Seon Design’s Director of Marketing Peter Simmons trade
says more questions show representatives about wireless
“Knowing that the equipment
the company’s answered video
surveillance at last fall’s NAPT Summit in Cincinnati than ever before. While interest is growing, he notes that the actual number of users is modest. “I would say less than 5 percent are
actual users, but there is a lot of interest,” says Simmons. “What
seems expensive
Sumter County (Fla.) District Schools’ router Missy Sheppard reviews school routes and stops wirelessly.
supplies and installs cameras, estimates that less than one percent of school districts nationwide are using wireless systems. “It’s very new,” Giglio says. “Right now
cost would be the overlying factor. Does it make a lot of sense for a district with 24 buses to go wireless? Probably not. You can take care of those buses manually. Maybe wireless is the way to go for a school district with 80 buses. Tis is going to be up to the needs of the school district and the size of the fleet. My leaning toward wireless is more for GPS than video. But I believe wireless applications are cost- effective, and it’s only a matter of time before (technology) goes to real time.”
today may be affordable tomorrow. I’d say there was a 20-percent increase in information requests based on people coming by our booth.” AngelTrax owner Richie Howard says
he has fielded an increased number of inquiries about the company’s wireless surveillance systems but cautions that school districts should know what their needs are and how wireless should be used to get the most value. “Te top priority is getting your video,”
he says. “Liability drives this industry, so as a means to collect video, it is a viable
tool. However, utilizing today’s
wireless technology in mobile video surveillance takes careful consideration and understanding to avoid erroneous expectations.” Howard adds that the value of using
wireless technology is evident when it come to auto-downloading G-Force, speeding and panic events. However, the real value is reporting DVR health and event notification.
is functioning properly prior to an important event is essential. Wireless reporting accomplishes this task.” Meanwhile, Duncan’s fleet of 320 buses
in northwestern Nevada includes systems that require removal of the hard drives and the wireless video system. He says the newer buses that came equipped with the wireless technology were placed in the same bus yard. “It is a tremendous time-saver,” Duncan
continues. “We have not done a study, but it makes perfect sense. We eliminate physically going out to a bus, and we eliminate human error.” Te district’s IT department was
instrumental in making ensuring a system could handle the increase in data. “Tey set up a separate network drive
for us because storing video fills up a network drive in no time,” adds Duncan. “So much in transportation relies on technology that we need to make sure our IT department understands the new technology and that it will work with our technology platform.” REI’s Shigley agrees that the IT
department should be involved in the needs analysis that school districts conduct because the technology is coming. “Currently no school districts are using real
time. A small percentage is using the wireless but it’s growing. I definitely see that drastically changing over the next few years.” ■
42 School Transportation News Magazine January 2012
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