Hybrid Security System Hits a Home Run
Busch Stadium is now equipped with a Panasonic hybrid video system, designed for top image quality for crowd management.The construction of the new Busch Stadium, which opened this past April, offered an excellent opportunity to upgrade security surveillance. The bid was awarded to Will Electronics for the materials and integration service, and to Sachs Electric Co. for electrical work and installation of access control and life-safety systems for the installation of the cameras and equipment.
The system contains a combination of 114 analog and digital cameras from Panasonic, networked together into the existing infrastructure featuring Cisco switches. With four VLANs already established on the network, the camera systems were separated so that they would have their own dedicated portion of that network.
One key point in specifying the camera system was image quality, which is particularly important for crowd management and activity monitoring. With a networked infrastructure, a primary part of the selection process was to seamlessly integrate an IP-based megapixel camera into the solution.
The result is a hybrid system – with 20 percent analog and 80 percent network cameras, including most of the fixed cameras. For real-time refresh on the pan-tilt-zoom cameras, the critical cameras run on the Panasonic GX encoder series, with robust MPEG 2 encoders.
The recording solution is a combination of Panasonic WJ-HD300A digital video recorders and WJ-ND300 network video recorders. The digital video recorders are there for redundancy and are used as multiplexers – to create the virtual matrix. AXIS encoders on the analog cameras feed the streams into the NVR for recording. With the Panasonic solution, the stadium will be able to integrate a POS system as well as add different types of components.
Contact Panasonic Security Systems at (866) 726-2288 or visitwww.panasonic.com/security.
IP Video System Keeps DMV Offices on Track
Technology from Bosch, drives centralized video monitoring at South Carolina DMV.The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), when it decided to upgrade its security and surveillance system, mandated ease of use, flexibility and reliability as top priorities. The DMV is comprised of 68 offices throughout the state’s 46 counties.
Senior DMV officials from the central office needed real-time access to the video in any field branch for staff and public security. They also wanted to use the system as a method to improve each branch’s organizational structure by monitoring training, as well as individual agents.
The South Carolina DMV consulted with Vihon Associates, a professional field sales organization. Given the multi-site nature of the project they recommended an IP-based security system and enlisted the help of Anderson, S.C.-based Blue Ridge Security to install the system.
The DMV revamped its video surveillance with multiple video management workstations from Bosch Security Systems, running the VIDOS software to view and review all the cameras from a central location. An AutoDome pan-tilt-zoom camera with a VideoJet 10 Bosch Video over IP encoder was placed at each of the 68 branch offices throughout the state.
Each camera’s high-quality analog video is converted to IP by the encoder and leaves the building via the network. The IP video is recorded on a network video recorder at the DMV headquarters using Bosch’s VIDOS-NVR and disk arrays. The client wanted reliability, so they were advised to buffer the video at each branch office in case the network is temporarily interrupted.
Contact Bosch Security Systems at (800) 289-0096 or visitwww.boschsecurity.us.
Beyond Security: Video System Also Helps Manage Operations
Billings, Mont., Clinic Chooses Pelco EnduraWhen the Billings Clinic in Billings, Mont., undertook a recent initiative to enhance security, they demanded a flexible, scalable, fault-tolerant IP system. They wanted the ability to move, add and change cameras, monitors and other system components, without having to redeploy cable for every change.
Billings Clinic chose the Endura network video solution from Pelco. Mitch Goplen, director of facility services explains, “Our network was an ideal fit for Endura, and we knew Pelco would be an outstanding partner, along with our integrator Johnson Controls.” The Billings Clinic installation links 60 cameras to two security control centers, where operators can view any camera on any monitor. Already, the clinic enjoys improved response time to incidents, reduction in theft, and greater ability to catch potential problems on the fringes of the campus.
Billings Clinic sees many enhancements ahead: adding more cameras, integrating with other sites, and implementing intelligent video capabilities. “Ultimately, we envision the system emerging from a security tool into an operations efficiency tool,” Goplen says. For example, Endura can interface with the clinic’s asset tracking system to keep track of wheelchairs, gurneys and other mobile equipment.
Contact Pelco at (800) 289-9100 or visitwww.pelco.com.
