The Prairie Hill School District in Chicago recently had installed network surveillance cameras with video management software. The school administrators were looking to the safety of its students and staff, and sought CCTV to deliver clear and accurate image detail with fewer cameras installed as inconspicuously as possible, maintaining a friendly school atmosphere. The products fitted by local installer Professional System, Inc were VIVOTEK network cameras with Exacq software.
William A. Burton, President of Professional System, said: “After comparing solutions from multiple manufacturers, it quickly became clear that VIVOTEK meets all the requirements. With a mixture of indoor and outdoor VIVOTEK cameras, we were able to create a complete surveillance system that not only provides safety to students and staff, but also help the school to catch and record conflicts and interactions between students during school activity, which helped the school administration to control and maintain peaceful activity.”
A total of 196 cameras ranging from 1 to 3 Megapixel resolution were installed on eight campuses in three phases to serve different surveillance needs. In phase one, a total of 74 cameras were installed in indoors and out around a main three-storey building for general surveillance, including 41 units of FE8171V, an outdoor vandal-proof fisheye camera with 360 degree field of view. The FE8171Vs were mostly installed in the hallways and library because of their wide angle field of view which reduce the amount of cameras needed for complete coverage.
Burton said: “One of the security concerns was monitoring incidents during break times when there were large amount of students moving between classes. Using a VIVOTEK FE8171V wide angle camera, we were able to capture a panoramic image that normally requires 2-3 IP cameras. This installation not only resulted in significant savings to the school district, but also provided an open and friendly learning environment due to the discreet form factor of the camera housings.”
During the second installation phase, 60 cameras were installed mostly on the exteriors of the remaining seven campuses, including some SD8314E, an outdoor pan tilt camera with 18x optical zoom to monitor parking lots and other outdoor activities. With that 18x optical zoom, an administrator can zoom into an area of interest to record important data, for example, car number plates. After the installing all the outdoor cameras, Professional System planned to begin the final installation phase in August 2014 to install another 62 cameras inside the seven campuses.
Security staff at the Prairie Hill School District manages and monitors the recorded high definition video captured by the cameras using Exacq management software in the security office, with the video also being accessible by selected administrators, including the principal.
Burton said: “We were impressed with how well VIVOTEK’s cameras work with the Exacq software. With the user-friendly features from Exacq and superior image quality from VIVOTEK cameras, we delivered the most ideal solution for our customer.”
And Julia Veazey, Director of Technology at the Prairie Hill School District, said: “The VIVOTEK surveillance cameras help the school to catch and record conflicts and interactions between students during school activity; this is a very important piece to help the school to control and maintain peaceful activity. We are very happy with the result and look forward to deploying more VIVOTEK cameras later this year to further enhance the level of security across the board.”
About VIVOTEK
VIVOTEK, established in Taiwan in 2000, was listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2011. In 2008, a branch office was set up in California. VIVOTEK is working with more than 150 authorized distributors in over 80 countries. Visit www.vivotek.com.
