In the wake of recent global events, emergency response has become a focal point for businesses and municipalities alike. The trend toward creating more sophisticated and connected operations centers continues at a pace. In the Philadelphia area, this trend is driving organizations to invest in advanced audiovisual solutions to benefit control rooms of all sizes and scale.
Philadelphia area control room integrator Haverford Systems and Datapath have provided a powerful, flexible solution to an Emergency Operations Center in Southeastern PA designed to organize feeds and variables for optimal decision-making.
Video walls play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between data and decision-making in emergency operations. With many 4K and HD video sources to view and manage, reliable control room technology is paramount to smooth operations in often mission-critical environments, as R.T. Chalfant, Integration Sales Account Manager at Haverford Systems, explains: “Staying ahead in emergency response is not just a priority; it’s a necessity. Utilizing Datapath’s proven expertise in this sector, we can offer customers control room technology that is scalable for operations of any size.”
Datapath powers the center’s 4K video walls and give operators the capability to display multiple inputs, in different layouts, on a choice of videowalls. Using Datapath’s WallControl 10 software, Haverford Systems created a system that allows operators to design their own bespoke content layouts, and switch among them seamlessly when circumstances and events dictate.
The Emergency Operations Center in the Philadelphia area features three 2×2 4K video walls, with eight operator terminals managing 20 4K and HD sources. To manage the vast volumes of video data with near-zero latency, Haverford Systems utilized Datapath’s VSN1172 video wall controller–an 11-slot unit powered by a Core i7 processor and 2 x 240GB SSDs.
Performing pixel duties inside the VSN, the unit is equipped with 5 x ImageDP4+ graphics cards, 5 x VisionSC-HD4 four-channel capture cards, plus a multichannel ActiveSQX IP decoder.
To complement the hardware and software, Datapath also provided onsite commissioning service to support Haverford Systems and the end user. Full training of the software was provided, and the Haverford and Datapath teams were available for any initial system concerns, a critical component in a control room environment during the first few days of operation.
