When you think about securing an educational facility, the first images that pop into your mind might include classrooms, hallways and entrances. And while these locations are certainly points of interest when it comes to creating a safe and secure environment for students and staff, it’s also just as critical to think about all the other areas that makeup the entire campus.
It can be quite overwhelming when you try to imagine the sheer size of some educational institutions. Campuses include numerous buildings, offices, dormitories, sports facilities, retailers, green spaces and much more. Safeguarding all of these sites typically falls under the responsibility of one security team, which can undoubtedly present challenges, especially during after hours or the many different kinds of events that can take place on campus.
To achieve comprehensive protection of a school at all times, every corner of the campus must be included in the security plan. Today’s technological advancements are making this task easier, as developments in video technology facilitate unprecedented levels of coverage for threat detection and mitigation.
180- and 360-degree wide-angle surveillance cameras provide a cost-effective solution for monitoring large campus areas. It isn’t enough for schools to simply use PTZ cameras, because at any point in time they can only look at a small part of the scene; educational institutions must aim to obtain fully inclusive coverage for the deterrence, identification and investigation of incidents.
By enabling school security officials to view activity in all parts of the facility as it occurs in both live and recorded video, panoramic surveillance provides operators with an elevated level of situational awareness for immediate response. And this security strategy can be further strengthened by the incorporation of additional solutions.
The key to correlating data from multiple sources is leveraging open-platform products. The integration of video management systems, access control, data storage and various other elements of security technology is instrumental in achieving safety and security goals, and they must all feed into one common interface to maximize effectiveness.
Learn more about how the University of Central Florida has made panoramic video surveillance the core of an integrated technology solution.