Style, security and peace of mind

By: Ana María Restrepo

The hotel, opened in January 2009, is part of the 3100 establishments that the American chain has in 67 international markets.

This property is located on The Paseo de la Reforma, in Mexico City, a few steps from the Monument of the Angel of Independence and in front of the U.S. Embassy. Its proximity to the main financial, cultural, commercial and entertainment districts of the city make it one of the most desired hotels for guests. It has 16 floors, 317 rooms and five suites, 13 meeting rooms, business center, executive lounge, two restaurants, bar, gym, swimming pool, wireless Internet in public areas and gift shop.

It also has an innovative protection system that provides peace of mind to guests, collaborators and visitors.

Constant vigilance

The constant monitoring of the different facilities of a hotel can be a determining factor at the time an incident occurs, or as such, such monitoring helps prevent unwanted events.

Due to its location, its prestige and the need to discreetly but effectively monitor both public areas inside and outside the premises, the Marriott-Reforma hotel installed a CCTV that would allow it to secure each space.

This security system is part of an extensive equipment of electronic security systems to protect both guests and employees and the property itself.

This CCTV, implemented by Logen SA de CV, consists of more than 70 fixed cameras of the Flexidomo II and Dinion se Bosch line, as well as Autodome motion cameras (PTZ) located at strategic points to guarantee video surveillance of both indoor and outdoor areas.

The engineer Eduardo Zapiain Márquez of the integrating company, explains that the central monitoring equipment consists of a matrix video switcher of the 8600 line, as well as three DVR units, dibos 8 type, with a capacity of up to 30 analog channels each, with the above the above an ergonomic and friendly environment is offered to the security personnel, with which they can monitor and search efficiently, in addition LCD monitors and keyboards were installed for each work position.

For the care of all

The decision to install this protection solution is not only due to the need to insure the people who are inside the hotel, but also to prevent situations that put at risk the life and integrity of all, given that the Paseo de la Reforma, the street on which the hotel is located, it is one of the places where marches and demonstrations come to congregate with some regularity.

The directors of the establishment considered the different security contexts and therefore chose a robust and reliable system, which not only exercised surveillance according to the procedures of the institution, but also with the ability to capture and reproduce high quality images for possible subsequent consultation.

Within this choice, its degree of performance, the trajectory and experience of the installation company in this type of projects, and the presence and accompaniment of the manufacturer throughout the process were taken into account.

But it is not only the system that serves for protection, thanks to the recent changes that have been presented in the legislation in Mexico, the evidence captured by the Closed Circuit Television is now considered legal evidence; however, this regulation applies in the first instance to places of public events, such as stadiums and auditoriums. Although this recent modification to the legal context may reinforce future plans to install and update CCTV systems in hotels in general, due to the high number of events that take place there and the large number of people who converge in these spaces. The installation company, as well as Bosch, consider that this can finally result in conditions that, in due course, make a professionally designed and managed video surveillance system essential.

New in all fields

As the Mexico City Marriott Reforma Hotel was a new establishment, there was no prior surveillance system that had to be updated, so each of the security elements were implemented for the first time in different strategic sites of the establishment.

This innovative system is characterized by having state-of-the-art technology that allows a future migration and expand or integrate it with other security technologies. The companies involved in this project believe that this technology will allow the end user to migrate to the latest generation of technology, without having to waste installed equipment which may still be in good condition.

System role

The technical characteristics of a security system and its operation are the backbone of safety anywhere.

The cameras installed in the Marriott Reforma hotel, Dinion and Flexidomo II line, are characterized by their performance under any lighting conditions.

In the Dinion models LTC0485/21 (extended dynamic range) and LTC0495/21 (day/night) the handling of contrasts implies a sharp and precise capture of the images, without losing the smallest of the details when they are processed at 15 bits and with a special algorithm, contrary to the 10-bit processing commonly used.

The engineers explain that this represents a result 32 times better in the range and resolution of colors, ensuring details even in complicated situations of counterlight.

This system also has the possibility of handling a bidirectional communication through the coaxial cable to and from the camera, also empowers the staff to perform firmware updates, as well as adjustments of camera parameters, such as contrast, gain control, white balance, etc. contributing to a fast and effective maintenance process, no need to access the camera physically. "As if that were not enough, an average failure time of more than 170,000 hours adds an important aspect of reliability to the system," they add.

The 70 cameras that monitor at the Mexico City Marriott Reforma Hotel are reported to a central monitoring station from where all the control of the images is carried out. Dibos 8 hybrid DVR solutions that feature the capacity of 30 analog video channels, provide the user with the opportunity to expand their system with an additional 32 IP channels. In this way, a gradual migration to an IP solution can be carried out without implying additional costs in this area.
Each Dibos 8 DVR also has a remote monitoring software, through which it is possible to integrate additional workstations and monitoring into the hotel's security network, to such an extent that each of these stations is able to visualize any combination of the cameras that is reporting to all the Dibos 8 linked in the network.

It should be noted that in order to print the greatest possible versatility to the management of all signals, not only video, but also alarms that can come from monitoring devices such as magnetic contacts, light barriers or presence sensors among others, the matrix system offers modular expansion capacity to grow according to the requirements of the end user.

Primary objective: your safety

As is well known, a hotel is an establishment that does not rest at any time of the day, therefore the security system becomes an essential element when it comes to protecting lives and assets, so the specific purpose of this CCTV is to provide a reliable source of information in the event that any problem related to visitors and employees of the place occurs. "This is especially important in the reception and checkout area, as well as in the accesses to the facilities and exteriors," say the companies involved in the security project.

Likewise, this system strengthens the physical protection provided by the guards 24 hours a day, since it is a system with a certain deterrent character and its installation is discreet.

As for the implementation of this solution, there were some normal difficulties that refer to the fulfillment of the work program in the final phases of the project, however there was no major logistical or technical difficulty. The integrating firm highlights that due to the good design with adequate construction plans, correct specifications, state-of-the-art technology, installation tools and configuration available for the installed equipment, in addition to the experience of the technical staff, this process could be carried out in a very expeditious and agile way.

Satisfaction index

Although to date there have been no events of greater importance that put at risk the integrity of the institution and individuals, it is worth noting that the installation of this CCTV is part of the hotel's mission to make business pleasant and vacations a memorable experience for each of its guests.