Dean Drako, founder and CEO of the cloud-based video surveillance company, Eagle Eye Networks, is launching a $1 million grant program for schools to cover the cost of real-time video monitoring technologies.
The move coincides with Eagle Eye Networks' launch of a new product that incorporates the company's cloud-based video monitoring with an app that allows pre-designated emergency responders to monitor video feeds during emergency situations.
With the video feed, which lags only by a second or two, first responders could monitor the location of people trapped when there's a gunman in the building or during a fire or other event. A corresponding map in the app would give them insight to where things are in a building to help them plan an evacuation or other response.
The video feed is encrypted and cloud-based, limiting the potential for anyone to access the video without approval and eliminating the possibility of losing recorded footage because of equipment damage or malfunctions. And the system can connect with almost any kind of existing cameras that facilities already have.
Drako said it's a new take on video surveillance that makes things easier for building administrators and first responders. He said the existing surveillance industry largely operates in silos.
"We're kind of pretty primitive (as an industry)," he said. "There's no standards, there's no kind of openness in the industry. Each one of the vendors of those big DVR-ish systems is kind of a little bit closed up. If you're all working on the same system, you can hook things up. If not, there's no real interoperability."
Eagle Eye's video technologies are already being used by Fairfield Community School District, which has 138 cameras to cover four campuses and roughly 2,100 students, and Brentwood Christian School, which has about 800 students. And the equipment is used to monitor Capital Factory, as well.
"We're kind of pretty primitive (as an industry)."[/pullquote]Under the new grants being provided by Drako, schools can apply to get networking equipment, apps, cloud management services and cameras. After a year, the schools would have the option to start paying for an Eagle Eye Cloud VMS subscription.
Grant applications opened Thursday and the deadline to apply is July 1.
Drako said it's the first system for first responder live video access that doesn't require a fiber connection to 911 centers or other first responder networks and, instead, uses the cloud to provide access to video via smartphone apps or web browsers.
"The first responder can get the live video feeds or historic video so they can get immediate situational awareness either from the officers or first responders on site but they can also be viewing back at headquarters or their response centers and radio or telling the people what they're seeing or what they need to do so that they're not going in blind," Drako said.
Drako, a serial entrepreneur, founded Eagle Eye in 2012 after co-founding Barracuda Networks Inc. and taking it public. Last year, Drako acquired cloud-based access control company Brivo for $50 million and integrated its control platform with Eagle Eye's video systems. The company is funded primarily by Drako and Michael Dell. Dell provided a "multimillion dollar investment," but Drako declined to provide exact numbers on investments or revenue figures. The company has 40-50 employees now.
Eagle Eye's efforts to operate in schools was influenced by the many recent school shootings, and Drako said he's providing $1 million in grants because he just feels its the right thing to do. But he said it's also a proving ground for cloud-based technologies.
"We want to show the advantages of the cloud over traditional systems," he said. "We're still in an uphill battle to convince people that the cloud is obviously better, faster stronger and it should be a no-brainer decision. But people are reticent to do it. It's kind of like they're like 'we put all of our CRM data, we put all of our ERP data, we put all of our IRS data in the cloud, but, man, I don't think we should put our video up there.' So we have a little bit of a perception struggle in our industry that we're trying to overcome."
Eagle Eye commissioned a survey of 1,500 people nationwide to gauge support for the technology in schools. It found that 72 percent of people are in favor of video monitoring in schools. Drilling down, the survey found 64 percent of people favored using the video to identify suspects after crimes occur, and 78 percent favor real-time monitoring during emergency situations.
On camera placement, 76 percent supported cameras at school entrances, 62 percent like the idea of cameras in hallways and as the cameras get more intrusive going into individual classrooms, fewer people supported camera use (36 percent).
Drako said there are dozens of reasons people have for wanting video monitoring.
"A lot of schools have serious vandalism problems... and they want to reduce that," he said. "There are folks who are worried about people showing up at the school who shouldn't be showing up, and they want to be able to go back and see who it was and give photos to police."