3 Ways a Cloud VMS Helps Keep Community Colleges Safe

Since the pandemic hit, schools around the world have scrambled to meet the needs of remote educators and learners. Community colleges are no different. For the past year, their limited IT staff has been solely focused on delivering and managing the best technology for distance learning, from learning management systems to remote learning software. Now, these same tech staffers are having to do “a 180 turn,” as the fall semester looms, bringing with it a return to on-campus classes.

Keeping campuses open to the community and ensuring staff members, students, and visitors are safe are once again top concerns. But who has the time and resources to manage on-premises video surveillance servers and software when there are so many other competing technology priorities?  

A true cloud video management system (VMS) can take the burden off the IT staff and help keep campuses safe without locking down doors with wires or access badges. Here are three key ways a cloud VMS can help community colleges safely return to in-person learning:  

1. Limited On-Premises Hardware and Software – With a cloud VMS, there’s no need to rack, stack, and manage loads of hardware on-premises. The only hardware provided by Eagle Eye Networks is the onsite appliance, or bridge, which provides local buffering, bandwidth management, and secure transport of video to the cloud. The hardware is monitored 24/7 by Eagle Eye Networks. So, no networking expertise, router configuration, or software installation is required by the end user. In addition, your IT team doesn’t need to manage the ongoing items associated with on-prem systems, such as getting static IP addresses, license keys, DDNS or VPN configurations, disk space, hardware failures, backups, and O/S upgrades. With the cloud, you get continuous delivery of cybersecurity updates and software enhancements, ensuring you’re always using the latest version of software and reducing demands on IT resources.

2. Video Management– Because you’re just returning to campus, you may not know what condition your video surveillance system is in. Are your cameras working? Are you just plugging and praying that when an event occurs, such as a car wreck in the parking lot, you’ll be able to find the related video? A cloud VMS enables you to manage your system remotely, and quickly search, fast forward, reverse, and play back video, as well as easily share video with local law enforcement, attorneys, etc. Eagle Eye Networks also provides system notifications to indicate camera statuses – whether they’re online or offline.

3. Alerts – Get alerted immediately via text message or email when there’s a crowd gathering in the main quad, the cafeteria is beyond capacity, or a car is unlawfully parked. The cameras watch for you and alert you when there’s something important to see. Eagle Eye Networks customers can even tailor motion alerts for certain cameras and regions. Camera motion regions have independent motion settings, alert levels, and recipients. And you can easily and instantly activate analytics on your cameras without having to install additional hardware or software. No on-site technicians or system upgrades are needed to immediately receive analytic alerts and data. You don’t have to wait a day or two to know an event happened – instead, you can be alerted and respond right away. 

Learn more about how Eagle Eye Networks can help protect your campuses.