LAPEER COUNTY – The Lapeer, Michigan, county court system is home to the 40th circuit court, 71A district court, probate court, and juvenile court. The campus consists of the county annex building, county administration building, and the Lapeer County Historic Courthouse.

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 strives to stay on top of the latest technologies. In 1995 the 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 which is used to connect school buildings, local police departments and township offices throughout the county.

The Challenge

While many advanced technologies have been installed in the Lapeer county court recently, one area that was well out-of-date was the emergency communications system that connected the courtrooms and other key areas (such as holding cells) to the control center.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 really a nurse?s paging system which 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 that would activate a light in the control center in the lockup area.

Chuck Madden, a technology consultant for the Lapeer County Intermediate School District, was brought in to help upgrade the county courts from a safety/security standpoint. Although the intention was to install a video surveillance system, it was determined that upgrading the intercom system at the same time would not only contribute to greater safety within the building ? it would also be more cost-efficient.

?What you see on a video can be deceiving,? he says. ?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. 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.?

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 it and take the appropriate action.

The Solution

Madden began the search for a new system and came across Digital Acoustics. As a technology consultant, their IP-based intercom system appealed to him immediately.

?With a hard-wired intercom system you?re looking at a fairly time-consuming and difficult installation,? Madden says. ?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.

?It was pretty much plug and play. I was able to get the whole system running on my desktop in one morning,? he said.

Lapeer County installed 15 Digital Acoustics ii3 intercom boxes in all, along with the TalkMaster Enterprise Edition software. If a judge has a concern, he/she can press a button and the sound will immediately go on in the command center.

The Results

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.

?Judges are under more direct threat than they?ve ever been before,? Madden says. ?Many of our long-serving judges are suspicious of new technologies in their courtrooms generally,? he adds. ?But everybody loves this.?

For more information, click on DigitalAcoustics.Com

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