Mount Royal benefits from quick deployment of security platform and cameras
Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, serves a community of almost 15,000 students and 1,700 faculty and staff. To keep everyone safe, Mount Royal recently unified video surveillance with access control and intrusion alarm by upgrading to Genetec™ Security Center.
The company
Mount Royal University, in Calgary, Alberta, has been providing high-quality post-secondary education to its students for more than a century. Throughout its history, the University has continuously worked to meet the needs of its community, which today includes almost 15,000 students and 1,700 faculty and staff. In 1972, Mount Royal moved to the Lincoln Park neighborhood in southwest Calgary to a decommissioned air force base with wide-open spaces and very little threat of intrusion. But, as a result of urban expansion in the decades since the move, the area around the campus now includes an industrial campus and business park as well as suburban housing.
The challenge
In response to the global concern over security, Mount Royal deployed a video surveillance system in the early 2000s with very little planning, leaving many areas on campus without proper coverage. As the urban density around the campus continued to increase, the University began to realize that the legacy video system could not meet their community’s emerging security needs. In addition to cameras constantly dropping, operators also found the legacy system hard to navigate. As a result, it became increasingly difficult for the security team to ensure a safe learning environment for faculty, staff, and students.
The solution
Open architecture
One of the deciding factors for choosing Security Center was the ability to unify video surveillance with access control and intrusion alarm.
Shorter ramp-up time
The intuitive interface in Security Center, with its roll-over functionality, allows security personnel to get up-to-speed and then work autonomously in no time.
Synchronization
When dealing with a person of interest on multiple cameras, security personnel save valuable time by searching through video footage from different cameras at once.
Greater control over access
The schedule lock feature in Security Center means that personnel can limit access during off-hours. The system also allows others to lock doors on their own.
“One of the deciding factors in going with Genetec and Security Center was the ability to include our intrusion alarm and access control systems.”
Candice Merrill, Security Manager, Mount Royal University
Results
In 2017, the University began looking into expanding its physical security system. The initial plan was to do this in phases over a 10 year period. But, once the University saw the capabilities of Genetec™ Security Center and understood the advantages of true unification, the timeline quickly became 2 years. Having completed the switch, Mount Royal is now working on integrating both their access control and alarm intrusion systems into the Security Center interface.
Security personnel at Mount Royal immediately noticed major improvements as a result of switching to Security Center. Operators now have a better view of what’s happening on campus because the system allows them to bring up cameras on areas of interest and easily change views. Security Center also saves operators valuable time when reviewing footage because they are now able to search multiple cameras simultaneously.