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Schools on camera

Schools in Hertfordshire, UK, are benefiting from Adpro security technology to deliver a remote monitoring solution to cut down on vandalism and crime. The council is now looking at extending its innovation beyond schools and deploying it to protect any council-owned amenity from play centres and athletic tracks, through to car parks and cemeteries.

At the heart of the solution is the Adpro FastTrace Multi-site Video Security System being used in conjunction with Video Central Gold, providing an essential combination of video alarm verification, remote site monitoring and control, and long duration evidential quality recording. The technology is installed within the council's flagship CCTV control room.

What originally started as a relatively small-scale operation involving a single school now looks like becoming a county-wide scheme as Robert Holgate, the CCTV control room manager for Stevenage Borough Council explains: "Initially we were just looking to reduce incidents of vandalism and petty crime within a particular secondary school in Stevenage, and this proved very successful. The use of the Adpro FastTrace not only transmitted and recorded what was happening, but we also had the audio function that allowed us to warn intruders off site, and let them know they were being watched.

"Then we discussed the possibilities of broadband, and making use of the National Grid for Learning, and whether we could use this broadband connection to deliver a much wider security monitoring service for all of our schools, of which there are more than 450."

Holgate's logic, like most good ideas, was very simple. He had the state-of-the art monitoring facility and the trained operators; the schools had the broadband connection. All the school had to do was pay for the initial capital outlay for the cameras and a monthly monitoring cost, and they could each have a sophisticated CCTV monitoring solution for a fraction of the amount they would pay if they tried to go it alone. What is more, he was gaining additional revenues for the council, and maximising the full potential of his control room asset, while still delivering a very high level of service.

"We very quickly added a further school in nearby Welwyn Garden City to our scheme, which means we now have a secondary school and a primary school template that we can roll out across the county - not just in North Herts, but also much further afield.

"All of the sites work on alarms," he adds, "so that my operators can use their time most effectively monitoring the Town Centres (pictures from 144 cameras across nine town centres are relayed back to the Stevenage control room) but still respond should an incident occur.

"From just one computer we can monitor more than 20 sites. They have adapted to what we want at every stage, including now looking at integrating their technology onto our Front End so that every element of control is in front of our operators without having to look at different screens.

"The next stage," he concludes, "is working with Vision Fire & Security to explore different ways of bringing back IP-addressable cameras, including temporary cameras, so that we can monitor even more Council properties and amenities using a broadband connection."

Adpro products are available locally through CMT Trading.

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