Since 2009, TSI Video has prided itself for being the only onboard video surveillance vendor to focus specifically on the public transit industry in North America. Designed specifically for transit, the company has developed a lineup of cameras, recorders, and software that helps keep drivers and passengers safe – and keeps transit agencies protected from undue litigation and disputes.
TSI Video was founded by John White, whose son Matt White is now the president and owner. The younger White said that the company’s history can be split into two different time periods: in 2009, the company acted as a reseller for Verint’s camera systems. But in 2016, TSI Video took control of its destiny and began to develop its own product line – what is now the Nexus series of recorders and its complementary NexView software.
“We were able to create and design this product in such a way that it was an easy transition for the customers that were previously using other systems,” White said. “We work hard to ensure that our customer base has the ability to transition easily from older technologies, and that our technology is backwards compatible.”
The TSI Video line of products now includes the Nexus Hybrid Video Recorder (HVR) and Network Video Recorder (NVR), both built on an open platform for enhanced integration, and scalable for agencies of all sizes. The NexView video management software line includes a base platform, as well as NexView Pro with advanced features. The company’s next major development will be releasing its web-based version of NexView later this year.
White said that TSI Video’s mission is to provide robust and reliable safety and security technology specifically for the public transportation industry.
“We want to create product lines that are both reliable today but that can also be expanded into the future,” he said.
The company’s four core competencies are simple and direct: a sole focus on the public transportation industry, 100 percent ownership of the intellectual property for its core product line (allowing for innovative expansion as well as backwards compatibility), the ability to integrate with other onboard technologies, and the company’s core products being Truly American Made.
Truly American Made
“Many of our competitors are importing finished goods or importing components before doing a final assembly here in the U.S.,” White said. “We decided to take a different approach and have our Nexus series of recorders fully manufactured in America.”
TSI Video has two different PCBA (Printed Circuit Board) manufacturing facilities outside of Pittsburgh which build the recorder systems entirely in-house, and the company utilizes local metal-bending manufacturers to build the system housing.
“To the best of our knowledge, we’re the only ones in our industry that can say that our recorder devices—the heart of our units—are 100 percent Truly American Made.”
Integration with Onboard Technologies
TSI Video’s goal is to integrate with all possible CAD/AVL vendors and other onboard technologies, aiming to provide value to its entire customer base as well as potential future customers.
“When it comes to CAD/AVL vendors, we have some vendors that we’ve worked with for a long time, and we also have started to build relationships with new vendors,” said Eric Vukich, director of engineering for TSI Video. “And with those relationships and interfaces that we create, we’re finding that our customer base is getting more and more use out of the software.”
When integrating with a customer’s existing CAD/AVL system, Vukich said that TSI generally gathers information such as operator ID, bus route, the route ID of the bus in operation, next stop data, the next stop ID, and whether the bus is inbound, outbound, or out for service.
But in more advanced integrations, the TSI system provides information back to the CAD/AVL system. This can include camera status, alarms, and other data.
“We want to integrate with as many onboard technologies as we can, and sharing data across platforms is a key part of continuing our growth,” White said. “We have integrations with almost every major CAD/AVL vendor within the industry. And we also integrate with other partners, like many of the sign and display manufacturers and providers.”
Backwards Compatibility
Vukich said that legacy hardware being continuously supported within TSI’s software is critical.
“If an agency is looking for new technology but can only afford to spec it into new bus builds, or only has funds to upgrade a portion of their fleet, we don’t want them to have to operate off of two different pieces of software or different firmware versions,” he said.
TSI Video’s end goal is to ensure that the customers have a smooth migration path as technology evolves, without alienating or isolating any of their existing technology.
“Backwards compatibility is critical to us,” White added. “We want to ensure that, as technology advances, we do everything that we can to ease the transition from one generation of technology to the next.”
Designed Specifically for Transit
Because its products are designed specifically for transit, TSI has provided agencies with enhanced features that are unique to public transportation.
• “Live Look-In”: TSI’s system allows for dispatch and other transit administration to access onboard cameras remotely on a live feed.
“For public transit, there is a very real need for video offload capabilities and for live look-in capabilities,” Vukich said, “and when you understand the needs of the agency or the customer that you’re working with, it allows you to be very focused on what those needs are, rather than making sure that you’re addressing other verticals as well with the development.”
• Ridership Validation: Another feature designed specifically for transit. Within public transit, agencies are required to validate their ridership or validate their passenger counters. Instead of sending ghost riders on routes or sifting through hours of video, agencies can quickly validate their ridership with TSI’s feature. The feature activates recording only each time the vehicle’s doors open, allowing the agency to track ridership more efficiently.
“Once the door closes, it moves to the next door open,” Vukich said. “This saves agencies a lot of time when they’re validating either passenger counters or actual ridership.”
• Geographical Inquires: In cases where agencies receive requests from local law enforcement (a missing person, for example), this feature allows users to query not only a specific bus, but a geographic area.
“If someone was last seen on 5th and Main, for example, the user can say, ‘From 12:00 a.m. to 1:00 am, what buses passed through that area, and can we please have the video from the corner of 5th and Main?’” Vukich said. “And when you can return that to law enforcement, you can generally shed some light on what happened in that area.”
Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS)
Serving a ridership of nearly 10 million riders annually in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, Mecklenburg County and surrounding areas, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) strives daily to provide exceptional service and safe transportation for their riders.
The partnership between CATS and TSI Video began in 2010, when TSI was acting as a reseller and support arm for Verint. Sterling Faggart, manager of safety – bus operations for CATS, was heavily involved in the agency’s transition from those cameras to the Nexus system it now operates.
“We had to run parallel systems, which wasn’t that difficult running because we just had two different stations,” Faggart said. “The Nexus system has been great now that that everything we do is remote. If we pull a removable hard drive, it’s because the bus is in the body shop because of a collision. Otherwise, we never need to pull a removable hard drive for footage.”
When TSI Video designed the Nexus HVR, the first generation of recorders that CATS implemented from TSI, they ensured that the recorders would be an in-kind replacement to the recorders CATS had at the time. As part of its overall philosophy, TSI aimed to make the transition as easy as possible for the agency.
“It’s also a substantial cost savings to the agency,” White said, “to not have to completely revamp their system or install all new hardware as they move forward.
This year, CATS is transitioning to the new Nexus NVR solution for its new bus builds. The system includes IP cameras, as well as a built-in POE switch – essentially reducing the pieces of equipment needed to run the onboard system.
In a unique arrangement, CATS and TSI are in the second year of a multi-year support contract in which TSI has a dedicated staff member on-site to support the system. This representative provides support as needed, as well as maintenance for the cameras and recorder systems.
rabbittransit
The Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority, doing business as rabbittransit, is a regional authority that provides public transportation to eleven central Pennsylvania Counties which includes Harrisburg and York Cities. The agency has two urban programs, a small urban fixed-route program, a rural fixed-route program, and a rural shared ride paratransit services throughout its service area – which encompasses more than 6,000 square miles.
“It’s a very diverse system with many unique aspects, but they all come together to function as one in a seamless effort,” said Richard Farr, executive director of rabbittransit.
TSI Video began working with the Pennsylvania agencies as part of a larger procurement in 2018 after implanting a new CAD/AVL system. Farr said that the agency values its ability to have many disparate systems operate seamlessly, and TSI is crucial to that operation.
“What’s great about this relationship is that they truly are responsive.” Farr said. “So many times you buy a product and then you don’t hear from them again, or everything’s a fight, or it’s a challenge to get hardware and software to work together. Sometimes you feel like you’re on an island with no support, but that’s not how TSI works.”
In 2018, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation began implementing a Fixed Route Intelligent Transportation System (FRITS) for 32 transit agencies throughout the state. This common technology platform allows the state’s transportation agencies to operate more efficiently and access unprecedented levels of data analysis. TSI Video was an important component of this integration for rabbittransit and Capital Area Transit.
“Most of these same agencies are in the State Association For Transit Insurance (SAFTI),” Farr said. “We collectively pool our resources, including our insurance broker and our legal defense. Having a single program that collects what is very important to our defense is incredibly important to our state’s agencies.”
“This allows us to collaborate in that way and allows our legal defense team to be incredibly effective for us,” he continued. “It allows us to come together and share best practices, as well as make better use of our data.”
With TSI Video, Farr said that responding to complaints is a much more efficient process than ever before. In the past, the agency would conduct witness interviews, or to pull the data from the bus when the vehicle was off the road.
“We can now get the high-quality video in our hands in less than 12 hours, thanks to the remote downloading,” Farr said. “We can get back with our customers and take corrective action in a much timelier fashion.”
Foothill Transit
Foothill Transit, consisting of 22 member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys of California, has worked with TSI Video since 2006. The agency has a fleet of 357 buses from multiple OEMs but has continuously specified TSI in its procurement orders.
“Our entire fleet is equipped with TSI surveillance equipment. Right now, we’re in the process of upgrading the equipment’s software, and TSI is partnering with Avail Technologies—our CAD/AVL provider—to integrate the two systems and give us a better ability to view events in the surveillance system,” said Roalnd Cordero, Foothill Transit’s director of maintenance and vehicle technology.
Cordero said that TSI’s customer service has made the relationship strong. The company is uniquely positioned to respond quickly and adapt to the changing needs of a growing transit system. “TSI has the capability to provide service on a quick turnaround. It seems like they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Cordero stated.
In one instance, he said, TSI was working nearby with another agency when Foothill Transit was having some issues with their system. TSI’s support team traveled the 30 miles to Foothill Transit and provided a free assessment.
“We have constant communication, which is a great way to get customer service from your vendors,” Cordero said.
Customer Service and Support
That strong customer service is foundational to the mission of TSI Video, said Troy Whitesel, director of sales and marketing for TSI.
“Our ultimate goal is to provide a high level of support for customers, and to make sure they are never upset with the products or services we provide,” he said.
Whitesel said that these business relationships evolve over time, to the point where he considers many of their customers to be friends. When they see each other at conferences or during property visits, conversations can drift to personal discussions about life and family.
“I think that’s so important, to have those types of relationships with our customers,” Whitsel said.
“When we meet potential customers,” White added, “we tell them that we’re here to build a relationship over decades, not years. We place a very high value on making customers for life.”