Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service Extend Tensor Contract for Access Control and CCTV

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Fire Authority also Known as Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service (CFRS) is committed to making the community it serves safer.

The Authority came into existence on 1 April 1998 following the reorganisation of local government in Cambridgeshire and the creation of a Unitary Authority for Peterborough (which runs the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service) serves a population of 847,151 over mixed urban and rural areas. In addition to providing an excellent response to emergency incidents the CFRS also seeks to improve community safety by working proactively to prevent fires and other emergencies from happening. This is achieved through target initiatives designed to address specific risks, and by working in partnership with other organisations to enhance public safety and provide the best value.

In 2013/14 the Authority identified a need for security access to CFRS premises. A project team was put together and a tender process went out through OJEU in which Tensor submitted a tender among other suppliers and won an initial 4-year contract for security access which also had the provision of adding ancillaries such as CCTV in due course.

CFRS has been working with Tensor to keep the security equipment maintained and all works well. CCTV Surveillance and barriers at sites where it has been deemed necessary for security reasons have been installed. Initially our team received training on how to use the Access Control System. “The training was very usefulwhich meant that our team rarely has to ask for assistance from the Tensor Support Team”. The team responsible to look after the Access Security and CCTV at CFRS are Application Support Group (ASG) and the helpdesk to report faults via email. “It’s very rare that any faults are escalated to higher authority as 9 out of 10 the Tensor Ops Team arrive on site within the same day”.

CFRS can control the security per site and to be able to section areas of each site. ASG Team can allow staff to get into certain parts of stations and then let the operational team get into other parts. The reporting aspect is also key to CFRS as it’s important to know who’s been where and at what time for security reasons. “The access control is very configurable even down to door level for access. We also like the CCTV system because it gives us peace-of-mind and site security, because we have employees on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week”.

“CFRS would recommend Tensor to any organisations and other Fire Services that are looking to install Access Control or CCTV systems. Access Control very rarely get hardware failures, the kit is stable, doesn’t fail and it's simple-to-use”.

“Summing Tensor system up the ASG Manager adds that from a natural end-user CFRS always found Tensor is a reliable supplier that is responsive, with a reliable system”.

*All quotes are from the CFRS Application Support Group (ASG)*

Customer Information:

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

Website: https://www.cambsfire.gov.uk/