The city of Indianapolis, Indiana is probably most closely associated with car racing and basketball as the home to the annual Indianapolis 500 and the NBA’s Eastern Conference Champion Indiana Pacers. But as any resident of Indianapolis will tell you, the city is also rich in culture and the arts, as clearly exemplified in the recently opened Indiana State Museum.

With a lineage dating back to the 1800’s, the Indiana State Museum’s groundbreaking ceremony was held on August 30, 1999. The building is constructed from materials native to Indiana and includes a three-level 130,000 square-foot museum plus a four level 100,000 square-foot administration/collections building that houses state of the art conservation labs, artifact storage areas, and office space for staff. The magnificent facility also features a two-story gift shop, two restaurants, and the 40,000 square-foot IMAX Theater.

The facility cost approximately $65 million to construct and was paid for with public funds, while private funds were used to create and endow the exhibits for an additional $40 million. The Indiana State Museum officially opened to the public on May 22, 2002.

As with any public facility across the country, security is a top of mind concern for the facility’s directors especially in an environment usually teaming with children and priceless exhibits.

The need for high security is countered by the desire to maintain an open and friendly environment that nurtures creativity and education. This is the daunting task of James Toler, Security Manager at the Indiana State Museum. Mr. Toler was brought on board at the museum shortly before the facility opened.

At that time, design and installation of a unique, highly sophisticated Panasonic Video Surveillance System was well underway by South Western Communications, Inc. (SWC) – a Panasonic Security Systems
Certified Dealer located in Indianapolis, IN. Under the direction of Mark Scheller, General Manager at
SWC, the system was completed in time for the museum opening.

According to Mr. Toler, “The Panasonic Surveillance System has been great since day one. We have made some camera placement changes from the original design to further enhance our coverage capabilities. With the performance of Panasonic’s WV-CS854A Super Dynamic Dome Camera Systems, we have achieved 100% coverage of the facility’s perimeter. The zoom capabilities work incredibly well and they work in virtually any lighting condition. So well in fact, we can view license plates on vehicles that are more than 100 yards away."

The Panasonic Surveillance System installed in the Indiana State Museum is comprised of over 130 cameras including Panasonic’s WV-CS854A Dome Systems, WV-CW474 Vandal Proof Mini Dome Cameras, and WV-CP474 Fixed
Cameras all of which feature Panasonic’s exclusive
Super Dynamic II technology.

The Panasonic cameras are strategically located around the museum’s perimeter and throughout the interior structure. “We have approximately 80% of the interior covered using a combination of dome and fixed camera systems from Panasonic,"
continued Mr. Toler.

The museum’s eight elevators – 2 freight elevators and 6 passenger elevators are
also monitored with dedicated Panasonic cameras. “The city held a 13.1 mile mini marathon that attracted some 30,000 people and we had the Komen Indianapolis
Race for the Cure here recently with some 37,000 people involved. The runners
passed directly in front of the museum so we assigned one of our cameras to monitor the runners and pedestrians. With the Panasonic dome camera’s coverage capabilities, we had a good view of the entire area.

In the event that an incident occurred, we could have responded quickly,” said Mr. Toler. Panasonic’s
WV-CS854A Dome Camera System is highly regarded as the most advanced dome camera system available.
It incorporates an advanced CCD camera, 22x zoom lens, and rotating chassis that’s all packed in a sleek 4.3” (110mm) diameter housing ideal for almost any location.

Its Super Dynamic II capabilities deliver a dynamic range 64 times greater than conventional cameras to provide excellent images under highly contrasted lighting conditions. In addition, the WV-CS854A Dome Camera Systems offer Day/Night operation capable of providing color images in light as low as 1lux (0.1fc), and black and white images in as little as 0.06lux (0.006fc). Additional features include full 360º horizontal rotation, 190º vertical pan, and 300º/second speed; Privacy Zone Masking and Patrol Learn features; digital motion detection; an “image hold” function to minimize image distortion during fast motion transitions; plus many more high performance features.

