University of Kentucky Installs New Video Management System

The University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., recently announced a partnership to deploy a new video management system from Salient Systems. A press release notes that the system, CompleteView VMS, ties together more than 3,000 cameras across multiple campuses to improve situational awareness and video monitoring around campus.

“With Salient, we have moved into a more flexible and scalable software-based environment for video storage,” said Nathan Brown, deputy chief of the University of Kentucky Police Department (UKPD). “This more virtualized environment has allowed us to no longer be so physically reliant on hardware, which requires a lot of upkeep. Now, we can pivot by increasing or decreasing storage without manipulating the entire system as a whole.”

The university has more than 30,000 students, 15,000 employees, 18 residence halls, three medical centers and two sports facilities. The centralization simplifies the ability of university police to monitor everything from sporting events to move-in day. The campus’s two large video walls, one at the UKPD Emergency Operations Center and the other at Kroger Field, allow dispatchers to view the feeds of all associated cameras simultaneously. It also offers features like Dynamic Resolution Scaling—which scales video resolution at the server level to match the client, be it a desktop computer, web client or mobile device.

“Large organizations such as the University of Kentucky demand a high degree of scale, flexibility, and power from their video management systems,” said Sanjay Challa, chief product officer of Salient Systems. “CompleteView is engineered from the ground up to meet those fundamental needs, as well as easily adapt to future needs, as the business of the organization continues to evolve.”

The software also helps the university expand its reach of cameras at off-campus and satellite locations with minimal hardware installations or bandwidth issues. The software-focused approach allows for significant cost savings in hardware, system maintenance and upkeep.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning and Campus Security and Life Safety. He can be reached at [email protected]

Featured

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.

  • Upcoming University of Alabama Performing Arts Center Hits Construction Milestone

    The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., recently celebrated the topping out of its new Smith Family Center for Performing Arts, according to a news release. The university is partnering with HPM for program and project management on the facility, which broke ground in 2023 and is scheduled for completion in November 2026.

  • South Texas K–12 District Debuts Region’s First Electric Bus Fleet

    The Valley View Independent School District in Pharr, Texas, recently announced a partnership with Highland Electric Fleets to launch the district’s—and the region’s—first fleet of all-electric school buses, according to a news release.

  • Massachusetts K–12 District Selects Architect for New Junior High

    Swansea Public Schools in Swansea, Mass., recently announced that it has selected Finegold Alexander Architects to design a new junior high school for the district, according to a news release. The firm will create the Feasibility Study and Schematic Design for Joseph Case Junior High School after a lengthy selection process by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

Digital Edition