The Challenge
With multiple sites located across North Wales, standardisation of IT solutions can be a challenge for ClwydAlyn. With each location came a different site manager, each responsible for their respective site’s IT, including video security, with no go-to platform or overarching strategy in place. This led to a number of inefficiencies for the IT Technical Manager and the rest of the IT team, especially when the systems failed, required servicing, or needed replacing. In fact, there were often times when the IT team would be called upon to review historical footage, only to discover that particular cameras were offline and thus serving no purpose.
Having worked with Bechtle on several projects previously, the IT Technical Manager at ClwydAlyn approached the Bechtle team to help streamline IT services by centralising the procurement and management of video security under the IT team.
OBJECTIVES
- Simplify IT management across multiple sites
- Standardise the solutions used to simplify ongoing maintenance
- Improve the capabilities of the security solution in place
In November 2020, the IT Manager at ClwydAlyn joined one of Bechtle’s customer webinars which was all around the Verkada video solution and included a live demo of how the software worked. Following this, the solution caught the eye of the IT team at ClwydAlyn and they were keen to hear more about how it could work for them. After discussions with the security experts at Bechtle, and a further introduction to the Verkada team and product, the IT Technical Manager was instantly impressed by the simple plug-and-play setup and evolving feature-set.
The Solution
With the Verkada solution, the IT team were able to install 15 cameras in under 1 day and were able to handle the setup completely in-house. ClwydAlyn now have instant video access across all sites through the cloud-based Command platform, accessible through a mobile app or any web-based browser.
The team can also use Command’s powerful search features to locate and share footage in seconds via an SMS or email link. For the IT Manager, this has been a welcome change from having to export video files onto a USB and physically hand it off. To limit unauthorised access, they retain control of the footage shared - including for how long the link is accessible.
ClwydAlyn have also embraced the capabilities afforded by Verkada’s edge-based People Analytics, including Face Match, Person of Interest Notifications, and the ability to filter individuals by personal attributes. With enhanced visibility and analytics, ClywdAlyn now has a level of insight into how residents and guests use their spaces in a way that was previously impossible. In turn, this offers operational benefits that can better serve their communities. ClywdAlyn plans to use Face Match for contact tracing, and Person of Interest Notifications to immediately know when vulnerable people are leaving the grounds of their dementia homes.
With these benefits and many more (see below), ClwydAlyn have been able to completely transform the way in which they maintain and monitor the security on each of their sites. The standardisation enables easier ongoing maintenance and the 10-year warranty with Verkada ensures long-term peace of mind.
Key Benefits For ClwydAlyn
- Both indoor and outdoor cameras covered by a 10-year warranty
- Total cost of ownership is clear and upfront with no NVRs, servers, or maintenance fees to account for
- Single PoE cable and no additional configurations
- Simple plug-and-play solution
- A centralised view of camera health across the organisation - view camera status across any site, at any time
- Proactive alerts ensure that cameras are always operational
- Avoids critical security issues commonly found with NVR systems
- Verkada cameras accept no inbound traffic and exclusively transmit data over HTTPS - removing any access point for hackers to inject or embed custom code
- Verkada’s cloud-based management interface runs exclusively on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which meets the highest industry-standards for ensuring the security and protection of ClwydAlyn’s data
- Integrates with Single Sign-On (SSO) providers for secure authentication
- Role-based permissions management
- Full audit logs of video access and configuration changes
- Automatic firmware upgrades with no cost or action required
- ClwydAlyn upholds the GDPR’s privacy principles with Verkada
- Video data is stored and processed in an Irish EU data centre, in accordance with data sovereignty laws
- All data collected by Verkada belongs solely to ClwydAlyn to ensure data ownership and privacy protection
- Granular user permissions and clear audit logs enable the IT Manager to assign camera access based on sites and roles
Previously we weren’t able to do anything clever with our video security; it was just a surveillance tool. Now with Verkada, having all these features at our fingertips gives us the ability to proactively secure our spaces — we use this technology to make life easier and make situations safer.