Cisco IPICS Case Study: Cisco Safety and Security

Customer Case Study

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Cisco IPICS Case Study: Cisco Safety and Security

Cisco manages day-to-day safety and security incidents using IPICS.

Business Challenge

The population of the Cisco® campus in San Jose, California can reach up to 20,000 people during business hours. Like any city of a similar size, emergencies can and do occur. In these situations, Cisco Safety and Security (SAS) and the volunteer Cisco Emergency Response Team (ERT) are the first responders to on-campus criminal, medical, fire, and hazardous materials incidents and provide support in the first few critical minutes before outside help arrives.

Cisco’s enterprise risk-management strategy assumes that emergencies will happen without warning, requiring an immediate response, not just from outside emergency responders, but also from within the company itself.

In Cisco, SAS is primarily responsible for managing emergency incidents that occur on company property. That responsibility begins when a Cisco

employee or a visitor dials 9-1-1 from any Cisco IP phone that is located on campus. After the call is dialed, it is routed to the nearest Cisco Security and Facilities Operations Center (SFOC), which dispatches Cisco security officers and the Cisco ERT to the incident. If the incident requires an outside agency, such as a fire or police department, the SFOC patches the call together with the appropriate Public Safety Access Point (PSAP).

Figure 1. All emergency calls at Cisco are dispatched through the IPICS PMC

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SAFETY AND SECURITY, CISCO SYSTEMS ● Corporate safety, security and emergency

response. ● Global, with multiple dispatch centers around

the globe. BUSINESS CHALLENGE ● Manage on-premises emergency response

and day-to-day safety and security operations ● Enable location-independent dispatch and

collaboration across security operation centers.

● Reduce costs of maintaining dedicated leased-lines to Cisco sites for radio communications.

NETWORK SOLUTION ● Deployed Cisco IPICS solution.

BUSINESS RESULTS ● Improved response times to emergencies. ● Reduced costs in maintaining radio

infrastructure. ● Enable better situational awareness from

responders through management and key executives during crisis situations.

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Established at all corporate campuses and major office locations that include more than 125 employees, the global Cisco ERT consists of employee volunteers who are trained to handle medical, fire, and other emergencies in the first few critical minutes before outside help arrives. All Cisco ERT members and Cisco SAS security officers are trained to a first-responder level; a few Cisco ERT members are further certified as Emergency Medical Technicians. The Cisco ERT in San Jose responds to 150 incidents per year, of which about 40 are considered to be “life-threatening” emergencies.

Customer Case Study

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Clearly, the need for interoperability encompasses not only communications but procedures and equipment too. Cisco incidents are managed by using the Incident Command System (ICS), a standard methodology that is used by public safety agencies nationwide. To help ensure a smooth transition of care from internal Cisco resources to external agencies, Cisco SAS and Cisco ERT hold drills with the agencies that are responsible for responding to incidents on Cisco premises, such as the San Jose and Milpitas Fire and Police Departments, the Santa Clara County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF),

d the Stanford Hospital Air Ambulance.

Figure 2. The Cisco SFOC manages incidents 24 hours a day using Cisco IPICS

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The primary method of communications for the Cisco SAS and Cisco ERT teams has been via a hybrid conventional and trunked very high frequency (VHF) Land Mobile Radio (LMR) system, with pager and mobile phone Short Message Service (SMS) messages as secondary methods. The Cisco deployment strategy has included radios in the hands of every mobile security officer, and at least two radio-equipped Cisco ERT volunteers in each Cisco building on campus. Other large Cisco facilities in the United States use a similar radio strategy.

Cisco has experienced substantial drawbacks to the previous form of communication, which inhibited dispatch and

coordination efforts. First, traditional dispatch systems required that dedicated point-to-point circuits xist between the central dispatch facility, and any remote Cisco office where a Cisco SAS/ERT eam was located. Because the two Cisco SFOCs in San Jose, CA and Raleigh, North Carolina NC) are responsible for not only the local dispatch at their individual Cisco campuses, but also for umerous Cisco offices in the western and eastern parts of the country, respectively, the traditional ispatch deployment is expensive to maintain.

n addition to the monthly costs of maintaining the circuits, this architecture prevented the capability o do any failover or collaboration between dispatch centers. For example, if an emergency shut own one of the dispatch centers, the other center could not take over for it. This limitation meant hat if a hurricane forced the closure of the Cisco Raleigh SFOC, all East Coast safety and security perations would be affected. Similarly, an earthquake in the San Francisco area could disrupt all estern operations.

n addition, any enhancement or modification to the radio system was performed through a omplete equipment upgrade; that is, the entire radio infrastructure was replaced at one time, hich is an expensive option. Because of the expense and this cumbersome process, incremental nhancements to the communications infrastructure were generally discouraged.

isco deployed IPICS to resolve these critical issues.

Customer Case Study

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Network Solution

The Cisco IPICS solution provides the backbone of emergency response at Cisco offices across the United States. Whether it is a stolen laptop, an earthquake, a medical emergency, or a fire alarm that requires a building evacuation, Cisco IPICS helps ensure a rapid emergency response from Cisco SAS and Cisco ERT and facilitates the concise flow of information to other affected groups, such as Human Resources or the Corporate Crisis Management Team (CCMT) at the senior executive level.

