Increasing numbers of school bus fleets are installing onboard video and audio recording systems. It is a rapidly evolving technology, focused of course on protecting the passengers entrusted to your care while meeting many unique budgetary and purchasing requirements as well as needs and specifications of school safety boards and transportation providers. While there are many manufacturers of different products, they all conform to three main categories, VHS, Hard drive or Solid State. Where once only VHS tape recorders were the standard Hard Drive recorders have become the most common type of recording equipment in the industry. Most recently solid state or static drive recorders have advanced in storage capacity to make a presence in the industry as well.
VHS tape recorders have been discontinued by most manufacturers. VHS offers the least storage space and the most cumbersome option among video recorders. While the devices are the least inexpensive they are also the most unreliable and offer few valuable features.
Hard
drive recorders offer the most storage capacity of any
option. A typical hard drive can store up to several weeks worth of
bus runs. Because of the huge capacity of these drives, recorder
manufacturers can employ video formats that provide extremely high
video quality as well as multiple video signals allowing for the
simultaneous recording from more than one camera. Industry advances
have made Hard Drive Recorders an extremely reliable standard for
mobile recording however, a hard drive is still a mechanical device
based around some rather fragile components. Hard Drives are not
extremely tolerant of heat, cold or vibration. A careful look at any
manufactures spec sheet will show certain limitations. Currently,
many recorders have built-in heat yielding devices to warm up hard
drives when temperatures drop below freezing to ensure reliable
recording. Some manufactures simply disable recording until the hard
drive achieves a certain temperature, usually 34 degrees F.
Solid State Recorders are relatively new and as the price of static drives and memory modules go down and the storage capacity increases it is likely at some point that the hard drive will go the way of the VHS tape. Some manufactures will argue that the static drives and memory modules are no more reliable than a hard drive however, solid state recorders will operate under very extreme conditions. These recorders are almost unaffected by vibration and dust and most static drives and memory modules can operate at temperatures well below zero. Because the technology is new, pricing as varied and comparisons among manufactures difficult. Some manufacturers push the limits of the technology to provide video storage and quality on par with hard drives making the devices more expensive. Other manufactures sacrifice multiple camera options and video quality to make their recorders very appealing from a cost factor.
The bottom line is all these devices are designed to meet the same needs and goals. Specific requirements will define the type of equipment and options necessary. Most school and pupil transportation providers enlist video recording for the following reasons;
Deter bullying, vandalism, and other offenses
Reinforce driver accountability
Document
chain of events
Substantiate or refute
claims
External stop arm activated video
of passing motorists.
To accomplish these tasks the industry has set options and standards that again, are not confined to any single manufacturer. All mobile recording devices employ an industry standard vehicle interface to allow certain status messages to be displayed during the viewing of the video recording. These status messages include: time, date, bus number, Ignition on/off, amber light indicator, stop arm indicator, brake indicator and some manufacturers still offer a speed sense indicator. However, because of technical difficulties interfacing with various bus manufacturers, speed indication, which was originally intended to be a standard option is now limited to recording equipment that employs a GPS option by most manufactures. All manufactures allow for audio recording although there are certain legal stipulations involving audio recording in particular situations.
While some manufacturers still require proprietary equipment to view and store video recordings the most recent industry trend is a move towards standard windows based video file types and formatting and standard USB equipment interfaces. Most hard drive and static drive modules are self contained, easily removed from the vehicle and viewed on any computer. Drives can be configured to over-write oldest video when they become full. Replacement modules are relatively inexpensive so spares can be on hand to swap into a recorder when it becomes necessary to remove a drive for viewing.
All manufacturers offer various camera configurations including multiple (usually up to 4) cameras. Various wide and narrow angle options for different bus lengths and viewing requirements as well as outdoor cameras for viewing passing motorists. Cameras can be mounted in various locations in a bus to accommodate specific concerns. Dual mode cameras that can automatically switch to infra red night vision as a standard or add-on option are also available when choosing a camera type. Most manufactures offer GPS as an option. This tracks the vehicle location, speed and heading during the video recording to help verify events.
Any combination of these different options will aid in addressing different concerns on board a bus. Of course budget constraints will ultimately dictate which concerns take priority. Price will have a biggest effect on video quality. First determine what must be seen and then decide what can be done without.
Mark Klecanda
Safebus
Video Systems
(845) 234-1954