University manages security and parking systems from one platform
Brigham Young University is the third largest privately-owned university in the United States. After having the AutoVu automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) system for 4 years, BYU upgraded to the Omnicast IP video surveillance system within Security Center.
The company
Founded in 1875, Brigham Young University (BYU) has evolved into the third largest privately-owned university in the United States. The campus grew from a single building to 320 buildings spread throughout the downtown core of Provo, Utah.
With almost 33,000 students and just under 5,000 academic and administrative staff, BYU takes its responsibility to provide a secure environment for students, staff and visitors very seriously. The campus also offers 60 parking lots totalling around 17,000 spaces, and distributes 65,000 parking permits each semester.
The challenge
According to Steve Goodman, Technology Architect and Manager of the Communications Center for BYU's chartered police department, "Because we are sitting in the middle of a city, we have 90,000 vehicles passing through our campus every day. This creates unique challenges for our team. We are very passionate about securing our campus, but at the same time, we don't want our security initiatives to detract from what we have worked hard to build here on campus - that is an open and vibrant environment that promotes higher learning."
The solution
One unified security view
BYU receives an overview of campus security. The team has integrated over 2000 doors, 10,000 intrusion sensors, and 200 police radios with GPS tracking within the unified platform.
Increased efficiency from maps
All devices are visible on a map of the campus from Security Center. This simplifies the operator's job as they dispatch the closest in-field officer to respond to an event.
Mobile preparedness
With the Security Center Mobile app, officers can access video and information prior to reaching the scene. This makes them better prepared to respond to any incident on campus.
Flexible platform expansion
BYU is trialing the integration of an emergency call station solution within the flexible security platform. The security team also plans to possibly extend the system to other campuses.
"The scalability, flexibility and openness of Security Center has been powerful, and we are realizing greater benefits as we continue to leverage more features within the platform.”
Steve Goodman, Technology Architect and Manager of the Communications Center, Brigham Young University
Results
BYU began by upgrading its parking system to the AutoVu ALPR system. This led to greater efficiency and cost savings. Four years later, BYU added more fixed ALPR cameras for vehicle tracking and integrated all analog cameras within the Omnicast IP video surveillance system of Security Center. The most notable advantage for BYU has been the ease of system unification offered by the platform.
"With Security Center, we are expanding our platform in a way that our operators will have everything they need at their fingertips to ensure the fastest and safest response to any emergency on campus. Our vision is to enable operators to receive emergency calls, view live video feeds from nearby cameras, lock or unlock doors and find the nearest officer on the ground. And all of this is possible from the map interface," elaborates Goodman.