Wisenet X series cameras manufactured by Hanwha Techwin are helping education administrators maintain a safe environment for students and staff at 20 Stockholm schools. The cameras have been installed at the entrances, corridors and other common areas of the schools, in order to deter and detect any criminal activity or anti-social behaviour, such as bullying, vandalism and theft, and if necessary, provide high quality video evidence to police.

Over 600 Wisenet X cameras have been installed by Nordic Alarm which has a framework agreement with the education department of the city of Stockholm Education to deliver complete video surveillance systems for schools located throughout the city of Stockholm.

Founded in 1988, Nordic Alarm, a Hanwha Techwin STEP Partner, is one of Scandinavia’s fastest growing electronic security system integrators. The company, which is part of the Lagercrantz Group, has its headquarters in Stockholm and has branch offices in western and southern Sweden.

Privacy Protection

Although the Wisenet X cameras have built-in IP network technology, at each school they form part of a closed circuit video surveillance system which cannot be accessed from outside the school. This protects the privacy of students and complies with GDPR and the Camera Security Act. In this respect, recorded video is only stored via the school’s internal network and it is deleted after a limited period of time.

Cameras

Just three models from the extensive Wisenet range have been needed to meet the requirements for the specified camera location at each of the schools. These include XNV-6020R 2 megapixel and 5 megapixel XNV-802R0 vandal-resistant domes. A large number of Wisenet XNF-8010R 360 degree fisheye cameras have also been installed. These provide a cost effective way to monitor large open areas where a much larger number of standard cameras might normally be required, to avoid any blind spots.

All 3 Wisenet models have built-in IR illumination which allows them to capture superb quality images regardless of the ambiance lighting conditions. They are also equipped with a wide range of intelligent video analytics including loitering detection and an audio analysis function which recognises critical sounds such as screams and broken glass.

Recording

Depending on the number of cameras deployed at each school, the images captured by the cameras are recorded locally on either 32 channel Wisenet XRN-20111 or 64 channel Wisenet SRN-4000 Network Video Recorders (NVRs).

Both devices have internal hot-swappable hard drives which support RAID5 recording. This provides protection against unrecoverable read errors, as well as whole HDD failure.

Fruängens School

Commenting on the value of the video surveillance installed at one of the schools, Mats Lundqvist, IT Coordinator at Fruängens School, said: “It has made a big difference in that the number of incidents of graffiti and vandalism rapidly declined immediately after the cameras were installed and it is also much quieter now in the corridors. Well behaved students tend to forget the cameras are there, but they definitely help deter mis-behaviour.

“Most importantly, by being able to retrieve and review video captured by the cameras, we are able to visually verify and quickly deal with any incidents. For example, after some of the students were shown video evidence of graffiti being painted on a school wall, they admitted that it was their fault and volunteered to remove it.

“The video surveillance system has also allowed us to review what happened during a burglary at the school. We have been able to follow the whole incident which involved computers being stolen on a Sunday afternoon. The crime was well planned, with the thieves going straight to where our computers are stored. Review of the video has enabled us to improve our security procedures in order to avoid similar events in the future.”

“Technically, the video surveillance system is working extremely well and since the installation, we have not experienced any problems at all. It is also very easy to search for events so that we can quickly find out what has happened.”

Project Fulfilment

Nordic Alarm’s success in meeting the client’s requirements was achieved in partnership with Hanwha Techwin Europe’s locally based pre and post sales team and Hatteland Technology, an authorised Hanwha Techwin distributor.