The hardware comprising the school bus video observation camera system is comprised of electromechanical parts.
In a perfect world where the lawn grows to 2”s, stops growing, and never needs mowing, the dog feeds and walks himself, roses have no thorns, and an entire Angel food cake or Pumpkin pie has “0” calories or carbs, well in that fantasy land:
Charter bus student transportation camera system would simply never require any oversight.
Transportation Ministry Youth Activities Church Bus Camera Systems would not be needed to confirm or disprove Johnny was choking Tommy to their doubtful parents.
Alternative School & Juvenile Detention Bus Security Cameras would not be needed to document the bad behaviors and vandalized seat covers damaged by those precious children who some say are simply misunderstood and just need a little more additional oversight.
Head Start Pre-K Pre-School Nursery School Child Safety Bus Camera Recorder systems would not be necessary to document where their children got on or off the bus when they went home with their friends without telling their parents.
Before & After Care School, Child Day Care Pickup In-vehicle Shuttle Safety Cameras would not be needed to document the playful but sometimes harmful altercations between young children during transport.
Testudo Lifetime System Warranty Vehicle Video Camera systems with The Best System Warranty for a vehicle video surveillance camera system would not be needed to ensure the components of the system sold would be covered by the best value vehicle video camera surveillance warranty available.
Back in the real world, it seems far too many who invest tax dollar funding into these school bus pupil transportation security camera systems do not embrace the concept that helped end the Soviet Union and bring down the wall between East and West Germany, the practice of “trust but verify”
Recommended School Bus Video Surveillance System Maintenance Schedule
Daily Function Check
All school bus security camera systems have a mechanism to alert the driver or others that the DVR is powered up and is recording.
1 minute after the vehicle ignition LEDs on the face of the DVR show function or status:
LED to verify the Power is On
LED to verify the Recording Status
LED to indicate the Alarm Status
LED to verify the GPS function
Should you see no LEDs or if the Recording or GPS LEDs do not light up 1 minute after vehicle ignition, they require a system test with an LCD display to see if there is an error message on the screen such as “video signal loss” or “HDD loss”.
Weekly School Bus Camera System Function Check
In addition to the above-listed” Daily Function Checks,” each week the video recording function must be viewed to insure the DVR is recording the camera’s video to the memory storage device.
The reason this is important is the DVR may be fully functional and may be streaming the video from the cameras to the memory storage device, but in some cases, the memory storage device may not be able to store the video.
For example, if the DVR is using an SD card-based memory, and the SD card is damaged, or inadvertently someone slid the protection tab on the side of the car to locked, or is the SD card is not formatted in the right card type for the DVR to record on it, all of these possible issues will cause the same result, no video on the card but the DVR is still streaming.
This simple video-recorded verification can be achieved by using the LCD setup monitor to plug into the DVR, using the DVR remote to navigate through the DVR menu, going to the playback function, and watching the most recent video from the system.
Please note the camera image and FOV aka Field of View, as some children in the past have struck cameras hard enough with their fists, their shoes, or a book to move the camera out of the installation alignment. If the camera shows an odd view then use the security wrench to loosen the camera locking ring and properly adjust the cameras then lock them down securely.
Pre-School School Bus Camera System Operational Maintenance
Each year prior to the start of the school year, all school bus video security surveillance camera systems should be tested using the LCD setup monitor to verify they are operational and that the images are clear, bring Windex and a microfibre cloth to gently wipe lenses, verify Time, Date, Bus ID#, check to see if there are any error messages on the display like “HDD lost” or “Video Loss” if so replace the component or check the wiring until the error messages are resolved.
This is a good time to manually format the memory storage device, as it has been months since it was used last and the files on it are old, so renew the memory storage status with a fresh format.
Winter Break School Bus Camera System Operational Maintenance
Near the end of winter Break is another good time to check and verify all school bus video security surveillance camera systems functions, verify data again, clean lenses if necessary and get them ready for the rest of the school year.
Spare DVRs for backups and Future System integration on new buses
Often overlooked by those who invest in cameras for school buses are spare parts.
The manufacturers of this system seem to embrace gleefully the business model of “planned obsolescence”, meaning they have frequent changes to the DVRs based sometimes on new technology innovations, sometimes based upon new features that may require hardware modifications, and in some cases just to make older existing customers step up and again purchase their new tech systems because the older components will no longer with their new tech DVRs.
The result is every 3-5 years most companies will introduce new DVRs that will not work with the older cameras due to their propriety connectors.
It makes sense to purchase spare DVRs when you purchase any substantial quantity of systems to ensure you do not have problems suffered by so many who must operate a vehicle fleet with so many different systems and typos of the system from different vendors at the same time.
In many federally funded Fleet Vehicle Video Camera applications, the fleet directors request a percentage of spare DVRs for each quantity ordered as the government knows the value of having backup parts when a system fails, so that can quickly get the system up and running, but also so if they need an additional system in the future they are assured that many of them will be the exact same making their vehicle fleet only dependent on a single video player, camera type, DVR…
Department of Corrections Prison Bus Inmate Transport Video Surveillance Camera
ParaTransit, Elderly Senior Day Care Transport Camera
Non-Emergency Medical Transport Camera Recorder
Medicaid Patient Transport Vehicle Camera
NEMT Patient Transport Camera
State municipal governments do not often have the additional funding for investment in spare parts to keep their vehicle fleet homogenous, which is why so many school bus districts end up with a nightmare scenario of different products winning a bid every year until the district bus fleet has 10 different school bus video camera systems, sold by 10 different companies, that require 10 different video playback software players, and use up to 10 different formatting types of HDD memory standards for their fragile Hard Drive based DVRs.
Charter Student School Bus Camera System
Forklift Pallet Truck Camera Recorder System
5th Wheel King Pin Trailer Swapping Yard Mule Camera system
Special Needs School Bus Wheelchair Lift Bus Video Camera
With so many sources for Low-Cost cameras for school buses, it would seem only the best support and product would be offered by a company that offers School Bus Cameras Lifetime System Warranty. American Bus Video Inc. is the only company I am aware of at this writing that offers the Testudo School Bus Cameras Lifetime System Warranty, which can offer the customer the Best Value School Bus Cameras Lifetime System Warranty.
Should you have any questions, concerns, or require more information about various applications or School Bus Student Transportation Video Camera Recorder configurations, we encourage you to let us know and we will be happy to offer our 30+ years of market experience in sales and service of digital recording devices to respond to your concerns or questions.
