Established in 2007 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, Deveraux Developments has quickly become a leader in multi-family residential construction, helping to accommodate a rising rental demand in the nation’s growing cities. Part of Deveraux’s success stems from its consistent focus on innovation, from sourcing next-generation design and construction solutions to securing its development sites.
According to Remo Rea, Senior Project Manager at Deveraux Development, “For liability and insurance reasons, we were spending large sums of money to have security guards tour our sites, but it was difficult to get feedback and reports on their monitoring. We needed something more agile.”
Mr. Rea contacted Marcomm Systems Group Inc., a service-oriented integrator with a focus on custom solutions. Michael Elkin, Security Sales and Marketing Manager explains some of Deveraux’s unique hurdles: “The first site was a remote storage location outside of Regina which housed material for an upcoming project where there was no power or internet. We felt confident in our portfolio of best-of-breed solution providers and our team’s ability to build something that would work for Deveraux Developments.”
Energy-Efficient Solution Built in the Cloud
It was that confidence and Marcomm Systems Group’s customer-focused approach that convinced Mr. Rea to go ahead with the solution, nine 5x3ft solar panels from Alpha Technologies power a 4G LTE wireless router and two Axis network dome cameras; all video streams are accessed and recorded using the Genetec™ cloud-based surveillance system, Stratocast™. The solution guarantees five days of full autonomy without sunlight.
“As a cloud-based service, Stratocast™ not only allowed us to minimize power consumption by eliminating the need for onsite servers, but also helped us keep our costs down and our IT department free of involvement,” said Mr. Rea.
Mr. Elkin added, “The real beauty of Stratocast™ is the ease of installation.” The Marcomm Systems Group team was able to enroll, configure and test the cameras from their Ottawa-based office, including setting the camera names, frame rates, and resolutions. On site in Regina, technicians simply needed to power the cameras and connect them to the network, in order to enable a secure connection to Stratocast.
Following the installation at the remote storage location, another two construction sites in Regina, each with power, were also outfitted with Stratocast™ systems and two Axis network cameras. All three projects were completed in a mere three days.
Stratocast™ Drives Security Up and Costs Down
“We are getting the visibility we need at a substantially lower cost than the drive-by security guards,” explained Mr. Rea. “The system is very economical, and ends up being a capital cost for our company. We will be able to easily move the entire system to other sites as we complete and launch new construction projects.”
Stratocast™ enabled Deveraux to assign specific system access privileges to various people in the company. The Stratocast™ system is also being considered for use for far more than security monitoring; it is expected to expand into sales, marketing and operational tasks.
According to Mr. Rea, “Our management team can log in during a sales presentation and show prospective investors what is happening at our construction sites. If someone calls to report an issue with our equipment, I can also access the video from anywhere. It’s a fantastic way of overseeing things without having to be on site. Checking video in Stratocast™ has quickly become part of my daily routine.”
Stratocast™ Enables Quick Response from Mobile App
Response to events has also been simplified for the Deveraux team. “Stratocast™ advises us by email if there is any motion on site. Our team can then simply check to see what triggered the motion; then, diffuse any potential false alarms or respond to situations by sending someone to the site,” explained Mr. Rea.
During a recent construction project, a particularly windy day caused some house wrapping known as Tyvek to come loose. A project manager was alerted to the issue on his mobile phone, and took measures to secure the Tyvek and avoid additional damages.
Forging a Path toward Greater System Growth
With such tremendous success using Stratocast™ at three construction sites, Deveraux is working with Marcomm Systems Group to get another solar-powered Stratocast™ system online in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Once the project is complete, the cameras and system will be permanently installed onsite to protect common areas of the development.
Deveraux’s plan moving forward is to continue expanding the Stratocast™ system alongside its growing portfolio of residences. Once a few more sites are up and running, Deveraux might also implement centralized monitoring of all its sites using the Genetec™ Federation™ feature.
“As forward-thinking developers, we are always looking for ways to forge new paths and apply new technologies that help our team adapt quickly. Whether for business or security, this is what Marcomm Systems delivered with the cloud-based solution, Stratocast™. Working with both Marcomm Systems Group and Genetec™ has been seamless, and we are very happy with our ongoing investment in Stratocast™,” concluded Mr. Rea.
