The city of Round Rock is a community of around 110,000 residents located just north of Austin in central Texas. The 31st largest city in the state has been ranked one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation and one of the best-managed cities in Texas. With Dell Inc. calling Round Rock home, the city’s population includes a large number of residents who possess a higher than average level of technological savvy. With this in mind, Round Rock is consistently seeking ways to implement the latest technology in a number of areas.
One area that truly needed a technological boost was the city’s video surveillance system. Close to a decade old, the analog cameras and components that made up the system were incapable of providing clear, high-quality images, making them of little value for both situational awareness and/or investigation analysis. Adding to the problem, a large portion of the old analog cameras were no longer functional and were out of warranty and the city was paying a monthly service and repair fee to the original installer. The ability to retrieve video was another major restriction with the previous system. If the police department, for example, requested IT staff to pull video from a particular event or time, it was a labor-intensive, time-consuming task. So with an eye towards public safety and in keeping with Round Rock’s commitment to technology, the city determined that an upgrade was long overdue.
In addition to replacing existing analog cameras, officials at Round Rock also decided it would be the opportune time to expand the system’s coverage with additional cameras to increase overall situational awareness. For the initial phase of the new system’s deployment, new IP cameras would be installed at Round Rock’s City Hall and the adjoining building known as the Business Center, as well as the city’s downtown parking garage and the city-operated Clay Madsen Recreation Center. Future sites, including the library, municipal court, planning facility and more, would then be added or upgraded at a later date.
Determining the specific goals for the new system was a high-level group effort, with Assistant City Manager Brooks Bennett and Director of Information Technology Heath Douglas soliciting input from the city’s directors. The system design was a group effort, with Douglas and Bennett working with Kyle Kruse, Regional Security/Audio Visual Specialist of Accu-Tech, a national distributor of voice, data, A/V and security solutions. Additionally, the Round Rock Police Department assisted with surveying the facilities to determine where cameras should be placed.
Following an evaluation of options from a number of manufacturers, the trio decided that based on several factors, Samsung would be the best option for all components of the new system. “Samsung was willing to give us equipment in advance of the installation so we could try out the solution and do a test run,” Douglas said. “The test run only solidified the fact that we had chosen the right system.”
The vendor also made it easy for Douglas and Bennett to move forward with their plan to maintain the system themselves, along with the help of a local step partner. “The ability for us to self-manage the systems was important to us. With the Samsung surveillance solution, we can easily add cameras in the future when we need them. We can do that easily and be as flexible as we need to be without having to worry about other people’s timetables and restrictions. This surveillance solution allows us to be the masters of our own destiny,” said Bennett.
The vendor’s commitment to ensuring the quality of its products was another factor that played a major role in the decision. “The nice thing is that Samsung provides upgrades and warranties for the life of the equipment, which is something the city of Round Rock has not had with any of their previous systems,” Kruse said.
The Samsung cameras deployed across Round Rock include SND-6083 Fixed Dome Cameras; SNF-8010V Network Fisheye Dome Cameras; SNO-6011R and SND-6084R Bullet Cameras; SNV-6013 2 Megapixel Full HD Vandal-Resistant Dome Cameras: and SNZ-6320 2 Megapixel Full HD 32X Network Zoom Cameras.
To monitor and control all of the cameras located throughout the city-wide system, Douglas deployed the Samsung Security Manager (SSM) Video Management Software (VMS) platform and Samsung SmartViewer Central Management Software. All recording is performed using Samsung’s SRN-4000 NVRs. By standardizing the system using all Samsung hardware and software, Round Rock was able to eliminate licensing and other recurring expenses associated with typical system installations. This effectively lowered Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), while increasing the long-term Return on Investment (ROI).
“Because Round Rock used one manufacturer for all of the system components, they eliminated the annual recurring fees you typically see in the IP world. A great example is the Samsung servers they’re using, which include licenses for the Samsung cameras. Not having to pay those license fees every year is a huge benefit,” said Kruse.
Given the large physical size of the city and the widespread distribution of city employees across its geographical area, the SSM VMS mobile app has been an invaluable solution. The SSM VMS mobile app can be accessed on both smartphones and tablets, any time of day or night.
“The ability to remotely monitor the system from a mobile device was a huge benefit for us. With so much of the world using mobile devices to get work done, we wanted to deploy smartphones in the field for our facilities personnel,” Douglas said.
Another major advantage of the new SSM VMS is its ability to retrieve high-resolution recorded video, which is miles ahead of what Round Rock experienced with its old system. “Being able to quickly provide law enforcement officials with recorded video quickly has been great, which we couldn’t do quite easily with our old system,” continued Douglas.
Since the system’s deployment, Round Rock has been impressed with the significant difference in image quality versus its analog system. “We have cameras in areas where badges get swiped at the recreation center, as well as in the public parking garages. In the past, what would have shown up on our screens as a morphed blob or an unknown image, so you couldn’t see anything,” Douglas said. “Now you can very clearly see who swiped a card and what’s going on in the facility.”
The upgraded surveillance solution’s ability to provide Round Rock with vastly improved wide area surveillance and crucial insight into what is occurring at its facilities has perhaps been the greatest benefit of the upgrade. “Knowing what’s going on inside our facilities and what happened it is critical for us. With the recreation center, for example, we need to make sure we’re doing the best we can to protect lives and property within that facility,” said Bennett.
