Ohio City Runs IP Video System On IT Infrastructure

Milestone XProtect Enterprise Video Management Software is providing centralized management for the city of Dublin, Ohio. City management and IT staff built the installation on the unified Milestone platform with its open architecture running on an IT infrastructure.

The ease of use for employees has reduced operation costs for the city and the wireless network flexibility helps officials manage security for changing events.

Through well-managed growth, Dublin has preserved its historic past with many of its original buildings listed in the National Register of Historical Places, as it grew into a thriving business and residential city. The Dublin Division of Police is committed to working with residents and businesses to improve the quality of life in Dublin: numerous community-based programs and services are available, designed to ensure added safety and protection to citizens in the city.

The earlier analog surveillance in Dublin did not provide clear video evidence, so officials installed a wireless IP video system with the help of Milestone Partner Northwestern Ohio Security Systems. Milestone XProtect Enterprise is running on two HP Proliant Servers with 14 Terabyte HP storage arrays, Cisco network infrastructure, and about 60 network video cameras from Axis and IQeye megapixel cameras from IQinVision.

“We are known in Dublin for innovative thinking and leveraging technology to improve the city,” said Jay Somerville, technical services bureau director at the Dublin Ohio Division of Police “Milestone and Northwestern are a perfect match for the entire solution, and the Axis cameras have been great, as well. The network mapping and wireless approach allow us to use the cameras remotely from the central station.”

Dublin, Ohio is the host to many large events that create an influx of people. The city has a population of almost 40,000 and on any given day it can balloon to well over 70,000. The city is home to many large corporate headquarters such as Wendy’s, and large events such as the Irish Festival. The Memorial Golf Tournament is an annual PGA event that features the tour’s top field of players and is a huge draw for the city.

Dublin’s previous solution to crowd and parking lot monitoring was dedicated police officers on motorbikes all day. With the new wireless surveillance they found the solution of sending a URL to the police force with the live feed of an incident to be much more efficient.

Somerville explains that it was less expensive to install an open IP video system as opposed to ‘forklift’ upgrading the pre-existing analog system.

“It’s amazing: I saved a significant amount of money because the system ties in everything on one common platform,” he said.

He went on to say that management from the Justice Center, the police department and other public facilities all concluded that the open platform format was the most cost effective and future proof solution.

“With Milestone we knew that we could build on what we had and we would not have to rip out the entire solution that was already in place,” Somerville said. “Nobody likes proprietary solutions; Milestone is great because it is an open platform that is beyond easy to use. All my employees are able to use it and it has made training on my end much easier, helping with the efficiency of the city.”
 
The police and other city officials all have access to the Milestone client interface: 61 police and 17 dispatch personnel are using it currently. Sharing information is a much more streamlined process.

“Milestone is so flexible…the fact that all my employees use Milestone and can mix and match cameras is great,” Sommerville said. “The operational cost is less because the training is reduced. Milestone cannot make the system any easier…we just hyperlinked the html version to the live feed, and they love the windows GUI.”

Technical Manager John Kostelac of Northwestern Ohio Security Systems, who helped implement the solution, explained that the remote access has been a key feature for the city.

“It can only be described as seamless, in fact, users at the remote locations do not even realize that the servers are in a central location,” he said

Dublin started with the network cameras at the Dublin Recreation Center and the Dublin Police Department, converting the rest of the city buildings over the course of the next two years, with further plans to add video-integrated access control. Somerville explains that the installation with Milestone and Axis has been such a success that the school district is also looking at implementing the same solution.

Featured

  • 12 Commercial Crime Sites to Do Your Research

    12 Commercial Crime Sites to Do Your Research

    Understanding crime statistics in your industry and area is crucial for making important decisions about your security budget. With so much information out there, how can you know which statistics to trust? Read Now

  • Boosting Safety and Efficiency

    Boosting Safety and Efficiency

    In alignment with the state of Mississippi’s mission of “Empowering Mississippi citizens to stay connected and engaged with their government,” Salient's CompleteView VMS is being installed throughout more than 150 state boards, commissions and agencies in order to ensure safety for thousands of constituents who access state services daily. Read Now

  • Live From GSX: Post-Show Review

    Live From GSX: Post-Show Review

    This year’s Live From GSX program was a rousing success! Again, we’d like to thank our partners, and IPVideo, for working with us and letting us broadcast their solutions to the industry. You can follow our Live From GSX 2023 page to keep up with post-show developments and announcements. And if you’re interested in working with us in 2024, please don’t hesitate to ask about our Live From programs for ISC West in March or next year’s GSX. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • People Say the Funniest Things

    People Say the Funniest Things

    By all accounts, GSX version 2023 was completely successful. Apparently, there were plenty of mix-ups with the airlines and getting aircraft from the East Coast into Big D. I am all ears when I am in a gathering of people. You never know when a nugget of information might flip out. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge. 3

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation. 3

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles. 3