Technology to Improve Student Safety
Arthur Phillip High School is a comprehensive Government high school that is located in the CBD of Parramatta, a city in the greater Sydney metropolitan area in Australia. The school staffs around 150 teachers and administrators and supports 1600 students. They also support two school sites which are intersected by a reasonably busy road and are close to a major transport interchange.

The school is proud to be an Apple Distinguished School and strive to constantly use technology to improve student engagement, which is one of the reasons that C3 was a logical addition for their security solution. They currently have approximately 400 MacBooks that the students can borrow for a lesson (much like textbooks) and 200 iMacs in labs or teacher staffrooms. The school has an extensive computer network and wireless network, including a laser link to connect each campus. They also boast a second wireless network across both campuses, linked by fibre bored under the road and 850 Lenovo laptops. The school and its staff are clearly pioneers in using technology in education.

The school believed it was time to apply that technology to their security infrastructure. About three and a half years ago, Arthur Phillip High School was invited to apply for some Government funding specifically for improving our security. This was in the wake of concern over security threats to infrastructure and other community facilities, racial tensions in the community and a gang invasion of another nearby metropolitan school. The school was awarded the funds an they did improve their perimeter security (7ft fencing, upgraded door and entry point, and access control gates), internal site security (access control system for internal and external building entries). The previous CCTV installation was antiquated and unreliable, therefore the school also used the funds to upgrade their system.

Solution
Through the assistance of their integrator, Independent Locks, the school was able to integrate the existing analog (which gives better pictures than ever before), utilizing the schools existing network with IP cameras (as a new network was being installed to support the BER which ultimately will serve 1000 students and teaching staff), install a large server with Milestone as the VMS and plan for expansion in phases 2 and 3 (which have since been implemented) for more cameras and monitoring screens.

From a security viewpoint, the school staff felt confident that they we were getting a robust and comprehensive solution. The worst security incidents reported thus far have been “visits” by students from other schools, ranging from visiting friends to intimidating students. Some staff remain concerned about potential invasions but the system has made them more at ease.

The deputy principal, Brad Main, deals with some of the more major issues in the school, particularly student misbehavior. The new camera system with C3 has assisted in the investigation of stolen property, and has resolved some fights. And C3 even assisted remotely when adult education supervisor was having trouble closing the gates, by viewing him with C3 on the iPad, the deputy principal was able to solve the problem.

The school is currently using four installs of C3. It is installed on iPhone and iPad allowing access to video of school entry points, administration, corridors, play areas and gymnasium from about 60 cameras.

Result
The overall cost for C3 was less than 2% of Arthur Phillip High School’s overall security infrastructure budget. And deputy principal, Brad Main, said, “it took less than 10 minutes to install C3.” The use of mobile video surveillance allows administrators to have a 24/7 view of the school and the students to keep them safe. “Our budget would not allow this type of live security, but with C3 we are able to provide the right level of security for our students and staff,” said Main.

VMS:  Milestone XProtect Corporate
Using C3 to Increase Presence for Events and Monitor Campus Activities

Force Multiplier

Campus Police at the University of Illnois Urbana-Champaign are responsible for public safety in over 286 buildings housing 17 colleges and instructional units, covering over 1,400 acres and over 53,000 students.  The university is also home to 14 major sporting facilities.  In addition to day to day academics, the University hosts the largest Greek community in the US.  The 55 member campus police mission, of course, is to keep students, faculty, staff and visitors safe throughout their time at the University.

With the sheer size of their mission, it is no surprise that the progressive organization was looking for a way to provide real time, reliable video surveillance to all of their officers and personnel.

“It is important to campus safety for our officers to have a presence during regular school days and evenings, as well as major events on campus,” said Detective Tim Hetrick. “Our goal is to always be in a position to respond to threats to public and individual safety.”

Cameras and Technology

Chief Barbara O’Connor quickly realized that in order to best serve the needs of this large campus that the security system needed to be centralized.  By utilizing Axis Communication cameras and Milestone XProtect Corporate VMS, the campus police are able to manage all cameras in a central location.  Future plans include a gradual three to five year deployment of roughly 4500 cameras.

Once the centralized system began to take shape, Chief O’Connor and Detective Tim Hetrick needed a way to take that video surveillance to mobile devices.  This is when the university added iRa C3 from Lextech Labs to iPod touches that are provided to the officers while on patrol.  Through a donation to the university, the campus police department started using the iRa C3 software at the beginning of this school year.

“Installation of the C3 client was quick and painless,” said Detective Hetrick.  “And it amounts to about 1% of the total investment of video equipment on campus,” added Chief O’Connor.

