Thinking Beyond Security
Adding a business spin to campus intelligent security solutions
- By Bruce Canal
- August 01, 2020
Ever wonder why BOGO is such a great
marketing ploy? There is something
about getting more for your money that
buyers find hard to resist. The same can
be said about colleges and universities.
If you can show them how to stretch their
investment dollars by sharing resources across
departments, you win the prize.
This mindset should be influencing how
security professionals build their business
cases for intelligent security solutions. Rather
than directing proposals to the security
department alone, invite other disciplines
into the conversation. Brainstorm as a team
on creative ways to use the technology to
better protect the school and improve different
campus operations. This discussion
should also address IT’s concerns about
cybersecurity and eficient resource management.
Talk about pooling budgets and shared
benefits and greater return on the institution’s
technology investments.
How Multi-tasking
Becomes Multi-discipline Tasking
One of the greatest selling points for intelligent
network security solutions is their versatility.
While they provide excellent forensic
evidence of an event and help mitigate
threats, they can also deliver valuable,
actionable information when applied in nonsecurity
activity. For instance, a security
solution used to deter intruders can also
inform maintenance that a door latch needs
repair. A solution used to prevent shoplifting
can also help increase bookstore sales by
alerting the clerk that a customer needs help.
In general, security systems are viewed as
“see, say and do” solutions. Video cameras
observe, speakers broadcast messages and
analytics provide the intelligence to direct
action where it is most needed. These are
tasks that can be applied to a whole range of
operational issues facing today’s colleges and
universities. So it is little wonder why security
solutions are crossing department lines. For instance:
Student life. One of the most common
cross-discipline uses of security technology
in higher education today is the all-in-one
student ID card. The card controls access to
the dorm. For heightened security it can be
linked to a video camera and facial recognition
software to verify the identity of the
user. That same card can be monetized like a
debit card and used to purchase meals, books
and supplies. The athletics department can
load tickets to sporting events on it. The registrar’s
office might link it to a student’s class
schedule. Managing all these operations on a
single card through a common database
shared across departments saves the cost of
each department issuing its own solution
which significantly lowers the total cost of
ownership for the investment.
Risk management. The same surveillance
cameras monitoring activity throughout the
campus can provide risk managers the video
they need to counter fraudulent slip-and-fall
claims and mitigate other liability issues.
Stadium concession revenue. Concessions,
especially at sporting events, can be real revenue generators for schools. But sales
and goodwill are often lost because of long
wait times. Managers can turn the situation
around by using network cameras enhanced
with queue management analytics and coupled
with network speakers to alert fans to
concession stands with shorter lines. That
same solution can be employed at the ticket
gates to move fans in and out of the stadium
more quickly.
Safety management. Intelligent network
speakers can be programmed by zone for
mass communication in case of inclement
weather. They can broadcast a single warning
message campus-wide or air different emergency
evacuation directions by building, floor,
room, or other designation. At the same time,
on location video cameras equipped with analytics
can detect bottlenecks and alert campus
safety of problems in real time.
Creating a Matrix of
Overlapping Opportunities
As a security professional your focus tends
to be on prevention solutions. Operations
professionals, on the other hand, tend to seek
solutions that help them work more smarter
and more efficiently. With today’s intelligent
end-to-end security solutions, those goals
can easily converge.
Who might be potential stakeholders in
such an endeavor? I would suggest starting
with the heads of security, risk management,
facilities and grounds, energy management,
academics and information technology.
Because your intention is to create a scalable
multi-purpose solution, you may find other
departments asking to join the partnership
as word of the project’s benefits spreads.
To get the ball rolling, you need to hone in
on compelling reasons for each stakeholder
to invest. Here are a few suggestions.
For security. Talk about how a surveillance
solution can provide more than forensic evidence
of a security transgression. It provides
24/7 visibility across campus, rain or shine,
which helps campus police proactively prevent
problems from occurring and de-escalate
events before they can spiral out of control.
New imaging technology makes it possible to
capture crystal clear images in extreme low
light, bright sunlight and shadow, even capturing
heat signatures in complete darkness.
Intelligent analytics can actively alert first
responders or trigger other integrated systems
like door systems for automatic lockdown,
network speakers to broadcast messages or
lighting systems to illuminate an area. Video
intercoms with two-way audio can be added
to door locks to improve visitor screening or
to campus-wide blue light call boxes for emergency
communication.
Equally important, the solution can be
configured to transmit health monitoring
information to system operators, so failed
devices can be quickly identified, repaired or
replaced. Furthermore, the entire system can
be monitored and controlled from the security
operations center or remotely through
mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
For risk management. Talk about ways
that risk managers can use the security system
to limit loss exposure. This could be
everything from monitoring whether workplace
health and safety protocols being f ollowed
to verifying worker’s compensation
claims. For instance, the cameras could be
used to detect hazardous conditions like
objects blocking emergency exits or wet surfaces
from a leaking pipe that could lead to slip-and-falls.
For facilities and grounds. Talk about
ways motion sensor analytics and radar can
help facilities and grounds reduce lighting
costs on campus. This could be anything from
automatically turning lights ofiin unoccupied
classrooms and oflces to turning lights on in
the quad at night when pedestrians are detected
and off after a set time to save electricity.
Also talk about how suddenly triggering lights
in the middle of the night in areas where no
one should be has proven to be a more efiective,
and cost-efiective, deterrent than simply
keeping the lights on.
Physical power plant. Talk about ways
visual and thermal cameras can protect cooling
and heating systems operations. The
thermal cameras can monitor the heat signatures
of the machinery and trigger an alert if
they start to overheat or drop below temperature
parameters. The cameras could also be
used to detect anyone entering the area who
might be intent on sabotage and trigger an
alert to campus police.
Academics. Talk about how network cameras
can be used to deliver lessons to students
who can’t be in the classroom. In view of the
recent pandemic and the rise in streaming
platforms, there are a lot of creative ways
educators can use high-quality network cameras
and interactively conference with the
entire class simultaneously, share lectures
and course material.
Information technology. Given that all
this technology will be riding on the institution’s
network, it’s important to point out the
features of the security system that can allay
IT’s concerns about resource consumption,
maintenance and cybersecurity. Talk about
the advances in video compression technology
that have cut bandwidth consumption by
50% or more. Talk about solutions that
enable the cameras to initiate their own firmware
and hot fix updates without human
intervention. Discuss the advantages of
deploying a security system that can send an
alert when a camera has lost power or focus,
its view becomes obstructed or loses its network
connection. Explain the layers of
cybersecurity is built into each component to
block hacking and prevent it from becoming
a conduit for malware to enter the network.
While this, by no means, represents an
exhaustive list of hooks you can use to appeal
to potential stakeholders, it should be
enough to get the whole team’s creative juices
going.
The More Uses, The More Value
The more departments that buy into your
proposed end-to-end security system solution,
the greater the usage and the lower the
total cost of ownership for the entire university
or college. But even if pooling budgets
isn’t possible, showing decision-makers how
this investment delivers benefits far beyond
security can be a winning proposition.
This article originally appeared in the July August 2020 issue of Campus Security Today.