Portable, On-Demand Conferencing Systems To Aid Minnesota Disaster Response Crews
Swine flu, flooding, tornadoes. These are a few examples of disasters that demand the immediate attention from emergency response units. Eden Prairie-based Video Guidance, the leading visual communications providers in the Upper Midwest, recently launched “VG Transport,” a new portable video conferencing solution expressly created to help Minnesota disaster response teams meet face to face in an ad-hoc and secure fashion to share information and coordinate response efforts.
Designed with advice from Northeast Minnesota emergency managers, VG Transport is particularly critical when conducting emergency meetings during a pandemic without personal contact and contamination.
“VG Transport was designed to be a two-way, interactive video system used in the field, allowing a response team to bring their office functionality to the scene of an emergency,” said Dustin Artwohl, senior account manager for Video Guidance.
The system -- scaled down to be mobile -- has a 15-inch LCD monitor that connects to a video codec. Access to a satellite connection or using a mobile broadband card enables the users to enjoy HD quality and security through AES video encryption. The system can also be connected to a large monitor or projector to accommodate a large-room presentation.
Video Guidance built the new system for the Northeast Region 2 of the Association of Minnesota Emergency Managers (AMEM), comprised of county, city and other emergency response planners. Video Guidance will equip 14 emergency managers in 14 Northeast Minnesota counties with Video Suitcases. The system was funded through a $500,000 Homeland Security grant.
The Northeast Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) region of Minnesota is nearly 300 miles long and wide. A trip to the center of the region for a meeting takes hours one way. “A two-hour meeting can take a full day of time and lots of money in mileage expenses,” said Scott Camps, St. Louis County Emergency Manager. “With video conferencing, I can attend from my office and have all of my resource materials at my fingertips without any extra expense. The project enhances the effectiveness of our work and will pay for itself by saving time and expense.”
The 14 HSEM regional units will connect 11 County Emergency Managers, the City of Duluth, and the Mille Lacs and Grand Portage Reservations to each other, to the State Emergency Operations Center and to contacts in Canada. These units will be used in everyday planning and meetings in a secure face-to-face environment. The program is being coordinated with an Assistance to Firefighters Grant to the City of Duluth and expects to have the VG Transport in this month.