The Green Bay Area Public School District increased security with a VMS tailored for education applications.

With 38 primary and secondary schools spread across 92 square miles, Green Bay Area Public School District needed to upgrade its multi-school analog CCTV system to better protect its 21,000 students. They sought a solution that would give each school the autonomy to view its own video while allowing the district the flexibility to manage and support each camera centrally.

“When we looked at all the advances that digital megapixel technology offered us, it just made sense to scrap the old system and start anew,” explains Allen Behnke, directory of safety, security and telecom for the school district.

SimplexGrinnell, a Tyco business, designed a new system that included more than 500 Axis Communications HDTV-quality, fixed dome network cameras controlled by a Video Insight digital video management system. Remote monitoring of video on desktops, iPads and smart phones immediately became a favorite safety feature of the district, and the education-tailored VMS provided intuitive map and floor plan navigation that was easily adopted by essential school personnel.

Each new Axis fixed dome IP camera can cover what three of the school district’s old [analog] PTZ cameras used to because of better system design and higher resolution, according to Behnke. Video usability — which is what ultimately sold the district on the new network video system — has provided key corroborating evidence to help sort out the “he said, she said” disputes common in schoolyard vandalism, theft and fights.

Instead of spending hours sifting through footage in the server room, staff can pinpoint video in an instant with smart search capabilities. With the system residing solely on the district’s Cat5/6 network, technical staff can adjust camera parameters remotely and update firmware globally to avoid cost and delay of service calls. Staff can also lock down video export rights to ensure that surveillance footage doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

With their IP video surveillance system, Green Bay Area Public School District saves time and money while definitely separating the guilty from the innocent. “We may not be quite C.S.I. caliber, but the quality of images we capture is just phenomenal,” says Behnke.