Lakeridge Health, a Canadian-based healthcare group, is using IndigoVision’s end-to-end IP video solution to migrate its standalone DVR analog video equipment to an integrated multisite surveillance system. By reusing much of the analog equipment Lakeridge has managed to keep a great deal of its original investment, demonstrating the value in adopting a migration path using distributed IP Video technology.
Lakeridge Health, a Canadian-based healthcare group, is using IndigoVision's end-to-end IP video solution to migrate its standalone DVR analog video equipment to an integrated multisite surveillance system. By reusing much of the analog equipment Lakeridge has managed to keep a great deal of its original investment, demonstrating the value in adopting a migration path using distributed IP Video technology.
Lakeridge Health is one of the largest integrated hospital networks in Ontario, formed in the late 90's when four hospital campuses were brought together into one unified group. They realized that IP video technology was the only way forward to build an integrated surveillance system across their campuses. The IT department was fully supportive of this move and in preparation built an optimized virtual network in 2004. The network can support more than 1000 cameras without interference with other network functions and has fully redundant power supplies, switches, routers and firewalls. All along AC Technical Systems, IndigoVision's partner and a provider of IP solutions, worked with Lakeridge to develop their security monitoring facilities and in 2007 the first of the cameras were migrated to the IP video system.
“The choice of IP video vendor was very important,” said James Ramsey, Manager for Security, Emergency Preparedness and Worksafe at Lakeridge Health, “Our IT team put time and energy into creating a network infrastructure, so we would expect nothing less than the best in an IP video system. No manufacturer understands that better than IndigoVision.”
Since 2007, 250 fixed and PTZ cameras have been added to the IP video system across the four sites, including 144 cameras from the original system in the main Oshawa hospital complex. Further 46 cameras will be added over the next few months. Two of the other hospital sites are using the existing DVR analog equipment, but they will also be migrating across to the IP video system in the future.
“The ability to place video workstations in different departments has been of great benefit to us,” Ramsey said. “The parking services department located at Oshawa Hospital used to rely on an intercom to communicate with the other sites, now they can monitor and manage all of the group's parking lots and unmanned gates from a single workstation. It's also much easier to track missing equipment and locate wandering patients.”
Video is continuously recorded from all cameras on IndigoVision's standalone NVRs for up to 45 days. Evidential quality video clips can be exported for police use in the event of an incident.
Future plans for the IP video system include integration with the on-site Lenel access control system and deploying IndigoVision's video wall software in the central monitoring facility. Using IndigoVision's integration module, the access control system can be integrated across the IP network, with an alarm in one system triggering events in the other. This leads to more efficient security management and quicker incident response. IndigoVision's video wall software is based on control center and allows control room video walls to be built to any size, at a fraction of the cost of other display products.
“AC Technical Systems is pleased to be the partner of choice to deliver Lakeridge Health's integrated security and surveillance solution. This system was designed to meet the challenging requirements of this environment both now, and for the future. We look forward to working with IndigoVision and our technology partners in driving insight and adoption of IP solutions that provide our enterprise customers with more choices and value with respect to video surveillance technology,” said Guy DiGiorgio, Senior Account Manager at AC Technical Systems.