The Royal College of Physicians [London]
The RCP was founded in 1518 by King Henry VIII. It is the oldest medical college in England. At its core is the Musaeum Harveianum – the earliest named ‘museum’ in England – now housed in Sir Denys Lasdum’s Grade I listed modernist masterpiece in Regents Park. Included are several famous collections of medical apparatus, portraits, silver, 17th Century human remains, and rare books.
Business Challenge
The client requires a means of easily monitoring the collection without wires, PCs and false alarms. The system had to guarantee the security of artworks while easily co-existing with children and occasional entertaining:
- Public have physical access to priceless artworks.
- Sensors must be invisible and cannot be hard-wired.
- Sensors to be attached and unattached without damaging
artworks. - Specialist art handlers required to move artworks, so long
battery life on all sensors essential. - Multiple zoning needed for area control
- No dedicated security office.
Finished, listed building – no pre-existing cable routes. - Limited budget.
- System must be future-proof.
- Mobile pager interface required
The Solution
Fortecho Solutions and DS Systems worked together to create and install a system that met and exceeded the RCP’s expectations.
- The collections’ most valuable works are fitted with long
life motion-sensing tags, including paintings, sculptures and
glass cabinets. - RFID network designed to cover maximum number of
artworks, using the fewest possible readers. - Readers installed invisibly at high level providing coverage
to multiple oors. - Readers daisy-chained together to avoid disruptive cabling.
- System controlled by the standalone Fortecho Lite
touchscreen – allows room-level control. - System monitored locally, plus activates mobile pagers
with detailed alarm information for security guards on the
move.
ROI
- Enhanced 24/7 security of works of art
- Total integration of existing security systems
- Delivered on time, and within budget.
- Instant and precise artwork alarm information.
- Electronic historical log of all alarms
- Security and peace of mind ensured.
- Public and artworks co-exist with minimal risk, and the best