Vicon Integrated System Watches over Columbian Courthouse

Vicon Industries, a designer and producer for integrated IP video surveillance and access control systems, and SimplexGrinnell, a supplier for fire and life-safety systems, have begun the installation of a comprehensive, IP-based security system for the new Franklin County Courthouse, currently under construction in Columbus, Ohio. Scheduled to open in early 2011, this innovative structure will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified courthouse in the state of Ohio, and the only county courthouse in the U.S. expected to receive gold-level certification.


The building's glass fa?ade, one of the key components of its energy-efficient design, creates challenging indoor lighting conditions that require the use of more than 70 WDR cameras. The cameras, impact-resistant Vicon domes, are designed to accommodate viewing of areas with extreme lighting contrasts, such as backlit people and objects located within the courthouse's sun-drenched corridors with reflective marble floors. In total, the courthouse makes use of more than 170 network cameras, all of which are viewed, controlled and recorded by an NVR-based video management system. Recorded video is securely stored within a RAID-5 level device. The system is fully integrated with a building-wide access control system and WonderWare detention software for use within the building's holding cell areas.


The security system is monitored from two control centers within the new courthouse, one monitoring general building security, and the other monitoring the detention area and holding cells. A parallel set of control centers exists in the old courthouse building and the county jail. All four control centers make use of Vicon controllers that allow for viewing and control of up to 32 video streams simultaneously, displayed across multiple monitors. Integration with software automatically links video to corresponding access control or detention-related events, facilitating the immediate viewing of events as they occur, and providing for easy future recall.


Installation of the entire security system is undertaken by SimplexGrinnell, coordinating with Franklin County Public Facilities Management. SimplexGrinnell is an authorized dealer of Vicon security solutions.