Iconic Sydney Council with modular, scalable next generation IDIS VMS

With 154,000 people, Randwick is a growing council area and is home to the University of New South Wales, Prince of Wales Hospital and the Royal Randwick Racecourse. The area has seen investment in the new CBD and South East Light Rail to improve connectivity to the rest of Sydney.

Randwick City Council undertakes a strategic approach to sustainable economic development working towards a prosperous and unique local economy.

Randwick City Council is the home to some of the most stunning coastal beaches

in Sydney, including the iconic Clovelly, Coogee and Maroubra beaches, which are linked by the Eastern Beaches Coastal Walkway which is one of Australia’s most popular attractions, with unique coastal views and whale watching opportunities.

Challenges

With a large fleet of network video recorders and more than 300 cameras from multiple CCTV brands deployed across 26 locations, Randwick City Council was seeking a single unified platform that would scale out to a larger CCTV footprint including public domain CCTV systems with complex governance arrangements. CCTV is also being used as an operational tool by Council’s lifeguards for aquatic safety.

Any new system needed to include:

• A single unified platform with single management interface
• Support for multiple camera and NVR manufacturers
• Governance controls including audit of all CCTV operations
• Integration with Active Directory single sign on and security segmentation to restrict camera use to specific users
• Intuitive and efficient interface with minimal training requirements
• Cost efficient and reliable software platform with low cost expansion options

Solution

Council chose to step up from the existing legacy RASPlus PACOM platform to the IDIS Solution Suite VMS solution.  The upgrade path provided continuity for the user experience as it has a very similar user interface, but met Council’s technical requirements for an enterprise-wide VMS platform.

The IDIS Solution Suite provides Council with a single pane of glass view into the CCTV infrastructure, role based security segmentation to ensure compliance with Council’s CCTV governance framework and the ability to configure, monitor and enhance the CCTV solution over time.

The solution was very affordable and ongoing expansion costs are low.

The platform provides open access to a wide variety of camera and NVR systems.

Results and benefits

IDIS and PACOM recorders installed at different locations in the council area, with IDIS, PACOM, EVOnet, Axis and Panasonic cameras. ISS VMS installed with centralized management of access privileges, and device management, incl. device firmware upgrades, remote device configuration, and configuration of all the other IDIS Solution Suite service modules. IDIS Monitoring service allowed to route a specific set of events to a specific (group of) user(s) based on the event types, schedule, and user groups.

IDIS DirectIP NVR’s installed are fully optimized for stable and high performance, ensuring live viewing and recording simultaneously. Utilizing H.265 & Intelligent codec, IDIS saves up to 65% storage space compared with H.264. IDIS patent-protected iBankDB file system, DirectIP NVRs provided secure and efficient robust data recording, searching, and video management.

Anthony Collis, Manager Information Management & Technology Services at Randwick City Council, said, “Council uses CCTV throughout its operations both in council facilities and in the public domain. Our investment in CCTV needs to be cost effective both at the initial capital investment phase and ongoing operations. The IDIS solution provides an enterprise grade solution at a cost effective price point, as well as being open to other providers rather than being a closed, proprietary system. Randwick Council’s investment in CCTV along with our partnership with the NSW Police Force ensures that all those who live, work and play in our City have confidence that their safety is our priority. “