Safe city surveillance upgrade
Summary
To maintain the safety of its citizens, the City of Ipswich in Australia recently implemented the Security Center Omnicast™ video management system. Today, operators in the central monitoring facility manage over 500 cameras and provide live situational awareness to law enforcement.
In 1994, the City of Ipswich in Australia, located 40 kilometers west of Brisbane, implemented the City Council Safe City Program in response to rising street crime in its central business district. As part of this initiative, the city installed video surveillance cameras in popular open spaces and built a centrally located monitoring facility. This facility operates 24/7 and is able to stream live video footage to the Queensland Police Service. Through its innovative use of technology and by collaborating with law enforcement, the Safe City Program helped to revitalize the downtown core and make citizens feel safe.
The company
The City of Ipswich currently has a population of just over 200,000, which is expected to double over the next 10 to 15 years. One of the key challenges associated with this rising population is maintaining the Safe City Program and keeping citizens safe. With these goals in mind, the City Council decided that it was time to go digital. But, as they were investing in a new video management system, the city wanted to be able to continue to leverage its existing analog video surveillance equipment. It also wanted to be able to incorporate IP camera technology and grow the system to meet any future needs.
The challenge
“I expect the platform that we use in any video management system to be able to adapt and grow with our systems as we require it to do, and Genetec has actually fit the bill perfectly.”
Larry Waite, Safe City Security Coordinator, Ipswich City Council
Results
To upgrade its Safe City Program, Ipswich City Council chose to install Genetec Security Center. This open, unified security platform includes Omnicast, an advanced video management system (VMS) that now manages just over 500 cameras for the program. Operators in the monitoring facility use Omnicast to actively search for incidents and then share video footage with law enforcement in order to provide live situational awareness.
By upgrading from their former VMS to Genetec Security Center, City Council has also ensured that the Safe City Program can effectively adapt and respond to emerging security needs. Security Center is an open platform solution, that enables Ipswich to continue to leverage its existing analog cameras while also having the flexibility to choose new hardware solutions in the future.
The solution
Continuous growth
Due to the scalability of the Security Center platform, the City of Ipswich is able to extend its video surveillance system to meet current and future security needs.
Mobile-equipped response
The Mobile app in Security Center ensures greater situational awareness by allowing police officers to access video footage of events in real-time on their tablets to see what’s going on.
Open to new technologies
The open platform solution allows the city to continue using its existing analog cameras, deploy additional medium-term solutions, and incorporate new technology in the future.
Better collaboration with police
With Security Center, operators are able to inform police of an event and assist them in real-time by sending video to the police communication room.