An upgrade to the video surveillance system of the University of East Anglia is helping to keep it the safest campus in England.
Click on the image below to see a full slideshow of the installation:
Click here to view Figure 1.
The University of East Anglia (UEA) was voted third for “Good Security” out of 113 universities in the “Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey” of 2011. It has been voted the safest university campus in England three years in a row.
The UEA security team of 28 officers provide 24-hour security campus-wide. These officers are based in a fully manned 24/7/365 security lodge.
The University of East Anglia was an early adopter of IP video surveillance in 2005. Milestone partner Check Your Security (CYS) brought together a number of standalone CCTV systems into one efficient and centralized IP-based monitoring system that was capable of growing with the University.
The University’s security system was centralized by using Milestone XProtect Enterprise as the video management platform. A total of 90 existing analogue cameras were brought into the Milestone solution with 30 new IP cameras installed campus-wide. UEA’s IT department took over management of three dedicated video servers, and the system was moved onto the campus’s fiber backbone.
However, the number of cameras being installed around the 350-acre campus grew by up to 20 per year as new buildings were constructed. It became clear by 2011 that the system could be improved even more. Simultaneously, UEA began to look seriously at integrating its campus-wide Gallagher Cardax access control system with the Milestone video management system to find further security management efficiencies.
Tech specs in detail:
- Designated management server running Milestone XProtect Corporate
- Three HP servers for video and alarm storage up to 30 days
- 175 surveillance cameras including 90 analogue
- Analog signal digitized through 23Axis 243Q and 243SA four-and single-channel video encoders
- Four 360 Vision Predators with IR and LED lighting
- 30 Axis 232D and 233D network dome cameras
- Three Axis Q6034E cameras
- 60 Mobotix M12, M24, D12, and Q24 cameras
Open platform IP video solution expandable
With the guidance of CYS, UEA made the decision to upgrade to Milestone XProtect Corporate. UEA also upgraded to Milestone XProtect Smart Client 7 in order to bring the system’s front-end user interface up to date. Additional storage servers from HP were added to handle growing data archiving capacity.
The number of cameras per server can now continue expanding with minimal IT resources even if the camera count continues to rise at the current rate.
Furthermore, UEA is planning to extend its IT services support to a neighboring school site that is being renovated and expanded. The architecture of the system allows UEA to interconnect and manage new security systems and locations, bringing them onto the centralized network.
Positive results and integrations
The Milestone system allows UEA’s 28-strong team of security officers to retrieve the details of incidents very quickly and use this intelligence to make well informed decisions to keep the campus’s staff, students, and visitors safe.
Trevor Smith, Campus Services Manager at the UEA, tells us:
We have two main security systems at UEA: One is Gallagher’s access control and the other is the Milestone-based IP video system. The idea of integrating the two is very exciting. You only have to look at security scenarios to realize the potential.
For example, in case of fire at night it would be possible to determine which students have left a hall of residence following an alarm being raised, comparing the numbers and identities of those detected by the access control system with surveillance image views at the designated muster points.
Smooth integration between the access control and video surveillance systems will mean that alarm events (e.g., forced door entries, swiping of a deactivated card, etc.) will be linked with the video database.
Access control alerts will be displayed on the control room screens. The nearest camera to a door entry could be selected and moved via XProtect to view the person trying to force a door. Patroling security officers can be dispatched to challenge any unauthorized entrants to a building.
The Milestone system can also integrate with video content analytics to “face match” the photo in the access control system with the live video image of the person swiping the card. Theft or misuse of swipe cards to enter University buildings could thereby be easily detected.
Further integration with fire systems and alarms
CYS is scoping the benefits of integrating the security platform with UEA’s intruder alarms and fire detection systems.
Mr Smith adds:
The reality is I do not see my team expanding in the near future, yet two or three new buildings are going up each year, and student numbers are rising. More effective use of the video management and alarm platform provides the key to squeezing more and better services out of static budgets.
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interesting to know more as it seems they build up a good quality future proof security system…