Looking to take a more proactive approach to security at two of their California maintenance yards, passenger rail carrier Amtrak recently implemented a new video surveillance system which tied in an IP video management system, thermal imaging cameras, video analytics, and a command-and-control solution.

Cisco, which will host an SIW Webinar on Feb. 5, 2009, provided Amtrak with an IT system that merges physical security solutions with an advanced IT video management platform, allowing Amtrak security personnel to monitor and respond to events in real time as opposed to combing through hours of video footage to retrieve data about an incident that has already occurred.

According to Kevin Dailey, vice president of Consiliant, the Irvine, Calif.-based integrator that was awarded the project, the client needed an IT platform that was highly reliable as well as easy to maintain. Dailey’s firm chose the Cisco’s Video Surveillance Manager.

"The Cisco system is built from the ground up with an IP approach," Dailey said. "It is not an analog system that has been adapted to accommodate IP; it has been IP from day one and we were moving to integrate that with IP cameras and IP wireless networking devices, video analytics, as well as access control systems that would be communicating over an IP network."

In addition to the Cisco system, Consiliant also utilized Proximex’s Command and Control platform, IQinVision IQeye 2-megapixel cameras integrated with Agent VI’s video analytics technology, SightLogix surveillance cameras, and FLIR thermal imaging cameras to create a comprehensive monitoring solution for the facilities. One of the challenges the integrator faced was long, exposed areas at the facilities’ borders. That led Dailey’s team to the use of the SightLogix and FLIR cameras, which provided them with 1,500 feet of coverage along long-range perimeter areas.

In the event of a power failure or another type of emergency incident, the command and video systems for the Amtrak facilities provide backup coverage to each other to ensure operational effectiveness. The integrated system, which is monitored at both locations from central operation centers, also has the ability to transmit alerts and video footage to PDA devices, allowing security staff to keep tabs on the maintenance facilities remotely.