Customer Story

FDEM Upgrades state emergency operations center with advanced av system

Florida Department of Emergency Management | Tallahassee, Fla.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) built a new State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in Tallahassee — a hurricane-hardened facility that serves as the coordination hub for the state’s disaster response. S&L Integrated Systems supplied, installed, programmed, and commissioned the facility’s audio-visual systems, working alongside AV consultant Waveguide and the construction team. The scope spanned the Emergency Operations Center floor, a briefing control room, a training center, dozens of conference rooms, executive offices, and public spaces. S&L also installed and commissioned owner-furnished displays and managed project equipment through warehousing and delivery to the job site. The result is an integrated audio, video, conferencing, and control solution built for mission-critical daily operations and emergency activations.

The Challenge

The new EOC is a mission-critical facility that must remain fully operational during hurricanes and other disasters, so every system had to be reliable, intuitive, and ready for high-stress activations. The AV scope covered a wide range of space types — from the large EOC floor and briefing control room to dozens of conference rooms and office spaces — each with different requirements. The project also involved substantial owner-furnished equipment, an evolving set of requirements as construction progressed, and close coordination with the construction schedule and other trades.

- Mission-critical facility demanding reliable, always-ready systems
- Wide range of spaces from EOC floor to small offices
- Substantial owner-furnished equipment required integration and commissioning
- Requirements evolved throughout construction and commissioning
- Inconsistent building power required protection for AV equipment

Customer

Florida Department of Emergency Management

Location

Tallahassee, Fla.

Industry

State Government

The Solution

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EOC Audio for Critical Communications

Digitally steerable column loudspeakers, supplemented by full-range loudspeakers and subwoofers, deliver focused, even coverage across the operations floor so briefings and critical announcements stay clear at every position.

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Video Walls for Situational Awareness

Planar video walls in the EOC share live information with the operations floor, and an owner-furnished 136-inch video wall relocated to the lobby welcomes visitors with shared content.

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AVoIP Distribution Across the Facility

A Crestron NVX video-over-IP network connects video sources and displays throughout the building, with tie-lines between the State Watch Office and EOC, ingest of the client’s real-time data sources, and spare encoders for future expansion.

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Conferencing for Dozens of Meeting Rooms

Cisco video conferencing across more than thirty conference rooms gives staff a consistent meeting experience, with audio-path improvements that restore sound automatically after power interruptions.

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Video Production for Media Briefings

Video switching and 4K conversion in the briefing control room support live briefings and recording for media and public communication.

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CATV Headend for News Monitoring

A Blonder Tongue optical CATV distribution system delivers television signals to displays throughout the facility, with signal-level verification to confirm performance.

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Assistive Listening and Networked Audio

Infrared assistive listening systems in the EOC and training center support accessibility for staff and visitors, while Dante audio networking with domain management keeps audio routing organized and reliable.

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Racks, Power Protection, and Infrastructure

AV racks with uninterruptible power supplies, structured CAT6A and fiber cabling, patch panels, cable management, and Activu failover-signal distribution give the facility a dependable technical foundation.

The Solution

S&L Integrated delivered a facility-wide AV solution combining audio, video, AV-over-IP distribution, conferencing, CATV, assistive listening, and control systems across the new EOC. The systems emphasize speech intelligibility, shared situational awareness, and ease of use, with consistent room standards so staff can operate any space confidently. The design supports both daily operations and emergency activations while leaving room for future growth, including spare encoders on the video network and reuse of the client’s existing technology.

The Result

The new SEOC opened in early 2026 and its capabilities were tested quickly as Hurricane Isaias neared the state. The new EOC gives Florida’s emergency management team a modern AV foundation for daily operations and disaster activations. Focused audio coverage on the EOC floor is designed to keep briefings and critical announcements clear, while video walls and networked displays give decision-makers a shared view of live information. Consistent room standards and simple controls make the systems approachable for staff, and UPS protection on key racks helps equipment ride through building power interruptions. Built on scalable AV-over-IP networking with spare encoders and failover distribution, the platform is ready to grow as the state’s needs evolve.