Broader Partnerships Changing Video Usage

Detective Tim Hetrick displaying C3 on his iPod touch.

“By utilizing this technology, we are seeing broader partnerships with other organizations and public safety officials on campus,” said Chief O’Connor.  “Now organizations like fire safety are considering implementing the iRa C3 technology to allow them to obtain a better view of fires in buildings to assist getting people out safely and quickly.”

Like most universities, each individual department makes the decision on deployment of a surveillance system.  With this new installation within the campus police, other departments are finding the value in easily managing, deploying and viewing their video.  And while departments still have the final decision on the investment, technical specialists like Detective Tim Hetrick assist other departments with equipment and software recommendations.

Unofficial

In 1996, local establishments began a “tradition” of an unsanctioned bar promotion called “Unofficial” which is a mardi-gras type of celebration.  Annually, campus police and University administration work diligently to mitigate risks associated with this series of celebrations.

Detective Hetrick says, “Unofficial has become an annual occurrence focused on high risk use of alcohol students and guests at the U of I and it brings with it, many issues and problems.  Every year we increase the number of officers on the street by huge numbers and it is still difficult to manage the crowds and obtain real-time information.  There are certain areas and buildings that require constant monitoring during this event.

Now, this year, in using iRa C3, we will have better eyes on all areas of campus and will be able to quickly respond to any incidents.  Plus with the video component, we have a better chance at apprehending suspects.”

C3 Fits into Future Tech Plans

Currently, the officers are using iRa C3 to view 20 different cameras in high traffic, high incident areas on campus.  Future plans include a connection to over 200 of the internal and external cameras on campus.

The expectation is that other departments on campus will deploy the software as well.

Message

The most important outcome of the installation of the new cameras, the Milestone system and iRa C3 is to make the University of Illinois campus safer for everyone.  And that the campus police organization can be leaders in the usage of technology to maintain that safe environment.

“We want potential suspects to know to stay away from the University of Illinois,” Chief O’Connor stated, “the campus is secure and our officers quickly react.”

To download this case study, click here.

Lisle, IL , November 1, 2010 — Lextech Labs’ iRa C3™ video surveillance software received the Chicago Innovation Award in a ceremony at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. The Chicago Innovation Awards, established in 2002, highlight winners’ innovations that are uniquely filling unmet needs, spark a competitive response in the marketplace, exceed market expectations, achieve financial success and improve people’s lives.

Click here to continue to Vistage News.

iRa C3 was presented a Chicago Innovation Award last night at the Goodman Theater in Chicago.  One of only 10 winners out of 330 nominations, Alex Bratton, CEO and Jeff Gibson, President, accepted the award.  This is the second innovation award iRa C3 has won in 2010, the product won an Edison Award earlier in the year.

Click here for the full press release.

We would like to congratulate two Lextech Labs Channel Partners for outstanding recognition at MIPS. Milestone’s Partner of the Year was announced to be Digital Surveillance Solutions based out of Buffalo, New York. The President, CTO and Founder, Michael Blumenson, accepted the award. In addition, we congratulate Pro-Tec Design based in Minneapolis, Minnesota for Milestone’s Most Explosive Growth for the year. Tom Hagen, President and Steve Washburn, Vice President of Sales Operations accepted this award.

Additional press releases regarding Milestone and Lextech are available on the Milestone website.

iRa C3 Mobile version 2.9.1 updates include improved control and video handling for Milestone Servers.

Existing iRa C3 customers, please take a moment to upgrade the version of iRa C3 Mobile that you have on your iPhone or iPod touch.  Below is the step by step process to perform this update.

How To Update iRa C3

1) Turn on your iPhone or iPod touch device.
2) Find the application “App Store” on your device.
3) Tap on the “App Store” application to run it.
4) Touch the UPDATES icon in the lower right corner of the screen.
5) Tap on the iRa C3 Mobile application.
6) Tap on the FREE button on the right side of the display.
7) Tap on the green INSTALL button on the right side of the display.
Type in your iTunes Password and tap the OK button.

You should now have the most current version of iRa C3 Mobile on your device.

The event spans from February 15th-19th and is an educational and networking event for Milestone’s IP Video Surveillance and Integration Partners. Lextech Labs will be demonstrating iRa C3, the intuitive video command center that allows the user to configure, view, and control an unlimited number of live camera feeds through a web interface or on an iPhone or iPod touch.

For more information on this event, visit Milestone’s website.

To make an appointment to meet with us while we are in the Hollywood area, please email info@lextechlabs.com.