The NOC (National Operations Centre), as part of the Bidvest Magnum Group’s vision of providing a comprehensive risk management solution to their Client’s, has a wide range of services dedicated to the monitoring of the business environment. The technology developed within the NOC allows signals to be received, whether by, ISDN, PSTN, ADSL, DIGINET, 3G, or normal GSM from the client’s premises, vehicles, equipment or security personnel.
The Bidvest Magnum Group’s National Operations Centre is situated in Midrand and through our National Operations Centre we are able to offer the following service profiles:
Alarm Management
There is no limit to what can be monitored by the NOC, but most commonly includes burglar alarms, CCTV system alarms, fridge/freezer alarms, Cell phone panic alarms and patrol monitoring system failures. These alarms are raised into the custom designed Control Room software, handled by an operator, based on specific actions as defined by the Client, with a clear audit trail of all activities which can be submitted to the client on a daily, weekly or monthly basis in report format. As the entire structure of the NOC’s services is focused on the business environment, we have developed service packages which provide specific focus on :
- Opening and Closing Management
- Multiple signal transmission and receipt for greater security in line with SAIDSA
- Weekly testing of high risk alarms in a structured process
So what makes us unique and sets us apart ? It is the business focused approach, it is the fact that we encourage alarm signal transmission via IP with “Fail to Test” signals sent every 5 seconds, supported by a GSM transmitter set up to send “Fail to Test” signals every hour and then, we manage these “Fail to Test” signals as an alarm. How is this different: Most monitoring facilities set “Fail to Test” for once per 24 hours and then only as a “Supervisory” signal which is stored away for historic purposes when the client wants to know why the alarm did not go off, three months later. The NOC, treats these signals as an important alarm and will notify the client immediately that the system has ceased to send signals and needs attention by a technician.
Remote Off-site Monitoring:
The CCTV monitoring facility is structured to provide a wide range of functions including “Virtual Patrols”, Alarm Verification inspection, picture quality evaluation and can be linked into a wide range of associated activities such as remote opening and closing of doors/gates, bi-directional communications via VOIP, associated systems such as smoke or pepper spray. The access to CCTV becomes a vital part of managing a response to an alarm, where the armed responses company has limited access to the premises, the CCTV system becomes a vital tool in identifying the movements on site and ensuring the appropriate reaction from the response company.
The effectiveness of an armed response officer reporting to site, is his ability to access all areas of the site, the less he is able to physically walk around and through the site, the greater the need for some other form of “eyes” on site. Note that the NOC is not an Armed Response supplier, but can sub contract this requirement to a response company of the Client’s choice.
The main systems supported at present are Cathexis, Heitel, TeleEye and Telexper however the NOC has the capacity to increase this range, based on volume of a specific system.
System Monitoring:
To allow a full and comprehensive monitoring of all systems and associated networks, the NOC has designed a network monitoring system that will monitor the status of any form of IP based equipment, which can include routers, servers, alarm panels, access control systems, DVRs etc on a 5 second basis, ensuring immediate action is taken should systems go down, with a clear audit trail of all activities which can be submitted to the client on a daily, weekly or monthly basis in report format.
The technology required to transmit the signals to the NOC or allow the NOC access to the client’s systems, can be provided or arranged via Bidvest Magnum Technology, however as the NOC also provides services in many remote areas of the country such as Emanguzi in the far Northern Natal, Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, Atlantis in the Western Cape, Kimberly in the Northern Cape and Hayzview in Limpopo etc, in which Bidvest Magnum Technology does not have representation, the NOC works with whichever technology company is appointed by our clients.
Technology Support:
As part of the Bidvest Magnum Group vision of integrated solutions, the NOC provides a single point of contact call centre, for all Bidvest Magnum Clients to lodge maintenance and service calls, which are logged into the system, creating a job card, which is then tracked and monitored, for completion. The NOC has Technical Support department, which assists with administration of alarm information, key holders and co-ordinating the conducting of scheduled tests of the alarm systems, to ensure that when needed the systems will work.
