The Role of Audio Visual Technology in Control Rooms

Tell us about the importance of professional audio visual technology in control rooms…
Awareness of how audio visual (AV) solutions can help consolidate control room operations, improve
team collaboration and increase situational awareness for operators, is emerging, but is still a critical
shortage in the industry.

Most control rooms are built around a number of specific applications, typically from a single
systems vendor for a particular type of operation, which serve as the core application(s) across the
overall operation. Often, other complimentary data sources need to be monitored and controlled
alongside these core applications such as CCTV cameras, web pages, TV feeds, and other external
third party systems. These bring a variety of technical, commercial, and legal hurdles to overcome to
enable integration in the control room.

A consolidated, centralized AV solution makes it easy for control room operators to view and
interact with a variety of data sources and IT systems, from multiple vendors, and provides a
consolidated platform that’s easy to manage, maintain, and which can evolve over time.

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How are control rooms meeting the challenges of proliferating volumes and sources of data?
Consolidation of control room operations is happening both functionally and geographically. Where
separate, smaller control rooms are being brought together into a single, centralized control room
for improved communication and collaboration.

Due to this, challenges arise around how to migrate, organise, and control all of the data sources
required for each function. There are still huge challenges around how critical information is made

available to operators in and out of the control room. As the data volume increases, solutions like
Aetria are needed to help operators make sense of it. With Aetria, sources can be distributed to
where they are needed throughout the control room environment. This allows operators access to
the right information at the right time so they can take appropriate action.

An example of this consolidation is in airports, where the amalgamation of emergency services,
baggage handling, immigration, flight control, and other operations are being combined into a
central Airport Operations Centre. Similar activities are happening in the power utilities sector, for
electrical generation & distribution, oil and gas production facilities, and rail traffic management.

 

With the rise of data – how can pro-AV assist?
Pro-AV solutions are playing an increasing role in enabling the visibility of ever-increasing data
sources that require monitoring and action. Whilst the integration of applications enables better
data visibility, the growth in requirements would be impossible to manage without the increased use
of large-scale distribution and visualisation systems, such as our Aetria solution.

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About Datapath
Datapath technology is used around the world, in over 100 countries, and in some of the biggest,
most prestigious and critical, control room environments. For over 40 years, it has delivered a
comprehensive range of solutions designed to meet the needs of any video capture, processing,
distribution, or multi-display requirement.

With its latest Aetria solution, Datapath offers a scalable connectivity solution engineered for
mission-critical control rooms. For more information, visit www.datapath.co.uk.