From Monitors to Mission Control

  • By Paul DiBerardino
  • Sep 23, 2025

Security Operations Centers (SOC) were once defined by rows of static monitors, each displaying a single feed with operators quietly watching for issues. That model has become obsolete. Incidents evolve too quickly, data comes from multiple locations, and decisions must be made in seconds—not minutes.

The modern command center is a decision-making engine — one that thrives on shared, real-time visual intelligence and the ability to adapt instantly to unfolding events.

The Problem with the Old Model
For years, video wall systems were costly, complex and rigid. They required proprietary controllers, high-powered graphics cards and specialized training just to display what teams needed. Scaling was expensive, operations were inflexible, and downtime risk increased with every added hardware component.

A Modern, Flexible Approach
CompleteView’s Video Wall was built for a new era of command and control. It delivers high-performance output—supporting live video, interactive maps, and custom layouts—without the need for proprietary controllers or specialized graphics hardware.

With this approach, security teams can

  • Centralize monitoring for both local and remote displays.
  • Push scalable layouts to any screen using familiar tools, with minimal training required.
  • Reduce cost and complexity by lowering power consumption, eliminating unnecessary hardware and minimizing points of failure.
  • Deploy faster so teams can focus on operations, not setup.

It is not about showing more — it is about showing the right things, to the right people, at the right time.

Today’s Capabilities: Purpose-Built for Operator Efficiency
In real-world deployments, CompleteView’s Video Wall supports far more than static video feeds. Operators can manage up to 16 monitors with flexible layouts that blend live video, mapping views, system dashboards and camera or server status in a single environment.

Using tools like Alarm View, the system ensures operators only see the cameras that matter in the moment — those triggered by analytics, motion or rule-based alarms — reducing visual overload. Cameras in an alarm state are instantly highlighted, allowing operators to spot priority events at a glance without scanning through hundreds of feeds.

The platform also integrates seamlessly with analytics-enabled cameras, such as AXIS devices, to respond to advanced triggers like perimeter breaches, rule violations or object detection. When an event occurs, operators can instantly review the triggering event, scrub through playback for context, and then drag and drop that view to the main video wall so everyone in the room can respond together. They can even add surrounding cameras from the same location to create a complete situational picture in seconds.

This combination of selective viewing, visual prioritization, instant review and rapid content sharing makes the command center more agile and less prone to information fatigue — ensuring the team’s attention stays where it matters most.

What This Looks Like in Action
In a retail loss prevention scenario, operators can instantly push camera feeds from entrances, registers, and exits to a central video wall during an incident. Everyone in the command center sees the same critical views at once—making coordination faster and more precise.

On a university campus, operators can combine live video with interactive campus maps to direct responders where they’re needed most. This shared visibility shortens response times and improves decision-making across multiple stakeholders.

The Future: Intelligent, Context-Aware Displays
The next generation of command centers won’t rely on operators to manually search for and select camera feeds. Instead, they’ll harness event-driven intelligence to anticipate needs and present the most relevant visuals before someone even asks.

This means your command center can function like a living, adaptive display—automatically showing the most relevant views when paired with tools like Alarm View.

For example, dedicating a monitor within the SOC to Alarm View allows operators to instantly see camera feeds triggered by analytics, such as a vehicle breaching a restricted perimeter or a motion event in a secured area. If a fire alarm is activated, operators can quickly bring up interactive floor plans or related camera views on the video wall, ensuring the right visuals are front and center. While today this workflow is operator-driven, the path ahead points toward even greater automation—where these transitions happen without a single click.

These capabilities extend beyond emergencies. During planned events, such as a large public gathering or high-profile corporate meeting, the system can proactively surface crowd monitoring feeds, entry-point status, and live environmental readings like air quality or temperature.

By integrating video, sensor data, and situational analytics, intelligent displays turn the command center into an anticipatory environment — reducing operator workload, eliminating delays in pulling up critical views, and enabling a faster, more coordinated response.

The result is a command center that doesn’t just react to events — it stays ahead of them, ensuring decision-makers have the information they need the moment they need it.

Leading with Information
The modern command center is no longer a passive observer — it is an active force in security operations. Tools like CompleteView’s Video Wall and Alarm View give teams the power to work from the same real-time picture, eliminate delays, and make confident decisions when every second matters.

In an age where threats evolve by the minute, the true measure of readiness isn’t just how quickly you react—it’s how far ahead you can stay. With the right technology, your command center becomes the heartbeat of security, intelligence, and coordinated action—ready to lead, not just respond.

This article originally appeared in the September / October 2025 issue of Security Today.

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