Call of Duty

The Field of Flags, a traveling war memorial dedicated by the Somers Congregational Church in Somers, Conn., began in October 2005 with 2,231 American flags, one for each American solider who died serving his or her country in Iraq and Afghanistan. The idea for the memorial came about as members of the church considered what they could do to show support for the troops. Each casualty reminded them of the dangers the soldiers face every day. The flags honor those who have given their lives as well as their families, whose lives have been forever changed.

Included with the memorial are a name board that lists the names of all the fallen soldiers, a notebook that lists the name, rank, town, state and date of death of each casualty, and a guestbook in which visitors can share their thoughts.

Protective Order

Since 2005, the memorial has traveled up and down the East Coast, hosted by local churches. When the memorial reached the First Congregational Church in Clinton, Conn., on Sept. 10, 2008, the number of flags reached 4,741. The memorial was open to the public until Oct. 4, 2008.

To protect this moving and patriotic memorial, the Clinton, Conn., police department teamed with Boundless Security Systems of Newtown, Conn., a manufacturer of ultra-low-bandwidth digital video surveillance systems.

"We needed to protect this memorial on an urgent basis, and Boundless Security Systems answered our call for help," said Major John Santry of the Clinton Police Department. "We were not only concerned about the security aspects of keeping an eye on this outdoor memorial but also about the many IT aspects. We were especially concerned with putting video on our networks and making it available to those who need to see it."

"There were both obvious and hidden challenges to quickly setting up and operating a digital video surveillance system to help protect the Field of Flags," said Steve Morton, president and chief technical officer of Boundless Security Systems. "Boundless specializes in digital video surveillance where communication bandwidth is precious. This is the case in most outdoor, mobile and temporary applications, where remote viewing is important."

The town already had a number of security cameras installed at several locations, but none viewed the memorial. Since video is bandwidth intensive, the town's IT department expressed concerns about overloading and possibly crashing the networks and the Internet connection. In addition, the town did not want to compromise its cyber security system by opening more network access ports to the Internet for remote viewing of the video by the police department.

The Right Stuff

Boundless Security Systems not only had the proper equipment to protect the memorial, they also were able to provide live online video streams for the town's Web site.

To achieve remote video monitoring in accordance with the town's specifications, Boundless Security Systems installed two cameras aimed at the memorial and their ultra-low-bandwidth Multi-Stream Video Server Compact. One camera provided a wide-angle situation assessment view of the flags, while the other provided a close-up view of the fallen soldiers name board.

The video server is an IP-based device that employs bandwidth-saving video ondemand with near-camera recording resolution instead of bandwidth-intensive video streaming. The device delivers multistream video, featuring MPEG-4 compression and motion-activated recording. It can be configured to deliver live and prerecorded video. Video is only sent when requested and is transmitted with the lowest data rate needed for display, minimizing communication burdens on a local area network and the Internet. The optimized MPEG-4 video encoding maximizes frame rates and image quality.

The server provided Clinton police with eight different IP video streams simultaneously, all with different resolutions, frame and data rates. The streams ranged from their standard resolution of 640x480 at 5 frames per second with a bitrate of 512 KB down to 160x120 at 1 frames per second with a bitrate of 8 KB. The server also includes an optional tunneling capability that automatically tunnels through firewalls to connect to Boundless' Tunneling Broadcast Server located at the company's headquarters. This ensures a secure connection on a public network. A separate transcode server, also located at the headquarters, was able to convert two of the live video streams to a format suitable for viewing using Windows Media Player accessible on the town's Web sites.

Never Forget

The memorial drew visitors from all across the state and beyond. Families of the soldiers have expressed comfort in knowing their loved ones are honored and remembered in this way. During its three-week stay in Clinton, there were no incidents. The memorial continues to travel around the country, offering a reminder of the great cost of war and the hope for peace.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Security Industry Association Announces the 2026 Security Megatrends

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has identified and forecasted the 2026 Security Megatrends, which form the basis of SIA’s signature annual Security Megatrends report defining the top 10 factors influencing both near- and long-term change in the global security industry. Read Now

  • The Future of Access Control: Cloud-Based Solutions for Safer Workplaces

    Access controls have revolutionized the way we protect our people, assets and operations. Gone are the days of cumbersome keychains and the security liabilities they introduced, but it’s a mistake to think that their evolution has reached its peak. Read Now

  • A Look at AI

    Large language models (LLMs) have taken the world by storm. Within months of OpenAI launching its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, it amassed more than 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. Read Now

  • First, Do No Harm: Responsibly Applying Artificial Intelligence

    It was 2022 when early LLMs (Large Language Models) brought the term “AI” into mainstream public consciousness and since then, we’ve seen security corporations and integrators attempt to develop their solutions and sales pitches around the biggest tech boom of the 21st century. However, not all “artificial intelligence” is equally suitable for security applications, and it’s essential for end users to remain vigilant in understanding how their solutions are utilizing AI. Read Now

  • Improve Incident Response With Intelligent Cloud Video Surveillance

    Video surveillance is a vital part of business security, helping institutions protect against everyday threats for increased employee, customer, and student safety. However, many outdated surveillance solutions lack the ability to offer immediate insights into critical incidents. This slows down investigations and limits how effectively teams can respond to situations, creating greater risks for the organization. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.