Stavanger uses video security intelligence to create a better place to live and work

The city of Stavanger wanted to gain greater intelligence with their video surveillance system that would integrate seamlessly with other technologies. Over the years, they had invested in around 700 security cameras and over 70 servers to support them. Each server at each location had to be configured separately to detect and record objects. Due to many natural phenomena such as rain, snow, or wind, the technicians were forced to adjust the cameras and reconfigure the servers to account for unforeseen or new events. Additionally, cameras would often continue to record for hours at a time, not simply when an event occurred, making it challenging to locate the time of a particular incident. The small IT team of the municipality found the process time-consuming, tedious, and unsustainable.

Whenever a specific event, person, or item had to be investigated, the town was requested to provide video surveillance footage. The older system was often triggered by such minor events as a rainstorm, leaving hours of footage to comb through during which a more relevant event would occur. The operators would often abandon the search because of the effort needed to locate and capture it for sharing with the appropriate parties.

In replacing their video security system, Stavanger created a list of items defined by needs and wants to find the best supplier. Some of the needed items included fixed pricing for future upgrades and licensing, the ability to run on the Linux operating system, ONVIF auto-configuration, area search for events, smart integrations with third-party cameras, and auto-adjustment on streaming quality for low bandwidth. Some of the wanted items included web or cloud connection, object detection, LDAP and AD integration, and the ability to export multiple encrypted videos for forensic investigations. Many companies could not match up to the proposed list. However, Ava, with its Ava Aware video management system, became the clear winner. The platform stood out by its ability to integrate with other emerging intelligent building technologies that the city of Stavanger was planning to implement.  

With Ava, the municipality of Stavanger got precisely what they were looking for and gained additional insights they were not expecting. Instead of the time-consuming work of installing, configuring, and maintaining the servers at each separate location, the video security appliances were all brought to one central location, being reduced from 70 to a mere five. Each server can connect up to 200 security cameras and no longer requires extensive maintenance.