by For enterprises to efficiently and effectively monitor various information streams and make precise mission-critical choices, control rooms are essential. Today’s control rooms must enable system management that is efficient and cost-effective while at the same time providing maximum operator comfort due to the ever-growing number of content sources and applications to handle as well as the requirements for collaborative information integration. Control room solutions are a vital part of daily operations, enabling for more productive work and better decision-making, whether it’s for monitoring, decision-making, responding, controlling, collaborating, or communicating. New, adaptable technology is required to upgrade control rooms in light of current trends.
Trends Affecting Control Room Design
24/7 OPERATIONS
Because of their constant operation, control rooms need the most dependable and adaptable technology. Operators need technology that is incredibly adaptable so they can swiftly respond to shift changes and constantly changing workflow.
CUSTOMIZATION
The precise requirements of the room itself, as well as the operators who will be developing their job in that technological environment, must be carefully considered when designing a control room. Everything should be completely customised to the specific task to be done, from the initial plan to the distribution of elements, choice of the control console, integration with technology aspects, distribution of spaces, lighting, and interior design.
FLEXIBLE CONTROL ROOM FURNITURE
Control rooms must be equipped to integrate new technology with ease. Operations centres are putting themselves in the best position for the future by selecting control room console furniture that can be modified to meet changing needs. The majority of control rooms have switched from bulky CRT technology to thinner, flat-screen monitors. Meanwhile, IP video streaming has started to be used by operation centres to more easily alter audio-visual content. The need for lighter, more adaptable control room furniture has arisen as a result of these and other improvements.
EMPHASIS ON COLLABORATION
Collaboration has always been essential to the operation of control rooms, but modern control rooms are especially built to promote teamwork in incident prevention and response. Control rooms, which serve as the vital nerve centres of their organizations, frequently bring together a variety of departments or specializations that must collaborate to monitor and react to different critical situations. Coordination is essential for mission-critical activities, and control room design must foster efficiency and collaboration through deliberate design choices. Collaborative spaces have recently been added to control rooms themselves, with huddle sections in the back or sides of a room for quick collaboration with all the control room equipment and pertinent information readily available.
ENHANCED CYBERSECURITY
Information technology (IT) teams are taking on more responsibility for implementing and managing audio/visual (A/V) solutions as more items require a network connection. Among applications, gadgets, content management systems, access points, and other new goods. As a result, many firms are prioritizing cybersecurity in control rooms. However, the expansion of network-connected control rooms, together with remote information access and content exchange, can significantly complicate cybersecurity. Cybersecurity procedures must change to keep up with the ongoing strategy evolution of hackers and cybercriminals. Organizations are utilizing more on-site IT assistance, scalable software, and user-friendly graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to decrease these persistent threats. These resources all assist operators in identifying and minimizing cybersecurity threats as fast and effectively as possible.
EMPHASIS ON FLEXIBLE DATA VISUALISATION
Operation centres must simplify their information flow as data flow becomes more complex. Network operators today get massive amounts of real-time data in various formats from a variety of sources. Due to the complexity of the data, strong visualization tools are needed to decipher and present the data for quicker collaborative decision-making.
LED VIDEO WALLS
While LCD walls have traditionally been a popular option, advancements in LED technology have allowed LED video walls to overtake LCD walls in the market for mission-critical applications. LED walls may be more suitable for longer viewing distances and perform better in larger spaces depending on the pixel pitch. It’s possible for mission-critical LED walls to have a smaller pixel pitch and yet work well in a variety of spaces, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the higher the resolution, the higher the price will be. If you need to extend a visual throughout the full video wall, an LED video wall may be the better option because it is the only display type that offers a truly seamless viewing experience.
