It’s that time of year again when Little Leaguers dazzle viewers with their skills on the diamond while thousands upon thousands of spectators pack the house to marvel at the spectacle being played out in the small town of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The youngsters are without a doubt the stars of the show but a blossoming partnership between Axis Communication and Extreme Networks has grown together behind the scenes, using their respective expertise in the fields of camera technology and networking infrastructure to safeguard every spectator attending this annual event that draws crowds, both young and old, from all over the globe.
“From the Axis side, we provide IP connected cameras throughout this facility and they are everything from fixed cameras to pan-tilt zooms for guards to automatically control the cameras and zoom in and try to find a person,” said Robert Muehlbauer, a Business Development Programs Manager for Axis Communication.
Axis has also installed thermal imaging cameras and 4K quality cameras around the facility to clearly monitor every patron, capabilities that have been accomplished courtesy of the infrastructure provided by the Extreme Networks team.
“Specifically tied to the Little League World Series and with Axis, we’re utilizing solar for power, which is pretty cool, no wires,” said Norman Rice, a Marketing and Corporate Development team member for Extreme Networks. “We’re also able to provide the amount of bandwidth required for the high density and high-resolution cameras to act independently and effectively. We’re able, this year, to add additional capabilities so that there are more cameras with broader span, more coverage.”
No more has the work accomplished as a result of this partnership made its value more evident than when a young child was displaced from his mother at a jam-packed game on the first Sunday night of the tournament.
Utilizing high-resolution security camera footage recorded when the child entered the venue as well as a time stamp and what entrance the boy came in at, guards were able to find the missing child in under 30 minutes.
“We’re very pleased to be apart of this (partnership) and from my view, the primary story is what happened (Sunday) night,” said Rice. “It makes it all worthwhile.”
Having access to this closed circuit surveillance has been a welcomed technology for the law enforcement officials keeping watch of everyone involved at the Little League World Series.
“We get amazing feedback in terms of what we are providing as partners here,” said Muehlbauer. “Every year we improve the system. We almost have 100% coverage of the facility now with video.”