SPIE is designing a new Command Centre at Potsdamer Platz

Berlin, 25 May 2020 – In mid-August last year SPIE, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, received the contract for designing a new Command Centre for all properties at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin from IMPPV (Immobilien- und Mobilien Potsdamer Platz Verwaltungs-GmbH). The term of the operation was scheduled to be from August 2019 to May 2021. TELBA GmbH, a subsidiary of SPIE Deutschland & Zentraleuropa, is performing the work in a total of 16 properties at Potsdamer Platz – this includes complex office buildings, a shopping mall, a theatre and several cinemas, including connected underground garages beneath the whole area.

Reliable and sustainable system solution

The contract includes connecting all technical safety and security systems – such as fire alarm, burglary and video technology installations as well as all emergency escape doors and elevators which already exist at Potsdamer Platz – and the signals of the access control for a total of 16 buildings to a new risk and video management system built on the basis of the vendor-independent systems Winguard and Milestone. When the operation is completed, the total system will administer and manage approx. 40,000 data points and 700 video cameras.

The contract also includes the renewal of the video technology on IP-based Axis cameras (without cable network), intelligent video detection and the implementation of the command centre technology (command centre workplaces, video wall, crisis room, etc.) including a communication system based on UNIFY OpenScape Xpert. “In addition to this very large contract we are also pleased that the maintenance contract for the new installations for a term of ten years was also negotiated”, reports Jörg Marks, Managing Director of TELBA GmbH.

High competence from one source

Clients of the multi-technical service provider benefit from the broad range of services from one source. Other SPIE units are involved in the communication nodes as well as the technical implementation of the risk and video management system. “Here the broad spectrum of competence at SPIE meant that we were the only provider able to offer a convincing technical solution from one source. This operation is a real lighthouse shining a light on our capabilities, and it clearly shows the joint strengths of the business units at SPIE”, explains Michael Hartung, Head of the Operational Devision Information & Communication Services and Member of the management board at SPIE Deutschland & Zentraleuropa. Furthermore, the operation is also another important milestone on the way to permanent expansion of the business segment alarm system technology.

Punctual implementation

First steps have already been successfully managed: The command centre with the new furniture and monitors, is as such already operating with the previous systems. In the coming weeks the command centre’s new management software – will be installed based on virtual servers provided on site and provided with data by the end of 2020. Comprehensive tests related to this were already successfully implemented. Furthermore, in the coming twelve months the approximately 700 cameras will be installed on the entire Potsdamer Platz campus and will gradually commence operations. “In the first few months of 2021 the system is to be finally tested and in May of the same year handed over to our client Brookfield Properties”, notes Jörg Marks.

Reliable and certified partnership

“We were proud of the feedback from our client, who indicated that the technical solution we offered together with our partner Advancis was decisive in awarding the operation to us. Our solution provides far more value than our competitors – and that is all the more reason to be pleased to have received the contract”, says Jörg Marks. At the beginning of March 2020 SPIE was certified as system partner of Advancis Software & Services GmbH. The software company is one of the global market leaders in the field of multi-vendor security and building management.