Commercial facilities up to 160,000 square feet are rarely candidates for wireless security systems. Considerations such as a site’s size, thick concrete walls, metal components and multiple levels combine to make deployment of a wireless system difficult at best. However, Australian security dealers recently proved that wireless technology easily meets the security needs of two large warehouse facilities in the country’s most populous cities, Sydney and Melbourne.
The Alula Connect+ security panel is built for a wide range of residential and small business security and automation applications.
At the heart of both projects is an Alula Connect+ security panel providing one hub for monitoring all system devices. The 5G-ready Connect+ is built for a wide range of residential and small business security and automation applications. The Australian projects include up to 70 connected points, including PIRs, smoke and seismic detectors, door and window sensors, access control readers and more.
Ashley George, technical director for Sydney-based ASEG Security & Automation, said his company previously installed Connect+ units in smaller commercial facilities throughout Southeastern Australia. The success with those projects left him wondering if the units could meet the needs of much larger sites.
“I’ve been involved with the wireless market for many years and decided this was the time to see how the technology would work in a large installation,” George said. “Our client successfully used 100 percent wireless systems leveraging Connect+ in six smaller satellite depots around Sydney and Melbourne. That experience gave them the confidence to try it in a new 15,000-square-meter (161,458-square-foot) Melbourne warehouse.”
The ASEG team worked to pre-program and pack the entire system, including two signal repeater devices, numbering each box to correspond with a specific location in the new warehouse. George shipped the boxes to a trusted Melbourne contractor and oversaw the four-day installation.
The system was an immediate hit with the end user. George said the Alula mobile app enabled the warehouse management to receive real-time updates, including any system arming or disarming and views of cameras throughout the new facility and satellite locations. George said the wireless system saved days of installation time compared to a hard-wired project, enabling ASEG to charge a premium while also saving the client money.
Routine signal strength checks show the system is working as expected. George said he’s already planning more wireless systems for larger commercial locations that, until recently, were thought to require hardwired systems. “I’m pleasantly surprised how well this project came together,” he said. “Connect+ is a great product that’s light years ahead of the competition.”
Another Australian warehouse recently scrapped a hard-wired security system in favor of Connect+ based wireless technology, installed by Actel Group, which provides electronic security, building controls, fire accessories, communications systems and more from its base in a Sydney suburb. Actel Group Managing Director Vince Valente said the quick installation time of the wireless system convinced his client to try something different for a 7,000-square-meter (75,347-square-foot) warehouse for storing computer-related technologies. The project includes sensors in the office space and throughout the warehouse.
The facility includes two levels of offices and one level of warehouse space in a building, including thick concrete walls and metal structures — potential roadblocks for wireless communication.
Valente said the Actel Group had never installed a wireless system in a project of this size. The installation took a little over two days and was completed without signal repeaters. He estimates that a hard-wired system installation in the same facility would have taken a couple of weeks to complete.
“To be honest, we’ve dealt with wireless projects and they weren’t always 100 percent effective,” he said. “But that was working with other brands. We gave Alula’s Connect+ a go as our distributor recommended it. This project gives us the confidence to install wireless systems in more locations. I’m pleased with how efficiently and reliably it has worked. And, more importantly, our client is happy with it.”
