On A Higher Plane

Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM

Miami International Airport uses digital video

           

With an estimated 29 million domestic and international passengers passing through its terminals each year and nearly 2 tons of cargo handled annually, Florida's Miami International Airport (MIA) faces unique security challenges. In 1998, the findings of a government program called Operation “Ramp Rat” showed that MIA had security vulnerabilities across the facility. These security gaps could have allowed for potential smuggling of illegal substances or weapons. As a result, the local government allocated $50 million to MIA for a four- to five-year project designed to upgrade and strengthen security across the entire airport facility.

“We knew we wanted a complete surveillance/security system that integrated the video with audio-intercom and security access control,” says Ray Davalos, MIA's acting Building Maintenance Systems support manager. “This would provide us with the most sound security system possible in terms of stopping crime and ensuring safety.”

To meet its specific requirements, the airport needed a system that would provide the security operator with access control system alarm information and live video and audio - all simultaneously at the click of the workstation mouse. For recording purposes, MIA also needed a system that featured a 1:1 ratio of video and audio recording ports. At the time of the project's inception, the technology was not highly available on the market.

“We looked at many systems. Everyone had multiplex audio to video set up with one video channel corresponding with four or eight different audio ports,” Davalos explains. “This would not meet our needs. We developed performance specifications to force system vendors to develop the technology we needed. NICE Systems, the bid winner, was the only systems vendor who developed the technology to meet the specifications.”

NICE Systems, Rutherford, N.J., provided its NICE Harmony, NICE Pro and NICE Alto digital video solutions. The systems have the capability to support thousands of cameras, hundreds of simultaneous users, a large distributed environment and complex integration with virtually any access control system.

MIA's security system installation consists of a highly distributed video surveillance system that monitors round-the-clock and feeds the captured video into the NICE recording system for simultaneous playback and viewing in any of the airport's monitoring locations distributed throughout the facility. The NICE system collects the feeds and transfers the video onto a dedicated network for all authorized personnel to access.

“The integrated NICE system has given us a much higher level of security across the airport,” Davalos says. Many processes are now automated for the security operators, with just one click giving them access to live video, audio and the control alarm as well as view capability for pre-and-post recording footage. “Now, we are in the process of leveraging the system to offer security services to some of the airlines. This is helping us realize a break-even costing model,” Davalos adds.

MIA has since benefited from a higher level of security and eased the duties of airport law enforcement and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials in addition to other airport personnel.

“We have a lot of personnel accessing the video system today,” Davalos says. “Law enforcement personnel are using it; airport personnel are using it; and so is the TSA and some of the airlines. One of the biggest advantages of the system is that it is helping us mitigate a significant number of breaching situations without having to close the airport and create public alarm. If a person slips through a checkpoint without going through the detectors, we can pull up the video right away and see who it was. This has proven very helpful to us in protecting all passengers and airport visitors.”

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