Jamaica - Electronic video surveillance system

Description

The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) is seeking to procure the materials and labour required to deploy an electronic video surveillance system (EVSS) and an electronic access control system (EACS) for the port of Montego Bay.

The EVSS / EACS will be open standard and must integrate with current open architecture systems in use at the PAJ and related entities. The ESS must also have the capability of interfacing with the current legacy system for viewing, archiving, and manipulating the images from these systems.

Access control and intrusion detection will be included in this phase.  There will be a major consideration for integration in the design, as the agreed goal is to provide an integrated security system that will be rolled out to all locations for which the PAJ has responsibility. 

The core of the system will be Internet Protocol (IP) based and must support open standards and an open application programming interface (API).  The system will also integrate with the EVSS to be deployed by other Government agencies such as the Ministry of National Security if required.

Background

The port of Montego Bay sits on a total of 27.5 acres in the Montego Freeport and is managed by Port Handlers Limited (PHL). It is a modern, multifaceted port with six berths and is operated by PHL. It comprises cruise, cargo, and warehouse operations.

The main imports include:

• domestic goods
• grain
• bulk cargo inclusive of oil and natural gas

The main exports include:

• aggregates
• agricultural products

The existing electronic video surveillance systems and access control are archaic and are no longer effective.

Design considerations

The PAJ intends to improve the security architecture and systems currently employed at the port of Montego Bay. 

This will include:

• ongoing compliance with all relevant local, national, and international laws and treaties such as the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code
• using technology to deliver an integrated and comprehensive electronic security management framework. This will include the central command and control of all technological systems used in the facility's safety, security, and operations management
• a seamless integration of video surveillance, video management and analytics, electronic access control and management, intrusion detection, fire detection and alarm, and cargo and vehicle tracking for the architecture
• implementation of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) security practices in ports and US customs trade partnership against terrorism as part of the International Maritime security guidelines (C-TPAT)
• the short- to medium-term implementation of the terminal's major improvement program on a staged basis while incorporating the principles of crime prevention through environmental design into the terminal's present and future physical and procedural designs
• the contractor will develop a scalable integrated electronic security management solution that includes, but is not limited to, video surveillance, video management and analytics, electronic access control and management, intrusion detection, fire detection and alarm, the design should be scalable and after implemented should be maintained by the PAJ

The proposed solution should:

• be able to integrate the sub-systems so that management of each sub-system is contained within a single IT-based application. This will be controlled from a central command and control centre, combining best-in-class technology with established security systems for the highest levels of security, risk management, and operational efficiency
• be able to view, archive, and manipulate live videos in the surveillance system
• be able to communicate with the access control system
• have a video surveillance management system to ensure effective surveillance, including facial and/or license plate recognition
• be tamper-proof with video provided by the system for post-event examination. The system will offer an online presentation of video footage on a sizable video wall and specially designed monitors situated in local and distant monitoring centres
• facilitate viewing of live and recorded images and control of all cameras by authorised users. If secure areas are breached, the system should notify security personnel and display the pertinent cameras for authentication

The contractor will be responsible for project management services.  A project manager should be designated to oversee the entire project's scope, including the infrastructure and civil works performed by other PAJ approved third-party contractors. 

The contractor is responsible for creating and carrying out a comprehensive installation plan in collaboration with Hudson Trident, the PAJ security technology manager and the security systems project manager.

The following criteria must be met to achieve a successful project:

• a visually and aesthetically pleasing system design
• a user-friendly system that is easy to navigate
• consistency of design and seamless integration across all sub-systems
• an ability to centrally monitor and control the system and sub-systems
• system settings can be modified easily by authorised personnel with minimum effort

All software and licensing requirements should be included as part of this project.

The project must have a complete training programme on the installed system performed for PAJ users in order to ensure operational effectiveness and efficiency.

General system requirements

The system requires a command-and-control solution, capable of seamlessly integrating all aspects of the technological systems utilised in PAJ security, safety, and operations management.

It must also provide:

• a video surveillance and management system providing effective surveillance
• a tamper-proof video record for post-event analysis
• an online display of video images, located at remote monitoring centres
• the viewing of live and recorded images and controlling of all cameras by authorised users on the network
• an alert system for authorised security personnel if secured areas are accessed and display relevant cameras for authentication and response

General specifications for video surveillance system (VSS)

A high-speed manual or automatic operation for optimal performance should be provided by the proposed VSS. It should be an integrated system based on open standards and IP-centric functionality and management.

