed to a digitalrecording system. “Above all,” added Dhaliwal,“this system enhances our customers’ stay atRenaissance as they can feel secure that theirvehicles are properly protected.”

Parking spaces made secureDhaliwal recognises the hotel’s obligation tosecure its massive car parking area. Here, heacknowledges the hotel’s “special relationship”with the Heathrow Airport Police, whereupon amutual desire for security allows the latterrandom access to patrol the hotel’s car park.

Since the implementation of ANPR and thenew security systems, the car park has beentotally secure, with not one vehicle crime todate. A rewarding testament to the robustnature of the set-up specified by Dhaliwal.

Spearheading the surveillance system’supgrade, the original CCTV Control Room hasbeen relocated to a new site and a separatecontrol and monitoring facility added withinDhaliwal’s own office. The relocation presentedsomething of an engineering challenge forinstaller Acctive Systems as the complex 300metre route running along the ‘back of house’area involved cabling through busy offices andcorridors. In addition, the installation had to bescheduled around the hotel’s conferencebookings so as to keep the impact ofinstallation noise and disruption to a minimum.

The decision to invest in an upgradeencompassed a desire to capitalise on the very

latest CCTV technologies. In this way, the hotelwould benefit from a more effective security,Health and Safety and day-to-day operationalmanagement solution.

In reality, the detailed site audit and closeliaison with Acctive has paid dividends, leadingto a specification wherein intelligent CCTVcoverage is now provided for key zones such asthe reception area, lift lobbies, the ConferenceCentre, all guest and staff entrances and back-of-house areas like the safety deposit box room(thus securing the route for Cash-in-Transitoperatives entering and leaving the building).

To meet Dhaliwal’s requirement for fully-integrated systems (and instant access andretrieval of high quality digital images from anycamera source), the hotel makes use of twoHD500 digital recorders which act as primaryrecording media. Although fitted with a 120 Gbhard drive as standard, each unit has beenupgraded to 320 Gb for greater imageresolution, storage capability and retentionperiods. Fully-compliant with current DataProtection legislation, a separate imagedownload and archiving review suite has alsobeen purpose-built to provide the rightenvironment for system use.

The supply of high quality visual imagingacross the hotel’s external day/night andinternal mixed lighting conditions has beenachieved by installing a combination of highresolution colour static and fully-functional PTZdomes, each programmed with pre-set toursand alarms.

In order to maintain a continually smoothsecurity operation, surveillance systemperformance is now being monitored andlogged by security staff on a daily basis.

Perspectives from the end userCommenting on the system upgrade at theRenaissance London Heathrow Hotel, AramDhaliwal told Security Management Today: “Thesurveillance set-up has been designed suchthat it might be used within a variety ofoperational scenarios. For instance, we cannow deploy cameras intelligently during largeconferences to monitor the safety of delegate’spossessions such as mobile phones andlaptops in and around the lobby areas. Theproactive nature of the system is invaluable,assisting us with the implementation of staffHealth and Safety issues. We can keep awatchful eye on reception staff, for example,should any incidents arise late at night.”

The entire upgrade was completed in justfive months with minimal disruption to thehotel’s day-to-day business.

Dhaliwal added: “The security systemsinstalled by Acctive have provided us with amuch-needed robust and seamless interfacebetween cameras, recording, monitoring andthe control of CCTV coverage. We now have asecurity surveillance and site managementsystem in place that’s able to secure highlydetailed colour images on a 24/7 basis.

“Ultimately, that’s helping us to protect ourguests, staff and property. Most important ofall, we can safeguard the continuity of thebusiness, which is crucial for any commercialorganisation in this day and age.” ■

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“The successfulmanagement of risk

will only be achievable if security managersand loss prevention

specialists first clearlyassess and measureevery aspect of risk

pertaining to their site”

Above, top: Detail of the main receptionarea. Note the positioning of the domecamera. Above: Aram Dhaliwal monitorsCCTV images in the Control Room.

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