The good news is that schools, colleges and universities are turning to intelligent digital surveillance solutions highlighting the need for preventative and interactive solutions rather than the traditional reactive systems.
Jackson High in Cleveland, Ohio chose the MOBOTIX surveillance solution with integrated MXControlCenter software.
Jackson High School is located in Jackson Township, Ohio. They offer grades 9 through 12 and are part of the Jackson Local Schools district. In 2005, Jackson High School was named to Newsweek's list of the top 1,000 schools in the country.
Upgrade across the board
Jackson High School had an old, analogue surveillance system in place, which was recording to digital video recorders (DVR). However, a modernized school facility required up-to-date technology - Jackson High School decided to upgrade to MOBOTIX digital IP cameras. The main focus was vandalism, general student safety and improved access control of facilities.
ProTech Security in Jackson Township, Ohio designed and installed Jackson's new security system, which is comprised of a mix of 55 MOBOTIX M12 and M22 IP cameras. The cameras were installed in common areas, hallways, cafeterias, and around the schoolyard. Three cameras provide additional coverage of the school bus garage, which had been subject to vandalism and loitering. Authorized school administrators and security staff can monitor and provide access control from any PC in the facility.
Flexible solution, better image quality 
"We had major difficulties identifying individual students and events with our old surveillance system. The new MOBOTIX IP cameras provide clips that are extremely detailed. It was a huge improvement in image clarity," said Doug Winkler, Business Manager at Jackson High School. "Storage and accessibility of video clips is significantly improved as well. This used to be an issue with the old DVRs. The video took up a lot of drive space and finding specific events could be a daunting task."
"Jackson High School is a perfect fit for the versatile and flexible MOBOTIX IP cameras," said Art Morrison, Operations Manager from ProTech Security. "The renovation is done in three phases, so it was important to have a scalable surveillance solution allowing them to add cameras and features as the facilities grow. The network load from each camera is very low so each server can handle a large number of cameras and we can easily add more when so needed."
VoIP 2-way communication and video exporting for emergency and evidentiary purposes
ProTech's Project Manager, Greg Coon, who is working with school and police officials on procedures and policies for future incorporation of the use of Mobotix video "Export" capability, commented, "We demonstrated how even the school resource officer can VIEW or CAPTURE an image or even video clip with little more effort than pushing the "Export" button on MxControlCenter or downloading from the camera directly." Local police were also focused on what some termed the "tamperproof" features built into the actual digital recording from within the camera itself.
Mobotix VoIP (2-way communication) feature allows the police both audible, 2-way, as well as video surveillance remote viewing of selected cameras in an emergency scenario. This capability can extend to the responding officer's laptop. This would be invaluable in an active shooter or hostage event such as occurred recently at Virginia Tech. Police and other first responders until now have only dreamed of this possibility. The MXControlCenter also hosts schematic layouts of the building interior in its viewer allowing response teams a complete overview of the situation, no more drawing sketches as the police were left to do at Columbine in April 1999.
An important part of the IT system
"The more we can monitor and control our school the better we can protect our kids and staff. We have received very positive reactions from parents. They appreciate the fact that we can offer their kids a safer school environment," said Doug Winkler.
"There is no doubt that we will continue to expand our MOBOTIX IP surveillance system as we grow our school. The cameras have become an important part of our IT infrastructure and it would be hard to live without them."