The system will use video signals from multiple indoor and outdoor colour cameras that are mounted at various places, process them for central command room viewing on workstations and monitors, and then record all the cameras concurrently after compression.

The system must include a combination of:

• digital colour video cameras with individual IP addresses
• digital CCD colour video Cameras with a fixed or PTZ Lens
• encoders/decoders
• network video recorders
• network attached storage (SAN) / raid back-up device for recording
• application Software
• colour video monitors
• keyboards with joystick controllers

The system must be triplex, meaning it must allow for simultaneous viewing, recording, and replay.

Video management

Both video stream management and video stream storage management are provided by network video recorders. Each channel's recording frame rate and resolution must be programmable. The system should guarantee that the video cannot be changed once it has been recorded in order to preserve the audit trail for legal purposes.

The system must use the required compression methods for all cameras to provide enough storage for all camera recordings for a period of 90 days at 25 frames per second (FPS).

Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)

The video surveillance system must be powered by true double-conversion, split-phase power supplies at 240/120 VAC, 50 Hz. with a minimum of 60 minutes or more of backup power.

The UPS will condition the power for all the equipment.

Everything related to the command control room, including:

• servers
• camera servers
• storage area networks (SAN)
• raid backup devices
• decoders

will be connected to the UPS.

The cameras, control equipment and other outdoor installation-specific equipment must be able to operate properly in the temperature range of between 10 and 80 degrees celsius.

Cameras

For video capturing, IP cameras with a minimum resolution of 3 megapixels must be utilised. Depending on the needs of the location, indoor cameras must either have a fixed focal length lens or a pan, tilt, and zoom lens. Day/Night cameras must be used for all outside cameras. Indoor camera housing must meet IP 54/NEMA 2 standards, while outdoor camera housing must meet IP 66/NEMA 6 standards or higher.

The system must include a watermarking or certification feature to provide tamper-proof recording. This is so that it can be used as evidence later if needed. The audit trail functionality must be supported by the recording. Every camera recording must include the camera ID, the location or region being recorded, and an NTP Protocol-based time and date stamp.

The system administrator must be able to program the camera ID, location/area of recording, and date/time using the user ID and password. The system must allow for cameras to record in real-time mode (30 FPS), but it also needs to be user programmable and able to adjust to 15/12.5/10 or lower FPS as well as in any desired combination.

The system must have the capability of camera recording in H.264 and H.265, as well as in any combination, meaning that any camera can be recorded in any quality. While recording, the video must be compressed using H.264 or a superior standard and beam over the IP network in order to maximise memory.

A hardware decoder (H.264/compatible standard Receiver) is required to see video once it has been uploaded to the network. Video must also be recorded on an NVR server and stored up on a SAN/RAID backup device. The solution that is being supplied must include the ability to export the desired clipping to a CD/DVD and Jump Drive. These recordings can be viewed on a regular PC using programs such as Windows Media Player

Encoders, cameras, and other peripheral devices must be power over ethernet (POE) compliant and connected to layer 2 or layer 3 switches as per system design. This will be done using UTP CAT 6A Cable, 01 fiber optic cable and the required connectors. Cameras may be connected to the system through wireless technology.

The system must operate in a Microsoft Windows environment. It must be an IT server based solution, purpose-built for the capture, processing, storage and retrieval of unlimited amounts of digital video. It must support audio, alarm, associated systems (for example, access control), and other surveillance data.

The server will record each configuration and event. This will aid in appropriate system administration and redundancy management. Each camera's video stream must be recorded on its own camera server before being archived to a SAN Storage RAID backup device. After 90 days, the system must have the capability to automatically overwrite new data, and the application must contain the requisite script/algorithm. Software for viewing, controlling, and retrieving recorded video pictures from the backup device should be made available to all LAN users.

Video surveillance application software [VSAS]

The software must integrate with perimeter security, access control, and safety systems based on open standard architecture. It will be used to manage and display the cameras into the monitoring system and digital video surveillance.