"Thanks to the Panasonic system, our staff is able to respond immediately to any incident inside or outside the museum," said Mr. Toler. The cameras mounted on the exterior of the Indiana State Museum have been architecturally designed into the structure to help obscure them from the public's view. "We wanted to make the cameras as unobtrusive as possible," continued Mr. Toler. "Although we maintain a very high security presence which is comforting to visitors, we are also conscious of maintaining a user friendly environment."

All of the cameras in the system are controlled from the security command
center using Panasonic's Matrix System 850 with a satellite control system
located in Mr. Toler's office.

Additional monitoring facilities are located at the facility's loading dock, kitchen dock, the front entrance guard station and the guard station at the interior entrance to the parking garage. "Most of our business comes in through the garage, so we placed a monitoring station there to give our personnel a good view of activity in the area. Initially, the parking garage was not the museum's responsibility, although it is now.

There are over 25 cameras in the garage that we have since tied into the Panasonic Matrix System 850 and have added two additional Panasonic DVRs to record images from this feed," continued Mr. Toler. The Panasonic Matrix System 850 offers the capability to install up to 64 satellite systems with control capabilities affording Mr. Toler the ability to expand the system with additional control and monitoring locations as the need arises.

In addition, when fully configured, Panasonic's Matrix System 850 can accommodate approximately 9000 cameras, 1024 monitors and 128 system controllers making it ideal for systems with anticipated growth.

With large camera systems such as the Indiana State Museum's, the Panasonic Matrix System 850's advanced switching capabilities allow Mr. Toler to program automated "tour" or "group" switching sequences. He also has the ability to program "event" sequences by time/date or alarm activation for automated camera PTZ movement with preset switching, recording and monitoring sequences.

"The Panasonic matrix system is programmed to run dual group and tour sequences automatically so that the guards can scan the monitors and get a
good overview of the entire facility. Each of the overview screens display 16
multiplexed cameras," according to Mr. Toler.

Panasonic's WV-AS50 DVR Viewing Software allows simultaneous viewing of up to 16 cameras from any recorder, or recorded images for each DVR connected to the network. Images can be accessed randomly or automatically through alarm logs and be downloaded from the DVRs onto the PC's hard drive. User name and password protection provide authorized access to the system. A camera operation panel is also incorporated into the program to provide camera control capabilities from any location with custom screens.

The Panasonic surveillance system installed at the Indiana State Museum integrates all of the critical security functions, such as alarm, fire and access systems, allowing the security staff to simultaneously monitor all systems from the centralized security command center.

"We have a comprehensive intrusion and fire alarm system with smoke detectors in the ceilings and glass break detectors that are integrated into the Panasonic Matrix System 850 and control software," continued Mr. Toler. "If an alarm is sounded, the signal automatically activates the Panasonic system to bring up cameras located in the affected area so we can instantly view the incident. We also have the capability to control all the lights throughout the entire building, as well as the HVAC system. Everything is right at our security staff's fingertips in the control center. Facility management also has a similar monitoring station in their offices in the event they see a condition that warrants attention, such as humidity control in the exhibits area."

"Our Panasonic surveillance and security system has become a showcase for
other facilities," said Mr. Toler. "The national governor's conference was held in this facility. It was one of the largest activities ever staged at the museum and
we had security personnel from virtually every state here for their respective governor. They were very pleased with the performance and coverage
provided by our Panasonic Surveillance System."

"We have hosted a number of demonstrations of the Panasonic system here at the museum," continued Mr. Toler. "Security personnel from the Zoo, regional banks, the library and other museums have come in to see the capabilities of our system. During an open house, the directors of the Tennessee State Museum were shown our Panasonic security system and were so impressed they brought a group back to our facility six months later to look at the system."


"I could not be more pleased with the Panasonic surveillance and security system installed here at the Indiana State Museum. And the support from Panasonic's engineering staff has been outstanding," concluded Mr. Toler.