Case Study
A regional fire and rescue service uses on-vehicle surveillance solutions connected to the cloud to speed up and simplify investigations.
A regional fire and rescue service uses Synectics’ on-vehicle cloud-based surveillance solution to speed up and simplify investigations involving its engines – saving the organisation significant time and money.
Using Synectics’ T2000 software to connect its fleet of fire engines to Synectics’ Cloud Services means a central team can track vehicles in real-time, instantly review footage from on-vehicle cameras, and securely share vital evidence from callouts.
The T2000 software platform, which can be deployed within a virtual environment on any transport-embedded hardware system, acts as a gateway to Synectics Cloud Services. This unlocks a range of powerful capabilities for the fire and rescue service, most notably the ability to view and share footage remotely.
From the moment the key to a fire engine is turned, its front and rear-facing Synectics cameras record and stream to the cloud, providing an irrefutable visual account of how the vehicle was driven, the route it took, and any events encountered on the callout.
Reviewing this footage is now simpler and faster, with team members able to log in from a secure device to access the video content they need. This cloud-based system also makes sharing evidence with relevant third parties significantly easier.
Incident files containing relevant footage, supporting notes, and documents can be created in the secure cloud environment, classified (for example, ‘assault on firefighter’ or ‘road traffic incident’), and instantly shared with authorised individuals or groups. Previously, this process involved waiting for vehicles to return to base, selecting footage, burning it to CD, and physically delivering it to the recipients.
While evidentiary footage is most often shared with police, the fire and rescue service also uses this feature to share data with insurers – for example, to prove or refute claims made by the public of accidental damage caused by fire service vehicles – and as part of public information requests.
It isn’t just video footage that can be accessed in the cloud. Live location data means operators can see the exact position of fleet vehicles at any time. Additionally, vehicle speed, indicator usage, braking, emergency lighting and siren activation data is easily and securely accessible alongside corresponding camera feeds.
While this data is often used in incident reports shared with third parties, it is also very useful for training. Fire and rescue teams can review callouts to identify possible areas for improvement, a vital part of the continuous learning needed for emergency response driving.
In the future, the fire and rescue service will also use capabilities within Synectics’ Cloud Services for more in-depth analysis of incidents, such as discerning trends that might inform preparation, response, and driving protocols for safety or efficiency improvements.
Chris Brown, Synectics Product Manager, commented, “Hearing how much time and effort the system saves them – especially in evidence sharing – reinforces its value. In their line of work, close collaboration with the police and transparency with the public are essential, making cloud-based surveillance the ideal choice.”
The regional fire and rescue service has already connected around half of its vehicles to the cloud using the Synectics T2000 software platform, and it intends to connect its entire fleet in the future. Another eight are due to be upgraded by mid-2025.
The flexibility of Synectics’ solutions is critical to this. With different catchment areas managed independently, the service has fire engines at different stages of life and is fitted with various systems.
"It has been a privilege to work with this customer over the years and support them in becoming one of the UK's first fire and rescue teams to adopt cloud-based surveillance solutions."