Security: 10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Video Surveillance System
By: Linda Richardson
Choosing the best video surveillance system for your school can be a daunting task. There are so many vendors and so many options that you are probably wondering, "Where do I start?"
Perhaps you already have an outdated tape-based VCR system or perhaps no system at all. Regardless, you will still need to answer some key questions to make the right decision. Careful thought must be put into these questions, or you might end up with a costly mistake. The following questions are critical considerations in the decision.
1. What are you trying to accomplish by installing a video surveillance system?
There are several objectives that come to mind. For some schools, the primary reasons for a video surveillance system are to protect property and reduce vandalism. For others, the reasons are to improve the security of the students and faculty and provide peace of mind for parents. Depending on the objectives, you might want to focus on systems with good live video and/or systems with easily accessible recorded video. If Internet access is important, make sure the solution that you select has this capability.
2. Do you already have a tape-based VCR system with cameras in place?
If you already have a tape-based system, you may be able to use the existing cameras and cabling. This translates into substantial savings. However, you should take this opportunity to reexamine the number and placement of your cameras as well.
3. Are you going to do the installation yourself or have an integrator do the installation?
If you are going to do the installation yourself, do you have the right expertise in house? Do you understand basic camera placement and cabling? If you are not using an IP network, you will need to have co ax cabling installed. Even if you are not going to use IP cameras, you will probably need to have people with basic networking skills if you want to view the live and recorded video centrally or over the Internet. If you are going to hire an integrator, do they have a track record of successful installations in similar environments? How long have they been in business, and can they give you multiple references?
4. Who will provide support for the surveillance system?
Who provides support for your existing IT environment? If you have this kind of support, they may be more comfortable with a PC-based system. Some vendors provide a black box system. If something happens to this system, your only recourse is to send the box in for repair, whereas, with a PC-based system, you may only need replacement parts, which can be obtained from the PC vendor.
5. What types of facilities are you monitoring?
Does your campus have multiple buildings to be monitored? Are they geographically dispersed? If there are multiple buildings, do you want to monitor all locations centrally? If you want to monitor all locations centrally, what kind of connectivity do you have between your locations? The type and location of the facilities will also drive the placement and types of cameras. If cameras are to be placed on the outside of buildings, they will need special housings. If you need to move the direction that the camera is viewing, they you will need a PTZ camera (Pan Tilt Zoom) that allows a user to control the camera direction.
6. What type of network connectivity do you have within your facilities as well as between your facilities?
Many schools are now installing fiber networks in all of their buildings as well as between buildings. If this is the case, you might want to consider an IP camera based system or a hybrid of IP and traditional analog cameras. Initially, an IP-based system may be more expensive. However, the total cost of ownership may be less. IP-based systems require no additional cabling, plus they can be installed by your network administrators. And, the prices of IP cameras are coming down at a rapid rate. If you have both existing analog cameras but also want to eventually migrate to IP cameras, consider a hybrid system that can support both types of cameras.
7. What is the quality of the images that you require?
This question goes hand in hand with the first question about objectives. Different video surveillance systems support varying levels of resolution as well as frames per second. Resolution is a measure of the quality of the picture; the higher the resolution, the better the quality. Frames per second (fps) indicate high many frames (or pictures) are captured in a second; the higher the frames per second, the less choppy the recordings. High frame rates are typically only required for very detailed surveillance such as a casino.
8. How long do you need to keep recordings?
Higher resolution and high frame rates require more network resources as well as more disk space storage for historical recordings. How many days of recordings do you want to retain? Your system manufacturer or integrator can give you estimated requirements for disk based on frame rates, resolution, and days required. This will drive the type of system to be purchased. PC-based systems can usually be upgraded to include more disk storage.
9. What kind of company is the actual manufacturer of the video surveillance system?
Whether you install the system yourself or you have a system integrator perform the installation, you should be concerned about the actual manufacturer. How long have they been in business, and what type of support do they provide? Don't be afraid to ask for some of their school references.
10. What is your budget and how much will the system cost?
After answering all of the above questions, the moment of reckoning will arrive. How much can you afford? Contact local system integrators or research video surveillance manufacturers. Get quotes and compare features based on your requirements. But remember, it's not just the initial purchase that should be evaluated. Systems must be installed and maintained.
