Custom Control Room Solution for a Large Police Organization

BACKGROUND

Several years ago, a police organization needed a KVM and Video Wall solution for their control rooms. Multiple system integrators received the tender, all recommending Black Box for the system connectivity and video wall processing. The customer chose a DKM direct-connect KVM matrix system and the advanced Radian Flex video wall administration system, building what is today an ongoing customer relationship with Black Box.

Over time, with new requirements, the original setup was expanded with Emerald® KVM-over-IP transmitters and receivers as well as the Boxilla® KVM Manager that is fully compatible with both DKM and Emerald, allowing a central system management with easy to understand comprehensive dashboards. The deployment is constantly expanding, connecting more locations (currently 15 control rooms) and new workflow and administration enhancements. Recently, there was a request for a completely new control room in the police headquarters in line with the need to re-open multiple smaller local police stations connected to the control rooms.

THE CHALLENGE

The existing solution mix of DKM and Emerald units was a huge investment that served all customer requirements well and should continue to work unchanged. The same applies for the Radian Flex Video Wall processing system where Black Box delivered a turnkey solution tailored to the individual requirements of each location. Thus, the new control room deployment needed to fit the current infrastructure, while also adding the new smaller police stations around the country with secure access to the remote systems. The operator consoles must support sharing remote access to multiple distributed systems, multi-monitor setups, video wall connectivity, and also allow easy and error-free switching to pre-defined scenarios of crisis management.

THE SOLUTION

The Black Box team worked closely together with the end user and the system integrator. The first decision was to expand the system management with an additional three Boxilla managers in a redundant configuration, all supporting an unlimited number of endpoints to allow multi-site management and monitoring of the overall KVM system.

The customer added large DKM switches (288 and 576 port versions) as well as Emerald PE units offering high-resolution DisplayPort video, and secure fiber connections with redundancy for the local police stations to ensure connectivity between all source and user consoles (endpoints).

As the system becomes bigger, more diverse, and complex, the natural request for simplifying the user experience came up. Discussing different options, using the Black Box ControlBridge® became the final choice as this product solution allows tailored configurations, clear labels, and a one-click setup change from the touch panel.

THE RESULTS

All sources and user stations at existing and new locations are now connected with redundancy. The IT department can monitor the complete system easily at any time and any location through the Boxilla management. The deployment is flexible and easily scalable. No matter the size, the customer experiences reliable and resilient 24/7 operation.

Enabling the operators to control both the KVM and AV system through the ControlBridge touch panel at their consoles opened them up to completely new ways of collaboration. Pre-programmed setups for differing scenarios like day or night shift or complex system settings in case of a series of disasters can be activated with a single touch on a clearly-labeled button. One touch eliminates the need to open on-screen menus or press a series of hotkeys, reducing errors while fostering instant situational awareness and responses.

ControlBridge is also connected to the computers that host the video wall settings with the playlist for the Radian Flex video wall processing. Operators can easily drag sources in any arrangement to a single display in area of or over the complete video wall and instantly share video wall contents with all police stations across the country - serving more than 400 displays. The local station can take over control of the related system through the combination of AV and KVM.

The customer received a true turnkey and customized solution that combines KVM connectivity, video wall processing, and system control under one management thanks to great, productive, and innovate collaboration between Black Box, the system integrator, and the end user.

The Black Box Account Manager commented, “We have a longstanding relationship with this customer; they trust us and love our products. Especially important to them is our products’ security and the quick response times from us. We constantly share information with this customer, and they in turn take the lead in innovating solutions with us. I am excited that this huge project is becoming even larger, and we can assist the customer in providing all their requirements.”