Trade Fair News


Outlook bright for Protect’s Fog Cannon


IT WAS A blustery old day at Dunstall Park on October 6, not the sort of conditions one would associate with fog, but that’s what was on offer. Not around the racecourse


but in a marquee located at the back of the main grandstand. That’s where Protect UK were demonstrating their Fog Cannon to visitors – and reporters – at the Bookmakers’ Trade Fair. Used as protection against


robbery, the Fog Cannon works by filling the room with a blanket of dense fog in a matter of seconds.And I mean dense! Within 15 seconds I was


the accolade of Security Company of the Year for 2011, are among the world’s largest manufacturers of security fog protection. The Fog Cannons are installed


unable to see anything except a white haze in front of my eyes. I could just about recognise the outline of my hand from maybe 6 inches away. It’s a highly effective burglar


prevention system, designed to push the intruder back out of the building the same way they broke in. It stops them in their tracks by obscuring whatever they have set out to steal. In the recent London


in combination with traditional burglar alarms or standalone panic systems. Mounted in the ceiling, it takes a feed from the main alarm and, once that is activated, the room is then automatically ‘blanked’ with a dense fog so that the burglar becomes disoriented. If the intruder stays put and smashes windows so that the fog starts ventilating out, the system will see him and reactivates the fog. That will keep happening until the key-holder arrives to turn the alarm off. The blanket of fog will stay


in a room for up to three hours at the same intensity. However, once the alarm is switched off and the room is ventilated, it will dissipate, leaving no residue whatsoever. Protect’s Fog Cannon is based


riots, 14 youths armed with hammers attacked a jeweller’s shop in Kingsbury, London. They ripped up the metal shutters, broke through the security doors but as soon as they entered the shop the Fog Cannon was activated and they left empty-handed.


on a (chemical) formula, namely glycol fluid mixed with water and heated up rapidly, which, in turn, produces the fog. It is completely harmless and has been awarded the prestigious Secured by Design status by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and gained the European Standard EN


Protect, who were awarded


50131-8. They work in co-operation


with the police and train their dogs to navigate through the fog. The dog will hold the intruder until the smoke has cleared sufficiently for the police to enter the building. Protect is a Danish company,


established in 2001, and opened its UK office just two years ago. Today it has partnership agreements in place with most UK alarm installation contractors, including Elite Video Systems, who install and maintain the cannons in LBOs. UK customers include


Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s, the Co- Op and the Post Office, while international clients are the likes of McDonald’s, Metro, Q8, Vodafone, the Bank of Ireland, Shell, Bang & Olufsen and Louis Vuitton. Fog Cannons can be fitted in


anything from large warehouses to small corner shops and kiosks, with four basic models for different types of property.The largest unit, the Protect 2200, produces 2,200 cubic metres of smoke in just one minute, Protect UK’s product


portfolio also contains panic buttons to counteract daytime raids, plus the Protect Security Strobe, a strobe light that increases the disorienting effect of the fog.


UK’s PR and marketing manager, comments: “Smoke has been available for the last 15 years but it’s only just now coming to the forefront within the security industry. People weren’t aware of the product previously but once seen, it sells itself. “The intruder is not expecting it and so it’s scary when it first happens and their first instinct is to flee because they don’t want to get trapped inside the building. “But the whole idea is not to


Vivienne Tregidga, Protect


trap the villains inside – we’re actually not allowed to do that. Regulations within smoke security stipulate that there must be a visible exit for eight seconds, in order to give the intruder time to get out. “We train the installers on


how to install it correctly, to make sure that it’s aimed to push the villain out the same way they came in within seconds.The idea is that there’s only a broken door or window, nothing else is stolen, because within those few seconds intruders are pushed straight back out that door.”n


For further information please contact


Paul Duncanson , Elite Video Systems


Tel: 01925 232882


Email: sales@elitevideosys- tems.co.uk


Elite Video Systems, (left to right) Luke Duncanson, Paul Duncanson and Ian Duncanson visit www.bosmag.co.uk Picture: Supplied


Watch live CCTV footage at www.protectglobal.co.uk


BOS Magazine November/December 2011 29


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