The City of Edmonton increases security to safeguard transit passengers
The Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) provides service for more than 80 million trips per year. They recently upgraded to the Security Center Omnicast™ video management system to better protect passengers. ETS selected a solution that allows them to centrally manage current and future video surveillance needs.
The company
Located in central Alberta, Edmonton is the fifth largest city in Canada and home to more than a million people. To keep its citizens moving, the Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) offers multiple modes of transportation, including a fleet of buses, paratransit, and a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system that travels between 18 stations.
ETS is a progressive, user-centric service provider committed to promoting safety and ensuring good value for taxpayer dollars. One of their pillars of success is deploying technology to address both current and future needs. Their upgraded video management system (VMS) allows them to expand as new requirements arise.
The challenge
The analog video surveillance system that ETS initially deployed had a number of limitations. One major problem was that security personnel could only pull video feeds locally at a given station. This meant that viewing footage from multiple points required performing the time-consuming tasks of burning, sending, and collecting DVDs.
Another limitation with the analog system was that it was proprietary in nature. This meant that integrating new technology was difficult. As a result, ETS was unable to replace aging and failing hardware or expand the system beyond its existing capabilities to address emerging security needs.
The solution
Centralized video management
With Omnicast, security personnel in the ETS control room are able to pull up any camera they want at any time and record everything centrally.
Open to new technologies
The flexibility and stability of the Omnicast VMS allows ETS to address their current video requirements, while also staying open to integrating new technologies as future security needs arise.
Manage equipment remotely
With the new IP-based VMS solution, ETS personnel can log on to the system and check the status of integrated hardware without having to go out and inspect the equipment in person.
Sustainable growth
The open architecture of the Security Center platform allows ETS to manage costs and the growth of their video surveillance system by adding new technologies as funds become available.
“Working with Genetec enables us to grow beyond our current capabilities. The fact that Security Center is an open, flexible platform, that can work with many different security products, is one of its best features.”
Alan Baird, Senior Communications Engineer, Technical Services, ETS
Results
ETS decided to upgrade their security system by selecting Omnicast, the video management solution from Genetec. The result is a centralized video surveillance system with approximately 1,100 cameras, including several generations of analog cameras and cutting-edge AXIS devices. This new solution allows security personnel in the ETS control room to effectively manage every aspect of the city’s public transit system.
Now, ETS is able to expand their security system to meet future challenges. As part of the Security Center open platform, Omnicast makes it easy to add new technology. Recently, ETS had a problem with aging and failing monitors used to display video feeds in the control room and public areas. The solution involved connecting new EIZO monitors directly into the Security Center platform through a plug-in that ETS developed with the manufacturer and Genetec.