A school case study from South Africa’s Western Cape Province in the town of Strand. At Strand High School, administrators drew up plans for security to:
• make sure that school rules and regulations are adhered to
• cut bullying
• offer video of school entrances and exits
• monitor anyone entering onto, or leaving, school property; and
• offer video over athletic fields and general school grounds.
In essence, administrators sought CCTV that would provide access control and cover the school’s general grounds. Hikvision’s Official South African distributor, Sensor, and South African security installer Cam Live Vision designed and installed a system.
Ben Bekker, Director of Cam Live Vision, said: “It became clear in the initial stages that the specifications of the client, combined with school budget concerns, required that very specific cameras were used … we had to be very intelligent about designing a solution that addressed these often disparate goals.”
Bekker opted for a PTZ model to cover surrounding school grounds (including playing fields, outdoor cafeteria, and parking garage), and viewing of school entrances and exits. Hikvision’s Smart PTZ — DS-2DF7284 Series 2MP Network IR PTZ Dome Camera was chosen. With units placed on the front and back of the school building, PTZ functionality offers a full 360 degrees of coverage. A 20x optical zoom provides the coverage needed for all the school, in its entirety. “It’s the DS-2DF7284’s 2MP resolution that allows the school Principle and Vice Principle to accurately identify an individual … regardless if they are at the main front entrance or behind the rugby field,” added Mr Bekker. This model features Smart IR capability and 150m of IR range, a tool “that is definitely of use during the night, to give us security even if students are not present,” Mr Bekker added.
Hikvision box cameras were chosen for indoors and some outdoor areas. The DS-2CD864F-E(W) 1.3MP Network Box Camera was combined with Hikvision’s TV0309D-MPIR Lens to view indoor school hallways, indoor cafeteria, and outdoor courtyard. As this courtyard is largely covered, weatherproofing was not an issue.
As with the previous speed dome, megapixel resolution was a must; and hence the TV0309D-MPIR lens was used. This is due to the lens’ vari-focal infra-red function and auto iris – providing clear images in quickly-changing lighting.
One example is “Strand High School’s interior hallways,” said Mr Bekker. “These hallway doors open directly to the outside … so when a door is suddenly opened, normally dark areas are immediately saturated with bright sunlight, requiring this Hikvision lens … and IR functionality when returning back to the dark.”
Since Strand’s principal and vice-principal use their PCs to monitor this IP system, Hikvision’s iVMS software was combined with the DS-9632NI-ST embedded network recorder (NVR). As this recorder supports 32 IP camera channels, it gives administrators access to whichever camera needed.
This comes in particularly handy during peak hours, such as the morning (with students arriving) and the afternoon (leaving for the day). After one week using this solution, bullying decreased. Mr Bekker noted this was confirmed by both students and Strand’s principal. Teachers can now review video to identify students who break school rules, such as leaving school grounds during breaks.
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