DVTel, Inc., multiple award-winning market supplier in the development and delivery of intelligent security solutions over IP networks, announced that Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is utilizing the DVTel intelligent Security Operations Center (iSOC) to provide comprehensive security for their growing hospital complex and to support efforts to constantly improve and streamline patient care. ...
DVTel, Inc., multiple award-winning market supplier in the development and delivery of intelligent security solutions over IP networks, announced that Children's Hospital of Wisconsin is utilizing the DVTel intelligent Security Operations Center (iSOC) to provide comprehensive security for their growing hospital complex and to support efforts to constantly improve and streamline patient care. Innovative Systems, Inc. has been working with the hospital to design, install, and upgrade the system over a six-year project timeframe.
In early 2002, Mike Thiel, Director of Security Services for Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee, had a vision of a flexible, future-proof video surveillance platform that could accommodate the hospital's highly ambitious growth plans, incorporate existing infrastructure and hardware, deliver superior security, and more. Thiel explained, "The Security Department is really undergoing an evolution of being an agent of change in supporting an organization growing at a breakneck speed. We want to be the trusted source of safety and emergency management within the health system, so our department needs to be out front of where the growth is going, we need to have a seat at the design table, and we need to be seen as more than just security."
The hospital complex sees 8,000-10,000 visitors a day. The rapidly growing IP video surveillance system comprises over 250 cameras installed in five existing buildings and parking structures in the complex. An additional 80 cameras are being installed in the new construction of a 12-story tower scheduled to open in Spring 2009. Cameras record on motion at 15 fps. Newer cameras will record at a higher 2 CIF resolution. All camera data as well as other security information is managed from the new Security Operations Center equipped with multiple workstations featuring 42-inch LCD screens. In addition to the cameras employed for security surveillance, Children's Hospital is on the cutting edge of using the DVTel platform for a highly innovative purpose.
Current camera coverage is in the standard areas—perimeters, entrances, parking facilities—but with the new construction Thiel wants surveillance deeper into his facilities to monitor all pharmacy areas and to provide a more comprehensive surveillance picture of the hospital's large campus. The future for Thiel and his team will continue to be exciting and challenging. A recent theft in the hospital taught him that "we want better and better image quality, and the good news is we have the platform for it. Success for us has to do with the interface. We have to have the capability for a large number of people to get meaningful information from what is essentially a data collection system. Three years after initial deployment, we're still learning how to get more out of the system. We learn new things every day and that's the fun part."