Alvarion’s video surveillance solution facilitates better public safety and security

Alvarion's video surveillance network improved overall public safety and security throughout Binghamton

The background

The City of Binghamton, located in the southern tier of New York in the US, is the county seat of Broome County and the principal city and cultural center of the Greater Binghamton region. Situated at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers, Binghamton is approximately 11 square miles in area and boasts a population of 47,380. The Binghamton Police Department (PD) is constantly seeking ways to reduce crime in order to enhance public safety and security for its citizens.

About Integrated Systems

Integrated Systems is a New York State contractor offering consulting and implementation services that incorporate an array of Wide Area Network technologies. The company has deployed wireless broadband networks throughout New York and its designs provide blueprints for the voice, video and data needs of counties and local governments throughout the state.

The challenge

As part of their plan to improve public safety, Binghamton PD increased police presence on both foot and mobile patrols. After the city received a government grant of almost half a million dollars, they decided to deploy a video surveillance network in neighborhoods and business areas and sought a high-performance, cost-effective, easy-to-deploy and scalable video surveillance network.

This network was to be deployed in an environment which includes an urban setting with a dense mature tree canopy and had to support both the licensed 4.9 GHz and license-exempt 5.4 GHz frequency bands.

The solution

Integrated systems, who were selected to implement the network, created a Point-to-Multipoint (PTMP) RF model to enable Binghamton PD to better understand their solution. The company then defined bandwidth, throughput and storage requirements and conducted a propagation and microwave path analysis to support topographic overlays and spectrum analysis.

Alvarion's flexible and scalable network can be expanded to enable additional services as the need arises

Integrated Systems selected Alvarion's BreezeACCESS VL product line to build the network because it is carrier-class, reliable, cost-effective and provides a variety of advantages including security, support for a range of frequencies and high-availability for Integrated Systems designed networks already deployed in New York. The PTMP network supports several IP-based video cameras that are deployed in locations around the city where crime rate is high. Images are then transmitted back to a control centre and can also be viewed from any police workstation with privilege. In addition, the network features real time remote monitoring through SNMP and real time support via VPN from Rochester, as well as centralised recording and archiving.

The result

The impact of this video surveillance network has been significant and Binghamton PD has reported a substantial decrease in criminal activity. Within six months both crime rate and the number of car thefts dropped significantly in comparison to the previous year. Furthermore, Alvarion's flexible and scalable network can be expanded to enable additional services as the need arises and as city budgeting allows.