IP video protects city of Dublin Ohio

Milestone XProtect Enterprise Video Management Software (VMS) provides centralized management for the city of Dublin, Ohio. City management and IT staff built the installation on the unified Milestone platform with its open architecture running on an IT infrastructure. The ease of use for employees has reduced operation costs for the city and the wireless network flexibility helps them manage security for changing events.

Through well-managed growth, Dublin has preserved its historic past with many of its original buildings listed in the National Register of Historical Places, as it grew into a thriving business and residential city. The Dublin Division of Police is committed to working with residents and businesses to improve the quality of life in Dublin: numerous community-based programs and services are available, designed to ensure added safety and protection to citizens in the city.

The earlier analog surveillance in Dublin did not provide clear video evidence, so they installed a wireless IP video system with the help of Milestone Partner Northwestern Ohio Security Systems. Milestone XProtect Enterprise is running on two HP Proliant Servers with 14TB HP storage arrays, Cisco network infrastructure, and about 60 network video cameras from Axis and IQeye megapixel cameras from IQinVision.
Jay Somerville, Technical Services Bureau Director at the Dublin Ohio Division of Police, says: "We are known in Dublin for innovative thinking and leveraging technology to improve the city. Milestone and Northwestern are a perfect match for the entire solution, and the Axis cameras have been great, as well. The network mapping and wireless approach allow us to use the cameras remotely from the central station."

Remote crowd monitoring at events
Dublin, Ohio is the host to many large events that create an influx of people. The city has a population of almost 40,000 and on any given day it can balloon to well over 70,000. The city is home to many large corporate headquarters such as Wendy's, and large events such as the Irish Festival. The Memorial Golf Tournament is an annual PGA event that features the tour's top field of players and is a huge draw for the city.

Dublin's previous solution to crowd and parking lot monitoring was dedicated police officers on motorbikes all day. With the new wireless surveillance they found the solution of sending a URL to the police force with the live feed of an incident to be much more efficient.

Cost efficient move from analog to IP
Somerville explains that it was less expensive to install an open IP video system as opposed to ‘forklift' upgrading the pre-existing analog system. "It's amazing: I saved a significant amount of money because the system ties in everything on one common platform." He went on to say that management from the Justice Center, the Police Department and other public facilities all concluded that the open platform format was the most cost effective and future proof solution. "With Milestone we knew that we could build on what we had and we would not have to rip out the entire solution that was already in place," Adds Somerville. "Nobody likes proprietary solutions; Milestone is great because it is an open platform that is beyond easy to use. All my employees are able to use it and it has made training on my end much easier, helping with the efficiency of the city," says Somerville.

The Police and other city officials all have access to the Milestone client interface: 61 police and 17 dispatch personnel are using it currently. Sharing information is a much more streamlined process. "Milestone is so flexible...the fact that all my employees use Milestone and can mix and match cameras is great. The operational cost is less because the training is reduced. Milestone cannot make the system any easier...we just hyperlinked the html version to the live feed, and they love the windows GUI," reports Somerville.

Technical Manager John Kostelac of Northwestern Ohio Security Systems, who helped implement the solution, explained that the remote access has been a key feature for the city. "It can only be described as seamless, in fact, users at the remote locations do not even realize that the servers are in a central location." Dublin started with the network cameras at the Dublin Recreation Center and the Dublin Police Department, converting the rest of the city buildings over the course of the next two years, with further plans to add video-integrated access control. Somerville explains that the installation with Milestone and Axis has been such a success that the school district is also looking at implementing the same solution.