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| Attika tollway has 355 traffic monitoring and toll security cameras, including 261 PTZ and 94 fixed cameras |
IndigoVision’s integrated IP Video surveillance system is helping to keep traffic flowing smoothly on the Attika Tollway around Athens, with hundreds of cameras helping operators identify and respond to problems on the road.
The 65km Attika Tollway forms a ring road around metropolitan Athens, and is the backbone of the Attika Prefecture road network. It is unique within Europe in that it forms a closed toll motorway within a metropolitan capital, and can face acute traffic congestion.
IndigoVision partner ILKA worked with the Attiki Odos project management team, for the implementation of the project “Replacement of old analog CCTV system of Attiki Odos with new generation digital system”.
The Operator of Attika Tollway “Attikes Diadromes” has the obligation to the Greek government to respond to any incident within five minutes. The CCTV system is one of the most critical systems used in the Traffic Management Center for detecting incidents and so it is imperative that it works properly and uninterrupted.
Before the IndigoVision solution was put in place, operators were managing with a mixture of several non-unified systems. Due to the age of the old system image quality was becoming poor. The system was not expandable and it had reached its limit in the number of operators working at the same time. Finally the recording system was not unified for all types of cameras and in some cases reviewing recordings was slow.
The new system, based on SMS4, IndigoVision’s suite of management software, forms one unified system open to an unlimited number of users. There are 355 traffic monitoring and toll security cameras along the tollway, including 261 PTZ cameras and 94 fixed, with provision for further cameras to be added.
Attiki Odos Project Manager Sotiris Nikolakakos stated: “The changeover to the IndigoVision system was managed without stopping the monitoring operation, and the whole upgrade ran smoothly. |
Project Team managed the migration to the new system with zero downtime. Operators can now watch multiple viewing panes per monitor, while the Traffic Management Center includes a large newly installed video wall running IndigoVision Video Wall software and showing multi-camera views of the motorway. There are 68 instances of IndigoVision’s Control Center video management software across the network, in the Traffic Management Center, in toll plazas and at other sites. Alerts from emergency phones are quickly fed into the system, automatically turning PTZ cameras to preset positions, and displaying alarms on the video wall.
Attiki Odos Project Manager Sotiris Nikolakakos stated: “The changeover to the IndigoVision system was managed without stopping the monitoring operation, and the whole upgrade ran smoothly. Operators view video of excellent quality and the full tollway is monitored consistently.”
The smoothness of IndigoVision’s video rendering was key to winning the business. A filter built into SMS4allowed the team to display smooth video on analog monitors and PC monitors via IndigoVision’s Control Center. No other supplier tendering for the project was able to show such smooth video in initial tests. IndigoVision’s PTZ control also showed less latency than any other system.
Extended-temperature IndigoVision video transmitters are used to cope with extremes of temperature. Athens can reach over 40 degrees in summer and -5 degrees in winter. IndigoVision Network Video Recorders (NVRs) are used throughout the network, with standalone units at smaller toll plazas and Windows-based recorders provide extra capacity at larger plazas. IndigoVision was able to reduce costs for the Attiki Odos project due to the competitive price of its IP Video Wall software, and the licence-free provision of Control Center.
