AxxonSoft VMS safeguards the pupils of The Blue Coat School

Client

The Blue Coat School was founded in 1722. It is a leading co-educational independent day school situated in Edgbaston, Birmingham. With a strong tradition of academic achievement, the school offers an outstanding educational experience for all of its pupils.

The Blue Coat School thriving community gives children every opportunity to achieve and excel. The goal is to prepare them to engage effectively with the dynamic world unfolding around them, equipping them with the skills and confidence to grasp their opportunities, and the knowledge and sensitivity to recognize their responsibilities. The school is considered one of the strongest academically in the area.

Challenges

Large site. The site dominates 14 acres of Edgbaston in Birmingham. There are 12 main school blocks and various outbuildings.

One-way traffic. The main entry to the site has automated vehicle and pedestrian gates linked to access control and intercom systems. The exit gate is free egress. Issues have arisen when people enter through the exit gate.

Parking issues. Local residents and employees of local businesses have been using the car park as a free facility either to go to work for the day or just to go shopping. Monitoring of parking by parents was also an issue, for instance, double yellow lines and disabled bays were being used illegally.

Public use of sports center until 10 pm every day. External sports groups use the pitches, swimming pool and sports hall throughout most days, evenings and weekends. They have coded access rights, but further monitoring was needed.

Safeguarding. Although the gates are closed for the majority of the school day, there are periods of time when the automatic time zones will hold the gates open for parental access.

Private residences. There are several properties on site which are privately occupied and, as there are people on site during evenings and weekends when the site is quieter, extra protection was required.

Solution

Axxon Next Universe VMS was chosen by Lexicon installation company as the best tool to solve all the tasks. Moreover, as the total cost of ownership and ROI are always key points when considering a purchase, with AxxonSoft and Secure Logiq there are no annual fees, no softwareupgrade fees and no maintenance fees. We provide end users with the lowest total cost of ownership when compared to other leading professional VMS solutions.

Software and hardware

• Axxon Next Universe software
• Secure Logiq Qube workstation
• 17 cameras (12 x 4K cameras, 3 x 3 MP cameras, and 2 x 2 MP ANPR for access control purposes — Wiegand protocol for integration with Paxton System)

Results

The new CCTV system provided the client with many benefits including high-resolution images which allows identification of individuals and vehicles around the site, and high-end artificial intelligence (AI) analytics which allows:

• tracking of human targets
• tracking of vehicle targets (even by color)
• motion detection by direction of travel
• loitering detection
• detection of left and removed objects
• time compression search — view all events from a 6-hour period simultaneously in 90 seconds
• face search — upload a photo to the system and search for the person
• search the for video of a vehicle by the license plate number

The new system gives the facility to deny access to any vehicle previously not registered on the system. If a vehicle tailgates in through the entry gate, the exit gate will not open unless the license plate is recognized. This gives the school a chance to challenge a trespassing vehicle or issue a parking fine.

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Additional useful information

"AxxonSoft is a global solution for all the security needs we have today. As a security/IT integrator, we appreciate how AxxonSoft provides us with a great solution and end-to-end partner support, so we can focus on filling our customers' needs and building our revenue streams."

Juan Carlos Müller, President, Creative House (AxxonSoft Partner - Argentina),