By Rhondor Dowlat Thursday, December 24 2009

FOR the top end high security sites of national importance, one can now install high voltage (HV) electric fencing, which has now landed on our shores and described as ‘The Best Solution to Perimeter Protection’ all year round.

Only last week, the sole distributor for the JVA Electric Fencing Product – Alarmco High Voltage Security Fence Company Limited, 58 Alberto Street, Woodbrook, was officially launched at the Kayak Room of the Kapok Hotel in Port-of-Spain. Its official website was also launched alarmco.highvoltage.security@gmail.com, Alarmco’s CEO, Maxine Cook emphasised that the company was staffed by knowledgeable and experienced personnel in property invasion and high voltage (HV) fencing. She also stressed the point that it is compliant with regulations governed by the Ministry of Public Utilities.

“Alarmco installations are performed by technicians certified in high voltage electricity. The company trains clients in the safe and effective operation of equipment. Alarmco and its products are also fully compliant with Trinidad and Tobago’s laws. It offers a competitive pricing. Alarmco carries public liability insurance to third parties or loss of or damage to third party property arising out of the activities of our operations,” Cook said.

Relating her company’s mission statement Cook said: “To be the leading perimeter security company in the Caribbean, supplying quality products at competitive prices and with first class service”.

She also assured that they have the latest technology and expertise to handle such an advance stage in security, “High voltage fencing confronts intruders on the perimeter before entering a property. It is a specialist field and we have the latest technology and the expertise. It will be a good security business in TT that will spread through the Caribbean”.

Managing Director, Ricardo Nunes noted the benefits of the HV electric fencing as cost effective, requiring less labour and materials than conventional fencing, easy to construct using light materials. In the cases of animals, Nunes said animals are less likely to be injured if they breach an electric fence.

“An electric fence acts as a psychological barrier rather than a physical barrier. Electric fences protect valuable livestock. It is flexible - wire spacing and fence designs can be modified to control a variety of animals. It increases production by making it easier to subdivide paddocks. The fence is less prone to damage because animals can’t lean on the fence. The fence life can be extended by attaching electrified offsets (outriggers) to existing conventional fences. It discourages trespassers and predators and an important point, it is environmentally friendly — quick, easy and inexpensive to fence off trees and waterways, Nunes said.

In revealing some of the company’s goals, Nunes said the main target for them currently is to establish HV fencing as the security product of choice in TT with the long term goal, being able to take the technology to the rest of the Caribbean.

“In the first year at least is to focus on the market in Trinidad as we do not want expansion to compromise the standards we have set ourselves to customer service; that is not to say that opportunities outside the region will be ignored but we are wary of overextending ourselves. Alarmco have secured the distribution rights of the JVA fencing technology for the whole Caribbean region. In the long term, that is where we will take the business,” Nunes said.

Alarmco uses the JVA range of energisers which has been collaboratively designed and manufactured by an international team with over 30 years of HV fence experience, earned in some of the most testing security environments in the world.

The JVA electric fence products mainly come from South Africa – the world’s biggest electric security fence market, from Australia, and from New Zealand – the undisputed leaders in electric fence technology.

Speaking at the launch CEO of the JVA electric fence product, from New Zealand, Michael Graham proudly stated that he sources the product from a number of local manufacturers, “predominantly our choice is the famous PEL brand. Underpinning the worldwide success of PEL is the commitment to three principles: Quality – PEL was the first New Zealand manufacturer to receive ISO9002 certification, Reliability – PEL products are designed to last and they have the track record to prove it. Energisers still operational after 20 years are not uncommon and Value for Money – PEL have consistently produced good quality products at a fair price.”

The JVA business was developed in response to a growing international market looking at electric fencing as a solution to security and wildlife related problems.

The difficulty lies in piecing together the right products and ensuring that items developed specifically for the agricultural industry meet the legal and human safety requirments of any environment away from the farm.The diverse nature and different nature of such business requires innovation in both design and product mix, but technically it’s all pretty simple. it’s this simplicity which makes electric fencing the most reliable, long lasting and cost effective external barrier system.

High tensile wire, good quality HDPE plastic insulators and steel fence posts do not care if it’s hot, cold, wet or dry. Modern electronics have further extended this inherent simplicity by adding easy interfacing options with access control systems, surveillance cameras, intruder alarms or the most complex multi-facetted high security systems.

HV electric security fences is one of the most effective forms of physical security, combining a strong deterring influence with the ability to monitor fence line activity 24/7.

For an externally located security system electric security fencing technology is unsurpassed for reliability and longevity. There are fence systems in all sorts of environmental conditions around the world and many of these have been operating faultlessly for ten to 15 years.

The technology works quite simply by monitoring the voltage applied to a wire grid consisting of alternate live and earth wires. If an intruder cuts the wire or climbs the fence an alarm will activate combinations of sirens, lights and communicators.

“This detection capability is the real value of these fences although the deterrent effect invariably puts an immediate stop to low level crime and vandalism. If touched the fence delivers a short sharp shock with each pulse from the energiser. By law the pulse energy and voltage are kept to safe levels but it remains a painful experience most people are afraid of,” Graham said.

HV electric fencing can also be used in prisons or other correctional institutes. It is currently being used in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Latin America and Barbados.

In 2003 the Corrections Department of Chile built a new high security prison with this 450 metre internal electric security fence.

The fence is three metres high with 29 wires and is mainly used as a means of detecting an escape attempt before prisoners can reach the outer wall, and as a delay feature that buys response time for the prison guards. The fence is organised into different sectors that are linked to alarms in a central control room, and to closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras on the perimeter.

Most home security systems will involve adding an electric fence topping to the walls around individual properties or residential estates. These are usually five or seven wire systems attached to a variety of brackets and posts that can be vertical, angled or even a low-profile horizontal design.

Technically, the residential fences have exactly the same features and benefits as their taller cousins for industrial sites: they are a great different – most burglars are afraid of electricity so, seeing an electrified fence, they are most likely to leave without attempting to break-in.

Home electric security fences are best operated independently using a key switch, keypad, or wireless keyfob system. They can have their own sirens, but if there is an intruder alarm make use of that monitoring or alarm signalling with a simple two wire connection from the energiser monitor unit.

HV electric fencing can also protect one from kidnappers and burglars. Violent crime, kidnapping and burglary epidemics in the main cities of several countries have led to the development of residential estates where homes are built within their secure confines. Developers have reverted to medieval techniques of building protective walls around the estates, but add a modern touch in the form of a high voltage electric fence topping.

In an attempt to clear up legal and safety concerns, Graham explained: The first point made it a requirement to erect electric security fences behind a physical barrier with openings no larger than 50 millimetres (two inches) square and with the electric fence wires no closer than 100 millimetres (four inches) from the outer fence mesh.

“Alternatively, electric security fences can be built without external protection on top of walls or fences that must be at least 1.8 millimetres (six inches) above the ground. The height requirement has since been reduced to 1.5 millimetres (five inches) by the International Standards committee. As that is now well below the head height of an averaged sized adult many installers prefer to stick with the safer and more sensible 1.8 millimetres (six inches) height of the original code,” he added.

With regards to safety, Graham said: “It should not be possible for the innocent passing public to be accidentally hurt or injured through contact with an electric security fence. If contact is made with a live electric fence – legally or illegally – the shock effect should be limited to levels safe for humans. Electric security fences should be built in such a way that human entrapment is impossible, as repeated electric shocks are potentially fatal.”