Warren Local Schools Made Campus Security Smarter and Simpler

• Customer: Warren Local Schools
  
• Industry: K–12 Education
  
• Use Case: Campus surveillance, user-friendly footage access, NVR replacement‍
• Segment: Public School District / IT-Constrained Team

The Challenge: Outdated System, Heavy IT Lift

Warren Local Schools, a K-12 district in southeastern Ohio serving 2,200 students, was relying on an aging, on-prem system that made video retrieval slow and frustrating. Only select machines with proprietary software could access footage, placing the burden entirely on IT.

“If someone needed footage, it had to go through me,” said Kyler Gage, Network Administrator. “There was no easy way for principals or school resource officers to pull what they needed. It just wasn’t scalable.”

The tipping point came when one of their NVRs failed. Rather than reinvest in a system that was already slowing them down, the team began evaluating new options.

The Solution: A Hybrid Approach That Fits Education

Kyler led a collaborative selection process with IT, the superintendent, and district treasurer. After comparing multiple vendors, Coram emerged as the most practical and cost-effective fit.

“We liked the interface, the pricing, and the ability to keep our existing cameras,” said Kyler. “And unlike most cloud systems, Coram offered on-prem storage, which was big for us to preserve bandwidth.”

Coram gave the district a hybrid cloud model: secure, local storage paired with easy remote access. The rollout began in one building and is expanding gradually as legacy equipment ages out.

Unexpected Wins: Hot Spares, Faster Recovery

Beyond ease of use, Coram delivered unexpected operational benefits. “Because the licenses include Coram cameras, we’ve been able to keep a few on the shelf,” Kyler said. “So if one of our existing cameras fails, we can just hot-swap it immediately. That’s been a huge time-saver.”

Coram’s support also stood out. “The AI assistant was better than most, and when I needed a person, they jumped in quickly, even fixing an issue overnight.”

Why Coram?

✅ Works with Existing Cameras: No rip-and-replace needed

✅ Hybrid Cloud Option: On-prem storage with cloud convenience

✅ User-Friendly Interface: Easy for non-IT staff to find footage fast

✅ Responsive Support: Chat and hands-on help when needed

✅ Licenses Include Cameras: Built-in backup when hardware fails

What’s Next?

The team is expanding Coram across more buildings and gradually retiring its old system. Once complete, they plan to onboard additional staff to the platform for faster, more decentralized video access.

Would They Recommend Coram?

“Absolutely,” said Kyler. “If you're looking to modernize without replacing your entire setup, Coram is a smart, user-friendly option that really lightens the IT load.”