Commercial Integrator May 2023 - 15

The criticality of situational awareness becomes even clearer when you consider the breadth of data that operators must manage. It's not uncommon for a control room to require
management of thousands of datapoints simultaneously.
cality of situational awareness becomes even clearer when you consider
the breadth of data that operators must manage. Indeed, Smith mentions
a casino in Minnesota that has more than 4,000 datapoints coming
into the control room. " Th at's 4,000 potential alarms that could go
off , " he says. If you combine those elements, you can have a cascade of
situations that can easily build up to a disaster! Hence, the need to be
on top of the game constantly.
Situational Awareness and Space Optimization
Both Mishra and Smith empathize with control-room operators, who
sometimes work 10-plus-hour shifts and who must never let their
concentration fl ag. " Th ere's a lot of fatigue for an operator, " Smith
acknowledges, " and we're there to help them. " One way that the companies
do so is through ergonomics and thoughtful design. For example,
Smith says, Winsted frequently recommends sit/stand consoles,
which can increase operator alertness. Th ere is, in fact, considerable
evidence to bolster the hypothesis that people are more alert when
they're standing. Another key consideration centers on uniformity. In
well-designed control rooms, every workstation is set up the same (i.e.,
identical positioning of the phone, intercom, keyboard/mouse). " So, "
Smith says, " it doesn't matter which workstation you go to. You know
exactly what the workstation feels like and operates like. It's easy. "
But this is still just scratching the surface. Smith points to comfortrelated
considerations like utilizing Comfort Edge, a soft, urethane
edge on the front of work surfaces that helps operators sit their forearms
correctly. He also touts the benefi ts of articulating monitor arms.
But arguably most important of all are line-of-sight considerations.
" If you're sitting or standing, what is the line of sight over the monitors
that are at your workstation? " Smith asks rhetorically. " Can you
see the entire videowall that Barco has put up? " Speaking directly to
that imperative, WELS (Winsted Equipment Layout Software) control
room design software is an excellent tool. With it, the designer can lay
out the displays, consoles and even the locations of people in the environment.
WELS boasts a " sight cone " function, which reveals whether
any obstructions exist.
For its part, Barco focuses on ergonomics not only to facilitate comfort,
effi ciency and productivity but also to preserve health. " TruePix,
our marquee LED videowall, has a unique algorithm specifi cally
designed to reduce eye fatigue, " Mishra reports. Control-room operators
routinely must stare at multiple screens for hours on end, which
wears their eyes out more quickly. " We changed the algorithm to literally
give it breaks so that the eye gets less fatigued, " she says. Similarly,
operator convenience, which then aids in boosting productivity, lies
at the heart of Barco's design philosophy. " We recently launched a
highly secure, simple and scalable control-room software management
platform: Barco CTRL, " Mishra explains. " Th e solution is focused on
providing a powerful and intuitive user experience for the operator to
allow them to focus better. "
Helping Facilitate Better Outcomes
It's well known that control-room operators have a tough and critical
job. Equally, integrators looking to outfi t these spaces have a tall order
to facilitate the kind of situational awareness that operators require.
Th at's why vendors like Barco and Winsted are so focused on getting
things right each time. Smith references Winsted's " 3D " process for
mission-critical spaces - Discovery, Design and Deliver. Th e " Discovery "
phase is paramount, as it gives project partners the best chance of
succeeding. In that phase, Winsted representatives will sit in the control
room, watch the activity occurring and see where operator distractions
emerge. " Basically, " he says, " we're trying to mitigate fatigue and distraction
so they can watch the content on the Barco displays. " Smith
recalls one recent visit to a security operations center where, during
the course of a day, various people opened and closed one door about
125 times. As is obvious, disturbances of that sort can easily inhibit
operator performance.
As Smith puts it, " It's up to the manager of the control room to support
their staff and set them up to succeed. Th is happens by mitigating
distraction and providing the best possible resources. " Th ose operations
managers have a trusted team to call on: Barco and Winsted, companies
united in purpose and working together. It's a diff erence maker
not only for control-room operators but also for the entire missioncritical
category. " It just makes perfect sense to be aligned, " Smith
concludes with enthusiasm. " Our history and ability to remain aligned
only makes this process more eff ective and enjoyable, " Mishra agrees.
For more information about Barco and Winsted, go to Barco.com
and Winsted.com.

http://www.Barco.com http://www.Winsted.com

Commercial Integrator May 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Integrator May 2023