This is me!

Here’s a little bit about me, my background, my previous experience, and my interests and hobbies.

My name is Robert Darling and I’ve been working in the security industry for 31 years now. I started working for a company called Cable & Satellite Systems Ltd. in 1994 after being made redundant from TML. At the time we were carrying out installation work for such companies as Photoscan, Quadrant, Sensormatic, Philips, and Link CCTV to name a few.

The start of 4D Installations and Services.

In 2001 I decided it was time to start something new. With my colleague, Paul Smith, we started our own company called 4D Installations & Services. We carried out many installations for other companies, and started to bring in business of our own. We were also called upon as troubleshooters to many sites, including Bluewater Shopping Centre, Chelmsford Borough Council, and Manston Airport. Additionally, we secured a contract to supply and maintain the control room equipment at Dartford Borough Council, including Cieffe DVRs and a complete new monitor wall installation.

A new job.

In 2010 I was offered a full time post with Manston Airport which was an opportunity I decided to accept. I started working as an Airfield Electrician. In just a few years I was promoted to Airfield Engineering Supervisor, a job I loved.

Unfortunately, Manston Airport was closed down and I was sadly made redundant again.

My return to the security industry.

So, I took a couple of weeks to look into what my future may hold. It was not a difficult decision, I decided to return to the world of CCTV installations and maintenance, a job I’ve always enjoyed doing, and started 4D Security. But I’m not just able to install CCTV, I’m also able to install complete Access Control systems (I have experience installing systems such as Northern Computers, PLAN, PAC, Paxton, and more), and Intruder Alarms (from basic residential systems to commercial products using Galaxy equipment).

Hobbies and interests.

I’ve also enjoyed working with computers for many years. In days of old, before the internet became so popular, I used to run a Bulletin Board System. At the time I wrote several utilities in both Basic and C which I released into the public domain. Since then I have (and still do) run Microsoft Windows and Exchange Servers and have plenty of experience dealing with Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, etc. I also run my own websites and have written several utilities in PHP / MySQL.

While working at Manston Airport I wrote a complete database solution which we employed on our intranet to report, monitor, and record works requests over the complete site. I also wrote and implemented solutions for stock control, regular maintenance tasks for our department, and more. (It was kindly given the acronym FATMAN – Fully Automated Task MANagement by a couple of the engineers!).

4D Security is based in Dover, Kent.