Expansive LED Video Wall Heightens Visibility of Critical Information in 911 Call Center

The Lea County Communication Authority (LCCA) in Hobbs, New Mexico operates the Lea County 911 Call Center, which covers the cities of Hobbs, Lovington, Eunice, Jal and Tatum. Call Center dispatchers have the capability to deploy emergency and non-emergency agencies to all parts of Lea County. As a control room, the Call Center also monitors cameras at special events and throughout key areas of the county, including the county detention center and all public parks.

To improve the delivery of visual information in this mission-critical environment, the LCCA decided to upgrade a series of flat panel monitors to newer visual technology. LCCA engaged audio visual integrator AVI-SPL to consult on a solution that would provide dispatchers with the ability to better monitor coverage areas and respond more effectively to calls and emergency situations.

AVI-SPL, guided by Account Manager Glen Martinez and Audio Visual and Acoustics Specialist Adam Babb, presented LCCA with various design options that ultimately led to the selection and integration of a nearly 32-foot-long, 5-foot-high Planar® TVF Series LED video wall with a 1.2mm pixel pitch (TVF1.2) in a 16x4 configuration.

“Visually, the installation is impressive and super clear—911 dispatchers can easily see it from anywhere in the control room,” Martinez said. “It gives them the tools to better respond to emergency situations.”
According to Babb, the TVF Series LED video wall enhances the visual awareness of dispatchers. “They can quickly pull up and view real-time information such as call statistics, high-level county maps or local resources.”

Mitchell Tuckness, LCCA information technology administrator, said the new installation makes a big difference in resolution, brightness and especially with the flexibility it provides for displaying data. “The Planar video wall is unlimited in terms of what we can view and how we view it,” Tuckness said. “We have the ability to easily switch to different layouts and control the size of content on the display.”

The Planar TVF Series LED video wall also serves as a valuable resource during larger emergencies. “If there’s an event like a giant grass fire and we get a lot more 911 calls, we can pull up a high resolution map and other information showing the areas that are affected,” Tuckness said. “It provides a clear visual indicator of the situation.”

In addition to the Planar TVF Series, a 65-inch Planar® EP Series 4K LCD display (EP6524K) was installed in Tuckness’ office to allow him to monitor the same sources shown on the video wall.

Simplified integration

The design features of the Planar TVF Series proved beneficial for helping simplify the video wall integration. According to Babb, the Planar TVF Series was flexible and light enough to install on an existing wall without adding more structural support.

“Additionally, we didn’t have to bring in an electrician to upgrade the power to the video wall,” Babb said. “Instead, we were able to move all the electrical power to a server closet. Not having to bring in a subcontractor and introduce another trade to the project was definitely a value add for us.”