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Catching the culprits

School bus replacement project opts for SerVision MVG400 Mobile DVRs.

After years of planning, a well known local Gauteng group of schools decided to make the investment and renew their ageing bus fleet. One of the issues taken into consideration was how to prevent learners from behaving badly and vandalising the buses while in transit. A decision was taken to put CCTV cameras into the new fleet in order to ensure that learners could be held accountable for their actions.

After reviewing a number of possible mobile DVR options the schools decided to install the 4-channel SerVision MVG400 mobile DVR. The units were found to offer a cost effective, high-quality video recording and transmission in a compact and rugged chassis designed for in-vehicle use.

“In addition to viewing recorded footage, it is possible to watch live video from the buses even when driving in GPRS coverage areas, without a requirement for 3G”, said Laurence Smith of local SerVision distributor, Graphic Image Technologies. “This would allow the vehicle management staff to log in and view live footage while the buses were on the road, and with the integrated GPS the speed and location of the buses could be ascertained immediately.

“On the first day of operation, a driver was seen throwing litter out of his window, as well as yielding at stop signs instead of stopping. The footage was used the same day at a driver training session and since then the compliance with the correct driving procedures has been remarkable as the drivers are now aware that they are being watched. A first incident of vandalism of the seats by a school child was picked up and remedial action has already been taken.”

With SerVision’s low power consumption (16 Watts) and ignition sensor, a decision was made to program the units to set the MVG400 units to shut down one hour after the ignition is switched off,” said Brian Mervis of AttitudeX, who installed the cameras and DVRs in the buses. “This would ensure a steady record of events while the buses were in operation without leading to drained batteries.

“Installation was very easy with the only connections needed being a positive connection, negative connection and an ignition connection,” said Mervis. “With the unit being shock and vibration resistant and with the hard drive mounted on a shock protected mounting, installation could not be simpler.”

SerVision’s MVG400 needs approximately 20 seconds before commencing recording on switching on the ignition. In addition the MVG 400s efficient compression system provides hard drive recording time in excess of 30 days with 24/7 recording. Due to the fact that units do not operate continuously, far greater recording times are being achieved.

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