Technology Makes Space for Mounties

Mar 1, 2004 12:00 PM

Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) recently celebrated a major expansion and upgrade of its Operations Control Center (OCC) in Ottawa. Responsible for the security of Canada's National Capital Region serving a population of about 1.2 million, the OCC's functions include everything from telephone dispatch services to electronic monitoring from more than 150 internationally protected venues.

OCC operators had become used to working in cramped quarters at three large control stations. A major overhaul was needed.

The RCMP added a dispatch system, telephone system, video surveillance and GPS monitoring of all government vehicles. But the new technology presented a different problem: How to design the facility to integrate the technology into a space that would meet operational requirements without sacrificing the comfort and safety of operators.

Operator consoles from Winsted Corp. provided enough flexibility to meet the unique requirements of the OCC project. The consoles enabled the command center to solve its space problems — whether aesthetic or ergonomic.

For example, some of the monitors that were added to the OCC used touch-screen technology, creating an ergonomic need for the operators to be closer to the monitors in order to safely and comfortably work at these stations. After determining the safe distance between the operator and the monitor, Winsted designed a smaller work surface that would fit in the necessary amount of space.

Aesthetically, Winsted was able to offer hundreds of material and color choices. The command center eventually settled on a design that used oak and blue — similar to the RCMP's corporate colors.

“The operators are in heaven,” RCMP inspector Pierre Bélanger says.

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© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

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