By Angela Nolan, COO, Vistacom

From natural disasters to concerts, an extended control room is key to responding to critical events

One thing that all emergencies require is a quick response. However, this isn’t always possible or easy when there are multiple decision-makers involved and when dedicated meeting space isn’t available to discuss potential courses of action. While a Security Operations Center (SOC) serves as a centralized place for incoming alerts and incidents to be identified, assessed and responded to in a cohesive manner, there is also a need at times to extend the reach of a SOC past the four walls of a command center.

In some situations, such as in higher education or healthcare environment, emergency responses can be the result of large-scale incidents. In turn, there are multiple decision-makers involved that may require a dedicated space to meet and discuss an ideal course of action. Having an adjacent room, or even a room across campus, available that is dedicated to this type of emergency resolution could be pivotal to thoroughly addressing a large-scale incident. These spaces may have names such as Emergency Operations Centers, Incident Command Centers, Crisis Management Rooms, or War Rooms. In particular, there are a few environments where this approach is ideal.

Natural Disasters

In the event of a natural disaster, it is imperative to have space available to key decision-makers that is safe and secure, while also having the capability of receiving real-time information to respond to new issues as they arise. A secondary location can accomplish just this, providing information from a variety of sources to help with real-time decision making.

An advanced system can allow for the connection of multiple communications systems and the viewing of multiple pieces of content, such as the cable TV showing weather, news and traffic, camera feeds, threat analysis data, and more to provide the highest levels of situational awareness. In addition, if conditions are too dangerous, key decision-makers can use unified communications tools to conference into these rooms remotely to gain the same level of oversight as if they were on-site.

Having eyes and ears on campus during a natural disaster, in addition to keeping decision-makers informed and safe, are the first steps to ensuring a prompt and adequate response.

Protests/Political Events

Protests are a constitutional right, but there is still a need to keep protesters and onlookers safe during times of political unrest. It is also the mission of the security operations team to protect the physical assets of an organization if such demonstrations turn ugly. In one example, a university had a white supremacist rally occur just outside the university’s walls.

The local police department set up portable camera units to capture the protests and monitor the situation, as well as established a remote command post. The university also installed cameras in two trees facing across the street from the university where the protests were supposed to happen in an effort to gain more situational awareness.

The camera feeds were broadcast inside the EOC and in the remote command post, where officials monitored the situation in real-time. If things got out of hand or violent, they could respond in a timely manner and having the flexibility to share this information was invaluable to all stakeholders. 

Special Events and Concerts

Special events, such as concerts or school reunions, bring together large groups of people in a way that makes monitoring difficult. It can make it challenging to know what is going on and where, especially in situations that have multiple entertainment venues within a single space, such as a music festival.

With expanded EOC capabilities, establishments can better manage crowds and make decisions to send personnel to certain places based on need. This ensures resources are properly allocated, and that a response can be made the moment an incident arises. 

In a variety of applications, having a secondary room that is available to display critical information and bring in relevant parties can strengthen response as well as bring various stakeholders together to determine next steps and plans for addressing critical events.

Even though this secondary room may only be activated a small percentage of the time, leveraging a standard classroom or conference room may not be the best option as the technology in these spaces may not provide the level of flexibility and mission criticality needed when they are activated for emergency response. 

These extended control room examples are even easier to deploy thanks to the advances in network-based technologies such as AVoIP and Unified Communications.  These technologies allow organizations to stream content across great distances with little delay, extend situational awareness to mobile devices in the field, and allow real-time, two-way communication between first responders and the command center.

These functionalities all contribute to the overall effectiveness in responding to events in an appropriate and timely manner. Investing in the right technology to expand traditional SOCs is the first step to preparing for critical events, regardless of the application.