IP-based intercom brings order to county court complex

With caseloads getting larger, anger (in general) on the rise and security staff levels often frozen or shrinking due to budget concerns, it has become increasingly difficult to provide full security in every nook and cranny of the courthouse. Instead, a growing number of county court systems are relying on rapid-response teams that can be deployed on a moment’s notice.

The challenge is detecting threats early enough—before they can escalate into incidents—so judges, workers and spectators can remain safe.

The Lapeer (Mich.) County court system is home to the 40th Circuit Court, the 71A District Court, the Lapeer County Probate Court and the 40th Circuit Juvenile Court. The campus consists of the county annex building, the county administration building and the Lapeer County Courthouse. While nearly all court business today is conducted in the county administration building, a few select cases still are tried at the historic county courthouse, which dates back to 1846. It is the oldest continuously active courthouse in the state.

The campus features seven courtrooms, holding cells, offices for judges and other county officials and amenities such as washrooms and showers. The Lapeer County government uses a wide area network (WAN) to provide networking and Internet connections.

Despite the rural setting, Lapeer County strives to stay on top of the latest technologies. In 1995, the Lapeer County Intermediate School District, along with the local school districts, formed a consortium to build a fiber-optic backbone. Over the years, the backbone has grown to more than 90 miles of fiber-optic cable that is used by the schools and the county government. The network connects school buildings, local police departments and township offices throughout the county.

Old system was a ‘panic button’

Despite the many advanced technologies that have been installed, one area that was well out of date was the emergency communications system that connected the courtrooms and other key areas (such as holding cells) to the control center. In reality, the system was a nurse’s paging system that operated as a “panic button.” If a judge anticipated a situation getting out of hand, he or she could press a button under the desk, activating a light in the control center in the lockup area.

Chuck Madden, a technology consultant for the Lapeer County Intermediate School District for 14 years, was brought in to help upgrade the safety and security of the county courts. This “loaned employee” arrangement is not unusual in Lapeer County.

“We all work together here,” Madden said. “If the project is beneficial to the county, then we partner together to make it work. We don’t like doing things twice.”

What Madden found was a system that wasn’t working. All but one of the “panic button” lights were inoperative—either the lights already were nonfunctional or they were knocked out by various remodeling projects. Although Madden was brought in to install a video surveillance system, county officials determined that upgrading the intercom system at the same time not only would contribute to greater safety within the building but also would be more cost-efficient.

While the “panic button” system may have been sufficient when it was first installed more than three decades ago, Madden realized that it was insufficient for today’s world, even with video.

“What you see on a video can be deceiving,” Madden said. “An attorney or a person defending himself may be very physically ‘active’ while trying to make a point, but he may not be a threat. On the other hand, another person may appear to be calm but is getting ready to explode. It just seemed that adding on-demand sound to the video would provide a better indication of potential trouble. We decided we needed a true intercom system.”

As long as the county was undertaking a major technology upgrade, Madden thought it would be wise to add a voice/sound system along with the video. Among the key requirements was activation on both ends. That way, if a judge suspected trouble, he or she could turn the system on so the deputy manning the control center could hear the audio cues and take the appropriate action. If those monitoring the audio in the control center heard something questionable in the courtrooms and holding cells, they could take quick action to intercede before the problem escalated.

‘Plug and play’

Madden began the search for a new system by calling several traditional (hard-wired) intercom companies. He received no response. Expanding his search to the Internet, Madden discovered Lake Forest, Ill.-based Digital Acoustics Corp. As a technology consultant, the firm’s IP-based intercom system appealed to Madden immediately.

“With a hard-wired intercom system, you’re looking at a fairly time-consuming and difficult installation,” Madden explained. “We’d have to run miles of wires through walls, around objects and sometimes in trenches between buildings. And then we’d be stuck with whatever we decided, even if our needs changed. With Digital Acoustics’ system, we are able to plug in to the existing WAN network cabling, saving us a ton of time on the front end. And if we decide to add to the system or move a box later, it’s easy to do.

“In fact, the toughest part of the entire installation was drilling the mounting screws into the judges’ bulletproof benches. Each of those took about an hour. We would do it during lunch so we didn’t interrupt court proceedings. Other than that, it was pretty much plug and play. I was able to get the whole system running on my desktop in one morning.”

Lapeer County installed 15 Digital Acoustics ii3 intercom boxes in all, along with the TalkMaster Enterprise Edition software. Seven of the boxes are on the judge’s benches in the courtrooms, and two are in the Lapeer County Friend of the Court hearing rooms. If a judge has a concern, he or she can press a button, and the sound immediately will be heard in the command center. The other units are located at the doorway access to the lockup areas and within the cell area itself.

Monitoring the holding cells is a special challenge. It is important to keep tabs on activities there, as problems can erupt at any moment. Madden noted that watching multiple video images can be exhausting, and in environments such as a washroom facility, there are privacy issues. Sounds coming through the Digital Acoustics intercom, however, will attract the attention of deputies immediately, alerting them to take action as needed.

Judges and deputies alike have praised the sound quality of the system.

“You can hear all the way from the bench to the back of the courtroom,” Madden said. “They are blown away by the reliability and how well the intercoms work and sound. They are able to distinguish speech from background noise easily, even at low volume levels. The deputies feel it has greatly upgraded their ability to identify trouble and [take action].”

Thinking ‘outside the box’

Another feature that Madden and county officials appreciate is the ability to route the Digital Acoustics intercom to more than one console. In addition to the courthouse, Lapeer County is adding a server in the 9-1-1 emergency response center in case further police backup is required. County officials also are planning to create an interface to deputies’ cell phones so they can respond to situations when they’re on rounds or elsewhere on the grounds.

Officials are considering a number of other possible applications for the intercom system, including:

• Expanding the system to include buildings that offer health and medical care.
• Extending it into the hallways and entryways of local schools.
• Placing intercom units in special education classrooms to provide support on behavioral issues that get out of hand and to allow outside consultants to monitor classroom activity or an individual’s behavior without the disruption of being in the room.
• Using the intercom as a backup communications system for the phones. Because it can be powered over the Ethernet on UPS (uninterruptible power supply), the county can maintain emergency communications with the courtrooms and other areas on campus, even in the event of a power blackout.

“We are thinking progressively, outside the box,” Madden said. “The more we see what Digital Acoustics’ technology can do, the more applications we’re finding for it. That’s the mark of a great system.”

More security, same number of deputies

The most immediate result has been the ability to increase the level of security—particularly in the courtrooms, where judges often are very vulnerable—without increasing the number of deputies. The combination of video and voice allows them to make “rounds” without having to leave the command center or their desks. In fact, they are finding it is more efficient than physical rounds because they can monitor the entire complex at once rather than a segment at a time. The ability to connect to the 9-1-1 center adds a further layer of safety and security.

According to Madden, the system is far more cost-effective than the nurse’s call station was.

“Judges are under more direct threat than they’ve ever been before,” Madden said. “Look at what’s happened in the last couple of years in Chicago, Reno, Atlanta, etc. Many are in fear when they try certain cases. There’s maybe one murder a year around here, but you never know where it’s going to be. Digital Acoustics’ intercom system is helping us calm those fears.

“Many of our long-serving judges are suspicious of new technologies in their courtrooms generally. But everybody loves this.”

Digital Acoustics Corp. provide this case history.