Konica Minolta’s Intelligent Video Solutions provide the Sweyne Park School with a powerful and cost-effective surveillance system

Challenge: Modernisation of the incumbent surveillance solution required

The Sweyne Park School prides itself on not only offering educational excellence, but also in ensuring it provides a safe and productive work environment for its pupils and staff. An essential element of this approach was the use of CCTV systems to monitor key parts of the school facilities and enforce security, protecting the safety of pupils and staff.

Following a review of its systems, the school felt its incumbent surveillance solution needed modernisation to continue providing the required levels of safety and security, turning to Konica Minolta for advice on the best solution for its needs. Following a demonstration by Konica Minolta of its powerful Intelligent Video Solution (IVS), The Sweyne Park School was convinced this thoroughly modern and progressive alternative to the previous more rudimentary CCTV system would be the ideal enhancement to its daily security and safety regime.

Solution: Konica Minolta’s powerful Intelligent Video Solutions (IVS)

Konica Minolta’s powerful IVS solutions provide a fresh and innovative approach to automated surveillance, replacing traditional CCTV systems with a far more integrated system. It delivers a highly automated and intelligent solution which equates to sophisticated artificial intelligence using high resolution cameras as its ‘eyes’.

Developed with real-world security challenges in mind, Konica Minolta’s IVS solutions combine visual, thermal, sound and sensor data to accurately monitor and therefore better protect any environment. The cameras produce exceptionally high-quality, images, even in low light. To ensure full visibility, the interior cameras are mounted flush to the ceiling, without moving parts, delivering full 360° view coverage with no blind spots.

 

Utilising cloud-based technology, the Konica Minolta IVS cameras feature built in and highly secured and encrypted Digital Video Recording (DVR) management technology. A MicroSD card is fitted into every camera as backup storage which continues to capture video recordings should the external network connection or recording fail for any reason. Upon reconnection, the camera re-syncs the recordings with the central cloud-based storage.

Highly cost-effective and simple to scale to any network size, Konica Minolta IVS solutions make it easy to add more cameras and any required additional storage. No dedicated servers, recording or software licences are needed, saving time and money both upon the purchase of the system and during its lifetime.

As a low maintenance solution, Konica Minolta’s IVS cameras are perfect for any location, having been built to withstand all weather conditions and temperatures, without requiring any additional housing or protection. Additionally, The IVS solution has the capability to use audio to broadcast messages, alerts,and pre-recorded files to support the management of the school.

 

Result: 24/7 security of pupils, staff and visitors within the school grounds

The highly accurate and comprehensive 360° vision capability of the solution has enabled The Sweyne Park School to reduce a number of analogue cameras (and the associated costs and resources required to operate them) down to just one Konica Minolta camera, whilst also enhancing the quality to 4K resolution. The school is using the solution to survey the corridors, dining rooms and vulnerable areas, helping to keep pupils, staff, and visitors safe whilst delivering unrivalled levels of cyber security.

Unlike traditional CCTV systems that can only capture one moment or angle at a time, Konica Minolta’s 360° imaging technology means that every image/incident is recorded. The IVS system stores high quality imagery 24/7, delivering live low-bandwidth imagery and playback on demand (thanks to the full 360° recording even events that aren’t shown live on screen to an operator can still be retrieved).

The solution also features powerful inbuilt and constantly up-to-date end-to-end cyber protection against hacker attacks - at no extra cost. This market- leading technology robustly protects the wider IT systems of the school, along with the paramount safety of pupils and staff.

The solution has provided The Sweyne Park School with the flexibility to install the equipment themselves, without expensive third-party subcontractors. Dan Joslin, Network Manager at The Sweyne Park School commented, “It’s so easy to install that we can now fit and configure additional cameras within 20 minutes. The quality of the images returned are second to none, providing clarity that is above and beyond what our previous solution would provide. In addition to the 360° viewing, the solution provides comfort that there won’t be any blackspots in viewing, providing 24/7 security for everyone within the school grounds.”

The solution will also form part of the implementation of a programme of pre-recorded lockdown security drills, with audio files providing guidance for pupils around fire safety, crowd management, and general safety. In addition, the intercom feature allows the operators to audibly alert those in the area and broadcast live messages. In the case of designated one-way corridors or entry and exit protocols, this feature will allow the operators to interact directly with staff or pupils in the vicinity of these areas to minimise any risks.