Beardwood High School tackles disruptions from students with Bosch Security Systems integrated CCTV system

(31/01/2007)

Disruption to education is an ongoing and significant problem for schools across the UK but when Beardwood School, which is responsible for educating some 1,100 students, was experiencing disruptions from children setting off fire alarms during school time it decided to take drastic action to address the problem.

Bosch Security Systems has supplied its proven EnviroDome cameras and its VIDOS Video Management System for an integrated CCTV system at Beardwood High School in Blackburn.

The school looked to Delta Fire & Security Protection to commission an integrated CCTV solution using high-quality products from Bosch Security Systems. Delta Fire & Security Protection, based in Lancashire but with national coverage, has been operating for over 25 years. Delta has been working with Bosch for two years and recently became a Bosch Security Systems Dealer, and so receives superior levels of customer service and support from Bosch, enabling it to build and grow long-term relationships with its customers.

The new security system at Beardwood School has been introduced in two phases. The first phase was to tackle the immediate fire alarm problem and saw the installation of some 35 internal cameras and one external camera. They are predominantly positioned in the corridors to cover the school’s fire alarms whilst also monitoring the central corridor areas, entrance and exit doors and the fire escape routes.

An independent Cat 5 network was installed during the summer holidays specifically for the use of the CCTV system, transmitting both video and audio to the dedicated server housed at the school’s Facilities Management office, with a secondary control PC at the school’s reception.

At the front end is Bosch Security Systems' VIDOS Video Management System, specifically designed for IP-based CCTV surveillance installations, and Network Video Recorders.

The VIDOS network video recorder provides a long-term storage and retrieval solution for video and audio as part of a Bosch Video IP installation. Comprising three key components: management software, a server platform, and RAID 5 storage, VIDOS-NVR scales to handle an unlimited number of cameras and users.

VIDOS is a one-stop solution, it has everything needed to view and control fixed and PTZ cameras with fast response times. In addition to real-time video management, VIDOS is used to set up and configure the system by automatically scanning the network for compatible devices, while continuously monitoring the health of key components.

Phase two of the security installation saw the installation of six additional internal cameras and seven external fully functional Bosch EnviroDome cameras. The EnviroDome is rugged in design and its proven reliability ensures that the high-resolution camera captures the finest detail even in adverse weather conditions. Along with the additional cameras Delta Fire & Security Protection is also proving an additional half terabyte of hard disk storage.

Presets will be provided by means of external Redwall movement detectors and will be backed up with external speakers for future expansion of the system to off-site transmission to a remote CCTV monitoring station.

The installation has made a substantial difference to the school as Kevin Glover, Premises Manager for Beardwood School explains: “Students setting off the fire alarms was a persistent problem for us, with up to six per day it was a serious issue and causing major disruption. Every fire alarm, false alarm or not has to be taken seriously and every evacuation is a disruption to the children’s education so we had to address it.

“We know that CCTV cameras are not a panacea and we do not wish to take a ‘big brother’ approach but the security system has been very effective and since its introduction we have not have any fire alarms triggered by misbehaving students, we’ve seen a marked reduction in crime and an improvement in behaviour.”

Jeremy Hockham, UK Managing Director of Bosch Security Systems, said: ”We are pleased to see that Bosch technology has been chosen for this installation, it will offer a practical and dependable solution to an undesirable problem for Beardwood School.”

Related topics:  CCTV System   Fire, Health & Safety   Remote Monitoring and Surveillance   Security market sectors 

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