Surveillance Upgrade a Slam Dunk for Verizon Center
Read how Integrated Systems & Services Inc. (ISSI) upgraded the Verizon Center’s video surveillance system with 4K technology.
Verizon Center Director of Security Ed Labonte and Integrated Systems & Services Inc. (ISSI) Vice President of Sales Steve Ludeking.
“The Verizon Center was a challenge for us because we knew we had to really install something that was literally under the microscope as opposed to general video surveillance,” says Ludeking. “[Labonte will] get calls from the FBI all the time about, ‘OK, this certain set of people is coming tonight, I’m giving you the heads-up; this is what time they’re coming, this is where we’re driving’ – it’s like a movie, and all of these black cars come in through the back entrance and they get funneled into the arena just like everybody else and who knows who’s there. When we took on the project we knew that we weren’t just protecting a palette of merchandise.”
Tight Teamwork Between Cameras, VMS
As the project commenced the integrator and security director began outlining the amount, types and placement of cameras. They won’t disclose the budget or the amount of cameras installed, but the coverage areas include places such as stair-wells, corridors, outdoor areas, parking garage and “the bowl,” or the main seating and performance area.
“We spent a good two days walking the building and looking at everything, jotting down where I thought the holes were where we needed more things, more cameras,” says Labonte. “We talked about the infrastructure, and my goal is to have our entire security system operate in and of itself, separate from the building with the building being redundancy. So we decided we do need to build a network system for the cameras, that that was the biggest piece to begin with.”
Being a multiuse venue in which the events themselves produce a wide array of lighting conditions in the bowl – consider the brighter reflection off the hockey rink; the dimmer basketball court setup and spotlight effects during player introductions; the constant flashing or smoky effects that may accompany a rock concert stage – surveillance had to account for whatever might hinder live and recorded viewing on a particul
ar night.
Eventually, the planned system specified a mix of Bosch cameras that included: 4K Ultra HD Dinion IP Ultra 8000 MP cameras installed in only the bowl; and FlexiDome IP Starlight 7000 HD and AutoDome IP 7000 HD cameras throughout arena and facility. Existing analog cameras (the plan is to eventually migrate everything to IP) were tied in to the system via VIP X16 XF E video encoders. And Bosch’s Intelligent Video Analysis is embedded in the IP cameras and encoders for communicating alerts. On the backend recording is done using DIVAR IP 7000 and DIVAR IP 6000 devices, with the DIVAR IP 7000 combining an NVR, storage array and client workstation with integrated Bosch VMS software. The project also upgraded monitors and computers for a cleaner setup in the command center, which uses 10 displays as four across the top and six along the bottom.
“The 4K cameras, because of the extremely high resolution, were utilized in the arena area; we deployed lower levels of megapixel-type cameras in other areas, in hallways and entrances, but in the bowl itself required the highest level of resolution because if you’re looking at a certain section of the bowl and then you want to zoom in to a certain couple of individuals that’s where the 4K camera provided the additional enhancement that we needed,” explains Ludeking.
Along with demands for various viewing capabilities depending on the location of new and existing cameras, Labonte discussed analytics with Ludeking as import-ant functionality of the VMS. Some key areas to address included objects left be-hind, objects removed, loitering, egress/ ingress monitoring; unauthorized area tripwire and traffic flow. Of course, it’s not all cut-and-dried, as Labonte points out; for instance, identifying loitering can work in some instances but during intermission periods of games the alarm condition would be triggered nonstop.
“So there’s times when we wanted that stuff and times when we didn’t. But on the backend of the recording, the ability to go back and say ‘tell me when some-body traveled this way through the field of view versus that way’ or ‘tell me every time a yellow car went down the parking garage versus a green car,’ those were huge for us,” he says. Plus, the ongoing relationship with Ludeking could yield even greater efficiencies and functionalities in the future (see sidebar).
Installation Trickiness Overcome for Triumphs
Camera installation both in the bowl and elsewhere didn’t come without some challenges. However, for Ludeking and ISSI it did come with some extra teammates. ISSI turned over the physical wiring and cabling work to local integrator Allegiance Security Integration (ASI) of Woodbridge, Va., and Project Manager Brandon Welling, in coordination with ISSI Operations Director Bill Giehler; while on the supplier side Mike Bard from Bosch and Steve Pennington from manufacturer’s rep Chesapeake Marketing Associates lent their expertise onsite as well. Plus, as Ludeking points out, “the fact that you have an educated user, I mean Ed Labonte knows what he’s doing, it worked out great.
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About the Author
Arlen Schweiger
Arlen Schweiger is editor-in-chief of SSI's sister publication, CE Pro. He was SSI's managing editor from August 2018 to June 2023.
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