The shift towards ubiquitous connectivity — whether for voice or video or data — has spurred a host of innovative vendors to enhance their product offerings and introduce new ones designed to enhance mobile capabilities. The enhancement of wireless technologies, however, has also spawned the realization that there are applications other than mobile access for workaholics and sports fanatics that can truly benefit from these technologies.
Indeed, wireless Ethernet has become a widely adopted technology not only for enterprise WLANs, but also for city-wide broadband deployments, including a number of metro regions that have deployed wireless surveillance systems to assist their emergency services facilities.
Among the vendors that have benefited from the proliferation of wireless Ethernet deployments is Firetide, which has developed a wireless mesh networking solution that allows customers to easily and inexpensively deploy reliable wireless networks anywhere. Wireless mesh networks offer both a scalable and a cost effective solution, especially in areas where wired networking would be difficult, or where flexibility and mobility are vital or where speed of deployment is a factor.
The network is a series of nodes — which double as access points — each connecting to the next node or nodes, creating a mesh of interconnected nodes. Not only is this an efficient means of creating a wide reaching network, but it also offers high reliability. If one node goes down, traffic will simply be routed to surrounding nodes, ultimately to the user. With each node transmitting only to its adjacent nodes, and to end users within range, mesh technology also provides greater resiliency than other alternatives. Additional capacity can be added to the network by adding new nodes, making it an easily scalable solution as well — and each additional node also adds to the resiliency of the network.
With Firetide’s HotPort family of mesh nodes, customers can benefit from wireless networking arrangements indoors, outdoors, or some combination of the two — wherever they need to offer access to support broadband voice and video applications. Indeed, one of the growing trends for robust wireless mesh technology use in security deployments— like metro area video surveillance systems to assist police and fire departments. (Those of you picturing the Bat Cave with its surveillance systems capable of showing every inch of Gotham City are on the right track — it seems the Caped Crusader was onto something.)
Among the latest to successfully deploy Firetide’s technology for video surveillance is the Phoenix Police Department, which, with guidance from Anixter Security Systems identified the solution as a prime candidate for creating a robust, secure video surveillance network. The Phoenix PD was looking for technology that would enhance its crime fighting capacity without increasing paid man hours.
The city of Phoenix deployed FireTide’s 4.9 GHz public safety mesh for confidential and time-critical police investigations — the network offers first-rate security features in addition to its reliability and robustness. Also, the 4.9 GHz licensed band prohibits “eavesdroppers” from tapping into the system.
“Wireless mesh technology was the only option for the police department, given the time pressure during the initial deployment,” explained Mark Jules, president, Business Development, Avrio Group. “Since there is no cabling involved, the surveillance systems can be rapidly deployed in multiple areas, and then quickly moved for new investigation. We can also easily scale the network without affecting performance.”
“It took us only 2 weeks from receiving the equipment to a fully operational network,” added Chris Jensen, a detective with the city’s Drug Enforcement Bureau.
Cameras can be remotely monitored and controlled from police headquarters — though with the addition of appropriate technology, officers will also be able to monitor the cameras from their patrol vehicles as well. The Phoenix PD currently has some 30 cameras and 45 mesh nodes operating city wide — it has also installed custom designed camera housings, designed by Avrio Group, to disguise the cameras when in plain view.
“Results have been impressive, especially in the quality of video the Firetide network supports,” said Jensen. “But it is not only about the bandwidth and image quality,” continued Jensen. “We’ve increased coverage and saved on manpower: instead of 30 surveillance officers on the streets, only 2 are needed in a central monitoring station to cover the same geographical area.”
To take advantage of the rising interest in wireless technology, Firetide has signed on with Anixter, a global distributor of integrated voice, video, data, and security solutions. In addition to offering security solutions, Anixter also provides customer support, resulting in a convenient one-stop shop.
“Anixter has a world-class reputation and we are pleased that they’ve agreed to represent us,” said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide. “Anixter’s full line of voice and video products means customers can deploy the Firetide triple play wireless technology using systems that have been tested to work together.”
For the Phoenix PD, surveillance is but the first stage in how it plans to use Firetide’s wireless technology. The next phase is to develop a plan for using of wireless surveillance for crime suppression in high-crime areas and as an officer safety tool, including an evaluation of an RD (Rapid Deployment) Pole Cam portable solution from Avrio Group. Based on Firetide’s technology, the RD Pole Cam combines a high resolution IP camera and wireless mesh node that would enable officers to view video and fill out reports from the laptops in their cars or on handhelds.
“Phoenix Police have proven the use of wireless mesh technology for criminal investigations and have seen its potential to help in other areas of the city’s homeland security and public safety plans,” said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide. “Expanding wireless capabilities to include voice and mobility is the logical next step with Firetide’s technology.” |