Background
St. Dominic High School is a private Catholic school located in O’Fallon, Missouri. St. Dominic serves over 1,100 students. St. Dominic is a college-preparatory school, and 95% of its graduates proceed to post-secondary education programs. St. Dominic prides itself providing a safe, healthy, and productive learning environment for its students and faculty, and accordingly prioritizes being forward-thinking in its security solutions.
Tech Electronics reached out to the school in September 2023 to offer assistance securing funding for a technology upgrade through the School Security Grant Program, and subsequently guided them through the process of upgrading their technology.
Challenge
St. Dominic had an existing video surveillance system, but needed to upgrade in order to protect against emerging cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and were not able to carry over any of the proprietary cameras in their existing suite. Apart from this, they were also seeking additional camera coverage, especially for their parking lot due security concerns related to the school’s proximity to Interstate 70.
Tech Electronics approached St. Dominic in 2023 to discuss funding a potential technology upgrade through the School Safety grant, beginning the process of pursuing funding.
Solution
Tech Electronics provided an assessment of CKS’s existing security suite and a budgetary proposal for upgrades as specified by Senior Solutions Designer Matthew Putt, as well as guidance throughout the grant application process. Once the application was complete, the school received approval for funding in a little over a month.
Tech Electronics began the process by providing the budgetary proposal and technical analysis needed for St. Dominic to apply for the School Safety grant. St. Dominic was subsequently awarded the full amount of grant funding they had applied for. Through a carrier analysis process, Tech found St. Dominic could save roughly $17,000 per year by migrating to a cloud-based VoIP solution, which in turn provided additional funds for technology upgrades.
Tech then began overhauling St. Dominic’s surveillance platform, replacing all existing cameras and installing twelve additional new ones, and a new head-end. This included additional exterior camera coverage, including a custom solution for a region of the parking lot that had no permanent power source. Systems Configuration Specialist Michael Miller collaborated heavily with St. Dominic’s technology director and IT consultant to set up a separate security Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) to avoid interfering with St. Dominic’s primary network.
All of St. Dominic’s new security technologies are managed and monitored through Genetec’s Security Center Platform, which also enables Federation, a feature that allows the school to provide law enforcement officers with access to the school’s security solutions in the event of an emergency.
”We selected Genetec as the platform of choice for St. Dominic because they prioritized being able to manage their security systems from a single piece of software, and we felt the value of this would only increase as they upgraded and folded in more technologies. They also appreciated the peace of mind that the option of federation offered.
Alisha NovelAccount Manager, Tech Electronics
Feedback
”I have appreciated being able to partner with a company like Tech who was so thorough in their approach to the process, and provided us with so much transparency about the timeline and financial realities of the project, as opposed to the sorts of doubts and unknowns that usually creep in on the back end. Tech’s professionalism really made this a hand-in-glove fit throughout the entire process, and made us very comfortable with the idea of working with them in the future.
Jim WelbyPresident, St. Dominic High School
”I’ve worked with a lot of technology companies, but the attention to detail Tech showed really set them apart. They dotted i’s and crossed t’s in a way that you don’t always see on these projects.
Steve WingFacilities Director, St. Dominic High School
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