Safety is the top priority

Thorberg Prison is part of the Northwest and Central Switzerland Prison Concordat and is a closed prison for male offenders. JVA Thorberg houses 170 prisoners from over 40 nations. The oldest person is over 70 years old, the youngest prisoners are 20 years old. The village of Thorberg in the Emmental valley of Bern was first mentioned in a document in 1175. Originally built as a castle, the buildings were used as a monastery in the Middle Ages and later became the property of the Bernese state. In the middle of the 19th century, the authorities installed a prison on the Thorberg for the first time. Over the years and decades, the facility was extended and rebuilt several times. Following a fire, one prison building was rebuilt in the 1950s and the other in the 1990s.

Siemens has been present at Thorberg Prison for many years with various security systems. Like the listed buildings and the detention facilities, the Siemens systems have been continuously adapted and modernized to meet new conditions and requirements. The most recent projects are the migration of the previous Siseco control system to the Desigo CC management platform, the replacement of the existing video surveillance system with the Siveillance video management solution and the addition of a professional KVM solution that enables central operation of all sources and displays using a touch panel.

At the same time, it was decided to renew the IT and communication hardware on the entire Thorberg prison site. To this end, Siemens experts worked with various partner companies to create a new network infrastructure that meets the latest and future requirements. In this context, numerous server and client units were replaced and the existing data migrated. All server-based hardware is now operated centrally in an optimized and air-conditioned technical environment.

Flexible and scalable solution

Based on the new IT infrastructure, Siemens installed the latest version of the Desigo CC management platform, into which all systems could be integrated. This means that the building and security systems at Thorberg Prison are now state of the art.

The new Desigo CC management platform has been customized and offers new technical features compared to the previous Siseco system. It makes the work of staff much easier, as all daily functions can be monitored and operated on one solution platform. Additional functions of other Siemens solutions, such as comprehensive access control, the cross-area intrusion system and the entire fire alarm system can be operated, controlled and monitored centrally.

Desigo CC supports the flexible scaling of a classic client/server system architecture. This is suitable for small and medium-sized as well as large, complex systems. It is possible to access the platform from other computers via a secure remote connection and to manage or support it. The various interfaces provided by Desigo CC allow different third-party systems to be connected bidirectionally via the interface server. Web interfaces offer the customer greater flexibility during operation and for future extensions, such as the use of apps on tablets and smartphones. The Desigo CC system can consist of several physical or virtual servers, depending on the customer's requirements.

Video surveillance in focus

An important sub-project at Thorberg Prison was the renewal of the video surveillance system. In addition to the aforementioned software renewal, around 150 high-resolution cameras were migrated to the new system. The installed Siveillance video system from Siemens is also designed for extensive camera expansion in the future. By connecting the video management system to the Desigo CC solution, the security staff at Thorberg Prison can monitor all important video streams live and with a time delay, as well as use various functions for building and area surveillance. Typical video surveillance workflows such as live video streams, remote direction and zoom control (PTZ) and preset camera positions are supported. Combined area monitoring using motion detectors activates the corresponding video images directly in the control center, triggering an alarm. Recording functions, markers and the search and playback of video recordings complete the versatile functions of Siveillance.

Permanent site and building surveillance using cameras, video monitors and archiving and recording devices enables a rapid response to alarms and events. The security service can manage monitor groups and forward video information and measures throughout the system. Each client can display and manage multiple video sources. The system therefore offers the necessary functionality for flexible, user-specific layouts and the additional display of a multi-monitor overview in the control center.

In addition to many other highlights, Siveillance Video offers the following advantages:

• Customized and flexible scaling for almost any application and requirement.
• Maximum investment protection thanks to system design in line with requirements.
• Customer-friendly, clear licensing model with many functions already included in the basic license.
• Expandability of many options and add-ons to fulfill special requirements and wishes.
• Support for almost all network cameras from well-known and market-leading manufacturers.
• Integration of high-resolution cameras. (>4K)
• Efficient storage management, which enables the management of a significantly higher volume of data per system server compared to similar systems.
• High system security thanks to innovative database and communication encryption.
• Rapid, highly dynamic system development for quick reactions to market developments and technological advances.

Work according to a script

Detailed migration planning was carried out for the video surveillance sub-project due to the complexity of the system and the challenging conditions that prevail in a prison. It was therefore imperative to ensure parallel operation of all interacting components and applications in advance. Thanks to the parallel setup, the interruption of the secure environment during commissioning could be reduced to a minimum. In addition, a physical system setup with video and Desigo CC was carried out at Siemens in advance and the joint functionalities and interaction of the systems were thoroughly tested. Thanks to the close cooperation with the customer representatives, the IT managers and the security planner, the necessary migration measures could be prepared, implemented and put into operation down to the last detail.

After a final and user-specific training session, the entire system was successfully transferred to daily operations.

Author: Benno Estermann, Media Relations, Siemens Switzerland AG