Requirements

Penglais School is an extremely successful school with a perfect ethos to ensure that all their 1400 students can excel within a safe and secure learning environment. To support their on-going efforts, IT Manager Len Vaughan decided to update the school’s out dated CCTV system with a new, future proof IP infrastructure.

Len identified that the school needed a solution that would fit within their budget yet continue to aid in providing the securest environment for their students.

Solutions

After agreeing that the Wavestore Granite would be the best storage solution, they set about locating the right cameras that would not only be compatible with their NVR but would uphold their wish to take the school into the digital realm. Wavestore recommended Y-cam to Mr Vaughan and once he saw the quality, features and ease of install of the Y-cam Bullet cameras, he know that these were the right choice for Penglais School.

Outcome

Penglais school now have eleven Y-cam Bullet cameras, creating a non-evasive yet secure environment for students, staff and visitors, whilst protecting the perimeter and offering an outstanding deterrent to external vandals.

After implementing the solution three months ago, Len and Penglais are thrilled with the outcome and are already looking to expand the system to cover more of the school’s grounds and offer them more benefits.

For more information on Penglais’ application and how other schools are using Y-cam cameras to safeguard their schools, please visit our dedicated Education site.

IFSEC is the world’s largest security event, taking place this year at the NEC Birmingham from the 14^th-17th May, and is the perfect place to find out all you need to know about the security market, whether you are installers, IT integrators or looking to protect your home, IFSEC has all the answers you need and now with, eight dedicated product areas you are sure to find everything you are looking for.

As normal we will be present on a number of our partner’s stands including Midwich, QNAP and Synology.  Each stand will be displaying our cameras and we would love for you to pop bye and say Hi. We will have representatives from Y-cam at the show every day, and we would like to meet up and answer any questions you may have around Y-cam, our products, or how we can help you improve your security.

Please feel free to visit us in Hall 4, stands H20 (Midwich), G135 (QNAP) & G15 (Synology), or get in contact with us to arrange a catch up.

Remember, if you want to come along to IFSEC, registration is completely free! To register for IFSEC 2011 please visit www.IFSEC.co.uk.

One such facility is The Kumon Center of Owings Mills who was looking to secure their facility, safeguard their attending students and introduce a simple method to monitor their centre, even when they were working from home, thankfully Joseph Maggio from Tekphobia was on hand to help out.

Requirements

Joseph Maggio from Tekphobia was approached by Paul & Tonya Winfield to assist with their security needs of their Kumon Math and Reading Center franchise in Owings Mills. They were specifically looking to secure their center and safeguard the children while in their care. In addition, they wanted the ability to work from home seamlessly; being able to access files and ensure all is well, just as they would have done should they be in the office.

Solution

The Owings Mills Kumon Center’s solution consists of three Y-cam EyeBall cameras and a Synology DS712+ Disk station. These are in place protecting the center’s entrance and reception area, surveying the waiting room and capture any unknown personnel as soon as they enter the center, reducing any risks for the staff, students and visitors. The other two cameras are located within the administration section, where the employees carry out their day to day business, and a classroom, protecting the equipment.

Outcome

They currently have a highly efficient system that meets all their requirements. The children and staff are protected, the owners are able to work from home successfully, their data is secure and, on top of this, the parents are thrilled with the heightened security.

“We now have “peace of mind” in knowing that we are protected.” Paul & Tonya Winfield, Kumon Math and Reading Center of Owings Mills

To help other schools and education facilities, like The Kumon Center if Owings Mills, see how an innovative IP surveillance solution can help enhance safety, future-proof investments and save on schools out goings, we have created a central site, www.y-cam.com/education.

Please visit our dedicated site for more information on Y-cam Education, Kumon center’s full story and other successful installations.

More information

The Kumon Center of Owings Mills case study
Y-cam Education site

This is where Y-cam can excel; we have provided a number of customers with solutions that meet their specific needs. To help explain just what Y-cam can do we have created a short video looking at the benefits and features of our cameras.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-fCT7tZt_c

If you have any questions about what a Y-cam can do for you, or any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yesterday it was announced that over 4,000 people will be stepping up and taking part in the biggest security exercise in preparation for the 2012 games. Lasting for three days, this nationwide exercise is meant to simulate the busiest days of the Olympics.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt explains the activity, “Obviously nothing can fully prepare us for the reality of hosting the world’s biggest sporting event, but we really want to make sure we do all we can to ensure we deliver an Olympics and Paralympics that are as safe and secure as possible, while also making sure everyone involved has a great time.”

