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| MediaSolv was selected to design, install and configure the new digital video system |
Coastal Carolina University (CCU) had a fast-growing student population and a video system that was not keeping pace. Its goal was to keep the campus safe during a period of rapid growth and manage the volume of video being generated. Nestled in the quaint community of Conway, South Carolina, in the shadows of Myrtle Beach, Coastal Carolina University, is the fastest growing public university in the state. With a current student body population of more than 9,300 students, the university projects to grow to 12,500 by the 2025 school year. The location is picturesque and provides a lot of opportunities for both students and parents alike with proximity to beaches, shopping and endless outdoor activities. Providing security for students, faculty and staff is a critically important task for the university, one it does not take lightly.
Organised chaos
Coastal Carolina University has a very typical hybrid security system, one that has been pieced together over the years with a variety of different manufacturers' products. Typically, these systems can be problematic due to a number of factors, including products at varying degrees of life stage with differing capabilities, and products that don't always work seamlessly together. But the bottom line was that access to video was not immediate. In order to access video, live or recorded, you had to be physically present in the same building with the cameras. A survey of equipment revealed that five different recording devices, both DVRs and Network Recorders, were being employed across the campus involving three different software packages.
When it was necessary for Dispatch to retrieve a video file, there were five different ways in which the video needed to be recovered. This was not only taxing to the staff at Dispatch, but it was burdensome to the recorders. In some instances, the recording period had to be reduced to as few as seven days to adapt to the restrictions, a level that was undesirable. In order to provide adequate security to serve its population, CCU received approval for an upgrade of its video surveillance system to support digital video capabilities and centralised video management and storage.
A platform for growth
Their enterprise capabilities, stable platform and software ease-of-use made Security Center an easy choice |
MediaSolv was selected to design, install and configure the new digital video system to unify the management and storage of all video across the University at a full 30 days of recording. MediaSolv chose Genetec Security Center Video Management software for the task because it allowed them to unify all their existing video cameras and leverage their initial investment. In addition, their enterprise capabilities, stable platform and software ease-of-use made Security Center an easy choice. Coastal Carolina University is currently managing 400 cameras but will expand to 600 cameras by the end of this year. Cameras were procured for three new buildings and cameras are located in on-campus dorms, academic classrooms, office buildings, the Student Center, the library, and also monitor 123 Call Boxes located across campus.
Now the University has a completely unified digital video security system with the plans and the infrastructure to grow the system in the future to include License Plate Recognition at entrances to off-campus housing, integration with the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and the addition of MediaSolv's Commander Digital Evidence Management solution.
About Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University is a dynamic, public comprehensive liberal arts institution located in Conway, South Carolina. The University offers 56 areas of study toward the baccalaureate degree and seven master's degree programs in education, writing, coastal marine and wetland studies, and the MBA. Ten new undergraduate degree programs were recently added, including biochemistry, economics, graphic design, information systems, musical theatre, theatre arts, as well as criminology, health and aging, and social justice tracks in sociology.
