When EACB Studio director Casper Badenhorst discovered funds were missing from his office at his business premises in Sandown Square, Johannesburg, he had to act quickly to identify the culprit and prevent further loss.
To secure evidence, high quality footage of the perpetrator in action was needed. With less than two hours to acquire, configure and set up a hidden camera, he turned to Graphic Image Technologies (GIT) for a solution.
Explains Badenhorst: “A large sum of money had been stolen and we had good reason to suspect that a particular member of staff who held a position of trust was responsible. When I received further evidence – a Webcam picture
taken of a person illegally opening one of the safes on the premises – that it was indeed the person we suspected, we immediately set up a sting operation.
“One of the crucial components was to source a camera solution and install it in my office, with less than a day’s notice, before the perpetrator committed the crime again. Small tasks were given to each staff member to ensure they
were out of the office which gave us a one hour window period to install.
“This proved a challenge as we were unable to source a supplier that was willing or able to commit to designing and configuring a CCTV solution for us in the short timeframe we had to work with. When we called on GIT’s Laurence Smith, however, we got an immediate positive response.”
GIT is a specialist in mobile and remote CCTV and control room technologies as well as in broadcast video compression and allied technologies. It has a strong relationship with EACB Studios, having installed CCTV solutions at a
number of the organisations’ business and retail outlets in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Says Smith: “Our team was able to very quickly put together a compact, robust two-camera CCTV solution from our SerVision range for EACB Studio, configuring and testing it at GIT’s premises. The cameras record directly onto a
small CCTV server and remote users can access live or recorded footage via the network.
“The SerVision range is characterised by its ease of use and its breadth of capability in terms of recording, storing, and transmitting footage in
demanding environments, making it an ideal solution for EACB Studio’s purposes.”
The CVG-M comprises a cost-effective video gateway that supports two camera inputs and uses SerVision’s proprietary video compression technology to transmit and record high quality video with the use of a built-in 3G GSM
module or Ethernet interface.
The unit also features a removable MicroSD card (4Gb to 32Gb) for local recording and an integrated sensor and activator for specific event detection and handling. Remote users can access live video via a smartphone, tablet, PC or laptop.
Notes Badenhorst: “The solution was literally plug and play. We brought it back to the office, plugged it into a power outlet and connected it to our network … and it worked! The perpetrator was caught red-handed on camera and
arrested.”
“We received excellent service from GIT – within an hour they implemented a solution that met all of our needs. It was easy and fast to install, allowed for remote viewing of live footage, and recorded and stored High Definition (HD)
footage for use as evidence in a court of law.”
EACB Studios will continue to make use of the SerVision solution, deploying it as a back-up unit within its retail and office facilities.
