Northwest Fire District Expands Security Coverage with Arcules
Robert Dutcher
IT Manager, Northwest Fire District
Northwest Fire District (NWFD) has served residents and businesses in the northwest Tucson, AZ metro area for more than 30 years. Since the District answered its first call, it has provided increasingly higher levels of protection and life safety services to a rapidly growing population. NWFD operates 11 strategically located fire stations situated across 151 square miles.
Kelley Bros.
kelleybros.com
We’re a small team, and we wear a lot of different hats, so we needed a solution that could provide consistency as well as ease of use.
NWFD had recently built a brand-new facility to consolidate all of its departments under one roof, from HR to finance and everything in between. To keep constant watch on people coming in and out of the facility, NWFD needed a modern security camera solution.
With a large service area and a lean staff, NWFD had its hands full keeping residents of northwest Tucson safe. While a robust video and security camera infrastructure would certainly improve the capabilities of NWFD and its organization, nobody has time to manage the equipment or to keep tabs on cameras.
For Robert Dutcher, IT Manager for NWFD, the key to an effective camera strategy is efficiency. His small team of 4-5 IT personnel was tasked with maintaining all the infrastructure for NWFD, and they were already stretched thin. Adding camera maintenance to their list would have been too much to ask for.
“With our new building coming online, and having rooms dedicated with RFID and door sensors to control access, we need to be able to record that as well so we can have a visual on what’s happening or what could happen in that room,” says Dutcher. “We’re a small team, and we wear a lot of different hats, so we needed a solution that could provide consistency as well as ease of use.”
Dutcher and his team began researching solutions that could give NWFD the camera coverage they needed without increasing administrative overhead. The solution had to be able to share footage easily and quickly with law enforcement without having to deal with saving large files to flash drives or some other portable storage medium. NWFD also wanted to leverage advanced detection capabilities so that they bcould provide as much detail as possible to law enforcement in the event of an incident.
“Arcules is way ahead of the game in its ability to share footage quickly with law enforcement,” says Dutcher. “With Arcules’ AI capabilities, you can quickly identify people or cars in a shot, which is extremely valuable when trying to track down perpetrators.”
NWFD partnered with Kelley Bros in Tucson to implement the new solution from Arcules. Kelley Bros worked with NWFD to install the solution quickly and efficiently, while ensuring that each feature and capability they requested was available and functioning as intended.
“Since we were installing this system in a brand-new building, we needed a partner that could help us get everything up and running from the ground up,” says Dutcher. “From implementing network connectivity to bringing devices and switches online, Kelley Bros made everything simple and straightforward.”
Because Arcules enables NWFD to use whatever cameras or equipment they want without lock-in, worries about compatibility (or lack thereof) are a thing of the past.
“What impressed me about the system was that we can use whichever camera manufacturers we want,” says Dutcher. “Not being locked into any one manufacturer gives me flexibility to add or change our equipment down the line as needed. It’s nice to have options.”
Arcules enables NWFD to use whichever cameras or equipment they want, giving them the freedom and flexibility to build a customized solution that fits their needs without breaking the bank.
With real-time access to support agents and technical personnel 24/7/365, NWFD never has to worry about being left on their own in the event of an outage or an equipment failure.
Intuitive user interface enables non-IT personnel such as public safety personnel and security guards to easily monitor cameras and download footage as needed.
NWFD is taking advantage of the cloud-based capabilities of the Arcules solution to manage and administer their system from anywhere, any time.
With Arcules’ open and flexible architecture, NWFD can be confident that they always have the right camera or equipment for the job. Arcules’ cloud-based architecture gives NWFD the flexibility to use whichever cameras and switches they want while connecting their footage into the cloud for ease of access and retrieval. And if NWFD ever needs service or support, Arcules is just a phone call or chat away.
“The support has been top-notch,” says Dutcher. “I’ve worked with several security infrastructure partners over the years, and I don’t think any company has come close to the level of support that we get with Arcules. The real-time chat with a live person is excellent, and their quick response time is amazing.”
Arcules’ cloud-based solution gives NWFD the freedom to increase access to the camera infrastructure far beyond what they could do with a disparate, on-prem system. Now NWFD can give anyone access to whichever feeds they want, from any devices, with no additional overhead.
“That’s the power of a cloud-based solution,” says Dutcher. “Being able to expand the system to provide improved alerts and access is really helpful for our district.”
What impressed me about the system was that we can use whichever camera manufacturers we want. Not being locked into any one manufacturer gives me flexibility to add or change our equipment down the line as needed. It’s nice to have options.
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