- Electrosonic furnished the Emergency Operations Center with two videowalls installed on the north side and two on the south side of the bullpen.OKLAHOMA CITY, OK-Electrosonic Systems has provided new AV equipment for the renovation of the State of Oklahoma's Emergency Operations Center in Oklahoma City, OK, which boosts the facility's ability to handle crisis situations ranging from severe weather to homeland security issues. "The installation enables the Center to make better use of AV support to manage emergencies affecting the state," said Electrosonic project manager Chris Hart.
- The facility, on the State Capital campus, was a former 1950s-era bomb shelter. "We were underground in a box and couldn't go up, down, or sideways," said Duane Mass, president of Oklahoma City's Mass Architects, the architects of record, which began the assessment process for the space in 2003. "It took many hours of head scratching to figure out how something built for early 1950s technology could be fitted with the technology infrastructure the early 21st century requires. We were fortunate that Albert Ashwood, director of the Office of Emergency Management, was ready to explore some outside-the-box thinking. He encouraged everyone to think beyond what the physical space gave us to how we could serve the greater good and enhance capabilities."
- Mass Architects brought Electrosonic and general contractor Anderson & House of Oklahoma City on board the project, which is designed to improve resource coordination and information sharing among state and local agencies. "The Center must be ready to muster resources," Mass said, for wildfires, tornadoes, ice storms, public health, and homeland security emergencies.
- Rich Krajcir was Electrosonic's salesperson for the project. The company furnished the Center with four 2x2 videowalls comprised of Planar Margay cubes with video input cards and Big Picture modules. The company installed two videowalls on the north side and two on the south side of the football-shaped facility surrounding a bullpen-style main area featuring 22 workstations.
- Electrosonic also provided four 40-inch Planar LCDs, one 57-inch Samsung LCD, and one 32-inch and 26-inch Sharp LCD for auxiliary rooms, including the governor's secure conference room. An audio playback system, consisting of JBL speakers and QSC amplifiers, supplies audio support for the videowalls in the main room.
- The videowalls will be used to display data from computer sources such as weather patterns, forecasts, and webcasts of breaking news as well as monitor local and national news broadcasts relating to emergency situations. The LCD screens will display broadcast feeds at their locations.
- All of the equipment is controlled from two computers via a web interface, which interacts with an AMX system. "Control of what's seen and heard in the main room and the auxiliary rooms is given to authorized personnel who employ the user-friendly web interface," Hart noted. "It couldn't be easier."
- Hart gives kudos to the "staff at Anderson & House and the employees of the Center who were really easy to work with. I wish all jobs went as smoothly as this one."
All Systems Go
