Processing Security
Canadian metals firm deploys thermal imagers and HD cameras
- By Suzi Abell
- Sep 01, 2018
Dominion Nickel Alloys Ltd. operates on a global scale.
As one of North America’s leading scrap metal recycling
facilities with experienced staff and the latest in
machinery, Dominion specializes in the purchasing,
sorting, processing, and marketing of a broad range
of high temperature and specialty nickel-based alloys.
Dominion’s operations, on the outskirts of Toronto, are based
at an 20-acre facility where different merchants bring all manner of
high-value scrap metal for processing. The biggest risk for Dominion
is someone making it into the yard undetected and making off with
tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars of metal.
The surveillance technology initially installed at the site was triggered
by outdoor motion sensors that activated any one of several
PTZ cameras for verification—unfortunately this set-up generated
far too many false alarms to be effective.
Deploying new 3xLOGIC thermal technology was an upgrade
intended to eliminate the challenges from outdoor motion sensor
technology.
Ed Bodbyl and his team at Sonitrol designed a video surveillance
system for Dominion comprised of 14 thermal imagers, each paired
with a high definition three megapixel bullet camera for verification.
Cameras were set to record to an NVR located on site.
There are some benefits for the company; for example, the entire
yard is covered with this 14 thermal imager/14 HD camera deployment,
offering crisp HD images during the day, and 36-degree thermal
images at night, backed by HD video. The original motion-based
PTZ deployment resulted in high false alarm levels and limited detection
range. The combination of thermal technology and HD cameras,
paired with live Sonitrol monitoring, brought the number of false
alarms way down. All this significantly reduced false alarms, effectively
cutting down on operator fatigue and potentially costly mistakes.
All video images are monitored by the Sonitrol central station and
the operator will take action on alarm to either summon a private
guard service or request that law enforcement be dispatched to the
scene. Camera views are dictated by what areas need to be monitored
for intrusion detection, and the end user has access to these images
for operational use and incident review.
The VERA thermal imager allows the end user to see where they
never could see before. When using high-contrast thermal imaging
the results are a dramatic reduction in false alarms. Unlike standard
thermal imagers VERA provides the advantage of verification and
detection in an all-in-one device.
“With this image technology and the Sonitrol monitoring, our
security is seamless to me,” said Howie Fleisher, vice president of
Dominion Nickel. “The new thermals give us the images we need—
with the old system, we had too many false alarms and after a while
operators become immune to responding to so many false alarms.”
The three megapixel IP camera provides dual-streaming highdefinition
video at a full 2048 by 1536 pixels for video surveillance
applications requiring superior clarity and detail.
The servers are fully-integrated intelligent video
appliances. Pre-configured with VIGIL VMS
software, these high-performance servers represent
a cost-effective, flexible solution that allows
users to address their current needs with the ability
to scale to meet tomorrow’s demands.
This article originally appeared in the September 2018 issue of Security Today.