Urban interstate highways are notorious for traffic congestion even in the best of times, and accidents or breakdowns only make a bad situation worse. To reduce the potential impact of such occurrences, the state of Indiana has deployed Avaya’s Fabric Connect visualization system for network and video surveillance.
With round-the-clock video feeds from more than 350 cameras in key locations monitored for any signs of trouble, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) can rapidly dispatch the appropriate response teams, often before anyone has called ‘911’. Cameras assist INDOT in providing an online map of real-time traffic images, and enable the state to deliver video feeds to TV and radio news station partners to inform travelers of current traffic conditions. With the statewide deployment of cameras dispatching video across the network, the flow of the agency’s network traffic directly impacts on the flow of roadway traffic. The Avaya network replaces INDOT’s previous video monitoring network, which had frequent outages and issues, in addition to being difficult to manage and labor intensive.
Integration Partners, an Avaya partner in Indianapolis, introduced INDOT to the Fabric Connect system as a way to simplify configuration and management, and increase network flexibility and availability. The agency particularly had problems related to its Protocol-Independent Multicast (PIM) system, with many different versions running on different codes and boxes. INDOT opted to move to a Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) system, using Avya’s Fabric Connect linked via 8000 Series Virtual Services Platform, and 3500 and 4000 Series Ethernet Routing Switches.
With Avaya’s Fabric Connect, INDOT achieved:
• Rapid implementation that enabled the cutover of all 28 initial sites at once during the day;
• Consistent operational uptime through enhanced availability and redundant links that keep network traffic flowing;
• Simplified configuration and management;
• More time for proactive activities by the small networking staff;
• Scalability that allows INDOT the ability to easily add more devices and cameras to the network.
Ben Fischer, network engineer at INDOT, explained, “We ultimately chose Avaya after comparing several vendors. Shortest Path Bridging (SPB), along with Fabric-related devices, and the simplicity that SPB provided over PIM would reduce our ongoing costs of operations and provide the best value to the State of Indiana.
“At INDOT, we strive to try to be on the forefront of technology to reduce the need for always adding expensive new lanes. With Fabric Connect, we are more efficient; our engineers spend less time troubleshooting, so they are able to focus on other business needs.”
