The National Center for International Schools (NCIS) houses both the Chinese American International School and French American International School in San Francisco. Both these schools are pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and pride themselves on rigorous academic training, combined with cultural awareness and investigation.

The Chinese American International School, founded in 1981, and the French American International School, founded in 1962, joined in an educational and bond-generating venture known as the National Center for International Schools in 1994 and purchased the former Caltrans building located in the middle of San Francisco.

After considerable remodeling and upgrades to the building, the two schools now share a vibrant and functional campus, where security is a major priority in order to deter criminal activity and protect both students and staff throughout the property.

Security concerns in and around the perimeter of the school have become a challenge, and deploying security cameras in strategic positions to deter inappropriate conduct and preserve potential evidence for reported incidents has become of prime importance.

Recently, the NCIS launched a project to update and improve visual monitoring of the overall campus. Now, NCIS’s overall video surveillance includes a multitude of VIVOTEK solutions.

For special circumstances and requirements for the exterior of the campus, NCIS’s new video surveillance system features five VIVOTEK network cameras, including two multiple sensor adjustable cameras, and two multiple sensor cameras.

NCIS chose the 5-megapixel H.265 fixed dome, the FD9381-HTV for the desired high resolution coverage of a 13,000-square-foot playground across the street from one of the installed cameras. This high-efficiency outdoor dome network camera provides NCIS with 30 fps at 5MP, or 60 fps at 1080p, with outstanding image quality.

Lastly, NCIS chose a multiple sensor camera for its 180-deg. coverage of building frontages and sidewalks in a constrained-space location, without requiring twice the number of cameras.

“Clear video from VIVOTEK’s cameras have been of great assistance to NCIS and the San Francisco Police Department in the course of investigating a wide variety of security and safety incidents, including some criminal activity,” said Daniel Klingebiel, NCIS executive director. “We have worked with various brands of IP cameras. Ultimately, we have standardized on and now only use VIVOTEK     cameras due to their superior quality, standardized configuration, and ease-of-installation.”