Background – Investing in Improved Emergency Response
Covering the county of Suffolk in East Anglia, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) responds to a variety of emergencies across the community. Having previously shared a fire control room with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire and Rescue Service, SFRS sought to strengthen its emergency response capabilities and made the decision to invest in its own purpose-built control rooms. The primary fire control room would be established in Ipswich, with a secondary site in Felixstowe designated for disaster recovery to ensure operational resilience in the event of disruption to the main facility.
The Requirement – A Modern & Scalable Fire Control Room Solution
Suffolk Fire and Rescue wanted a modern and scalable fire control room solution that could provide improved situational awareness and enhance decision-making during critical incidents. The aim was to build a control environment that was both resilient and future-proof, one that could adapt to changing needs and accommodate emerging technologies.
To meet these goals, the system needed to support multiple data feeds, from live video and network traffic to weather and geolocation data, all presented in a highly visual and configurable format that allows operators to easily customise the information they engage with. Crucially, the solution also had to enable remote management of systems and support continuity of operations in the event of disruption to the main site.
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Emergency services command and control rooms are mission-critical environments where the ability to interpret and act on real-time information is essential. Our partnership with Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service reflects our commitment to supporting the vital work of blue light organisations. Using our expertise in control room technology, we have designed a system that ensures efficient resource deployment and strengthens SFRS’s mission to serve the local community. |
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Steve Franklin,
Executive Director, Cinos. |
The Solution – A High-Performance Fire Control Room Installation
Working in partnership with Cinos, a high-performance fire control room solution powered by VuWall’s TRx platform was delivered. At the heart of the new system is a dynamic video wall setup, comprised of Samsung displays arranged in a 3×4 layout at the Ipswich site and a dual-screen setup at Felixstowe.
Displaying a wide array of content, the Samsung video wall provides operators with any combination of information, such as CCTV footage and web-based dashboards, to real-time weather data and geolocation tracking. With VuWall’s TRx platform in place, operators can seamlessly shift between preset layouts or adapt their screens to cover unfolding events, using VuWall’s web-based interface.
To support this level of functionality, an application server runs multiple virtual machines, each dedicated to specific operational tasks. This setup allows the control room to monitor call handling, network traffic, and local news updates, all from a single interface. The system was also designed with future enhancements in mind, including the option to incorporate keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) technology for secure remote PC management and the ability to scale video wall size and functionality as requirements change.
The Felixstowe site mirrors the capabilities of Ipswich on a smaller scale, serving as a dedicated disaster recovery location. In addition to ensuring continuity during outages, the Felixstowe control room can also be used for smaller-scale events or to monitor local incidents, offering flexibility without compromising the availability of the main control room.
The Benefits of Upgraded Fire Control Room Techology
Enhanced situational awareness
– real-time data from sources such as CCTV, geolocation systems, and weather feeds are displayed on large-format video walls, helping operators visualise information.
Operational resilience
– the Felixstowe site provides full disaster recovery capability, ensuring service continuity if the main Ipswich control room experiences disruption. It mirrors the functionality of the primary site, allowing SFRS to maintain operations during emergencies without compromise.
Future scalability
– the modular design of the system allows for easy expansion. Additional video wall screens, system inputs, and features like KVM functionality can be added as needs evolve and budgets allow.
Strengthened user experience
– operators have access to customisable layouts and easy control over connected systems using VuWall’s web-based interface at their workstations.
VuWall TRx Platform
Centralised Video Wall Management Software
At the core of Suffolk Fire and Rescue’s new control room solution is VuWall’s TRx platform – a powerful software solution for managing video walls, sources, and user workstations across complex AV-over-IP environments. Designed for mission-critical applications, TRx provides operators with a seamless way to visualise, control, and share real-time information from multiple sources.
The TRx platform enables easy management of the Ipswich and Felixstowe control rooms, allowing users to switch between preset layouts or adapt displays dynamically through an intuitive web-based interface. Its centralised architecture simplifies control of large-format video walls, streamlines the handling of live feeds and dashboards, and ensures operators can respond quickly to developing events.
