King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) is Saudi Arabia's third largest airport and occupies an area of 105 square kilometers. Because of its proximity to the cities of Mecca and Medina, the airport is the gateway to Saudi Arabia for a large number of visitors from around the world. In 2010 alone, KAIA serviced more than 17 million passengers. Over the past several years, the airport has undergone a series of renovations to enhance passenger service and ensure their safety. Most recently, KAIA deployed the Avigilon HD Surveillance System in its 13 parking lots and all duty free shops and restaurants to more effectively secure travelers and protect airport assets.
King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) is Saudi Arabia's third largest airport and occupies an area of 105 square kilometers. Because of its proximity to the cities of Mecca and Medina, the airport is the gateway to Saudi Arabia for a large number of visitors from around the world. In 2010 alone, KAIA serviced more than 17 million passengers. Over the past several years, the airport has undergone a series of renovations to enhance passenger service and ensure their safety. Most recently, KAIA deployed the Avigilon HD Surveillance System in its 13 parking lots and all duty free shops and restaurants to more effectively secure travelers and protect airport assets.
Tasked with selecting a new surveillance system for the airport's parking lots, terminals' lobbies and duty free shops, Al Musbah, a local provider of security solutions, had one goal in mind. “We wanted a high-performance, reliable, and easy-to-use solution to capture irrefutable evidence for quick and successful investigations,” said Adel Safadi, manager of CCTV & Video Analytics Systems at Al Musbah. The ability to take quick action when an incident occurs—whether it's an accident or theft—is a critical factor in reducing disturbances and maintaining high customer service levels.
A total of 274 Avigilon HD cameras ranging from 1 MP to 16 MP provide complete coverage of the airport's parking lots, terminal lobbies, and duty free shops. Eleven Avigilon HD 16 MP cameras, three Avigilon HD 11 MP, 29 Avigilon HD 5 MP, 43 Avigilon HD 2 MP, and 31 Avigilon HD 1 MP cameras monitor the 2,000 vehicles that enter and exit the parking lots daily. In the airport's lobbies and all market shops area, 24 Avigilon HD 5 MP cameras, 44 Avigilon HD 2 MP cameras, and 87 Avigilon HD 1 MP cameras deliver complete coverage. All Avigilon HD cameras are streamed and monitored around the clock in the airport's state-of-the-art control room. Security personnel manage the Avigilon HD Surveillance System using Avigilon Control Center Enterprise Network Video Management Software (NVMS) with High Definition Stream Management, which was built from the ground up to manage HD surveillance video.
High quality, low bandwidth
While very impressed with Avigilon's image quality, the airport was initially concerned that bandwidth requirements would be too high. Al Musbah wanted to ensure that the system installed could efficiently manage the transmission and display of high definition video, so the benefit of the additional detail would not be lost.
By leveraging Avigilon Control Center's High Definition Stream Management (HDSM) technology and grouping the cameras to form a sub-network that connects to the high bandwidth fibre network, Safadi was able to easily overcome any concerns. Using HDSM, the Avigilon HD Surveillance System only sends the requested pixels, so the workstation does not become overwhelmed with processing unnecessary data. “Thanks to Avigilon Control Center and High Definition Stream Management, security officers are able to navigate through the 274 cameras easily on very little bandwidth,” said Safadi. “The use of JPEG2000 compression gave us the ability to view multiple cameras on very little processing power at the viewing station, while still maintaining unbeatable image quality.”