INDUSTRY WATCH
wWhat are the major benefits of
transit organizations using a unified
security platform?
Increased operational efficiency, increased
collaboration and decision support based on
data. Let me break down each one.
1. Increased operational efficiency
Historically many agencies built their security
and operational systems in separate silos that
rarely interface. Unifying these systems into
one platform reduces overall costs of operator
training while enabling the automation of
some repetitive tasks.
A great example of this is video surveillance
camera maintenance.
Imagine an agency owning three video
surveillance systems: one for all security across
stations, another to track the arrivals and
departures of transit vehicles, and the last
one to provide onboard video monitoring
for all vehicles. In order to maintain them
and ensure they are active and functioning
well, the agency either needs three sets of
operators or highly trained operators that
know all three systems. These operators need
to validate that the cameras are recording
manually; something which is both time
consuming and costly.
Now instead, imagine an agency that owns
one video surveillance system that ingests
video streams for all cameras. This is one
system for operators to be trained on, one
system to maintain and one system to
consult when video needs to be reviewed.
Additionally, camera health validation can
be automated via video analytic solutions
applied to one system – something either
TO BUILD YOUR
TECHNOLOGY STACK ON A
SILOED ARCHITECTURE IS TO
STUNT YOUR GROWTH AND
OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS.
not possible or extremely costly to do over
three separate systems.
This increased efficiency goes beyond
one system. An open platform can add
the data collected by other systems such
as fire detection, intrusion control, access
control, etc. Because all the data exists in
one platform, event-to-action rules can be
created and incidents can be detected via
correlation. For example, the activation of a
fire alarm can trigger the 10 nearest cameras
to appear on the screen of operators, while
at the same time automatically causing all
exit doors to open to ensure an easy flow for
passenger evacuation.
2. Increased collaboration
Security and operational silos also get in
the way of efficient knowledge transfer by
technological means. Modern technology is
designed to be interconnected, and in this
increasingly technological world, emerging
innovations rely on interconnectivity more
and more. To build your technology stack on
a siloed architecture is to stunt your growth
and overall effectiveness.
In this context, a unified platform (like
Security Center) enables transit agencies to
build systems that encourage collaboration
and knowledge sharing. One video
surveillance system can be shared by
security, maintenance and operational
teams. Each team is limited in their toolset
to the departmental requirements to avoid
overreach, but relevant knowledge gained
by one team is easily accessible to all. The
same can be said for access control, intrusion
detection, onboard systems, intercom
systems and more. Not to mention that this
means one platform for IT to manage.
3. Data-backed decision support
Does train station X need more security
barriers on its platforms? Do we need to
dispatch field personnel to a location? Why
is bus line Y always late? Do we need more
busses between points A and B?
These are all questions that require data to
make an informed decision. It’s likely that
most agencies have the majority of this
information in their systems, but no method
to take advantage of it as most security and
operational systems exist in silos. A unified
platform ingests this data, normalises it and
allows users to report on it in a simple and
concise manner that facilitates analysis.
Moreover, having your data centralized
and normalised in a unified platform allows
for the use of advanced analytics and
correlation engines to filter real-time events
logged by the system, in order to highlight
events of importance.
What is the benefit to these
organizations of being able to (a)
Track all events in their vehicles
(b) Record and retrieve actionable
information efficiently?
Tracking all events in a vehicle gives the
detailed history needed to investigate
incidents and improve operations. Incidents
can be as mundane as a customer
complaint about bus tardiness or as serious
as a vehicle accident.
Having all the events tracked and
synchronized with onboard video recordings
means investigators will get a complete
picture of the actions that lead to the
incident – recordings of the incident,
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