Ipswich Upgraded City Surveillance
Summary
Just west of Brisbane, Australia, is an urban center called Ipswich. To uphold their promise to keep citizens safe, the Ipswich City Council implemented the Security Center Omnicast™ video management system. Today, operators manage over 500 cameras from the Safe City control room.
Just 40 kilometers west of Brisbane, Australia, is an urban center called Ipswich. With a population of just under 200,000 residents, the city of Ipswich is home to one of the oldest and best known public surveillance systems in Australia. In response to rising street crime, Ipswich City Council installed a Safe City solution in 1994 to keep citizens safe.
The company
At the time, the Safe City solution represented the best video surveillance technology of the day. Around three years ago, it was decided that the system should incorporate IP camera technology and that the Council’s adjacent surveillance system should be brought into the Safe City control room. For this, a new video management system was needed.
The challenge
“This [Omnicast] system has absolutely had an impact. The Safe City system has led to what is touted as a 78 per cent reduction in crime compared to before the system was installed.”
Larry Waite, Safe City Security Coordinator, Ipswich City Council
Results
The City chose to install Genetec Security Center™, a unified security platform which includes an advanced video management system, Omnicast. At the end of the migration, the Omnicast video management system (VMS) will be used to manage just over 500 cameras from the Safe City control room. As part of Safe City’s policy of actively engaging with cameras, operators are always using VMS functionality to actively search for incidents.
The upgrade from the former video management solution to Genetec Security Center also provides the City with hardware freedom – not just in terms of video surveillance cameras, but for any other devices the City may choose to incorporate into its solution in the future. The process of upgrading to Security Center has been about preparing for the future so the Council’s goal is to continue going digital, while trialing new technologies.
The solution
Continuous platform growth
“Something Security Center does that’s extremely important to us is scale. There is no limit in terms of growth and that’s excellent from our perspective,” said Waite.
Better collaboration with police
Operators can send video to the supervisor at the police station and to the police communication room about 5km away. “We inform police of an event and assist them in real time,” said Waite.
Mobile-equipped response
Using the Mobile app, police access video in the field. According to Waite, officers use tablets to view footage of events in real time, allowing them to see what’s going on.
Open to new technologies
With an open platform, the City was able to keep its existing analog cameras and deploy medium-term solutions such as HD-SDI technology. They can also freely add new devices in the future.