Better Surveillance for the Education sector

The all new video surveillance products are addressing specific needs of a wide variety of users in education sector. whether it’s remotely accessing videos across branches, keeping an eye on untoward accidents on various sections of the campus, among other things

- Sudhindra Holla, Country Manager, Axis Communications India & SAARC

Educational institutions are witnessing a surge in offences such as vandalism, violence and burglary. Apart from these, schools constantly face issues of bullying and corporal punishments and some schools are seeing crimes such as illegal MMS and exploitation of students. From single unit institutions to multiple campuses, it becomes important to monitor all sections on a campus effectively at any given point of time. Security cameras will not just enable the authorities to monitor campuses but can be used for various other facets as well – such as mapping out student and staff behavior, keeping an eye on any untoward accidents in the playground and to improve the general quality of life in campus.

Many parents and staff alike feel that surveillance cameras breach the privacy. To counter these issues, schools should make clear where all CCTV cameras are installed in the campus and their advantages, as a part of their documents and notices. This will negate the concerns raised about privacy issues.

Sudhindra Holla, Country Manager, Axis Communications India & SAARC

Using Surveillance Cameras Beyond Security

IP cameras can be used to send and receive data over a computer network. These advanced technologies provide educational institutions with the additional benefits of remote monitoring and robust storage capabilities. IP cameras are also beneficial to obtain high resolution and quality images and video footage, which are rich in vital and detailed information. It also enables the authorities to utilize the security cameras as a video conferencing tool. The cameras are used to transmit video, while audio is transmitted through a regular telephone line. This enables not only virtual staff meetings across campuses, but also allows for parent/teacher meetings, wherein parents can actually join the meeting from any campus that is convenient for them. Such cameras also help to improve behavior and productivity of students and teachers.

Numerous schools and higher education establishments are using network video to aid learning. Some schools use robust, all-weather network cameras to monitor wildlife projects whilst others have ventured into full remote ‘e-learning’ using high quality network cameras. It enables to establish a virtual studio through the use of high quality network video cameras, so that users can remotely control cameras in the studio to live view or review recorded lectures and practical workshops.

The filming of lectures is also becoming an increasingly common practice among universities, enabling remote learning. It gives students the opportunity to review lessons at their leisure, catch up on any of the lecture they may have missed and provide a valuable resource for revision.

Surveillance Cameras for Automation & Security

New video surveillance products are addressing specific needs of wide variety of users. These enable remote access to video at any number of branch offices from a single location. The complete system is easily connected to the existing network infrastructure and computers, thus keeping installation and maintenance costs low. There are models that are vandal-resistant and are suitable for any application that requires video surveillance coverage of a large area or extremely high image detail in a limited area such as school halls and campuses.

Also, there are smaller dome cameras with ceiling mount pan/tilt/zoom features. These offer authorities a highly discreet and affordable solution for remotely monitoring indoor areas like class rooms, cafeterias and libraries, etc. New technologies like a built-in microphone also allow monitoring for unusual noises during off-hours to trigger a security alarm.

With all these advantages and added functionalities, video surveillance systems can be an important value addition to any educational campus. Surveillance systems have become affordable and at the same time easy to maintain and operate. Security surveillance systems bring in significant cost savings by preventing property damage, reducing the subsequent cost of repairs and cutting down on insurance claims.