One of the early pioneers of video surveillance in an educational environment, Pine City Public Schools had an existing analog video system in place for over 15 years with eight cameras that recorded to VCR. George Johnson, Pine City High School Principal, was one of the leaders in configuring the system. “We borrowed equipment from various sources and created a system,” said George. “However, it wasn’t as efficient as we liked it to be.”

He explained, “I’d get a complaint that the building was vandalized between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., and it would take me over an hour to search through the video tapes to pinpoint the incident. Also the pictures were not as clear as we would have liked them to be.”

To get information and overall options for upgrading their system, George attended a seminar Marco conducted on March Networks Digital Video Recording (DVR) systems. After learning about the many features a digital video system could offer, George looked at Marco’s solution along with three other vendors.

George solicited input from his staff regarding camera placement and integration, and he worked with Ryan Hilgers, Marco Video Specialist, to assist with the specifications of a new DVR system. “I presented my budget, wish list, and needs. I had confidence that the March Networks DVR system from Marco in general was a better product. It’s what I thought would have the best options and be the most reliable.” George also relied on the help of a fellow colleague whose technical staff was currently using the system and had confirmed the quality of its performance.

In August of 2005, Marco implemented a March Networks 4210 16 port DVR system for Pine City Schools which integrated with their eight existing cameras and added seven new surveillance cameras for extended building coverage.

George commented, “Marco’s installation team did a really nice job. We were very particular as to what we needed. They found answers to any problems that came up and they were very neat in putting the system together. They also explained the system’s options to me very well and answered all of my questions. I was real happy with the installation.”

Pine City Schools is also very pleased with how the system is working for them. According to George, “The search capabilities have been pretty remarkable. I was just doing a search for an incident that occurred between a time period of 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., and within five minutes I had seven pictures of the incident. The pictures are also much clearer than they were on our analog system. Even with our existing cameras, the image quality is better.”

They also have access to the system remotely from other locations. “In case something happens to the building, we can still access the system from another location,” said George.

To sum up his overall experience, George commented, “The system is everything I was hoping it would be. I really enjoyed working with the people at Marco.”

Pine City Public Schools serves approximately 1641 students at its Junior/Senior High School and Elementary School. They also have an Area Learning Center which provides alternative high school diploma and adult learning options.