Baton Rouge Executives Keep Watch on City with Help of RGB Spectrum Switchers
Responsible for a population of 230,000 within a metro area of 800,000, Baton Rouge's municipal executives deal with a wide range of potential or actual crises, from floods and tornadoes to civil disturbances.
To enhance situational awareness, an Executive Over Watch Conference Room was added in City Hall. Separate from the region's primary Emergency Operations Center, the executive center provides views tailored to the needs of the mayor, city council and key staff personnel. Originally equipped with a single projector, this recent upgrade includes multiple displays with selectable sources, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of the facility.
An RGB Spectrum Linx® 800 DVI Matrix Switcher routes video from various sources to three high-definition flat-panel displays, allowing staff to monitor developments and manage the emergency responses.
"Image quality is great and it's been problem-free since install," Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Eddie Watkins said. "It allows us to do what we need to do: switch easily through the necessary video feeds."
Recommended and installed by Metairie-based area integrator Summit Integration Systems (formerly Creative Presentations), the system allows users to view available sources at the press of a button on a touch-screen controller. Sources include a video teleconference codec, a city map in grid style, news feeds from local, national and global broadcasters, a status board, and a geographic information system. With the Linx's ability to pass HDCP-compliant signals, any news feed via satellite or cable can be routed to one of the Sharp 1080p displays and viewed in high definition.
The system complements another emergency control room in East Baton Rouge driven by RGB Spectrum's MediaWall® 4500, which presents video and graphics sources on a 3x4 array of plasma panels. This facility is run by the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor's Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness (MOHSEP), the coordinating agency for emergency and disaster activities for the region, pulling together governmental, law enforcement, medical, utility and other agencies. MOHSEP develops programs and emergency operation capabilities.
Fortunately, the system so far has only been used for an actual situation only once -- the recent flooding of the Mississippi River. But whether used for practice drills or the real thing, all have been pleased with its dependability, performance and ease of use.
For more info: http://brgov.com creativepresentations.com.
RGB Spectrum is a leading designer and manufacturer of mission-critical, real-time audio-visual solutions for a civilian, government, and military client base. The company offers integrated hardware, software, and control systems to satisfy the most demanding requirements. Since 1987, RGB Spectrum has been dedicated to helping its customers achieve Better Decisions. Faster.™
