The ruggedised TransVu mobile digital CCTV recorder from AD Group - the parent company of Dedicated Micros - is playing an invaluable role ensuring the safety and security of the students who travel daily on 100 school buses serving the public schools system in Tallahassee, Florida, with a further 100 planned as part of an ongoing program by integrator North American Video.
TransVu - which recently received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category (Britain's most prestigious business award) - has made a big impact on the way CCTV is managed by bus fleets worldwide. Images and incidents are automatically downloaded at the depot, eliminating the need for time consuming manual archiving. Status reports immediately highlight any tampering with the system, such as masking cameras, and it also assures operators that the system is always operating and no incident will be missed. GPS capability allows the vehicle to report its position immediately to base, while intelligent power management controls system operation without intervention by an operator.
Said Charles Pendleton, Head of Bus Maintenance at the Tallahassee Public School Transportation Department: "We are extremely pleased with the way that the TransVu system has performed since the first unit was installed back in 2003, and have noticed a major improvement in behaviour on our buses in the last three years. TransVu offers us a powerful tool to provide the safest possible environment for students and drivers by allowing monitoring on the move and the recording of vital evidence to assist school administrators in disciplining disruptive students, responsible for actions ranging from vandalism to assault. Video/audio footage can also be shown to parents and if necessary supplied to law enforcement officials."
"Where attacks have been made on buses and their occupants from the outside, images from external cameras have helped us to prosecute the vandals involved. Time and again TransVu has been able to bring clarity to incidents were previously we would have had to rely on conflicting accounts from witnesses."
"In cases were there may be issues regarding driver actions such as excessive braking, the information recorded by the TransVu has proved invaluable in accessing the validity of any claims and helping to weed out false accusations. At a fleet management level the system data recorded by TransVu like engine speed, operation of brakes/accelerator and indicators, also helps us to ensure that our drivers are operating their vehicles in a manner which will improve the long-term cost of ownership."
Commented John Dolan, Vice President of Business Development at AD Holdings Inc - the US subsidiary of AD Group: "We believe that the advanced TransVu mobile CCTV recorder, which has proved so successful in Tallahassee, is ideally suited to the school bus environment and can help administrators to tackle age-old problems such as dangerous rowdiness, false accusations and vandalism, giving school management a better understanding of student and driver issues."
