Milestone XProtect™ Enterprise Video Management Software (VMS) provides centralized management for the city of Dublin, Ohio. City management and IT staff built the installation on the unified Milestone platform with its open architecture running on an IT infrastructure. The ease of use for employees has reduced operational costs for the city and the wireless network flexibility helps them manage security for changing events.

The earlier analog surveillance in Dublin did not provide clear video evidence, so the city installed a wireless IP video system with the help of Milestone partner, Northwestern Ohio Security Systems. Milestone XProtect Enterprise is running on two HP Proliant Servers with 14TB HP storage arrays, Cisco network infrastructure, and about 60 network video cameras from Axis and IQeye megapixel cameras from IQinVision.

Jay Somerville, Technical Services Bureau director at the Dublin, Ohio Division of Police, said: “We are known in Dublin for innovative thinking and leveraging technology to improve the city. The network mapping and wireless approach allow us to use the cameras remotely from the central station.”

Dublin, Ohio is the host to many large events that create an influx of people. The city has a population of almost 40,000 and on any given day it can balloon to well over 70,000. The city is home to many large corporate headquarters such as Wendy’s, and events such as the Irish Festival and The Memorial Golf Tournament, an annual PGA event that features the tour’s top field of players and is a huge draw for the city.

Dublin’s previous solution to crowd and parking lot monitoring was dedicated police officers on patrolling on motorbikes all day. With the new wireless surveillance, they have found sending a URL to the police force with the live feed of an incident to be much more efficient.

Somerville explained that it was less expensive to install an open IP video system as opposed to “forklift” upgrading the pre-existing analog system.

“With Milestone we knew that we could build on what we had and we would not have to rip out the entire solution that was already in place,” added Somerville. “Nobody likes proprietary solutions; Milestone is great because it is an open platform that is beyond easy to use.”

The Police and other city officials all have access to the Milestone client interface: 61 police and 17 dispatch personnel are using it currently. Sharing information is a much more streamlined process.

Dublin started with the network cameras at the Dublin Recreation Center and the Dublin Police Department, converting the rest of the city buildings over the course of the next two years, with further plans to add video-integrated access control. Somerville said the school district is considering implementing the same solution.