Johannesburg, 07 Nov 2008
Comtel was sub-contracted to provide an internal voice communications solution to St Albans Prison, in Port Elizabeth, on 11 March 2008.
Development started two weeks later, after many hours of research and development, to produce a GUI interface and communications system that would replace the legacy analogue units and improve on the simplicity of use with the power of control and comprehensive reporting.
“The guys have been onsite for the last six months and we are nearing completion, everything is going according to plan,” reports Grant Cooper, MD of Oric Telecoms. He continues to say: “We have 'core-drilled' over a thousand holes within the facility, installing nearly five kilometres of metal trunking and cables. Security is tight, and gaining access to many areas is often restricted and takes a lot more time and organisation than planned. Over 80% of the units have been signed off, and we are busy with the final section.”
This is a fairly large project that requires over 600 intercom units to cater for the 2-way communications between each cell and the warden's office. Additional requirements are for magnetic activated units for the wardens in the hallways; visitation with 'eavesdropping' and optional recording; PA 1-way system for announcements and cellphone detection technology throughout the prison.
Because the system is IP and software driven, the functionality and features are endless, and any future requirements can be developed seamlessly as the system is modular, with no additional hardware changes to the server ever required.
Comtel and Oric Telecoms are now looking to include various other offerings to cater for this new demand, which would include security access control, intelligent fencing and CCTV monitoring
Other exciting prison projects in the pipeline are Nelspruit; Barberton; Ermelo and Atteridgeville.
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