Security | Feature

Surveillance Jumps on the Network


Melissa Tebbenkamp, director of technology for Raytown Quality Schools in Raytown, MO, learned firsthand that there is both good news and bad when it comes to video surveillance system implementations.

The good news first: Her district superintendent recognized the need to upgrade older analog systems even in this era of ever-tightening budgets. He wasn't alone. In a 2010 survey by Campus Safety magazine, 42 percent of K-12 respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the quality and coverage of their current video surveillance systems.

Among the limitations of analog CCTV systems: the cost of installing cable to support and power them, especially on large campuses; the difficulty of scaling up; the lack of interoperability with other security systems; and the inability to provide access to authorized users in the field.

The better news is that internet protocol (IP) network-based cameras and digital video management software are maturing, and many issues surrounding them, including bandwidth, data storage, ease of use, and integration, are starting to become clearer. Prices are going down and the number of features is going up.


That's why, in the last two years, the 22-campus Raytown district has gone from an analog CCTV system of 56 cameras that did a poor job of monitoring a few parking lots to make sure teachers' car tires weren't stolen to an IP-based system involving 500 cameras.

So what's the bad news? Even if putting cameras on your IP network makes sense now, many decisions still need to be made based on your school district's needs, including choices about network configuration, camera types, storage hardware, and video management software.

Tebbenkamp agrees with that. She acknowledges her initial research in the subject took more time than she thought it would.

 "We really did our due diligence," Tebbenkamp says. "On the project management side, we would definitely do it ourselves again, but it did take more of our internal resources than we initially thought."

Educational institutions were among the early adopters of IP-based video surveillance solutions because their scalability is so attractive. With the goal of expanding coverage in crucial areas such as stairwells, parking lots, cafeterias, and hallways, administrators struggled with the previous generation of analog systems, mainly because adding new cameras would involve a potentially expensive cabling project.



Yet an existing system of analog cameras need not be abandoned. Many schools have older analog cameras tied to digital video recorders that can be incorporated into an IP network using encoders. The data is digitized and can be viewed alongside IP camera images. While you don't get the high resolution of IP cameras, the analog cameras should work fine in the new video management system. And additional cameras can easily be added to an IP network using Power over Ethernet (PoE)--the camera draws electricity through its Ethernet connection, eliminating the need for power outlets.

Two Key Issues in Making the Switch
Any school district considering a transition to IP-based video surveillance must pay close attention to two issues: bandwidth and data storage.

1) Bandwidth. Putting video cameras on a production network could have serious bandwidth implications. While some districts have hefty 10-gigabit backbones to their main buildings and few bandwidth concerns, other school districts have smaller data pipes and must pay attention to compression and variable bit rates to lessen the impact.

"If a school district has lots of locations, the killer is backhauling the data to monitor it from a central location," says Ron Walczak, principal consultant with Walczak Technology Consultants in Prospect, PA. In that situation schools tend to have storage at each location with access to it from the central hub, he explains. "Then you choose which hot spots you want to monitor and look at those 10 crucial camera views out of the 200 total to come across the wide-area network."

Paying attention to bit rates can also lessen the impact on the network. A constant bit rate can stream video at a fixed low level, such as 2 megabits per second. This mode is preferable where bandwidth is limited because the constant rate can be predefined, but image quality will vary with the amount of motion in a scene. Variable bit rate systems stream at a low rate when there is not much activity, "but when there are lots of people moving around, it bumps up to around 12 megabits per second," explains Honovich. "You have to make sure you have the capacity to handle the spike so it doesn't crash your network."


2) Data Storage. Most school districts tend to retain their video images for a month or more, which can require dozens of terabytes of storage. Organizations typically store video data on storage area networks (SANs) they already use for other purposes. Others set up SANs dedicated to storing video images. Storage is becoming less problematic as it gets cheaper. (You can find a 2-terabyte hard drive for $250.)

Raytown retains its video for only 10 days, but even that short time frame required upgrading to 40 terabytes of storage capacity, Tebbenkamp says. Again, using a compression scheme can cut down on the storage space required for video files.

Another possibility is cloud storage. Honovich dismisses it as a viable alternative right now, although this is likely to change in the future. At the moment, for both cost considerations and ease of management, he says a network video recorder (NVR) and local storage are better bets. And then there are security concerns, since images captured on cameras may ultimately have to be used in court proceedings.


Need Help?
Perhaps the first decision you will have to make in upgrading from analog to IP is whether you see this as a DIY project or something you'd rather outsource.
Consultants and integrators are basically an engineering department for hire, says Grossman, the security consultant. "You hire us because you don't have the expertise in-house or you don't have the time. If you are going to investigate this yourself, it can be a time sinkhole."


On the other hand, Tebbenkamp knew from the start of her district's $1.3 million project that she wanted to be in charge and that her team would keep the RFP process, project management, and vendor coordination in-house. "Some districts turn it over to a systems integrator, but I am not that type of person," Tebbenkamp says. "One of our goals was to be as hands-on as possible."

In the planning stages, Tebbenkamp's team asked vendors to describe how their systems would integrate with the other vendors Raytown was considering. "Poor answers to those questions shot down some of the vendors as possibilities," she adds.

Raytown evaluated seven brands of IP cameras before selecting Panasonic megapixel cameras because of their compression, image quality, and manageability. The school system looked at five video management applications and chose Genetec's Omnicast based on scalability, manageability, ease of use, and integration with door access control. Tebbenkamp now admits some help with making those initial decisions would have been beneficial.

Three Trends to Watch

Some cameras have motion detectors that automatically increase the frame rate when they detect movement. Others have tamper alarms to detect if someone spray paints or sticks gum on a camera, for example. Yet the analysts interviewed for this article agreed that the technology isn't quite ready for prime time. Some systems send too many false alarms and users ultimately turn the features off. "I have a PC with a webcam and video analytics that is supposed to recognize me so I don't have to enter a password all the time," says Robert Grossman, an electronic security consultant. "It works one in 10 times. By and large, people say they will come back to analytics in a few years."


3) Licensing Fees. Traditionally, analog CCTV system vendors didn't charge an ongoing maintenance fee because they were just selling cameras and a DVR. Now that video surveillance is more of a software solution, most video management software vendors charge about $300 per camera for a one-time licensing fee. Some now also charge an annual maintenance fee. Think twice before shelling out for this. "There are so many credible players that don't charge," says Honovich, "that even the ones that do are willing to negotiate about it. It is a good question to ask up front."

On the Wish List
Besides scalability, what are most medium-sized to large school districts looking for in a video surveillance upgrade? Those responsible for purchasing these systems tend to say they must balance technological sophistication with ease of use. The user interface must be straightforward enough for school administrators to grasp quickly.

Most also want the capability to monitor and record sound, which can provide a more complete picture of a situation, enabling administrators to better pinpoint parties involved in an incident such as a fight. Many school districts also seek to allow access to the cameras from outside of the network. Police officers can be given login credentials to view cameras from a laptop or smartphone before going into a building in response to an incident.


IP Video Vendor Roundup
Links to the vendors and products mentioned here.


Axis Communications
Axis provides its Camera Station video management software to complement its range of network cameras. Video encoders allow integration with analog systems, and a Windows-based client permits remote viewing.


GVI Security
GVI Security is geared toward small to midsize entities requiring simple IP video surveillance solutions. Its product line includes AutoIP, an open-platform VMS, and a series of network video recorders, megapixel cameras, and video encoders.



Milestone Systems

Panasonic System Networks

Verint Systems

Video Insight

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