Nov 04, 2013

As you may have seen in news reports, the 2013 ING New York City Marathon—the largest and most popular marathon in the world, was completed under a blanket of security that included an extensive network of video surveillance and online monitoring – much of it brought into Central Park for just this event. The wireless backbone of this additional coverage was a Firetide-secured, wireless mesh network. Along with monitoring the flow of runners, officials and spectators at the finish line, the system included real-time integration into the medical response center established on site and for the duration of the event. The entire system was integrated into the larger security footprint established and maintained by the New York City Police Department’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau and the marathon’s management team.

With heightened security concerns and the need to deploy high-definition video surveillance, temporary wireless video networks are fast becoming the standard for securing special events like the New York Marathon.

The short duration of events of this type prohibits any trenching to lay permanent fiber optics, so Firetide’s ability to quickly install a reliable, high-performance private wireless video network without any permanent alterations along the race route makes a secure wireless mesh network the ideal solution for temporary events.

Integration was managed by EIA and the wireless solution was made up of I.P. surveillance cameras provided by Sony; video optimized high-performance servers provided by Iomnis Surveillance Solutions; Milestone Systems video management software —and all of these systems were tied together utilizing a wireless backbone solution contributed by Firetide.

One additional point, the Firetide network was installed quickly and worked amidst television, existing wireless infrastructure, and secure radio communications – and it work flawlessly.

Thanks EIA for integrating a safe and secure solution!