Brighton Grammar School
Minutes vs. days
to find, save, and share footage
Seconds vs. hours
to view & respond to campus events
Instant alerts vs. no visibility
for air quality & vaping
Brighton Grammar School is the leading educational institution for boys aged Kindergarten-to-Year-12 located in Melbourne, Australia located just minutes from the sea. Behind each student is a team of passionate staff members, dedicated resources and proactive wellness initiatives – including a Positive Masculinity and Wellbeing program curriculum framework.
Sandra Maher, ICT Director, manages all the technology systems across the 140-year-old campus. Every stage of the learning journey is carefully designed to bring out the best in its students – and supported by her team’s modern technology infrastructure.
The Evaluation
Resources at Brighton are thoughtfully valued and allocated. Sandra assessed security vendors based on their current offerings and capabilities, as well as their future potential to scale and drive operational efficiency. The school is also committed to protecting its students across all activities and environments – both within and outside of school hours.
“The greatest advantage we’ve gained with Verkada has been the ability to see events from anywhere at any time. I don’t have to connect devices back to the school infrastructure or make sure my server is online. I can give people access to footage and environmental data in a really controlled way, so they view only what they need, for as little or much time as required for their role.”
Why Verkada?
“We have new capabilities that we didn't know we needed until we had them. For peace of mind, we receive real-time alerts if there's a person of interest or other key safety events on campus - we love having the tools to maintain a safe and healthy environment under a single dashboard.”
Verkada supports Brighton Grammar in its proactive approach to health, safety and wellness – while maintaining individual privacy. Sandra uses Verkada’s integrated devices for:
Student Health and Wellness
Proactive Safety and Response
Operational Efficiency and Ease of Use
Scalable, Hybrid Cloud Architecture
Privacy and Security Features
Sandra began the deployment with Air Quality Sensors that monitor for PM2.5, TVOCs, smoke and vape emissions, before expanding to Verkada Cameras built with hybrid cloud storage. Devices, footage, alerts and users are centrally managed from the Command software platform, providing a single pane of glass to simplify school security at scale.
Student Health and Wellness
“We can maintain safer and healthier environments because Verkada allows us to view and respond to events across campus in seconds.”
To equip boys with life skills around kitchen safety and cooking, food education classes are taught at the school’s BHive facility, which is well-stocked with gadgets such as wood-fired ovens, stove cooktops and ovens. Air Quality Sensors not only ensure that appliances are properly managed and turned off at the end of the day, but also detect fluctuations in the environment such as:
Temperature to monitor for kitchen fires.
TVOCs to detect gas leaks and ensure proper cleaning protocol is followed.
Noise and motion to secure the premises after-hours.
PM2.5 to maintain air quality and support student health.
Humidity to prevent the growth of mold or mildew.
Besides kitchen safety, another added benefit of the Air Quality Sensors is the ability to detect vape emissions. In a 2023 study on e-cigarettes in Australian secondary schools, the discreet appearance of e-cigarettes (83%) and difficulties identifying where the vapor is coming from (73%) were the most frequently reported barriers to policy enforcement for those schools in the study. The Verkada sensors in use at the School integrate seamlessly with Cameras to provide visual context in a privacy-respecting manner. "If vaping were to occur, we would be able to detect and respond immediately to guide students into making better decisions about their health.”
Proactive Safety and Response
“Proactive alerts are sent straight to my phone and inbox. In one click I can quickly review the corresponding footage.”
Sandra sets custom thresholds to notify her of meaningful events or unusual activities. This includes vape events, sudden degradations in air quality, the presence of a Person of Interest on campus, and unusual motion within a pre-set area. These events are also centralised to the Alert Inbox in the Verkada Command platform, where Sandra and her team can efficiently review footage, archive clips, share videos, customize settings and manage users – all without jumping across different systems.
Operational Efficiency and Ease of Use
Designed with ease of use in mind, Verkada’s UI is simple for Sandra and her team to navigate without any training. “You don’t need to be technical to use Command, it’s easy to find what you need.”
To save time, Sandra and her team leverage powerful search features – such People and Vehicle Analytics. Sandra can leverage actionable insights and capabilities such as face search, person attributes, person history, Person of Interest notifications, and Occupancy Trends
Powered by edge–based processing and computer vision technology, these features help streamline operations and improve efficiency to bring value to other areas of the institution. Firmware and software enhancements are released over-the-air through automatic updates, eliminating the need for manual servicing and maintenance.
Scalable, Hybrid Cloud Architecture
In the past, the limited storage capacity of the legacy camera system led to a buildup of footage on onsite servers and the creation of large files when exporting to keep key footage. With Verkada’s hybrid cloud storage, Sandra can archive footage to Australian-based AWS cloud servers and access it remotely through Command.
“I don’t need to worry about retaining videos for an extended period of time. I can archive them in Command and have unlimited storage space. Plus I can label the clips to easily find them later in a 1-click search from the custom tags I’ve added to clips.”
This eliminates the need for onsite servers and ensures that relevant footage remains readily available on web or mobile devices. Furthermore, the cameras' built-in local storage allows for up to 365 days of video retention, providing extended storage without the costly and bulky infrastructure.
Privacy and Security Features
"Verkada allows us to strike the right balance between safety and privacy, ensuring each one without compromising the other.”
Sandra can achieve best practices in privacy and security by enabling two-factor authentication, single sign-on (SSO) and role-based permissions, along with features such as Face Blur. She can limit access to cameras and footage with custom settings and revoke access anytime. Data obtained through Verkada belongs solely to the school and is encrypted at rest as well as in transit, providing an additional layer of protection and information integrity.
Looking Ahead
By providing a safe space for discussion and learning, Brighton Grammar gives its students the opportunity to make positive changes. The flexibility to control access, securely share clips, and revoke access as needed allows Sandra to keep students safe while respecting their privacy. For her next steps, she plans to expand her deployment and explore new products, further enhancing the capabilities of the integrated ecosystem.
“As Verkada releases new features, we continue to find new ways to use the technology and bring more value to our school.”
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