SEATTLE — Back in 2013, Safeco Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners, upgraded its video surveillance system to better monitor, protect and secure the more than two million fans who attend games each season, as well as the facility and physical assets within the property.
The first surveillance system was installed during the stadium’s inaugural season in 1999, using primarily coaxial cabling. Rather than go through the costly process of scaling out the analog system, the security team upgraded to an IP network video surveillance system that would increase operational efficiency and be easy to monitor by the security staff.
That’s where
“Before Milestone, looking for one or two people in a crowd of 47,000 was like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Christopher Ellis, director of safety & security, Seattle Mariners. “Today, rather than searching laboriously through game footage of the crowd, we can find and export our video in minutes and find that ‘needle’ efficiently, keeping the ballpark’s guests and assets safe. I’m very happy with Milestone and look forward to successful seasons, on and off the field!”
An inside look at the video capabilities of Safeco Field, thanks to Milestone.
Milestone says its solution is open architecture so it can be integrated with additional security features in the stadium. Management is considering connecting with access control, burglar alarms and panic buttons, among others.
“The stadium had been getting by with a more or less obsolete DVR system that could not provide fast review of incidents as they were happening. Bringing in a new version of a DVR solution would not have provided the extensive coverage Milestone offers,” says Bob Kusche, IPVS security solution advisor at Milestone Platinum Partner Differential Networks. “With the Milestone software, the network load was perfectly acceptable to their IT department, and we now have the capability to increase the security features in the ballpark as we further expand coverage.”
Centerplate, the Mariners’ hospitality partner at Safeco Field, also upgraded and integrated their analog camera solution into Safeco Field’s Milestone solution.
