Gaithersburg, Maryland, September 29, 2008 – Professional Products, Inc. (PPI) announces the completion of the new Courtroom Technology Management System today, a state–of–the–art centralized technology system developed in partnership with the three Fairfax County Courts; Circuit Court, General District Court, Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and the Fairfax County Department of Information Technology.
The project correlates with the opening of the new wing of the Fairfax County Courthouse located in Fairfax, Virginia, which more than doubled the original size of the facility and adds 17 new courtrooms to the existing 26–courtroom facility. The first phase of the Courtroom Technology Management System launches five brand new high–tech courtrooms controlled through a centralized Main Control Room (MCR) and distributed to other ancillary facilities to include the Adult Detention Center (ADC) and secluded witness rooms.
Initial system design work and equipment selection was developed in partnership with the Fairfax County Courtroom Technology Office (CrTO) and the design firm Miller, Beam & Paganelli (MBP), an independent audiovisual system design consulting firm. Based on past experiences, MBP and the CrTO recommended PPI for design review and final system integration.
“MBP has a long relationship working with PPI”, states Principal John Paganelli. We value their extensive broadcast background, which was heavily utilized for this project. Ultimately, the project was a team effort, and PPI was a great partner.—“
The system build includes the centralized MCR, which provides the core routing functionality for the Courthouse Technology Management System. The MCR provides audio and video connectivity between local routable sources and accommodates external conferencing requirements. Designed to meet future demands and growth needs, a 36x36–fiber router serves as the backbone of the system and is expandable up to 288x288. Additionally, a separate gigabit Ethernet data network connects all of the courtroom technology locations into a single, self–contained communications network. A complex and sophisticated control system supported by multiple video teleconferencing (VTC) codec’s is shared by the new courtrooms and offers bi–directional and multi–point conferencing capabilities.
The courtrooms contain touch–screen panels for the judge, clerk and attorneys to control multiple microphones and high–definition (HD) plasma displays for the judge, clerk, court recorder, attorneys, jurors and gallery when presenting, viewing evidence and remote witnesses. The electronic evidence presentation system provides for various evidence sources including DVD/VCR, document camera, computer video and multi–audio interface with annotation and printing capabilities. Prisoner arraignments are conducted on a daily basis from any of the high–tech courtrooms.
Completion of the first phase includes the five new high–tech courtrooms. The second phase is under review and includes planning for nine new courtrooms for the Juvenile Court and possible renovations to selected existing courtrooms.
Professional Products, Inc. (PPI) is a company of proven creative thinkers who are dedicated to providing media integration solutions to clients in need of advanced video, audio, data, and control systems for use in broadcast, video on demand, training and presentation applications. With an engineering and –centric core, PPI designs and architects intuitive solutions that are aligned with business needs and anticipated enterprise growth. All systems designed by PPI can be remotely supported from their exclusive state–of–the–art Network Operations Center (NOC). An extensive portfolio includes projects for federal and state government entities, broadcast and television production studios, command and control centers, training facilities, distance learning centers, corporations and professional organizations, institutions of higher learning, medical and healthcare facilities and entertainment and sports venues.
