Ratcliffe College is a private Catholic, co-educational day and boarding school for students founded in 1847. Located on a 200-acre estate in North Leicestershire, Ratcliffe is rated as one of the top 5% of schools for students’ progress at A Level in England.The College has undergone major renovations to refurbish and extend the teaching and learning accommodation. Most recently, the College invested £4.5 million in a new, state-of-the-art Preparatory School for its junior pupils, which opened in September 2014.
The College were looking to expand their existing coverage, integrating both existing cameras and new into one comprehensive surveillance system. The system needed to be simple to use and offer a discreet, secure monitoring of the campus. LILIN’s IP video products offered the perfect solution.
Telecommunications provider Daly Systems, with over 22 years’ experience, were assigned the task of designing and implementing a new HD IP system to provide intuitive coverage of the Colleges premises. The existing system at the campus did not cover the new facilities such as the tennis courts, the sports hall and the prep school and was also on a separate network.
Following a major investment programme to the value of £4.5 million, the colleges requirements were extremely specific. The system had to be simple to use and provide quality images around the large campus where identification would be possible.
LILIN was recommended to Daly’s by a supplier and on-site surveys were conducted with the assistance of CMS plc in order to ensure that the system specified would meet the requirements of the college and to determine the optimum camera locations.
LILIN was the only quoted option; their experience with similar projects, including recent successful school installations such as BHASVIC, assured the College that the resulting system would be well suited to the environment.
In addition to its ease of use, LILIN integration within the existing system would allow Daly’s to efficiently implement a simple, highly-customized experience that was intuitive enough for the staff to operate whilst providing HD images and coverage of the estate.
The LILIN solution was designed around the College’s need for simplicity and their commitment to the safeguarding of their students and staff. Daly Systems and LILIN recognised that these stringent demands necessitated the installation of a sophisticated, effective, surveillance solution with minimal impact on students and staff.
Daly’s selected 16 x LILIN 1080P HD IP network cameras in total, including three PTZ domes and thirteen bullet cameras, to cover the site. LILIN’s newest IR PTZ cameras, the PSR5024EX30, were installed in strategic locations in order to maximise full coverage and monitor vital areas across the campus perimeter.
The College also requested a camera to be placed at the entrance of the school to monitor all vehicles entering the campus; viewing and taking screenshots of number plates. The ZR8022EX10, with its impressive zoom ratio and auto-focus capability was the best choice, ensuring student safety is improved by having a record of incoming and departing vehicles.