Cruise line leverages Modern LAN principles to deploy more than 4,000 IP cameras using existing coaxial infrastructure.
by NVT Phybridge
A cruise company has been an industry leader for over 50 years. Today, guests travel the world while enjoying unparalleled services aboard their award-winning ships.
While at sea, guests can enjoy a unique dining experience at one of the many specialty restaurants on board, and watch musical performances, shows, and other world-class entertainment directly from Broadway. The organization strives to provide the most innovative and accommodating vacation experience for guests as they travel to the most beautiful and exotic places around the world, including Hawaii, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia, Alaska, and more.
However, the Cruise Line was still anchored in analog surveillance equipment on many of its ships and was interested in modernizing to IP to provide the safest travel experience for guests. The organization was interested in an IP-based system as it would provide high-resolution viewing and recording capabilities, enhanced monitoring, and better application management.
Existing analog cameras were supported by a coaxial-based infrastructure on all ships. The organization considered eliminating existing coaxial cable and installing Ethernet cabling to support the new IP cameras, but worried about the high costs, long deployment times, and environmental impact. Dissatisfied with the limitations of traditional network design, the organization sought an innovative solution.
Environmental responsibility
The Cruise Line is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen by preserving the precious natural resources that are essential to its success. The organization strives to minimize waste, reduce CO2 emissions, and engage in impactful environmental partnerships.
Each ship has a team responsible for the implementation, training and monitoring of environmental compliance on board. In addition, all crew members receive specialized environmental training and are responsible for ensuring environmental compliance in everything they do. As the organization planned its modernization to intellectual property monitoring, environmental responsibility also became a priority.
Modern LAN Design
Given the customer's digital transformation goals, the integrator partner, Surveillance International Inc., recommended the design principles of Modern LAN and NVT Phybridge's CLEER (Ethernet over Coax) solution. The CLEER switch, powered by SmartPathPoE, transforms any new or existing coaxial-based infrastructure into a robust IP backbone ideal for supporting any IP camera, with range capabilities of up to 6,000 feet (1,830m), 18 times more than a standard Ethernet switch.
The client was impressed with the proposed solution and decided to move forward with the digital transformation. After a few simple configuration steps, the CLEER24 switch transformed the existing and proven coaxial infrastructure into a robust and reliable PoE backbone, capable of supporting the new IP cameras in all areas of the ship. In addition, the organization now had the ability to connect up to 4 IP cameras using a single coaxial cable with NVT Phybridge's EC4 adapter.
After successfully implementing IP surveillance throughout the first ship, the organization decided to replicate the success on several of its other vessels. Thanks to the design of LAN Moderna and the CLEER24 innovation, the customer was able to simplify the digital transformation and increase the number of cameras on board their ships, which can carry a combined total of more than 19,000 passengers on each trip.
The Ethernet over coaxial solution allowed the customer to leverage their existing infrastructure to avoid the risky and complex pull-and-replace upgrade model.
Change the conversation, improve the result
The cruise line took a proactive approach to finding new and better ways to support its digital transformation goals in a financially and socially responsible way. NVT Phybridge helped the organization change the conversation about traditional LAN design, leveraging Modern LAN principles and PoE innovations for the following purposes:
- Deploy more than 4,000 IP cameras across eight cruise ships using existing coaxial-based infrastructure
- Increase the number of IP cameras in all public areas using the EC4 adapter that supports up to four IP cameras on a single coaxial cable
- Reduce infrastructure costs by more than $4 million and simplify and accelerate the project to improve return on investment
- Ensure the maintenance and improvement of the dedicated surveillance network
- Support IP cameras exactly where they were needed thanks to CLEER24's long-range capabilities
- Prevent more than 120 tons of wired e-waste from ending up in a landfill
- Simplify overall network requirements, creating a robust and cyber-secure PoE platform for IP surveillance equipment
In addition, the cruise line can now support additional devices that use the new IP-enabled local network, including IP phones, IP speakers, and wireless access points.
