“And slowly, and
surely, they drew their plans against us”
This iconic line
forms part of the introduction to one of the most famous radio plays ever to be
recorded, the Orson Welles adaptation of H.G. Wells’ unnerving sci-fi tour de
force, The War of the Worlds. Of
course, the conspirators Wells was referring to here were malicious
otherworldly intelligences intent on destroying our planet and/or enslaving the
human race. It was gripping stuff; so gripping, in fact, that it sowed
widespread panic when it was broadcast sometime during the beginning of the
previous century.
So how does the
father of modern science fiction’s ominous opening words – so utterly ripe with
foreboding – relate to the current security situation in South Africa?
It’s quite
simple, really. The reality is that yes, South Africa sleeps, but it is an
uneasy sleep plagued by nightmares of home invasions and crooks lurking about
in the night. In this sense, we are akin to War’s
protagonist (and indeed, all of mankind), our eyes darting nervously about as
we await the imminent invasion and the terrible fate that awaits us.
But it need not
be that way. If there is one prevailing theme throughout the history of
mankind, it is the triumph of good over evil. We, the average citizens of this
country, the home and business owners, are Good, while the criminals represent
the forces of Evil.
Centurion Systems has developed a number of key technologies to aid the forces of Good in
this eternal struggle, and to help South Africans sleep more soundly, secure in
the knowledge that their homes and families are safe. It is worth noting that
CENTURION is a South African company with South African sensibilities, always
in tune with the unique security needs of the country.
CENTURION’s
ongoing influence in the fight against crime is clearly evident in the
following technologies:
Intruder-detection Alarms
As children, the
majority of us were told cautionary tales and feared the “bogeyman”: an
exaggerated evil entity that would come for us if we misbehaved. But, in our
childlike innocence, we knew that switching on the light would render the
bogeyman powerless and banish him to the realms of shadow whence he came.
In the slightly
imagination-stripped world of adulthood, the bogeyman takes the shape of
criminals wanting to get their hands on our possessions – or otherwise cause us
harm – and the entrance gate is the typical point where they would try breach
perimeter security. From following hapless homeowners into their properties to
obstructing the gate safety beams so that the gate stays open, criminals have
devised all sorts of clever ways of gaining entrance.
The
Intruder-detection Alarm feature-set is CENTURION’s interpretation of
“switching on the light” and catching the bogeyman in the act. These alarms – consisting of the Break-in
Alarm and Ambush Alarm – work by sounding the onboard buzzer of your D-Series
operator (D10/D10 Turbo, D5-Evo, SECTOR, VECTOR2) whenever the infrared gate
safety beams are interrupted, or remain interrupted for a predefined period of
time.
Consider, if you
will, the practical application of these alarms: A potential intruder has been
staking out your house for a couple of nights and knows your habits, your
comings and goings. Then, one night, the criminal sees you enter your property
and decides to stick some insulation tape over the lenses of the beams, thereby
keeping the gate open and affording himself ample opportunity to enter the
yard.
But the joke’s
on him, because you have enabled the Ambush Alarm which promptly picks up that
the beams have been obstructed for the preset period of time, and it triggers
the alarm which you have relayed to your security company. The armed response
chaps arrive and arrest the would-be burglar. Threat neutralised.
ChronoGuard
As you can most
probably deduce from its name, ChronoGuard was named after the Greek word for
time, “chronos”, which is also used as a prefix in English words related to
time (think: “chronological”).
Yes, the
ChronoGuard is a timer, but it is a timer that opens up a world of access
control possibilities.
Take, for
example, the Auto-activations feature offered by ChronoGuard. Using the onboard
Real Time Clock and Calendar found in CENTURION D-Series controllers, this
feature allows you to set up to 100 unique time periods that can be used to
perform a myriad automatic activations. Among them:
·
Opening your gate during busy times, such as in
the mornings, so that your gate motor’s battery is not run flat from
continually opening and closing
·
Interfacing with an irrigation system to water
your garden at certain times of the day
·
Automatically switching on a security light only
at night so as not to waste electricity
The
possibilities are virtually endless.
Then there’s the
Time-barring functionality. This security feature is useful to anyone from
home-owners to managers who want to restrict access to their property after
work or during weekends. Time-barring can be used to inhibit signals from
remote controls or even physical triggers, so criminals won’t be able to simply
short-circuit wires in order to get the gate to open.
From a practical
application perspective, this is very handy since employers who have issued
their staff with remotes can configure their D-Series gate motor or traffic
barrier to work during normal office hours, but ignore inputs from remotes
after hours. Hey presto – you now have a highly effective access control system
without having to buy any expensive additional equipment. All that is needed is
your CENTURION D-Series operator.
Code-hopping Technology
“And slowly, and
surely, they drew their plans against us”
That menacing
line makes a final appearance. Criminals have always attempted to use our own
tools and technology against us and, at times, it even seemed as though they
had succeeded.
“Code grabbing” is
one way in which tech-savvy crooks have been doing this; taking the wonderful
convenience of remote controls and using it for their own dark purposes. What
basically happens is this: a homeowner stops at his entrance gate and presses
his remote, oblivious to the fact that in the bushes nearby a crook is hiding
wielding a makeshift signal-grabbing device. The crook than uses this device to
“grab” the code transmitted by the homeowner’s remote, and so gets carte
blanche for helping himself to the homeowner’s possessions.
In an effort to
combat this malfeasance, CENTURION has implemented code-hopping technology.
What this means, is that every code transmitted by the CENTURION transmitter is
completely and randomly different to the previous one, making code-grabbing
more or less impossible. It is worth noting that this is the same sort of
secure technology currently employed by leading vehicle manufacturers.
From the
development and implementation of these innovative technologies it is clear
that in actuality it is us drawing our plans against the criminals, and not
vise versa.
