Mobile Command and Control Center (MC&CC) solutions are finding increasing use in law-enforcement and military applications, and among organizations that require high quality, mobile video surveillance.
An MC&CC is a vehicle-based command and control solution, which allows a user to monitor and respond to a crisis, as close to the flashpoint as is safely possible. The outstanding feature of an MC&CC solution is its mobility. It can quickly and easily locate itself close to the identified surveillance areas, thus optimizing ability of the user to react to the situation. It is an easily deployable surveillance solution that can address a variety of situational requirements: public events (sports, political), demonstrations, and tactical security operations.An MC&CC solution usually consists of a surveillance vehicle equipped with a variety of sensors, monitoring stations command and control application, and remote transmission capability.
Sensors
The MC&CC receives feed from a variety of sensors:
- Video feeds for surveillance PTZ cameras, IR and Thermal cameras, etc.
- These can either be deployed on the MC&CC vehicle or can be deployed at a defined range near the vehicle and the video feed is transmitted remotely to the MC&CC via a wireless / RF link. For example: the video stream can come in for a PTZ camera fixed on top of the vehicle or can be received from a thermal camera fixed on a reconnaissance aircraft; streamed over an RF link.
- Audio feeds from monitoring equipment
- Snooping equipment, communications matrix to switch between different telecom standards (GSM, UHF/VHF/HF, PSTN, VoIP, etc.)
- RF, SCADA, Intrusion Detectors, etc.
- Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) information
- GPS-based position information of response teams
Monitoring stations
The monitoring station consists of screens where with video, audio, and other sensor feeds from the various sensors are displayed. Command and control personnel, equipped with headsets, view these feeds take decisions which are communicated to the response teams in the field.
Command and Control Application
The Command and Control (C&C) application provides detailed tactical information, during operations that help the C&C personnel take the necessary decisions and communicate the same to the response teams in the field. These usually cover:
- A situational map
- Geographic visualization of units and tracks
- Communication protocols to exchange positions and other information
- Integration of legacy systems information
Remote Transmission
In addition, the MC&CC provides the option for the sensor feed to be transmitted to a central location, through a communications link (V-SAT, Wireless Broadband, etc.) for remote monitoring; thereby bringing in multiple levels of decision-making to the event under surveillance.
Conclusion
The requirements or features of an MC&CC will be different depending on the application. For example: monitoring VIP security as compared to those used for tactical security operations. The MC&CC solutions can be customized to suit different applications; incorporating many or some of the features listed above.Mistral has the expertise to deploy application specific MC&CC solutions ranging for Mobile Surveillance Vans with 3-5 large monitoring stations that can seat multiple surveillance personnel, to compact mobile command and control centers that are built on a small platform and can be transported on an aircraft to the tactical operation location.
