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| Latitude delivered an operating system that enabled users to view, capture, record, analyse and report video and audio |
Background
The first Commonwealth Games (then known as the British Empire Games) were held in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario, with 11 nations represented. A total of 400 athletes participated. The Common-wealth is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states comprising 1.7 billion people - almost one third of the world’s population. The Games are held every four years around the globe. The next Commonwealth Games will be held in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland and following that, Queensland, Australia.
Business Challenges
Networked surveillance systems can be as complex as they are effective, and the video surveillance system required for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006 was highly ambitious. The system required linkage to several remote sites in Melbourne and it needed to in-corporate existing infrastructure and video surveillance solutions managed by a variety of corporations and government departments. The final networked solution required several hundred cameras at more than 12 main sites to secure venues, athletes and visitors. Combining the new CCTV installations with existing surveillance systems would give organisers and security personnel unprecedented views and control during the 12 days of events. Aside from the technical, infra-structure and organisational challenges, the installation had only three months to implement - from inception to commissioning.
While the centralised location of key venues with various other cultural events taking place at the same time turned the Melbourne Business District into a centre of celebration, it made planning and executing an effective security system a major challenge.
The DVTEL Solution
By deploying multiple workstations in a central location, controlled by a single user interface, the DVTEL security solution was able to monitor and control remote locations. The network video management component (Latitude) basically allowed for a command and control centre - the Games Operations Centre.
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| Due to robust network system design and DVTEL software, connectivity between sites and Operations center was flawless |
It integrated camera surveillance of key sites including the 50-acre Athletes Village, the “Public Domain” area with the Melbourne Cricket Ground (which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies), coverage for Vic Roads (the highway authority) and the Victoria Police Center. All video fed into the Games Operations Center, where cameras were monitored and in some cases, recorded.
Latitude delivered - an operating system that enabled users to view, capture, record, analyse and report video and audio. Central to the operation of Latitude were the virtual matrix, distributed computing, recording and failover and redundancy capabilities.
Results
Every company that submitted bids for the Games specified DVTEL’s Latitude as their management software.
During 12 days of the Games, due to a highly robust network excellent system design and superior DVTEL software, connectivity between sites and the Games Operations centre was flawless - not one minute of downtime.
During the opening and closing ceremonies, there were more than 700,000 people, thou-sands of performers and 600 security staff. The DVTEL Latitude VMS enabled Games organisers to run a live offsite Disaster Recovery center to provide complete failover in the event of an incident at the Village’s control center. HP servers and Telstra’s Cisco servers allowed personnel to “see” the system.
Integrator testimonial
“We don’t think anyone else has delivered a system like this” said Simon Langdon of Landmark Security. “Our installation used all the capabilities of the DVTEL system in terms of remote management, alarm interface and presets”.
“One of the solution’s obvious strengths was its ability to leverage both the existing IT infra-structure, (at the core of every modern business), and the legacy security equipment such as analog cameras and monitors”.
“The DVTEL system gave great flexibility and allowed users to be proactive, not reactive”.
