New Orleans Airport Implements NICE Situator Technology In New Security Center

NICE Systems recently announced that the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport has implemented NICE's open platform situation management solution, NICE Situator, in its new Security Operations Center.

The Center serves as the coordination hub for all Airport security operations and emergency response activities. The deployment of NICE Situator is part of a larger FAA-sponsored security upgrade project undertaken by the Armstrong International Airport to meet stringent Transportation Security Administration (TSA) 1542 airport security regulations. Armstrong International Airport is the first North American airport to deploy NICE Situator. NICE partner Johnson Controls is the system integrator on the project.

The primary commercial airport for the New Orleans metropolitan area and southeast Louisiana, Armstrong International Airport served 7.8 million passengers in 2009. Through NICE Situator's open architecture, the Airport is able to integrate a number of third party systems, including a computer aided dispatch system, various video solutions, a fire alarm system, an access control solution, and other security and medical/health emergency systems. NICE Situator ties all of these diverse security and safety systems together, in order to correlate data and alert dispatchers in real time to incidents that require attention.

For example, a specific alert that comes from the access control system at a jet bridge, the protected passenger walkway used to board the airplane, will automatically trigger an alert from NICE Situator, providing the complete operational picture in real-time, including the relevant video feed, status of sensors, and maps showing the location coordinates of the incident.

NICE Situator's framework for automating complex response workflows also ensures that dispatchers follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) when handling any threat or emergency.

NICE Situator is helping the Armstrong International Airport comply with TSA 1542's directives, specifically with respect to preventing and detecting unauthorized entry to secured areas, evaluating threats in accordance with the Airport's security program, and if emergencies do occur, taking appropriate actions as specified in the Airport's emergency plan.

"At Armstrong International Airport we are proud to employ world-class security and safety technologies from many different companies, and NICE Situator is the centerpiece of that," said John M. Lyon, telecommunications manager for Armstrong International Airport. "With NICE Situator, our dispatchers are able to immediately get a single view of a situation across our many different security and safety systems, with real-time analysis and alerts, and embedded response plans to guide their actions."

"Normally it could take a year to customize a solution of this magnitude, but with NICE Situator, we were able to accelerate the deployment and complete the initial implementation in a matter of weeks. We are looking forward to working with NICE on future enhancements and expansions." 
 

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