Major health partners selects Vicon’s Valerus VMS Solution

The Challenge

The MHP Hospital complex includes the main hospital and a surrounding campus with oncology center, orthopedic center and administrative/data center. MHP required security technology investments that could grow with the hospital and provide centralized management across all properties.

Jeff Williams, MHP’s VP of Facility Operations, was the man responsible for approving the selection, and deployment, of the hospital’s security solutions and knew the importance of choosing the right end-to-end video management and camera system. “We (the hospital) had a prior situation where we had several, disparate systems installed and, quite frankly, the customer service suffered. When we needed help, we would have the different manufacturers pointing fingers at each other and nobody willing to take responsibility. This time around, we felt it was imperative to standardize on one solution and deal with one company.”

The Solution

For help, Jeff turned to Open Control Systems (OCS), an Indianapolis-based facility technology integrator. OCS was tasked to find a solution that could meet current challenges and deliver what the hospital needed. Its recommendation was for a Vicon solution, combining Valerus VMS software, NVRs (recording servers) with high storage capacity, and close to 200 indoor and outdoor IP cameras.

IP video technology provides hospitals with added flexibility in their video surveillance installations, while offering benefits such as remote video monitoring and more effective storage capabilities. The Valerus solution is browser-based, so there was no need to install client software on any computers. Instead, MHP has the flexibility to use web-enabled devices of their choice, including desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. From an operational standpoint, this provides freedom to monitor the system remotely and eliminates any future concerns about purchasing dedicated hardware to provide monitoring support.

As the one responsible for commissioning the system, Tim Davis, OCS’s Lead Installer on the project, was appreciative of the single site-wide licensing key. In addition, Vicon’s 30-day grace period allowed Tim’s team to make sure everything was in place, all cameras were doing their jobs and all NVRs were recording as desired, before focusing on the business of licensing.

​Long Term Prognosis

With the Valerus system now fully operational, Jeff Williams at MHP is pleased both with his decision to hire OCS for this project, and with OCS’s recommendation to install a Vicon Valerus solution. “We could not have done this without Open Control Systems. They were able to keep pace with an everchanging construction schedule and deliver exactly what we needed,” he says. As for Valerus, “The quality of the cameras, indoor and outdoor, is outstanding and we are able to retrieve evidence at a much more rapid pace through the Valerus interface. In addition, the centralized management, remote access and customizable user interface helps our team use the system to its maximum potential and function more efficiently.”

The Valerus network will be expanded to two additional buildings by the end of 2017. Based upon the initial installation experience, both OCS and MHP feel confident that as the project’s size and complexity continues to grow, Vicon’s Valerus solution will still offer a simple, scalable and costeffective approach that is up to the task.