Providing a way for people to talk to security makes an integrated system in an airport parking lot that much more effective.

The system at Newark Liberty Inter-national Airport has all the best bells and whistles.

Converging voice, video and data on its wireless network boosts Secure Parking Systems' surveillance capabilities for improved safety and efficiency.

And while security video is an essential part of the integration plan, it is the emergency voice capability that most closely ties users of the parking lot into the security operation and the help the security officers can provide quickly.

Answering the call for increased airport employee parking lot security measures and enhanced operation support, Vanguard Managed Solutions (VanguardMS) of Mansfield, Mass., and OMNI Security Services Inc., a systems integrator from Newark, have implemented an advanced wireless surveillance solution in select Newark Liberty International Airport parking lots and along bus routes operated by Secure Parking Systems (SPS) and Tri-State Transportation.

This surveillance system upgrade will allow employees from a major airline and the federal security agency who use SPS parking lots and bus stops to have higher levels of security and problem resolution.

VanguardMS, with customized managed network services and networking products, aligned with OMNI to deliver the surveillance system. Leveraging interoperability capabilities of VanguardMS's RemoteVU Guardian and 6435 multi-service IP access routers, OMNI Security Services used certain aspects of the SPS pre-existing security video system as well as combined voice, video and data on one network, driving down implementation costs wherever possible.

Currently deployed at four employee parking lots and employee bus stops, the video surveillance system includes 24 cameras and 12 call boxes in one lot wirelessly connected to a single converged voice, video and data IP network. With centralized at-all-times surveillance and a more accurate view of its parking lots and bus stops, SPS' security officers can effectively respond to all emergency and non-emergency situations in a timelier manner. In addition, airline and agency employees who need immediate assistance have access to various emergency call boxes that are directly connected to the central monitoring site via the same converged IP network on which video surveillance runs.

By handling more than 10,000 travelers and employees each day, the system also provides SPS with wireless parking lot gate access for 54 Newark Liberty International buses. The bus stops are monitored to ensure the safety of passengers; bus drivers can now automatically open and close over 10 parking lot gates at once from over two miles away. Prior to the upgrade, there were over 200 bus incident reports that had to be addressed on a weekly basis. Since the deployment, incidents dropped to near zero. They can now be handled in a day's time via a single morning incident report.

"We originally decided to upgrade our surveillance system to improve the safety of the airline and security agency employees using our parking lots and transportation service," says Edward Danberry, SPS president. "Once the system was deployed, we immediately experienced an improvement in day-to-day business operations as well as a rapid return on our investment. In fact, the savings that this system has already produced has allowed the system to pay for itself." The design shows the power of integrsting audio with other security solutions.