Hockey Arena scores with IP video surveillance and centralized control
The Bell Centre is home to the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. When their analog video system began failing, the Bell Centre upgraded to the Omnicast IP video surveillance system of Security Center to achieve centralized control and monitoring and improve arena security.
The company
Built in 1996 in the downtown core of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the Bell Centre is home to the legendary Montreal Canadiens hockey team. The arena is consistently ranked among the busiest in the world, and usually generates the highest attendance of any arena in Canada. On game day, the stadium accommodates over 21,000 visitors while concerts often sell-out a stage-friendly seating capacity of 15,000.
The challenge
With a consistently large volume of patrons visiting the arena for various events, security is a vital component of the successful operations at the Bell Centre. However, after 20 years, the existing analog video surveillance, which had always been reliable, was nearing end-of-life. Failed components were no longer being supported by the vendor, and the arena was ready to transition the system to IP.
The solution
Centralized control of sites
Using SV network security appliances and the Federation™ feature, the Bell Centre was able to extend monitoring capabilities to remote facilities such as the training rink.
Open to system integration
The openness of the Security Center platform has facilitated an integration between the video surveillance and an existing STENTOFON intercom system.
Easy transition to IP
Transitioning to the IP system has been seamless. Guards can easily monitor the interior and exterior grounds using a USB-connected video surveillance control board with a joystick and keypad.
Speedy investigations
Before Omnicast, investigators had to physically locate the right DVR and search through hours of footage. Today, they can retrieve the video within seconds from their office.
“With Genetec, we are able to achieve fully centralized control of our sites. Our group owns numerous locations around Montreal, so the objective is to eventually have all of them connected back to our head-end system.”
Patrick Cyrenne, Electronic Technician, Bell Centre
Results
Security Center is currently managing a significant number of cameras inside and outside the Bell Centre. All analog cameras have been encoded to IP and some new IP cameras were added to the inside and outside of the sports stadium. The Genetec SV-32 and SV-16 network security appliances were implemented at remote sites, and connected back to the central control room using the Federation feature.
According to Patrick Cyrenne, Electronic Technician at the Bell Centre, “The flexibility and scalability of the system has been a huge benefit to our team. We are no longer stuck with the limitations of outdated technology. Instead, Genetec and Marcomm Systems Group Inc. have given us a foundation that we can build on, and a system that ultimately makes our team more effective and our entertainment complex and arena safer.”