White Paper: Schools Improve Security And Save Money With Open Platform IP Video Surveillance

By Eric Fullerton, Corporate Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Milestone Systems

Schools should be safe havens for education. New developments in video surveillance technology based on IP technology are helping primary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities improve security, as well as enhance operations and minimize losses in commercial areas (such as bookstores, cafeterias, and vending machine halls). Compared with traditional analog solutions (also known as CCTV or closed circuit television), IP-based solutions are much more versatile and cost effective. In fact, the advantages can be even more dramatic when an IP video surveillance system is based on an open platform capable of incorporating both IP network (digital) cameras and a school's existing analog cameras (connected through the use of inexpensive video decoders).

While analog video surveillance solutions are generally proprietary (designed as a closed system only available from a single company), open platform systems use video management software specifically designed to allow a variety of hardware and software applications from different manufacturers to interface with it. This enables the platform to function in new and different ways beyond what was originally intended. For this reason, open platforms provide a base on which to continue to build and expand the capabilities of a system for years to come.