Answering these 10 questions may seem overwhelming. But the decisions in buying a video surveillance system are complex and mistakes can be costly. School budgets are always tight, and the time that you spend before you buy will pay off in the long run.
Linda Richardson is the director of product marketing at Video Insight, www.video-insight.com , which develops sophisticated video surveillance software.
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Case Study
Using an IT Management System to Protect Your Assets
For Miranda Clemson, the network administrator at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire , last summer turned into one big headache. But, having little knowledge of the whereabouts of 40 Tablet PCs would be enough to make almost anyone reach for the aspirin.
Luckily, for Clemson, she found relief. The remedy came in the form of ITAMDirect, SchoolDude.com's information technology asset management system.
"With several programs running concurrently during most of last summer, I wasn't always sure where the computers were or who had them," Clemson said. "Using ITAMDirect, now I know that I'll be able to see who logged on last and will have a much better idea of where the computers are. Last summer was extremely stressful, and I hope to avoid that this summer."
Clemson is not alone in her quest to keep track of her school's IT assets. One of the most difficult problems facing private schools today is managing information technology hardware and software assets through their entire life cycle, from budgeting and planning to repair and replacement.
Without an effective management program, IT assets can cost far more than necessary due to waste and redundancy, as well as overly complex management and maintenance. To protect those resources, many private school technology professionals are beginning to implement IT asset management systems.
Nationwide interest from educational IT professionals makes the value and cost savings offered by effective IT asset management even more apparent. A recent survey of educational technology professionals conducted by SchoolDude.com echoes the importance of IT asset management and the growing desire for an efficient management solution. Nearly 80 percent of respondents indicated a need to more effectively track networked assets, and more than 84 percent believe automated data collection to be the most important feature of an IT asset management tool.
Obtaining an accurate database of all PC hardware and software assets meets a tremendous need for private school IT professionals by providing a critical foundation for long-term technology planning.
"We wanted to track assets-see who's using them, where they are and what kind of machines we had," Clemson said of the decision to purchase ITAMDirect. "There were many incidents where we knew there was a certain computer on the third floor, for example, but no one had looked at how much memory it had, and the old database couldn't reflect that information. That's what we wanted to track."
The system's ability to get a handle on hardware assets got Kimball Union Academy 's attention. Tracking software sealed the deal.
"The fact that it could track software was something we hadn't considered when we first thought of purchasing the product," Clemson said. "That's definitely a huge benefit of ITAMDirect and it's what sold me on it. We didn't think about long-range planning, but it will be a really good tool as time goes on. Now, when we add a new asset, we have the purchase order, the warranty and how much it cost, and that will help a lot with long-range planning."
Keeping a precise inventory of IT assets allows educational professionals to be better stewards of their limited resources The improved accuracy can be beneficial in planning and budgeting resource needs. Plus, maintaining data in a computerized system enables IT professionals to view PC configurations and history without having to go to the machine's location.
"The best thing about ITAMDirect is not having to go around making sure the database is updated," Clemson said. "Databases don't stay updated unless you do it. Having a product that reports back is great."
While supporting all aspects of IT asset administration management, integration with an IT help desk management system makes ITAMDirect an even more effective tool. According to Clemson, the ability to interface with SchoolDude's ITDirect has been useful. Requiring that each incident generated be tied to a specific asset is a welcomed
idea for the small but efficient three-person staff within Kimball Union Academy 's IT department. With ITAMDirect and ITDirect working together, detailed configuration information and asset history are readily available for incident resolution.
Added benefits of an integrated asset management system include the ability to conduct proactive IT support management and better protect assets through improved security. Monitoring IT assets enables a technology department to look for certain problems before they occur. A system that screens assets at a component level provides added security by identifying missing or stolen assets through monitoring and reporting.
Additionally, an IT asset management system can track software licenses to ensure compliance and avoid penalties while monitoring usage to optimize license management.
Even though Kimball Union Academy has been taking advantage of ITAMDirect for only a few months, the school is already reaping benefits. The ease of implementation, especially with the school's PCs, provided a solid start for the IT staff and the 175 computers on their roster.
Streamlining the entire IT management process with an effective IT asset management system reduces the administrative burden, while increasing time savings, and allows for excellent recordkeeping and accountability for IT assets.
Looking to the future, Clemson noted, "ITAMDirect does the job it's designed to do. As we continue to use it, we'll use it to more effect. It's a process."
With any luck, a process that is now a little less painful.