A wide range of devices, including:

• cameras
• video encoders
• video decoders
• PTZ controllers
• access control
• SAN/Raid backup devices

must be supported by the software.

The provided software and hardware must be capable of performing video analytics. This will help the monitoring staff by filtering video traffic in real-time and generating intelligent warnings for relevant security personnel. It should also be able to generate reports of the system’s health status.

The software is required to generate reports of stored device configuration. The control software is required to provide alarms and alarm logs. The log shall be able to be archived, printed and displayed using a device filter, a device group filter and/or a time window.

The software should be capable of features including:

• PTZ control
• iris authentication
• auto or manual focus
• camera colour balancing
• preset selection
• video tour selection

Each camera must have its own encoder. The software must allow for individual or group configuration of user access rights. The user will be able to request access to any camera and reserve it for a specific amount of time. After the reservation period, control of the camera is released. 

The software must have an inbuilt facility to store the configuration of encoders/decoders and cameras. The software must support Windows split screen display mode, scroll mode on the PC monitor or on the preview monitor as per site requirement.

User activity logs with user IDs, time stamps, and actions taken, among other information, must be provided by the system. The administrator must have full authority to create, modify, and remove users. The rights of each user or the cameras that may be watched and managed in accordance with the permissions provided by the administrator must be visible.

The administrator must have assigned a hierarchy to the users. Cameras that are already under the control of a user with lower priority can be controlled by the user with greater priority. For user level log-in, there should be a minimum of three hierarchical levels of security.  It ought to offer area-specific, customisable motion detection and recording.

The VMS must support a wide range of deployments including new, all IP camera environments, cabling and other security and IT infrastructure where appropriate to maximise existing investments.  The VMS must integrate with Axis One Click Connection Component v1.0, v1.4 & v2.0 which enables the Axis one click connection method of installing Axis communications cameras.

The system must be able to handle video motion detection algorithms to find objects and understand scenes, as well as disregard environmental variations including rain, wind, swinging trees, and slow changes in light. For each alarm and each camera pre-record period, the parameters must be separately programmable. This will enable the camera server to record footage both before and after the alert or occurrence from a list of options with values ranging from 0 seconds to 5 minutes. 

The recorded videos must also be searchable and replayable according to date, time, and camera. It must include onscreen controls for PTZ camera remote control. It must be able to record on a set schedule. Each recording mode for each camera must be able to support a variety of frame rates and resolutions.

The VMS must be capable of integrated operation with other security related systems such as:

• Access Control Systems (ACS)
• Central Station Monitoring Systems (CSMS) 
• Video Analytics Systems (VAS)
• Intrusion Detection (IDS)
• Hazard Alerting Systems (HAS) or applications.

The VMS manufacturer must allow for third-party integration through the implementation of an API. The API shall grant internal or third-party developers the ability to add the following video functionality to their applications without the need for VMS client software to be installed or otherwise invoked.

The applications must be capable of:

• displaying live camera views
• performing video archive search and retrieval functions
• controlling pan-tilt-zoom cameras
• adding/modifying/deleting user accounts
• initiating recording of external alarm events
• modifying a subset of the server configuration

Data retrieval

The video surveillance program should enable instant data retrieval or data retrieval for any date/time range selected using the application software's search capabilities. If data is available and older than 30 days, retrieval should be possible.

The system should also allow for the backup of certain data on any drives, including CD/DVD/Blu Ray recorders and other devices, in a format that can be played back using common PC-based software.

The TLS communication protocol between client and server applications will also be used by the system. The system should keep a log of any such action so that it may subsequently be audited. The solution will work with all popular browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

Online backup should be maintained to protect against storage failure. Data storage should be at a central location in Montego Bay. The capacity of storage should be equal to 90 days of recording of all cameras at 25 FPS. The system should follow first in first out (FIFO) on recording.

Basic storage configuration

The storage must:

• be IP attached via Gigabit Ethernet using commonly available networking configurations and equipment
• conform throughout to the iSCSI standard
• be SATA-based for cost-effectiveness
• conform to and be deployable in industry standard 19" rack configurations

Opportunity closing date

06 October 2023

Value of contract

to be confirmed

The buyer is happy to talk to

manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, agents, consultants