Customer
The Russian State Agrarian University — Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy is one of the oldest higher education institutions in Russia, founded in 1865 and located in northern Moscow. The university building is included in the State List of Especially Valuable Cultural Heritage Sites of the Peoples of the Russian Federation.
The university’s total land area is almost 600 hectares. This includes not only academic buildings but also experimental fields, gardens, and park areas. The site houses more than 300 buildings for various purposes: residential, educational, research and laboratory, pilot production, and administrative. 18 of them are cultural heritage sites.
Situation
In 2020, university leadership initiated a modernization of its security infrastructure. At that point, video surveillance existed as a set of disparate solutions using equipment from different vendors: separate systems in each building with no centralized management. The access control system ran on an outdated platform that had been discontinued and was no longer supported by the vendor. There was no unified architecture, common management framework, or integration between the security systems.
Objectives
The customer needed a comprehensive security system with a unified management platform and a scalable architecture. Key requirements:
- ability to integrate with a wide range of equipment from different manufacturers;
- centralized monitoring;
- targeted deployment of video analytics;
- integration with bank card acquiring services and the university’s internal IT infrastructure;
- combining video surveillance and access control in a single management framework;
- implementation of complex access logic (support for different identifier types, guest passes, differentiated rights for students, staff, and visitors);
- quality technical support.
Solution
To build a comprehensive security system, university leadership chose ITV’s Intellect integration platform. Compared to alternative solutions, ITV’s product better matched the project’s technical requirements, economic model, and support terms.
Key deciding factors:
- no lock-in to a specific equipment vendor;
- flexible configuration of complex access logic;
- ability to customize software modules for the university’s specific needs.
Scale of deployment
The unified security system rollout covered the entire campus: academic buildings, dormitories, laboratories, sports and administrative facilities — more than 50 buildings. A distributed infrastructure has been built, including:
- over 1,500 cameras;
- around 200 access control points;
- 60+ servers;
- 50 workstations;
- a single situational center.
IPDROM equipment made by ITV Group — cameras, servers, and workstations — is increasingly used in the project. This choice is driven by its native integration with the Intellect software and the benefits of a comprehensive single-vendor solution.
The solution uses the following modules:
- ACFA-Intellect — management of access control, security and fire alarm systems, and perimeter protection systems;
- Auto-Intellect — license plate recognition and vehicle movement control on the site.
Non-standard solutions: bank card integration
The university’s access control system was built with financial support from a sponsor bank, on the condition that Mir bank cards be used as the primary identifier. To address this, specialized Parsec readers were selected, which ITV specialists integrated with the controllers in use.
Process automation was implemented: user data is generated by the bank when cards are issued, then transferred to the university’s internal IT infrastructure, synchronized with the Intellect platform, and used to automatically create accounts and assign access rights. Integration with 1C and the university’s own software was completed.
A separate scenario was worked out for guest passes: operators were given an interface to monitor issued temporary passes and close them promptly when needed.
Video analytics
The main types of analytics applicable to educational institutions were piloted at the university site. The system supports license plate recognition for entry/exit control, object tracking for intelligent archive search, and experimental solutions for detecting smoke and fire in dormitory kitchens.
At the current stage, campus-wide deployment of video analytics is not a priority. Expanding coverage with analytics modules is planned for the next stages of the system’s development, based on the university’s current needs.
Result
The university has built a unified, centralized security system covering an area of more than 18 km², replacing dozens of disparate solutions.
Overall, the customer solved three fundamental challenges:
- centralized administration, monitoring, and technical condition control of the system;
- the ability to quickly pilot modern solutions (new equipment and video analytics) thanks to the wide range of ready-made tools in the Intellect software;
- high-quality system support, including responsive assistance and on-site specialist visits.
Outlook
ITV’s cooperation with Timiryazev Academy is long-term, with a phased rollout of the solution. Plans include horizontal expansion of the system by connecting new buildings and other facilities, as well as vertical development: testing and deploying new situational analytics.
It's great that the customer is open to innovation, ready to experiment, and supports our initiatives in finding the most effective approaches. As a result, the university gets the optimal solution for its needs, and we make our product stronger. The solutions developed at Timiryazev Academy can later be replicated at other educational institutions.
Dmitry Gorbanev
Product Development Manager for Intellect, ITV