The experiment in its self is going to be interesting and really test our services when it comes to security, especially as everything must run smoothly because this is the last attempt before the real thing – nerve-wrecking for all involved.

We can expect to see more safety precautions put in place in the coming weeks so stay tuned for more Olympic security news.

Still working closely with the Metropolitan Police, Facewatch now offer the public, in a rather unique way, the opportunity to go one step closer when cracking down on crime.

The application is available on BlackBerry, Android and Apple smartphones and works by the user entering in their postcode and then images provided directly by the MET Police are shown within the users catchment area. This is already working wonders as the application has identified 29 people in trials held in the last two months and the police force are fully behind the new technology;

Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley explains

“The Metropolitan Police Service is determined to exploit the opportunities presented by CCTV to solve crime. The general public can support us in this – both by providing us with images – and then helping us to identify those who are responsible for committing crime. This new Facewatch crime App helps people to do this by giving them the ability to identify those suspected of committing crime in their local communities. I support the role that Facewatch can play in getting images to us faster and more efficiently – enabling us to arrest more criminals – and thereby making people feel safer. I would encourage as many people as possible to use the app to view these images and send in information.”

For more information on Facewatch, check out our past post “Free Business security support from Facewatch” or head over to their site at www.facewatch.co.uk.

One of the main areas we see this collaboration growing is storage, which is why one of our aims is to try and ensure our cameras are as compatible with as many storage devices as possible, as shown with the launch of our NAS-ReadyTM feature last year.

We have some fantastic storage partners on our side and none as great as NAS and NVR manufacturers Synology, QNAP and Nuuo – each have their own field of expertise, however all three are fantastic and offer perfect synergy with our cameras.

To help show the highlights of these products, we have created dedicated flyers to show how our cameras can work with the major players in the NVR/NAS market; offering you fantastic compatibility and unique services.

• Y-cam and QNAP are perfect for small business applications; combining our Y-cam cameras with the powerful QNAP VioStors removes any complexities and offers an in-tune ‘all in one’ solution, great for busy business owners.

• Y-cam and Nuuo have combined to offer retail premises high quality images and the ability to link their till transactions on the video footage, making it much simpler and much faster to recall specific event footage.

• Y-cam and Synology are a great choice for home and SMB applications. Working as one, these two products work in harmony to secure properties whilst offering a wealth of connectivity features and multi-tasking storage options.

To find out more about these bundles, please download the following flyers:

Y-cam & Synology
Y-cam & QNAP Bundle
Y-cam & Nuuo Bundle

From Y-cam

Simeon Tauber took notice of Y-cam when he was attending a company seminar in Florida last year; so impressed was he with our cameras, he decided to bring our “affordable, user-friendly, DIY system another 3,000 miles west to Simply Macintosh, his Arcata, California, store.”

Simeon explains, “We chose Y-cam over all the other brands because it’s easy to integrate and set up. Our first commitment was for four cameras to see how they work in the store,” he continues, “When we saw how little time it took to get them up and running, it was great.”

Simply Macintosh uses eight Y-cam cameras for loss prevention and security, but also uses the system’s remote monitoring capabilities to check the customer traffic within the store.

“The remote monitoring capability is very useful,” he says, “and our customers want that too,” in the systems they purchase. “I have been really happy about how it works and the overhead is extremely low.”

Simply Macintosh’s fully story is available on www.stores.org, or for more information on how Y-cam can help businesses, plus additional case studies please visit, “How Y-cam Helps … Office & SMB”

A report conducted by Lapsafe at this year’s BETT show showed that almost half of schools, colleges and universities have had ICT stolen in the last 3 years. Equipment such as laptops, netbooks, MP3 players, tablets and gaming devices have all been the target for thieves and the conducted research suggests that this trend is on the rise, which is not surprising as education facilities are a hub for expensive equipment and are becoming increasingly attractive to criminals.

Therefore it is evident that educators should think about placing vital plans in action to reduce this risk of theft and be protected should anything occur. There a are huge number of methods suggested to ensure this and a recent report by The LEA have shown that CCTV can be affective in both deterring such activity and capturing anyone that wishes to try their luck.

One way is to install IP cameras, this is both a cost-effective solution, as the cameras can use the schools existing IT network infrastructure and storage, and a proven method of deterring criminal activity and theft. The cameras come with many beneficial features as well as future proofing the school.

If you would like know more about how IP cameras can help with school securities please visit our ‘How Y-cam help’s Education’ online page.