Video wall technology installed by Ultimate Visual Solutions (UVS) is helping to protect a quarter of a million people in Rhondda Cynon Taf as part of a new Emergency Control Centre. The centre is to be used in the event of major incidents which affect the County Borough and the safety of its residents, and is designed to allow the Council to manage situations at a ‘Strategic Level.’
The RCT Emergency Control Centre consists of one main room to encompass incident managers (including partner agencies) and support staff, as well as two break-out rooms. It is designed for managers to have access to as much accurate information as quickly as possible to support the critical decision-making process.
Video wall control
The centre has direct dial capability to the Council’s Dinas and Abercynon highways depots as well as access to the County’s CCTV system and both video and telephone conference call capability. The main display is made up of four Barco KVD5521B video screens and as well as being used as a computer and for conference calls, can also show images from the Council’s widespread CCTV system and telemetry systems as well as camera images from key culverts that can be monitored remotely.
The installation features a UVS WBC40 Videowall Controller and UVS Lucidity Video wall Controller Software and also has a desk-mounted touch screen for video wall control, which allows operational staff to instantly recall specific video wall layouts to suit different scenarios.
Most challenging times
River levels were at their highest levels, breaking records going back over 40 years
During 2020, the Council faced one of the most challenging times in its history, dealing with COVID-19 as well as tackling severe flooding across the area, affecting thousands of businesses and family homes. River levels were at their highest levels, breaking records going back over 40 years.
Councillor Andrew Morgan, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, said: “In the run up to a major incident such as a storm, or the outbreak of any incident needing a multi-agency response in the future, the Council’s new Emergency Control Centre will enable senior officers and partner agencies to be at one central location, collating all of the information coming in, dissecting that information and reacting at rapid speed to any major incident as it develops.”
Audio visual solutions
Steve Murphy, Managing Director of UVS, said: “We are delighted to be involved in such an important project, which is helping to protect the people and businesses of Rhondda Cynon Taf from the effects of flooding and other major incidents.”
UVS, based in the Burnley First – Burnley Business Centre, provides video wall displays and audio visual solutions to a range of clients across the UK and the rest of the world. It is led by four senior colleagues who, between them, have more than 70 years’ combined Audio Visual, Control Room, and Visual Solutions experience.
