Harnessing Smart Tech to Keep Campus Safe
High Point University expands the use of Axis network cameras, intercoms, speakers, and analytics to secure its growing campus. The integrated solution also helps the university manage roadway traffic and other essential operations.
A top southeastern-region university
Since its founding in 1924, High Point University in north-central North Carolina has been on a trajectory of rapid growth. Over the years, the once humble, small college has blossomed into a bustling, 530-acre university complete with 19 residential communities, dozens of academic and administrative buildings, several athletic fields, stadiums, and recreation centers, as well as an array of dining venues from cafés and grills to farmers markets and coffee shops.
Recognizing that to maintain a safe environment on such a large and varied campus would be nearly impossible without the assistance of smart security technology, in 2008 High Point University began investing in network video cameras.
“Today we have over 2,100 cameras actively recording on campus,” says Robert Hisey, Assistant Director of Safety and Protection Technology for High Point University. “We’ve equipped our police officers and security officers with body worn cameras and augmented our cameras with advanced analytics to give us timely alerts, as well as greater insight into general campus operations. And we’ve added speakers to help us quickly deliver critical emergency communications to our students, faculty, and staff.”
Providing transparency with body worn cameras
One of the reasons High Point University was an early adopter of body worn cameras was to provide transparency. “We tried a lot of body worn cameras over the years,” shares Jay Atkins, Assistant Chief of Police for High Point University. “But when we tested the Axis model against those from other manufacturers, the choice was a no-brainer.”
“Unlike previous devices we used, we’ve been able to bring the body worn cameras directly into our VMS platform,” explains Atkins. “This makes it easier to give more people permission to view the footage instead of relying on one or two experts in the department who may not always be available.” As a result, campus police and security are getting involved in investigations more quickly and providing better customer service to the university’s students, faculty, and staff.
One of the biggest selling points, besides the quality of the video, was the ability to send images directly to the university’s Milestone video management software. “Other vendors kept trying to push us to the cloud,” says Atkins. “This solution allowed us to keep everything on premises.”
Analytics have transformed how we use our security technology. The cameras and other devices aren’t there just to keep our campus community safe, but they’re providing insights into how we can improve all facets of campus life.
Raising awareness at emergency call stations
Like many universities, High Point University maintains emergency call stations throughout campus where anyone can call for assistance. “We decided to swap out our legacy telephones on our blue security poles with network video intercoms because the technology let us connect peer-to-peer without having to worry about a phone server,” says Hisey. “With our old technology, there was no way for us to monitor it remotely.”
Now with device manager software, the university’s security team can look at all the video intercoms at once or one at a time to see if there are connection issues. The team can even test audio quality through a web interface. “It’s a much more efficient way for us to assure those poles are operating properly,” says Hisey.
Tightening visitor screening
The university also installed video intercoms at its gated entrances to better maintain access to the campus. “If a vehicle comes up to the gate and there’s nobody there to greet them, they can use the intercom to call our dispatch center,” explains Hisey. “This way dispatch can have a visual conversation with them before deciding whether it’s okay to enter campus.”
“There are also certain places on campus, like our faculty suites and our police department, where access is required,” states Hisey. For everyone’s safety, the university keeps those internal doors locked and equipped them with 2N intercoms with digital directories and touchscreens.
Broadcasting alerts and other messages
Installing network speakers across campus has been an integral part of the university’s mass communications system. Through intelligent software, security can broadcast messages to all speakers on campus, a specific group of speakers, or even a single speaker, depending on the intended audience. For example, if lightning is detected within eight miles of campus, a message will be played to vacate the pools and sports fields.
As a further safety measure, the university relies on camera analytics to detect when anyone enters an area after closing hours. Detection triggers an audible warning to leave because security is on its way. “It’s made a pretty big impact,” says Hisey.
The integration of access control, speakers, and cameras with analytics has also helped reduce incidents of doors being left propped open at residential buildings – a clear safety concern. “We use AXIS Object Analytics to verify alerts from our access control system before sending a warning message to a speaker by the door,” explains Hisey.
Security also uses the cameras to obtain live visuals in the case of door-forced alarms, events that are triggered when doors are opened without a proper access control card or key. “Integrating the technology with our access control system is definitely helping us make our residential community safer,” says Hisey.
Gathering actionable insights
Currently, the cameras and analytics play a large role in roadway safety. “We’re counting cars at our welcome centers to track peak traffic times when we might need more officers to get people through the gates quicker,” explains Hisey. “This has been especially important whenever the university hosts a large event. We rely on the technology to help us better manage the increased traffic flow and greater demand for parking.”
Hisey projects other possible applications for the business intelligence that the cameras provide. Some ideas he’s been thinking about focus more on operations. For instance, using camera analytics to optimize staff scheduling could help shorten checkout lines at on-campus restaurants and speed up the process of students receiving their food. Another thought would be to use the cameras to monitor the temperature of freezers, which could prevent food waste. Groundskeepers could check outdoor cameras remotely for maintenance issues, such as fountains not working properly or gardens that need trimming. Some other ideas include using the intelligent cameras to count people waiting at shuttle bus stops and make decisions in real-time whether to send extra shuttles.
Reducing liability and risk
Hisey is discovering that the insights that the cameras and analytics provide are helping High Point University improve all facets of campus life.
“Our primary goal has always been to keep our campus community safe,” declares Hisey. “Having cameras throughout our campus and on our officers helps us reduce risks.”