Cisco IPICS provides a systems-based approach to communications interoperability, operations, and emergency management that delivers the right information to the right person in the right format at the right time. Based on proven IP standards and technology, Cisco IPICS transparently integrates disparate Push-To-Talk (PTT) networks, providing advanced features without requiring a change in existing operating procedures. It offers a flexible, dynamic, and secure platform that facilitates immediate sharing of information, improves daily enterprise operations, and provides a robust framework for real-time event management, while protecting investments in traditional PTT and Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems.

For Cisco SAS and Cisco ERT, deploying Cisco IPICS has resolved several of the most vexing problems facing Cisco dispatch.

● By putting the communications between dispatch and the various Cisco locations on the existing IP-based voice-quality WAN between Cisco offices, there was no longer a need for expensive point-to-point circuits.

● Moving to an IP-based solution also enabled a greater level of flexibility for dispatchers. For instance, by using the Cisco IPICS Push-to-Talk Management Center (PMC), dispatch functions, including alert tones for Security and ERT emergencies, can all now be handled by using this PMC client software.

● The scope of dispatch functionality is expanded as it becomes location independent. That is, if an SFOC is unavailable because of an incident, the dispatcher can launch the PMC software on a PC, establish a VPN connection to Cisco, and handle dispatch duties from home, from the Cisco Mobile Command Vehicle (MCV), or from any wireless hotspot. The PMC software also enables Cisco ERT members who are not issued radios to monitor the emergency radio channels from their computer and respond as soon as the alert tones play out, rather than waiting for a pager message, which may not arrive for several minutes.

● Cisco IPICS also allows SFOC redundancy by allowing dispatchers in one center the ability to answer calls and dispatch resources that are normally handled by the other center. Cisco Safety and Security program manager Deon Chatterton says, “Cisco IPICS has enabled us to communicate with emergency responders on scene at sites around the globe by using the Cisco network and a computer. We no longer have to send a page or call the cell phone of the Security Officer in Richardson, Texas. They are as accessible as the Security Officer outside the building in Raleigh.”

“Cisco IPICS has enabled us to communicate with emergency responders on scene at sites around the globe by using the Cisco network and a computer.” —Deon Chatterton, Safety and Security Program Manager, Cisco

Customer Case Study


The IPICS architecture in use by Cisco leverages the Cisco internal voice-quality network. Two IPICS servers are in use for Cisco in the United States, and provide coordination for eight LMR gateway points distributed throughout Cisco’s large campus locations. Seventeen different radio channels are available to the Cisco IPICS installation. In addition to the security and safety teams, Cisco Workplace Resources (WPR), which is the Cisco facilities management team, also takes advantage of IPICS, which allows WPR employees in Raleigh, NC to communicate with their East Coast dispatch center in Boxborough, Massachusetts. Additional international rollout of IPICS to Cisco in Europe and Asia are currently planned.

Figure 3. Cisco SFOC centers remotely manage safety and security dispatch functions for numerous sites throughout the United States.

The unique capabilities of Cisco IPICS have already been proven in real emergencies at Cisco. For example, a natural gas leak at a construction site near to Cisco’s Raleigh campus required the evacuation of the entire campus in 2006. During this major emergency, San Jose-based dispatchers were able to take over the dispatch roles for Cisco East Coast operations. Meanwhile, facilities and emergency managers who were overseas in the United Kingdom and in several locations in South America were able to communicate directly with the Incident Commander in Raleigh. When a water pipe burst and caused flooding in one of the San Jose headquarters buildings, managers in Raleigh and Boxborough were able to be patched in and assist with the response.

Customer Case Study


Figure 4. Cisco IPICS enables the Mobile Command Vehicle to manage incidents and work with outside agencies such as the San Jose Fire Department.

Business Results

Cisco IPICS provides the communications backbone for every emergency call on Cisco property. By enabling Cisco to move SAS operations to a robust IP-based network, costs have been reduced, operational flexibility has been enhanced, and single points of failure have been eliminated.

Cisco’s global emergency management program is widely regarded as a best-in-class enterprise safety and security program. With the IPICS solution and a strategy of partnership with outside agencies, Cisco SAS and Cisco ERT deliver trained help to a person experiencing a medical or other emergency within minutes of the initial 9-1-1 call, well before outside help arrives. Those responders are then able to establish incident management, provide life-saving patient care, and prepare for the smooth transition to outside agencies.

Next Steps

With the successful implementation of IPICS with Cisco in the United States, Safety and Security is currently planning to implement IPICS at the remaining theater-based dispatch centers in Asia and Europe. Additionally, Safety and Security are evaluating certain features of IPICS 2.0 such as dial-in/dial-out

Bill of Material: Enterprise Safety and Security

Enterprise customers who want to implement Cisco IPICS in a manner that is similar to the Cisco Safety and Security team should consider a bill of material in following table, which is applicable for a single enterprise site. This full-featured Cisco IPICS solution will enable robust IP-based interoperability driven by customer requirements and timetables.

Documents

Cisco IPICS Case Study: Cisco Safety and Security