CASE STUDIES: KauKauna Utilities

Stretching Technology
By Karyn Hodgson

Leveraging IP Video Technology at Kaukauna Utilities

Just a few short years ago Kaukauna Utilities, a provider of electrical power and drinking
water in Kaukauna, WI had one camera. Just one. It was analog and not attached to any
recording device. Today they have 18 IP camera domes and two IP video servers, with
plans to expand.

Yet their financial outlay has been very small. Their expansion plans include buying offthe-
shelf computers and inexpensive cameras, but their technology is cutting edge. How
did they do it?

Beta Testing

One of Vicon’s Authorized Dealers, Excellence Electric Inc. in WI had approached
Kaukauna with the possibility of designing the entire infrastructure around IP Domes. It
just so happened that Vicon was looking for Beta sites in which to test their new
products.

“We had an older analog camera [of theirs] that we investigated using several years ago,”
says Frank Vander Wyst, system and operations technician for Kaukauna Utilities. “We
liked the software that moved the camera, but we would have liked to have had it on our
network. We begged Vicon: ‘We’ll be your test site. Let us test these cameras.’ We liked
their product that much. We volunteered to work out some bugs for them.”

Of course, the relationship was a two-way street. “Vicon liked the fact that we had
wireless connection out to our hydro sites,” Vander Wyst says. “We have a busy network
control system, with phone systems on the same network – a lot of stuff happening. Our
infrastructure for carrying data is Ethernet technology. We either have fiber or Cat 5 or
wireless that goes to fiber and all comes back to the main office.”

Once Kaukauna was Beta site approved, Excellence Electric, Kaukauna Utilities and
Vicon worked in conjunction to install a total of 16 new SurveyorVFT IP outdoor color
domes. “We have several facilities, including substations, hydro plants, underground
reservoirs, and water towers,” Vander Wyst says. “Part of our need for cameras was for
security: Who is coming and going day and night? The other was for operational needs, particularly in hydro plants, to verify river heights.”

Besides the options of Coax, Fiber or Twisted Pair, these domes were fitted with an
Ethernet connection built-in, bypassing any DVRs, which Kaukauna didn’t want. “We
wanted to be able to use the PC,” Vander Wyst says. “We didn’t want to have to buy an
expensive box. With this you just buy a PC and install the software on there and it will do
all the recording for you.”

“We really feel that cameras on a network is the wave of the future. We had so many
camera companies trying to sell us old analog cameras with coax. It would require a
separate box that sits on the network. With this, we just bought a workstation. All the
recording is done right there within the software.”

Being a Beta site is not without its hitches. “Vicon knew we had an Ethernet system, and
didn’t know if it would work with their product,” Vander Wyst says. “They wanted to
test our site. There were some things that we found out about our system as far as internal switches. We had too much on one. They were the wrong size.”

They learned some positive things, as well. “I think the big thing we learned is the ease of
set-up. We’ve come to understand how it records and how we can play back. They were
pretty up-front with everything we needed to know about what it did. We’ve learned the
value of having it on a network and being able to install software on anyone’s computer
within the network.”

Making Technology Last

Kaukauna still has the original analog camera that started it all. While not currently in
use, they plan to reuse it with another of the technologies supplied by Vicon for Beta
testing.

The VN-301T and VN-306T video servers allow them to plug in any existing analog
camera and convert it to digital for transmission over the Ethernet network. After testing
the VN-306T (which allows six analog cameras to be plugged in), Kaukauna bought that
unit. “If you have a camera from an old system, all you have to do is run coax cable to
this box, and it can be used on the network,” Vander Wyst explains. “It also has a control
feature where you can use the pan-tilt-zoom of the analog camera.”

They intend to use their original analog camera with this unit, putting it out at a hydro
plant that currently doesn’t have a camera, but does have Ethernet connection.
The two stationary cameras they have from Vicon are also IP, and can also plug analog
cameras into the back. While they have not mounted those yet, they have plans to use
those to monitor doors in the main office, especially for after-hours.

“These have a nice feature in that we don’t have to buy high-end cameras at every spot.
Put in one nice camera, then we can buy cheaper ones and still be able to go over the
network, rather than running cable from each camera back to the server,” Vander Wyst
explains.

Positive Changes

Overall, the changes Kaukauna has made in their video system have benefited them
greatly, without setting them back financially.

“We see the difference in our operations,” Vander Wyst says. “They feel like they know
more of what is going on at the different sites, the comings and goings and activities of
people. There is more of a sense of control, rather than running blind. We had electronic
data coming back and saying we are putting out this much and that much, but we didn’t
know when an alarm sounds, is the place burning down, or is it a false alarm? This
minimizes that as a question. It’s putting eyes out at a facility. We are here 24 hours a
day, so it’s nice to know what is going on before having to call someone in.”

In addition, the technology saves information automatically to the hard drive, which can
then be retrieved instantly or searched. “The only limit is on the size of the hard drive,”
Vander Wyst says. “We are probably storing a week’s worth of information, which is fine
for us. Then we can burn the information onto a CD for storage.”

In fact, the system has already been put to the test when a couple of would-be vandals
jumped a fence. “We had an operator working at night, and they happened to notice two
individuals jumping the fence at one of our hydro plants,” Vander Wyst says. “They
called the police and the vandals were apprehended. We wouldn’t have known anyone
was there without the camera system.”

In the future, Kaukauna plans to add cameras inside the office building, then add more
fixed cameras for security purposes at all wells, hydro plants, towers and substations.
Now that Kaukauna has laid the technology foundations, these additions should go
smoothly and be cost-effective.

For more information on Vicon Industries, please visit their website at
www.vicon-cctv.com

For more information on Excellence Electric Inc., please visit their website at
www.excellence-electric.com

For more information on Kaukauna Utilities, please visit their website at
www.kaukaunautilities.com