Convergence/Integrated Solutions

Command and Control

Ideal operations center enables professionals to collaborate, make quick decisions

• By Tony Lapolito
• Nov 01, 2006

WHETHER your job is to protect the local streets, the country or a company's assets -- the job has never been more challenging. And in a time of crisis, when seconds matter most, the operations center becomes the focal point.

The evolution of communications technology in the operations center has provided security professionals with better tools to monitor and respond to situations. But as the operations center increases in complexity, the technology it uses can be confusing at the most critical times.

Today, more than ever, the climate and technology exist to enable more intelligent responses to emergencies. The technologies will provide fast, efficient response to critical events, save lives and protect assets.

A vision for the ideal operations center typically features a highly-connected command center with information gathered from many locations -- organized and displayed visually -- enabling professionals from many organizations to collaborate on and make quick decisions.

In the past, there were many barriers to making this vision a reality. In the post-9/11 environment and Internet worlds, there has been development to harness new technologies, providing a more effective emergency response and to evolve the operations center into a more important part of the solution.

Operations Center Trends
When operations centers were conceived, the theory was that if the center could get a call from the location where an incident was happening and quickly deploy resources to that location, the faster response could lead to a saved life, arrest of a criminal or protection of an asset. Call boxes, radios and hard-wired telephone lines provided an effective network of communications for emergency response for more than 50 years. The advent of the cell phone has lead to a population of deputies.

No one will argue with the fact that cell phones -- especially visual-enabled -- are great tools for providing timely information. However, cell phones have dramatically increased the number of 911 calls. Some large metropolitan cities are now getting 5 to 12 million calls annually, and a staggering amount of resources are required to respond to the calls.

While cell phones are probably the biggest new source of information for the operations center, there are other technical developments contributing to the problem. Alarm companies tied into the center, license plate readers, gunshot detectors, facial recognition, GPS equipment, vehicles and two-way video surveillance are among some of the technologies intended to provide more effective responses. However, if not implemented and integrated properly, the technology adds to the problem.

Video Surveillance
Billions of dollars are spent annually on video surveillance equipment. Most local convenience stores employ security cameras. Video technology tied into an operations center creates a centralized, bird's eye view of incidents.

There are two issues surrounding video surveillance in an operations center environment. One of the issues is coverage. Murphy's Law says what you are most interested in will happen in a location where you don't have a camera. Another issue is monitoring. Studies demonstrate that an operator's effectiveness diminishes very quickly while monitoring a video screen. Twenty minutes may be the maximum a person can watch video and remain effective.

This leads to the question: How can facilities employ many cameras and still be so blind? There's no question technologies have advanced dramatically in the last 10 years. IP-based wireless and wired networks, driven by home and business adoption, are becoming ubiquitous and cost effective. Camera technology, driven by digital cameras and camcorders sales, are becoming higher quality and also more cost effective. HDTV has driven the investment in display technology such that DLP and LCD are now cost effective for video walls.

Joint Operations
In the past, various agencies operated in silos with separate chains of command, facilities, networks and communications equipment. While the previous system will always hold some weight, never before has the climate for interagency cooperation been better.

Many metropolitan areas are building joint operations centers to house local and federal agencies like fire, police, FBI, FEMA, DHS, National Guard and National Institutes of Health to work together in time of crisis or major event. Only when true cross-agency cooperation happens with information sharing and coordinated response will agencies be ensured of maximum protection.

While the ideal operations center consists of a single facility to make all decisions, it is not practical. At the same time, until recently, disparate locations have been challenged to share information and make joint informed decisions. Collaboration technology, highly-connected networks between facilities, as well as mobility and wireless innovations are enabling people to share information and participate in the decision-making process from anywhere with network access.

In the world of security and surveillance, there is talk of convergence, such as collapsing video surveillance networks onto the IP network, offering the same type of business proposition VoIP did 10 years ago. Another convergence is happening just as important as the transport medium: the convergence of various systems into a single, cohesive intelligent system to provide true, shared situational awareness.

