Founded in 1882, Dow Jones & Company has long been recognised as the authority on business and financial news worldwide. In addition to generating the world's leading business publication, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones has built a media empire that includes investment indexes, magazines, daily and weekly newspapers, newswire, radio and Internet news services.
Yet, its most important asset is the heart of this acclaimed organisation - the more than 7,000 full time employees who are committed to the company's standard of excellence. As one can imagine, Dow Jones takes protection of its assets very seriously. Dow Jones Corporate Security is responsible for providing security for the Company's locations around the world, and the safety of the company's employees is one of its primary concerns.
In 2005, the organisation began to realise that the digital recording technology it was using was becoming more of a burden than a benefit. Pam Berezny, Security Systems Manager for Dow Jones & Company, explains, "The technology was near the end of its useful life and was no longer supported by the manufacturer. The hard drives were smaller and data retrieval was a slow process."
The company released a request for proposal from four integrators listing their requirements. One of those integrators was Access Systems Integration. Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Jim Tapp, recalls his company's decision to present the Vicon solution, "We felt that Vicon met all their requirements and was the best fit. Dow Jones was impressed with the product and the quality, but the key for them was Vicon's history of international support. No one else could match it."
Removing the existing digital video recorders and installing the new Kollector series digital video recorders had to be a seamless transition in order to minimise down time. Pam elaborates on the time constraints, "Since we were replacing an existing system, we were required to complete everything in a very short time frame. The upgrade needed to be accomplished with minimal disruptions to our daily operations."
Existing cameras were integrated and connected directly to Kollector Pro digital video recorders. Sixteen channel Kollector Pros, Kollector Elites, and Kollector Network Servers were installed for both recording and transmission of video over the network. Digital video feed was provided by VN-755IP cameras that transmit their own IP video signal, as well as convert the analogue video feeds from up to three external sources including existing cameras. All camera signals could be recorded to Kollector digital video recorders or workstations using ViconNet VN1000 software. And, with a VN1000 workstation, video could then be viewed and retrieved remotely from any Kollector recorder worldwide.
Streaming video to network viewing stations from more than 70 digital video recorders causes no great obstacle for Dow Jones' IT department. Pam explains, "Our network supports electronic and print publication requirements as well as our basic infrastructure. With the ViconNet software, you can modify the bandwidth by adjusting frame rate and picture quality; this allows for bandwidth management on a global network which is a great asset."
Pam illustrates the scope of their new enterprise-wide security solution, "We have globally deployed the Kollectors, installing more than 70 units throughout the United States as well as Europe and Asia", adding, "We're not done yet." With so many locations to cover, Pam really appreciates that the Kollector digital video recorders are virtually plug-and play. "The GUI (graphical user interface) is put together so well that training does not become a concern. We can ship a Kollector to a facility and our staff will have it up and running right away." The ability to designate authority levels and assign passwords also helps Pam manage the viewing capabilities.
Remote viewing capabilities and ease-of-use are crucial factors for Dow Jones. Pam believes their new technology really fits the bill. "We are all impressed with the ViconNet platform," she says. "The windows-based application enables you to drag and drop the cameras for easy viewing and the site list enables viewing video from different locations at the same time with ease. Previously, it was a more involved process and wasn't as streamlined. Vicon is much more prepared to deal with the international market and they have made that piece of my job so much easier. "