“Limited by budget, we chose to upgrade to the Avigilon Control Center Enterprise network video management software platform to enhance system management and dramatically improve image quality of our existing surveillance infrastructure,” said Adrian Bowater, director of finance at Walsall Academy. “The surveillance system is critical to our ability to track students’ behaviour, reduce horseplay and petty theft, and has had a significant impact on student behaviour across campus.”

Administrators seamlessly manage the hybrid surveillance system using Avigilon Control Center Enterprise network video management software (NVMS). The Academy installed Avigilon HD cameras to monitor main entrances, parking lots and corridors, cloak rooms, and technology suites and also installed Avigilon analog video encoders to boost the performance of its existing analog-based cameras which are located throughout the interior of the school. An Avigilon HD network video recorder (NVR) stores up to six weeks of continuous surveillance video—a dramatic improvement over its previous system, which could only store seven days of footage. The Avigilon HD Surveillance System operates 24x7 and is monitored live by administrators during the day and remotely by key users if necessary.

Enhanced image quality and advanced functionality have improved overall security at the Academy, causing a ripple effect amongst students and contributing to good overall behaviour. Because of its user-friendly interface and ease-of-management, Walsall Academy has been able to train more users on the Avigilon HD Surveillance System to share the workload and achieve greater investigative success. Users can now search for details in a third of the time previously required and can quickly and easily export video to share with local law enforcement. By leveraging its fixed assets and improving the performance of its analog cameras, the Academy has saved significant installation and maintenance costs, and was able to upgrade to high definition surveillance for the same cost as simply adding analogue cameras.

“Student safety has become a top priority for England’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED,) which carries out hundreds of school inspections each week,” said Alexander Fernandes, president and CEO of Avigilon. “The Avigilon HD Surveillance System gives Walsall Academy a reliable and highly effective way to monitor activity and ensure students’ safety, well-being, and good behavior—helping the school achieve excellent results not only with OFSTED, but with students and parents alike.”