What’s new from 21st Century?
29 October 2008
TRANSPORT FOR LONDON TRIALS LIVE CCTV
Transport for London is trialling an innovative new CCTV communications system from 21st Century that allows them to view live images from buses across the capital. LIVEview is linked to the radio system which instantly connects every London bus driver to the TfL bus control room and streams live images directly into CentreComm where they can be viewed on demand. The aim is to improve safety and security for passengers and drivers and to improve the available information in the event of an incident for those who need to prioritise the response.
All TfL buses in the trial are fitted with special digital CCTV systems with a built in internet server and LIVEview is designed to work alongside the system which records digital footage from up to 16 on-board cameras located inside and outside the vehicle. LIVEview allows the images to be streamed in real-time using MPEG4 or MJPEG, rather than waiting for footage of an incident to be downloaded once the vehicle returns to the depot.
If a driver alerts CentreComm to a problem that has just occurred, the digitally recorded images can be re-wound to show the incident develop, while the system continues to record. CentreComm staff will immediately be able to see what has occurred and what level of response is required.
Andy Thompson, Head of Performance development at TfL said: "Every London bus has a comprehensive, recordable CCTV system fitted. As technology advances, we are keen to explore how this invaluable bus CCTV system can be further improved to bring even more benefits to passengers."
INCIDENT FINDER REDUCES TIME NEEDED TO RETRIEVE CCTV IMAGES
Finding a specific incident in hours of CCTV footage is always time consuming and therefore costly. An enhancement to 21st Century's award-winning ProGuard system means that incidents can be found within a fraction of the time at a fraction of the cost. By searching through timed ‘snapshots' of footage, an operator can quickly narrow down the search and identify a specific timeframe which can then be downloaded for a more detailed examination.
For example, if an incident of vandalism is being investigated, the operator can right click over any image, choose incident finder and is then presented with a ‘film strip' capturing a screenshot from every day recorded onto the ProGuard. The operator will see when the vandalism occurred and by clicking on the relevant image, the timeframe will be narrowed down to one hour screenshots and then ten minutes and so on to thirty seconds. The relevant footage can then be quickly isolated and downloaded into an evidence pack.
Using a live wireless connection, the interrogation can be conducted without having to visit the vehicle, remove the hard-drive or download hours of footage for manual playback.
LOWERING COSTS AND RAISING PROFITS THROUGH EXCLUSIVE BUS FUEL SAVER
The first fuel saving system designed specifically for buses, in active use across the UK by over 600 drivers, indicates that bus operators could save up to 20% on their fuel bills. As diesel costs continuing to rise, ECOManager couldn't have come at a better time as it reduces fuel consumption, and carbon emissions - lowering a fleet's carbon footprint by over 5,000kg per bus every year.
ECOManager includes a real time driver's LED display which changes from green to amber to red according to their driving, providing instant efficiency feedback. The ‘Black Box' records details from each journey and provides fully automated management reports by driver, bus or route. The system integrates the vehicle's CAN system and therefore uses actual data rather than estimates based on GPS parameters and other algorithmic assumptions.
Operators have found that the savings extend beyond just fuel, by altering driver behaviour, ECOManager also reduce accidents and makes for a more comfortable passenger experience. Maintenance costs are also reduced through reduced wear and tear.
NEW BROWSER BASED SOFTWARE FOR MANAGING MULTIPLE VEHICLES
New for 2008 is the latest Automatic Video Download Manager. This brand new software is now browser based allowing full control from the internet, anywhere in the world. Using the fully comprehensive software, any video footage can be requested from any vehicle in the system and when the vehicles are within range of the Wi-Fi network the required video automatically downloads directly to the server where it can be easily viewed.
For the first time, downloads can be programmed to occur for individual and multiple vehicles on a scheduled or one-time only basis. The scheduling software is designed to remove the need to enter a requested download more than once. Any download request can be recorded and programmed to occur on one or more occasions and for multiple vehicles. This revolutionary enhancement is expected to have dramatic implications for those operators who use the tool to assist with scheduled maintenance and for incident response scenarios where a large amount of footage is required from multiple vehicles at the same time.