The vision of this convergence is an operations center that has:

• Access to data from various systems, including video cameras, sensors, access control, RFID, GPS and intrusion detection systems.

• Sophisticated event correlation and tracking across systems to determine what is happening and to provide the appropriate response.

• State-of-the-art collaboration tools that enable all data to be shared with people regardless of location, including video, alarms and PC desktop information.

• Highly-advanced visualization techniques, including a large video wall that can display various information such as video, 2-D and 3-D mapping information, while conferencing simultaneously.

Assessing the Center
Existing systems, though disparate, all had value when purchased and installed -- most still serve an important purpose. You may have plans to install emerging technology to make the job easier, but the lack of standards across systems to enable interoperability may be preventing that option.

The information that one system can supply is highly relevant to another system. For example, it is relevant to know when exceptions are flagged from various sensor systems, such as a pallet equipped with a RFID tag or motion detector, and to correlate the events with cameras located in the areas where the exceptions were flagged. In addition, in order to determine if these events are relevant and worth further investigation, it is ideal to display the live feeds from the relevant cameras, along with the recorded video feeds, starting from five minutes before the event in conjunction with a map interface displaying the information.

Only when users take various, disparate systems and integrate the pieces into a single, cohesive system used to manage the situation will users have an operations center operating at maximum efficiency.

Following a Map
Map out operational goals. When evaluating how to make your vision a reality, first map out what you want to accomplish from a day-to-day operations standpoint.

Determine what existing systems are still relevant. Once the goals have been outlined, each installed system should be evaluated to determine if it is still relevant to enable that vision. Systems which can remain in the current state or are updated, need to have an integration plan.

Create a phased implementation plan. Due to complexity or budget constraints, it is not always practical to take the "big bang" approach to deploying a system. So, once you know where you want to go, you'll want to figure out the appropriate steps along the way. For example, the first step may be to update the facilities to accommodate the appropriate number of people and proximity to other relevant personnel. This includes the layout of the room and installation of display technology, equipment room and workstations. It is important to think of personnel expansion from your agency or from cooperating agencies.

Have a plan that has the flexibility to be deployed in modules. Integration of sensor and video surveillance networks into a CAD solution may be phase one. Adding collaboration, mobility and mapping can be added later, if that's part of the plan.

Vendor selection. Determine what vendors have a shared vision and product roadmap that accommodates long-term goals. Understanding the roadmap and the refresh plan is critical. Do not accept forklift upgrades. Look for companies that provide a seamless migration moving forward.

The management interface is one of the most critical decisions. Camera, DVR and sensor technologies can easily be mixed, as long as you have a common management and user interface that integrates all of these things together into one comprehensive solution. Users will need to be trained to operate the management platform, and there are big switchover costs, so look for a vendor that can accommodate current needs, as well as your long-term vision. Remember the camera manufacturer is not motivated financially to make its management software work with other manufacturers' cameras. Deciding to go with the management software that came with a product can lock you into a product for a long time.

When there is an incident, seconds matter and having an operator using multiple management platforms or one they are newly trained on can cut efficiency dramatically, cost lives and make the investment in the operations center meaningless.

Implement the first phase and measure results. Once you have the roadmap and implement the first phase of the plan, it is extremely important to measure the results. Track metrics such as reduction in number of 911 calls, arrests made, reduction in the number of cruiser rolls to false alarms and average response time to accidents.

Not only will you be able to measure increased efficiency, but you will be able to determine what is working and what is not. This will enable you to refine the plan and secure additional funding for future phases of the roadmap.

Refine plan and implement next phase. Once the results have been measured of the first phase, it's time to determine if the roadmap is still relevant. Once the plan has been refined, move to the next phase.

Today, more than ever, the climate and technology exist to enable more intelligent responses to emergencies. The technologies will provide fast, efficient response to critical events, save lives and protect assets. Only when the operations center is integrated, and there is a management platform in place that enables you to manage the situation and not the underlying technology, can the vision become a reality.