Outfitting Your Emergency Operations Center

When a crisis hits, emergency operations centers are convened and operated until the crisis passes. There is little room for mistake when managing emergencies that involve potential loss of life and millions of dollars in damage. These aspects emphasize the need for first-class audiovisual monitoring technology and ergonomic furniture designed specifically for emergency management. There may also be emergency dispatch, or security camera monitoring elements involved that call for other types of specialized furniture designed for those activities.

These audiovisual and specialized furniture requirements should be handled by a manufacturer-integrator that understands how emergency operations centers work and that can provide products specifically designed for 7/24 crisis management. Emergency operations center design

The design and layout of your emergency operations center will be determined by several factors such as the number of staff participating, the shape and size of your room, the concept of operations, and budget. It’s important to engage an experienced specialist who can provide a preliminary design and cost estimate. Then refine the design to best meet your budget. Since the budget will be the determining factor, it’s important to discuss funding with your design specialist as early in the process as possible. This will save time and money for both sides.

The appropriate design and layout could include rows of workstations facing each other or large video screens. The workstations can also be placed in clusters depending on your concept of operations. Clusters allow members of designated groups to work in tandem while still being part of the larger team. Sometimes the solution lies in a combination of design approaches. For smaller emergency operations centers, a conference room might be outfitted with an audiovisual system and specialized furnishings designed to convert the room into a dual-purpose emergency operations center. These furnishings might include a flip monitor feature that allows the operators to flip their monitors upward, then close them down to a flat desktop when not in use.

Modern solutions for emergency operations centers

Control room managers are always looking for the best audiovisual solution for their concept of operations and budget. Low maintenance, cost of ownership and small footprint are also high priorities that save money and floor space. Modular, freestanding video walls are the best solution given available space. A modular video wall is essentially a free standing cabinet mounted with an integrated display system. The cabinet contains, and conceals all the cables and supporting electronics to create a clutter-free appearance. These systems include displays, controller, racks, optional audio system and cabinet. They are controlled by a key board and mouse or an optional touch screen control system. Unlike a single front projector, a modern video wall is made up of a matrix of LCD panels or DLP-LED cubes that are brighter, have higher resolution, are more dependable, and have lower maintenance involvement and cost. The included controller is the brain of the system that allows multiple images to be sized and placed anywhere on the wall. These video wall systems are also an appropriate solution for smaller emergency operations centers as they are available in a choice of heights and depth. These systems are plug-and-play, otherwise they are relatively easy to learn and operate.

It’s important to choose a specialist that has done many emergency operations centers and can advise you on the best solution based on experience. A turnkey provider that does design, space planning, furniture manufacturing and video wall integration is the simplest and most cost effective approach.

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