Friday, July 13, 2012

Improve Your Surveillance and Security with a Multiple Monitor Video Wall

Throughout the years security personnel have discovered that keeping people safe, loss prevention, and overall wellness of a business can be maintained through careful planning, study and watching closely at how potential trouble makes behave.  It really is special set of skills to learn what people do just before a crime is committed, but the bigger struggle is figuring out how to find these people so that you can identify these behaviors.  In this modern day in age, however, we have learned to adapt and part of that adaptation is the use of power video wall technology that allows us to watch and see what people are doing more closely.  I’ve picked out some of the best video walls in security
offices around the globe to help give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
AT&T is home to the world’s largest security video wall.  It’s officially 12 feet high and 250 feet long and monitors the overwhelming majority of the world’s phone calls.  It looks like the set of War Games, but it actually does keep us all safe, which is what makes this room so special.
If you ever saw the movie Hackers then you probably remember the computer security room in the movie, home of the Gibson Super Computer.  Well this is what a cyber security and hacker specialist actually looks like.  It might not be as impressive as the scene from Hackers, but it’s still pretty darn cool.  This network admin and security specialist uses as many as 11 screens to look for anomalies and ward off any potential threats.
Another security room that most people probably never even think about is the guys watching over your electricity.  This is the security room for The California Independent System Operator Corporation, which is responsible for the flow of electricity across California’s power grid.  In other words, they keep the power supply pumping.  Can you imagine the chaos if they weren’t around to look out for our state’s power supply.  Their job is of the upmost importance and using multiple screens is a key part of that job.  In teams of 2 they monitor various sections with a multiple monitor setup, and also have a video wall to monitor big picture power issues.
This is what a typical CCTV operator room might look like.  These are the “eyes in the sky” that help prevent theft, monitor crowds and help keep us safe.  They use over 30 monitors on the video wall alone and additional monitors to zoom in and look for particular behaviors that might indicate a problem.  It takes special training to know what to look for, but more importantly it wouldn’t be possible without the help of the multiple monitor video wall that they use.
camera feeds from various government buildings all feed to, including the airport and the port of Palm Beach.  In addition, properties such a few malls are also monitored (with the owner’s permission.)  Interestingly enough, while it monitors dozens of properties, nothing actually gets recorded; they just use the room for monitoring.In Palm Beach County local and federal officials are working together to keep everyone safe through the use of what they refer to as “The Situation Room.”  This is where
If you’ve ever wondered where all those traffic cameras are feeding, they probably go to a room that looks a bit like this.  Usually a small team keeps an eye on the video wall to look for anything odd that may require further investigation.  These video walls aren’t exactly cheap, but they do serve a good purpose, ensuring the safety of everyone around.
As you can see from all of the above-mentioned examples, the security of our business, our nation and lives depend on the multiple monitor video wall technology.  And the cool thing is that the technology is only getting better, leading to even more security.  As this technology continues to improve, we’ll probably see even more services that utilize this type of multiple monitor technology to help keep businesses and lives safe from the dangers of the world we live in today.