S’pore-made surveillance van can cover 30 buildings

SINGAPORE — Security guards can look forward to more regular hours and fewer night assignments with the launch of a mobile command and control unit that provides surveillance for up to 30 buildings in a cluster.

Known as I-Man Facility Sprinter (IFS), the vehicle is the brainchild of Mr Alan Chua, executive director of Concorde Security, and was among the exhibits at the Architecture & Building Services 2015 Series at Marina Bay Sands, which ended today (Oct 1).

Mr Chua’s company used to provide security guard services before he decided to shift its focus to “manless” security services.

Each IFS will be manned by three employees, who have been specially trained to use the vehicle. Companies that use an IFS can reduce the labour needed for security by more than 70 per cent, said Mr Chua. “If you have 10 to 20 buildings and you cluster them together using this wireless technology and one vehicle, which becomes the central command centre ... (it) replaces every (other) building’s command centre,” he added.

While the IFS can use various wireless technologies, it relies mainly on “white spaces”, which are television frequencies that have been abandoned because of digital television. This makes surveillance more cost-effective compared with the use of other technology such as 4G.

A Concorde Security staff told TODAY that the firm is the first licensee of TV White Spaces (TVWS) technology here, after the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore introduced a set of regulations last year on the use of the spectrum, or the range of possible frequencies, in the TVWS.

Once the infrastructure has been installed in a building, the IFS can provide real-time surveillance through its private network. Those manning the van would then be able to monitor the building through closed-circuit television cameras, as well as control some of parts of the building, such as doors and lifts.

Each vehicle is also equipped with features such as electric scooters that further improve the IFS’ response time in situations such as traffic jams.

Concorde Security is offering, among other packages, a 12-month night service model that provides free guard services at a one-off installation cost of S$60,000, with companies being able to claim up to 60 per cent of the amount from the Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme.

Mr Chua said such a package will help his clients reduce costs, apart from enabling their security officers to work more regular hours.

He added that the IFS, which won first place in the Best Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology Award (Private Sector) at a Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation awards ceremony last night, has attracted interest from companies in countries such as Malaysia, India and Thailand.

Concorde has also conducted a trial run in Hong Kong Science Park, which has expressed interest in implementing the IFS for its premises, Mr Chua said. He hopes to improve the IFS by including features such as drones to further improve the vehicle’s response time and efficiency.