Texas school district security aided by ISONAS access control

Challenge
The Sands Consolidated Independent School District (SCISD) in Ackerly, Texas, had been operating without a security system. There were no cameras to monitor the flow of students, teachers and others coming in and out of the buildings, and there was no access control system to secure school doors. With the number of recent attacks at schools, security cameras were needed to ensure only authorized personnel were allowed on school property for staff and student safety and to deter vandalism.

The district is located in a rural area, but with easy access from a nearby State highway—with a response time of 15-20 minutes from law enforcement—so implementing a network-based pure-IP access control and video system and keeping the main campus and gym across the street secure at all times was deemed a priority during their recent school renovation and technology upgrade project.

Solution
The Sands CISD chose Responsive Services International Corp. (RSI), a local technology solutions provider, to help them implement an integrated security solution. RSI installed a multifaceted system tailored to meet the district’s specified security needs. The core of the solution included 36 Mobotix IP indoor and outdoor security cameras and nine ISONAS PowerNet IP Reader-Controllers integrated with Milestone XProtect video management software (VMS).

The district is operating Milestone XProtect Enterprise with a Milestone Husky M50, a 50-channel server, which is licensed for up to 40 cameras. Sands CISD opted to use five-megapixel, 180 and 360 coverage lenses on most of the Mobotix cameras. The camera choice enables the district to deploy fewer cameras but maintain extensive coverage of the school cafeteria and all doorways, hallways, entryways and common areas.

The core of the solution included 36 Mobotix IP indoor and outdoor security cameras and nine ISONAS PowerNet IP Reader-Controllers integrated with Milestone XProtect video management software (VMS).

Both indoor and outdoor cameras record on motion detection only, as configured in the VMS to allow for recorded video storage of at least 30 days. The cameras cover all areas around school buildings, bus transportation, gym parking lots and the football field. As an added measure, the school district integrated their new voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony solution into the security system so when an individual hits the intercom key on the Mobotix door station at the front entrance, they appear in the Milestone interface displayed on the computer screen of an administrator, who can verify and authorize entry.

This protocol keeps school personnel from getting locked out and ensures only approved visitors are let in. This unique solution provides a seamless integration of the Milestone XProtect Smart Client and the ISONAS Crystal Matrix software, for a security solution with unified command and control. The XProtect Smart Client manages the live video display and camera recordings while the ISONAS system does the access control in the background.

Advantages
In the first two months after the installation was completed, Sands CISD already realized considerable benefits from integrating the Milestone open platform IP VMS with “Pure IP” access control technology from ISONAS. The district now has comprehensive camera coverage feeding into the Milestone VMS to verify and ensure that only students, staff and other authorized personnel are allowed on campus.

The access control system from ISONAS allows the district to control all doors and assign different priority levels to various Sands CISD staff. The integration with the Milestone Access Control Module also lets Sands CISD efficiently and effectively monitor the campus and respond to potential incidents from a unified user interface.

RSI had only 75 days to do a complete technology infrastructure overhaul – which meant installing new data cabling, new fiber optic cabling, wireless, VoIP telephony, all new servers and switches, in addition to the cameras and door access control systems. Throughout the installation, RSI received tremendous assistance from the Milestone and ISONAS technical support teams, and cited this as a significant factor in getting the project done on time and under budget.