Effective Deployment
IP-based solutions use every angle to their advantage
- By Debjit Das
- Aug 01, 2011
Reflecting upon our formative years elicits nostalgic memories of school. These memories represent a time of youthfulness, learning, exploration and fun. However, in the aftermath of tragedies at educational institutions in recent years, school also can conjure images of fear and violence.
Trying to protect some of the nation’s most vulnerable institutions presents a challenge for security professionals. Campuses comprise their own micro-city—they have multi-building locations, perimeters, parking lots, student housing, restaurants and sporting venues. Securing these different locations can be a daunting task.
From natural disasters and unforeseen accidents, such as fires, to crimes perpetrated by civilians, campuses are exposed to security and safety challenges. With thousands of students and faculty to protect, how do you effectively deploy a campus-wide security solution that addresses such challenges? Here we outline some best-practice approaches that can help ensure a safe and open campus environment.
Adhering to Regulations
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, the landmark federal law originally known as the Campus Security Act, continues to be the nation’s leading force for improving campus community safety. Enacted in 1990, the law states that all education institutions must publish an annual report disclosing campus security policies and three consecutive years of crime statistics. Enforced by the Department of Education, the Clery Act covers such crimes as missing students, emergency response and notification, theft, rape and sexual assault, hate crimes and fire incident reporting. This law is the foundation for security requirements at most institutions of higher education both public and private, and it is tied to federal student financial aid programs, as defined by the Higher Education Act of 1965.
To comply with the Clery Act, campuses must meet obligations in three broad categories: policy disclosure, records collection and retention, and information dissemination. In order to stay compliant, institutions are forced to take a holistic view of campus security and deploy solutions that help address potentially dangerous situations for both students and faculty. As such, leveraging state-of-the-art, cost-effective technology remains a priority for security professionals.
What Happens Now?
Let’s examine a potential security situation on a campus and what needs to happen to resolve the issue efficiently. Campus police receive a call from the emergency response phone system that has been placed throughout campus from a student claiming he has just been robbed of his laptop. Police quickly pull up live video of the student’s location and gather details on when and where the event occurred. With the use of live and recorded video played on a video management system, police are able to view and monitor different locations throughout the campus to find the suspect. They can immediately dispatch teams to the suspect’s location as well as to the student’s. With remote access to video on smart devices, and with the assistance of dispatchers, the police can apprehend the suspect and retrieve the stolen laptop.
Campus security can then export all video and case-related data for future investigative purposes. After the event, they can research video, track the event, analyze the details and ensure efficient coverage for the location of the initial theft.
Solutions that Hit the Mark
A comprehensive, seamlessly integrated security solution—including cameras, encoders, wireless devices, network video recorders, video management software and video analytics— deployed across any campus is key to detecting threats as early as possible, responding to them as quickly and effectively as possible, and managing and resolving them in a way that ensures the best possible outcome. It is important to do so leveraging the technology infrastructure in place on the campus. One of the benefits of IP-based security solutions is the ability for institutions to adopt existing architecture with a few key products to enhance operations and effectively monitor all areas of the campus.
When it comes to the “eyes” on the campus, security professionals have two choices: leverage in-place analog cameras or deploy new IP cameras for greater visibility. Using analog cameras, campuses can still receive the benefits of an IP-based security system by deploying video encoders. The encoders digitize video from analog cameras and transmit the images over IT networks for high performance. Conversely, IP cameras provide high-definition video and often cover larger areas with fewer cameras. Although there can be a higher cost to replace all analog cameras with new megapixel IP cameras, most security professionals see immediate return on investment with the ultra-efficient functionality of IP cameras.
Another tool to consider is the VMS that allows users to view live and recorded video from multiple surveillance cameras, monitor alarms, control cameras and integrate with various business and IT sub-systems, including access control and fire alarms. VMS products come with many options, from basic to sophisticated. Here are few elements to consider when choosing a VMS application for campus security applications:
Searchable database of case-related video, audio and data to make investigations faster and more productive.
Feature-rich video and policy-based video distribution to improve situational awareness and emergency management;
Automated system health monitoring and diagnostics that maximize system uptime and streamline maintenance; and
A powerful, fully-integrated VMS suite.
Real-World Deployments
The University of Rhode Island’s main campus in Kingston is home to more than 16,000 students and staff. In 2009, facing camera and in-house electrical failures from a legacy security system, the institution sought to upgrade its security platform to protect its vast campus.
In order to keep pace with campus growth and increasing traffic volume, the institution selected Nextiva Video Management software, Nextiva S1708e eight-channel encoders and Nextiva S1970e-R decoders from Verint.
The initial phase of the analog to IP video migration at the university featured a full realm of security operations, including monitoring and recording activity at parking lots, buildings and walkways, as well as controlling access to restricted areas. Verint’s comprehensive Nextiva IP video portfolio has helped deter oncampus incidents and crimes. Using the technology, the university has helped identify perpetrators, which has lead to arrests and prosecutions, and has ultimately brought a higher level of security and surveillance capability to the university’s campus.
“The IP surveillance really provided us with a bridge to enter the digital world with a high-performance, cost-effective video and monitoring system,” said Paul Perrone, senior information technologist at the university. “It definitely allowed us to leverage our existing infrastructure providing a true turnkey system. Some of the major deciding factors were: ease of use, advanced search capabilities, and improved compression and storage without image degradation.”
This article originally appeared in the August 2011 issue of Network-Centric Security.