Use the force

10 Jun 2009

by: By John Adams

GE’S Forcefield, distributed by Direct Alarm Supplies, is an integrated security management platform designed to provide serious control and management of GE’s Challenger security system. Now video capability allows seamless integration with 99 GE DVRs.

WHEN Forcefield was first released it gave Challenger users functionality previously only available in the most advanced enterprise systems – essentially serving as a link between multiple Challenger panels. Now, that functionality extends to GE DVRs on the client’s network.

A particular attraction of Forcefield is that it leverages legacy Challenger panels, building them into a globally networked solution.

Forcefield is a multi-node device that sits on a network and is able to support 2560 Challenger panels and up to 200 workstations – enough for the largest organizations.

According to Direct Alarm Supplies’ product manager Troy Payne, when combined with multiple challenger panels and GE DVRs, Forcefield becomes an enterprise solution that’s very cost effective.

“Forcefield can control multiple Challenger panels, it’s got database partitioning – it’s designed to manage multiple tenant sites or multiple locations,” Payne says. “If you have more than one site managed from one head office, then Forcefield is the ideal solution.

“Now Forcefield’s ability to handle video too makes the system even more capable than before and it’s easy – adding video to Forcefield is just a license upgrade. You load the license and it takes a few seconds to set Forcefield up to handle integration with GE DVRs,” Payne says.

“The way it works is that Forcefield tags images in DVR memory so they can be linked to any event generated by the system such as an access or alarm event from the Challenger panel. Importantly, the actual video streaming is done to the client, not to the Forcefield – the Forcefield only sends a text tag to the DVR of an event that you preset as an automatic action when a given event occurs.

“If somebody attempts to access a door to which they don’t have access, then video of that event is text-tagged by the Forcefield,” he says. This allows fast searching, fast retrieval of the footage of an event and you can also search via text on the DVR.”

Payne says Forcefield’s video functionality is delivered through an operator viewing platform that allows users to search for video of tagged access control events.

“It doesn’t just enhance the access event – it enhances the video,” he explains. “When you have to search through footage usually it’s via time and date – especially if an event happened long ago. You have to sit through a lot of footage to hunt that event down.

“With this system, if an alarm occurs, that alarm is what you use to search for video footage on the DVR. When an alarm event occurs in the Forcefield software you can just pick up that event using the footage button and it will take you to 5-mins pre and 5-mins post recording, depending what is set on the DVR, of that event - you’re not searching at all.”

Payne says that in terms of a user’s interface, operators are essentially working on the alarm history screen of the Forcefield GUI.

“The Forcefield GUI has a video menu through which you access video management capability – you can also go in directly through a map and just click on a camera and get into recorded events that way,” he says.

As Payne explains it, the Forcefield system with video activated becomes a pseudo control room on a single workstation.

“If you’ve got a quad-head video card on your PC you can connect the Forcefield and have 4 screens up – one with the access control events displayed and 3 spot monitors with virtual matrixes – 16 cameras per monitor,” he says.

“Forcefield is really just a pipe for events – the thin client software on the client workstation is what connects to the DVR for streaming and it retrieves the video footage”

“Cameras can be coming in from one DVR or from multiple DVRs – you can mix and match sites and cameras when you’re programming the system – it’s very flexible.

“And this is a powerful solution,” Payne says. “Forcefield can be integrated to 99 DVRs seamlessly – so on screen you don’t look at the DVRs separately - you look at the cameras and/or the sites. The system is built around a logical naming convention so it’s easy for an operator to use.”

According to Payne, it’s straightforward to link a DVR with 16 cameras to a Forcefield solution.

“It would take you 5 minutes,” he says. “That’s because Forcefield is really just a pipe for events – the thin client software on the client workstation is what connects to the DVR for streaming and it retrieves the video footage. Just think of Forcefield as the path for the tagged events and the quick retrieval of search while the thin client does the rest as far as streaming is concerned.”

System operation

With Forcefield, every operator or site can have their own tailored permissions and controls to provide simplified and secure system management. And Payne says however the system is set up driving a Forcefield-based video surveillance solution is easy.

“For a start the system supports multiple monitors – one can show a matrix – and you can select multiviews – or have up to 16 cameras – up to 8 monitors per workstation.

“Depending on the DVR – there can be multiple people on playback and live monitoring – this depends on the DVR hardware.”

Users can have the event view running on the screen and because programmed recordings to the DVR are tagged with a text tag event number, a text file comes up on the screen after an alarm event.

“When an event occurs you drill down through the text to the video and view it in D1,” says Payne. “Alternatively, you can get to the video through a map or an alarm screen. You click on the flashing alarm point on the map, click on the alarm and look at the footage.

“Or if you want to go to the actual alarm event you just click on a footage icon alongside the text report and watch the recorded footage while viewing a live feed from the camera,”

It’s also possible to use maps to conduct tours. Payne says that on some sites maps are the primary interface and they’re restricted to only those cameras and functions they’re authorized to access.

“From any point on the map you can just call up a camera – bring the camera up live and have PTZ control,” Payne says. “And you can just jump between maps, control doors and control alarm points – it’s very easy to use and it’s very capable.”

According to Payne, wider investigations are easy, too. He says that if you want to search an event from a week or a month ago you’d go to DVR footage then call up tagged footage. The system will then show you all the related events recorded as pre and post footage.

“You can also create speed bar icons that will take you directly to that menu so the system is customizable to the operator making operation easier still,” Payne explains.

Another neat feature of the system is a touchscreen interface that is integrated into the system as part of Forcefield. The touchscreens can be set up with maps and users can drive all the system’s video functionality through a local touchscreen.

Forcefield was already hugely scalable from single sites to multinational deployments providing the network architecture so critical to seamless real time multi-site and multi-user operation. This flexible video management functionality rounds out what was already a powerful security management solution.

GE Forcefield features include:

* Video management of 99 GE DVRs

* Automatic triggering of video recording based on system events

* Integrated Photo ID

* Advanced alarm monitoring

* Flexible operator permissions and menu options

* Powerful reporting features

* Real time graphic display

* Fully integrated maps and icons

* Guard tour feature provides time-based checkpoints for patrol staff

* Distributed by Direct Alarm Supplies