For decades, Leeds was the largest city in the United Kingdom (UK) without a major venue to host concerts and sporting events. After much demand for a modern and functional venue, city officials planned to build a multi-purpose concert hall with a spectacular fanshaped design. In the autumn of 2013, with Sir Elton John playing to a capacity audience of 13,500 people, First Direct Arena officially opened its doors for business. The arena will play host to over 140 events per year ranging from professional sports matches to top-billed music concerts to Disney on Ice. In order to protect the £50 million venue and all patrons in attendance, management needed to deploy a sophisticated HD video surveillance system.

First Direct Arena engaged leading UK-based security specialists, Reflex Systems Ltd., to deliver an integrated solution incorporating video surveillance, access control, and perimeter and intruder detection. Under the recommendation of Reflex Systems, First Direct Arena chose the ACC software because of its multiple features and capability to efficiently manage a full-scale IP surveillance system. It also helped that a wide range of high-profile arenas and stadiums like the Slovnaft Arena (Slovakia) and Rogers Centre (Canada) relied I saw that Avigilon products were deployed in numerous stadiums throughout North America It was comforting to learn that the system could be used ’’

What the Arena needed was a system that would be easy to use, provide efficient storage management and immediate and accurate searching I would say our he said.

According to Mr. Sinnott, First Direct Arena predominately uses HD video surveillance to effectively and efficiently monitor crowd flow. With the ACC software, security personnel are able to monitor a variety of situations, such as altercations in the stands and theft, in The Avigilon system enables us to mitigate out some of ve encountered less problems with crime because we ”

The software has also been helpful in identifying possible interferences in traffic flow in and around the arena. "ACC has allowed us to manage our multiple cameras better than we have previously in other venues,” said Mr. Sinnott. "Say we see on the monitors that there is congestion at the front of the bar. We can now quickly adjust our staff and make dynamic changes so that we can provide better service at our concession stands.” Mr. Sinnott also points out that HD video surveillance helps accurately assess incidents where liability of the arena is a factor.

In addition to the main control room on the ground level that monitors the entire premise 24 hours a day, First Direct Arena uses a second control room during events to monitor its grounds. With the ACC software in use in both rooms, Mr. Sinnott states that the synchronisation of communication between operators is seamless. "The ability for collaborative investigations was another key factor in our choice of Avigilon because of the flexibility and functionality the feature gave us in both control rooms,” said Mr. Sinnott. "Typically, our older system just provided mirror images of the other screen. If an operator was watching one image in our main control room, an operator in our opposite control room would be watching the same image. With Avigilon we have complete control of functionality from both locations.” If one of the control rooms is disconnected, the security team can easily move to the system in the room without missing a beat. "This kind of flexibility gives us greater control and added functionality,” said Mr. Sinnott.