"We only had fourteen weeks from the time deployment started until the RNC," recalls Tim Lynaugh of the St. Paul Police Department who oversaw the project. "In addition, we needed a system that would not only meet our immediate needs but one that would meet St. Paul's public safety requirements for years to come," Lynaugh added.
St. Paul turned to Avrio Group who designed and deployed a video over wireless solution that utilized state-of-the-art technologies including wireless mesh, microwave and point-to-point radios for video transmission. The foundation of the solution is Avrio Group's PoleCam, a single "plug-and-play" device that contains a high end camera, wireless radio and all electronic components needed to install the unit on a pole or building.
"It was important that the solution be capable of delivering real-time, fluid, high resolution video but still have the flexibility to be reconfigured as our needs change and allow for video to be collected from and pushed to moving vehicles and mobile devices," explains Lynaugh. Who added, "The system gave us a level of situation awareness never before possible and allowed use to develop new techniques to prevent and react to civil disobedience."
Video management for Avrio's PoleCam solution is accomplished using an open architecture, software based head-end with off the shelf components allowing for integration with other security solutions including license plate recognition, video intelligence, and sensor solutions.
"Years from now we don't want to be stuck paying for a 'forklift upgrade' because of proprietary components or a closed system. In addition this solution allows for the incorporation of analog and IP cameras via wired or wireless transmission," says Lynaugh.
The turn-key solution that Avrio designed for St. Paul also includes several viewing stations including one in the cities mobile command and control vehicle and a central command and control room with a touch screen controlled video wall. In addition, Avrio designed a web server that allows for hundreds of users to view video at the same time.
"When we started this project we wanted to get the best value out of the cities investment. One of the ways we achieved this was by having the system operate seamlessly with other departments within St. Paul as well as outside agencies," recalls Lynaugh.
"I think the reason we have been able to deploy innovative solutions around the country is because of Avrio's commitments to establishing a team of engineers that are experts in all of the various technologies involved," explains Mark Jules, President of Business Development for Avrio.
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