Background

Craven College, known for its commitment to providing quality education and fostering a safe learning environment, recently undertook a significant upgrade of its security systems. Adrian Lawson, the Head of IT at Craven College, played a pivotal role in this transformation.

"I was asked to look at the CCTV systems, a task that initially began under our head of facilities. With a background in IT, I was brought in to evaluate and implement new security systems with a focus on security concerns, particularly those related to certain camera manufacturers.”

The Challenge

The primary challenges Craven College faced included reducing the time spent trawling through footage and maintaining disparate infrastructure. With 88 cameras spread across various locations, the scattered and outdated systems were cumbersome to manage. “Our existing setup was a mix of outdated, non-centralised systems with no clear strategy,” Adrian notes.

To address these issues, Adrian and his team reached out to other colleges and consulted with their solutions partner Tieva, who recommended Verkada. "We spoke to a Verkada representative and were connected with another college in the U.K. that had recently implemented Verkada. Their positive experience helped guide our decision."

Why Verkada?

Adrian highlights several reasons why Verkada stood out from other solutions:

• Cloud-Based Centralisation: "Verkada offers one central, cloud-based solution. It's scalable—if we want to expand, we just buy the licence and connect a network cable. We don’t need a whole new NVR unit for different buildings."

• Ease of Installation and Management: "The simplicity of installation and management from an IT perspective was a big plus. Verkada handles automatic updates, which saves us from planning downtime and manually managing updates."

• U.S.-based Ambarella Chipsets: "There were security concerns with non-NDAA compliant camera manufacturers, particularly given the recommendations against their use in government agencies."

The Results

• Time Savings in Incident Review: Previously, finding specific footage could take an entire afternoon (about 4 hours). With Verkada, it now takes only about 30 minutes, representing an 87.5% reduction in time spent on incident review.

• Caught Purse Theft: In one incident involving a stolen purse, Adrian was able to track down the thief using Verkada’s analytics and search feature.

• Enhanced Compliance: To support proper usage, access to the Verkada platform is restricted to only privileged users, while audit logs provide transparency into who accessed footage and when.

The Benefits

Simple to Use and Manage

Craven College has deployed Verkada cameras and is evaluating access control and air quality sensor solutions. These systems are integrated behind a single platform, enhancing efficiency and security. Adrian notes, "With local systems, we had to go on-site to view footage, whereas with Verkada, we can view everything via a browser. It’s much easier to manage. We’ve also implemented CCTV policies to control who can view the footage, restricting it to three users."

Verkada’s hybrid cloud infrastructure allows up to 365 days of onboard footage and unlimited cloud archiving. Automatic updates containing the latest features and security enhancements are delivered over-the-air to keep the system up-to-date.

Enhanced Compliance, Security, and Privacy

With audit logs, Adrian has transparency into actions taken within his Command organisation to check for proper usage. “The audit logs help us track who has accessed footage and when, which is useful in checking for compliance." Features such as live and historical face blur also support privacy in footage shared for investigations.

From two-factor authentication to role-based access control, Adrian has a variety of controls to improve the privacy and security of their systems. This includes:

• Enforcing two-factor authentication for all users in the organisation.

• Setting up and enabling SSO.

• Ensuring proper roles and permissions.

• Configuring SCIM to manage users and groups through identity managers like Okta or Azure.

• Reviewing users and groups to ensure they have the correct permissions.

• Reviewing preferences and actions taken in Command.

• Setting a geographic region for data storage within the European Union (EU).

• Confirming appropriate signage regarding camera recording.

• Auditing the logged actions of Command users for irregular activity.

• Forcing the logout of all users in their organisation if needed.

Significant Time-Savings

Adrian shares, "The search functionality is excellent. We can quickly find incidents by searching for specific attributes like clothing colours or vehicle descriptions. This used to take hours; now it takes minutes." 

He recalls an incident where a purse was stolen, highlighting the capabilities and quick response using Verkada’s system. "Someone external to the college was loitering near a door and stole a purse. Using Verkada cameras, we captured a clear photo, identified the activity, and uploaded the image into Command as a Person of Interest. This allowed us to track the thief’s movements around the car park. Achieving this level of security was impossible with our previous systems."

In a few clicks, Adrian can promptly share footage and live camera feeds with investigators using a time-restricted link, making the relevant information accessible without compromising security.

Actionable Insights to Protect People and Places

Loitering Detection

To prevent similar thefts in the future, loitering alerts can help detect and notify staff of suspicious behaviour that may warrant attention. If someone is just passing by, nothing will happen. But if they remain in a pre-selected region beyond a specified time threshold, that will trigger an alert. Like other alert types, loitering alerts can be scheduled for specific times of the day and days of the week, such as after school hours.

People of Interest (POI) and Licence Plates of Interest (LPOI)

People of Interest (POI) can also be linked to Licence Plates of Interest (LPOI). From an LPOI alert, staff can quickly pull up sightings of the associated POI to see if they entered the building. This additional context can help expedite investigations and improve response time.

Real-Time Alerts

Adrian can further enhance security with real-time POI alerts. When monitoring a single camera feed, Verkada will swiftly flag any POI appearances on that camera. Adrian can also leverage Shortcuts, a feature for tracking moving subjects across cameras, to maintain visual contact with the POI throughout their premises.

These actionable analytics help keep staff, students, and property safe at Craven College, making it easier to detect, track, and respond to potential incidents efficiently.

Looking Ahead

Adrian is evaluating Verkada's access control and air quality sensors to centralise safety and security management under one platform. "Integrating access control into our existing Verkada platform will streamline management and improve security along with convenience.” Deploying air quality sensors will help monitor environmental conditions, maintaining a safe and healthy atmosphere for students and staff. "We see the potential for sensors to help prevent smoking and vaping."

Adrian's experience demonstrates the significant benefits of adopting a centralised, cloud-based security solution – particularly the ease of installation, scalability, and excellent support. "We had a hardware issue, and the replacement came quickly. Verkada's 24/7 support and 10-year warranty provide great peace of mind." With Verkada, Craven College has successfully modernised its security infrastructure, improving efficiency, compliance, and overall safety.

Join thousands of schools in strengthening campus safety, while simplifying ownership. To learn more, attend an upcoming webinar or request a free live demo.