Customer: Chipping Campden School
Location: The Cotswolds, Gloucestershire
Requirement: To Design and install a new IP camera system and integrate existing analogue cameras onto the same platform
Solution: Avigilon IP Cameras, Avigilon Encoders, Avigilon HD Server
Services: Design of new CCTV System; Integration of existing cameras; Installation, Training, Support and Maintenance
Customer’s View: “The best thing about our system is the quality of the images taken and the ease of access through PC based software or the iPad app.” Rhys Froggatt, Director of Digital Strategy
Chipping Campden School is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The school was founded around 1440 with monies left by John Fereby and his wife, a wealthy wool merchant, for the education of the poor boys of the town. It is a forward-looking school, striving always to provide the best opportunities for students to achieve their potential in a time of rapid change.
Rhys Froggatt, Director of Digital Strategy at Chipping Campden was recommended to speak to Aaron Kernaghan, the Managing Director at Ecl-ips by an existing school supplier. Rhys’ requirement was for Ecl-ips to review the schools existing CCTV system and advise on the best way forward to provide a campus wide solution. Previously Rhys had spoken to two other providers that had advised on new systems for the school but Rhys was not happy with the suggestions that were made or the cost of the systems.
The school had some existing external CCTV cameras installed a number of years ago for the purpose of site security, however with the increase in students and more traffic flowing through the corridors they needed to bring CCTV inside to assist with safeguarding the staff, students and visitors. The CCTV also forms part of the school security system.
The original system was based on analogue camera technology that was recorded on to a small server in the business managers office. The first request was that the recording should be based in a more secure location, it was also very important that live viewing or retrieval of footage should be available to authorised users of the systems across the school campus on PC and iPad client devices.
Before providing a detailed proposal, Ecl-ips took time to understand Chipping Campden’s requirements and planned to make the best use of the site’s network infrastructure. Ecl-ips designed a solution that integrated the existing working and usable analogue cameras but also included a mixture of Avigilon H4A and H4SL cameras. The system has been designed to record back to an Avigilon 24TB standard server that had RAID storage. Ecl-ips installed a mixture Avigilon H4 SL dome cameras, H4A dome cameras, H4M Mini domes, H.264 Encoders and a Fisheye camera for reception.
“Throughout the installation we found Ecl-ips to be flexible, competent and tidy. The Engineers were very happy to adjust or re-site cameras if the original location did not prove as satisfactory as originally thought.” Rhys Froggatt
Avigilon Control Center (ACC) is an easy to use video management system that has optimised how security professionals manage and interact with high definition video. As a distributed network platform with enterprise-class reliability, Avigilon Control Center is able to efficiently capture, manage and store high definition surveillance video while intelligently managing bandwidth and storage.
One of Rhys’ requirements was for us to provide footage in the reception area with audio, the Avigilon Fisheye camera is perfect for this scenario. This camera has 2 models with 6MP and 12MP resolution and can be ceiling or wall mounted. The camera has a sleek design and is also vandal resistant with IK10 rating also IP66 rated and ONVIF Compliant based on open standards. The Fisheye camera is based on the faster H4 platform which means superior image quality, a faster processor and better bandwidth management. The displayed image has no blind spots with a 360 degree panoramic view and has lightcatcher technology to provide clear, colour low light images which is usual for a Fisheye. The content adaptive infra-red illuminates dark images to provide enough light without providing too much reflection in the image.
Good technical training by Ecl-ips quickly gave Chipping Campden staff the operational skills to view live cameras and search for relevant footage. The system has been setup with various views including a ‘Map Views’ that provides an overall view of the site and quick access to live cameras.
“We had a need, I asked around for some recommendations, asked for a site survey and quotation, Ecl-ips gave a competitive and comprehensive quote which we were able to phase to meet our budget requirements.” Rhys Froggatt added “Don’t try and do it yourself -call the professionals. Spend money on the infrastructure first then add more cameras as and when you can. Electricians are not CCTV specialists!”