Bethune-Cookman University - USA
- Client
- Bethune-Cookman University
- Region
- Americas
- Location
- USA
- Solution category
- Challenge
- An Older System at a Growing University
- Solution (BusinessSolution)
- Updated and Affordable IP Video Surveillance: Merging History with Technology
Challenge
An Older System at a Growing University
With 3,600 students spanning 40 buildings in beautiful Daytona Beach, Florida, Bethune-Cookman University is one of only 11 United Methodist Church affi liated historically Black colleges and universities. And while their program has grown from a school for a handful of young African-American girls in 1904 to its status as a co-ed predominantly Black and Hispanic University off ering 35 undergraduate programs and a master’s degree in transformative leadership, B-CU has educated generations of lifelong learners and community leaders. One thing that hadn’t progressed as rapidly, however, was their surveillance technology.
Still operating on a functional, but older, analog system they installed eight years ago B-CU administrators realized that making the leap to IP technology opened up a whole new world to address security and surveillance needs.
“We had some issues in dorms in particular with unauthorized access like males being in the female dorms and vice versa, as well as thefts and fi ghts,” said B-CU Network Manager, David Garcia. “And although we had a system in place, it wasn’t particularly accessible and it wasn’t as satisfactory visually as we would have liked it to be.”
Garcia began researching newer technologies in video surveillance and after consulting with local vendors about IP systems he selected Video Insight because of the vendor recommendation, the aff ordability and the ease of use of the system.
“It’s a high quality product that is installer friendly, but as it relates specifi cally to the customer – it’s very easy to use. Plus, Video Insight off ers a great response time and support which is essential when you have a product like video surveillance,” said Patrick Peacock of Flatline Cabling Services out of Palm Coast, Florida. “We feel like the university is defi nitely headed in the right direction with the upgrade.”
B-CU initially selected six servers and 417 IP camera licenses from Video Insight reseller Liquid Campus Security, although Garcia said they will be adding to the system to appropriately cover their existing and growing campus needs. The equipment runs on central servers with both the Video Insight Web client and Monitor Station access.
Solution
Updated and Affordable IP Video Surveillance: Merging History with Technology
Garcia, who installed the hardware and software himself, also provided the training for use by the campus employees including deans and security personnel.
Six months into their new system, Garcia said B-CU is more than pleased.
“It was such an easy system to install and it is worlds easier to operate and maintain. When you attach an IP camera to the network during installation, you are basically done. I also really like the centralization of it.
It’s much easier to have a centralized server rather than have 50 DVRs in all different places throughout the campus. That really was what helped us decide that this was the route to go.”
Garcia adds when there are technical issues, getting the cameras back online is much simpler than their previous analog system. “If you lose a switch, you lose a camera, but when the camera does go down it’s so easy to get back up and running. And in the few cases where I haven’t been able to resolve an issue myself, the Video Insight tech support has been excellent.”
Training has been “a snap” said Garcia who has provided two employees with administrative access and currently has 12 deans and security personnel who can watch their areas from the Monitor Stations.
And while one of the biggest differences from upgrading to IP from analog is that they couldn’t access the system remotely before, the best improvement is photo quality, said Garcia.
“There has been no mistaking ‘Is that a guy or a girl’ or ‘What is in his hand?’ with this system. The images are crystal clear and it has really helped us in identifying individuals and has helped us to resolve our issues when we have needed it to produce results.”
