Just The Facts 

Customer: YMCA

Location: San Jose and Redwood City, California

Challenge: Securing two YMCA locations and using the system to track who is in the facility, and what equipment is used most.

Solution: A surveillance system that keeps YMCA members and staff secure and monitors who’s inside.

Results: A high-tech Verkada camera system that uses license plate, facial, and AI recognition to protect facilities and enable unique applications.

Customer Challenge

YMCA builds a firm foundation in the communities it serves by offering programs and services that help kids and teens reach their potential, promote community health and wellness, and create meaningful ways for people to give back. 

Central to this wide-ranging mission is a secondary focus: ensuring the safety of all YMCA members and staff.

California’s YMCA locations in Sequoia and South Valley recently shored up their security with a new surveillance system. According to Zachary Palmquist, project manager at Safe and Sound Security, this new system provides increased protection and exciting new applications.

YMCA, he notes, experiences considerable membership churn, as new members join, and others let their memberships lapse. To manage the changes, the front desk needed a more efficient system for tracking member activity, lapsed memberships, and facility use.

“They wanted to know what equipment was being used the most and who was in the parking lots,” he says. “A great way to do all of this is to have cameras with facial recognition.” 

The solution was found in Verkada. The new system uses:

• Verkada Security Cameras with facial recognition and analytics detection capabilities,
• Verkada License Plate Recognition, and
• Verkada Video Management Software with AI analytics.

Need for a New System

Both sites relied on an antiquated 15-year-old analog camera system when Safe and Sound Security was called in to update their security systems, according to Palmquist.

However, he explains that the issue with their outdated system wasn’t its age; rather, it was the difficulty managers faced in overseeing various locations. 

“The managers were unable to access the systems remotely or on site without having to log in and out of multiple different systems to get to the location they wanted to see,” he says. “YMCA wanted their managers to be able to access all sites from one platform, which Verkada does every well.” 

YMCA officials also sought a system that could record specific areas for insurance purposes and staff accountability. “The facilities have gyms and swimming pools, and there are a lot of injuries that can happen,” he says. “They wanted a way to monitor that.” 

The organization also wanted to track every vehicle that entered and left the parking lot, so Safe and Sound Security installed license plate capture systems. Since there’s only one entrance and exit at each location, the new cameras will record all license plates as cars come and go, Palmquist explains.

Staff at the front desk also needed better tools to monitor member activity, facility use, and to simplify adding and removing members, he adds.

To fulfill these requirements, technicians chose a variety of Verkada cameras, according to Palmquist.

Verkada Bullet varifocal lens cameras were deployed in parking lots to capture license plates and in the pool area where outdoor cameras were needed because of wet and humid conditions. Other indoor spaces used Verkada cameras, while outdoor spaces used dome cameras.

“We also used a few fisheye cameras, the Verkada CF81-E, and Verkada’s new multi-sensor camera. which has four lenses,” he says. 

Installing quad lens cameras on every building corner covered all of the YMCA’s desired angles outside, he adds. “We could either go with three single-lens cameras or one quad-lens camera,” he explains. “Ultimately, the quad-lens option was the more budget-friendly choice.”

 Palmquist shares that this decision also cut down on the amount of cabling required. With just one cable, they got four views, while using three single-lens cameras would have meant running separate cables for each one.

“There are also fewer points of failure with a single camera in place,” he says. “And we’re able to capture far more than we would be able to with three single-lens cameras.” 

In addition, YMCA officials sought longer-term licensing agreements. Palmquist explains they didn’t want to pay for licenses every month or even once a year. Verkada offers one-, three-, five- and 10-year licenses, and YMCA decided on the three-year licensing plan. 

Innovative Functionality

With these tools on-site, staff can add new members into the system quickly, then track how those members use their memberships. “Are they in the pool or the gym?” he asks. “This lets them cater their business to the trends they identify. It’s a lot like how retail stores use heat maps to see where the foot traffic is the heaviest so they can move items they want to sell faster into those heavily trafficked areas.” 

Palmquist mentions the system helps them collect data, such as how treadmills are being used. Staff might discover the treadmills are in constant use with people waiting for them, while other nearby machines sit unused. With this insight, they can decide to add more treadmills to meet the demand and get rid of the equipment that isn’t being utilized.

Adding and removing members is also easier. The staff takes a photo of every new member, then adds it into the database. When members come in, they present their credentials, and the staff can verify that the person in front of them is the member in the photo. 

Because YMCA’s system is also plugged into Verkada’s new full analytics artificial intelligence (AI) search engine, staff can use the system to set up alerts. For instance, they might set an alert to watch for delivery trucks and notify the front desk when they arrive. Or they might set an alert for a person of interest to catch a disgruntled former employee before they enter.

“The YMCA is using these AI features to be proactive in business situations,” he says. “The sky is the limit. They’re finding new uses every day. They can use proactive alerts to identify a delivery driver, emergency vehicles, law enforcement officer or construction worker, anything they can think of.” 

The alerts also can be tailored by time. Palmquist explains they can set alerts to go to the Verkada app on their phones, which can do everything the desktop program can do, or they can set them to go to Verkada software on their desktop PCs. Alerts are set to only come during business hours. 

“We didn’t want them getting alert at 10 p.m. while they were watching TV,” he explains. 

The AI system enables continuous learning for the cameras. When the cameras were initially installed, for example, they did not identify many delivery vehicles when asked to by the end-user. However, over time, the system got smarter.

“It’s constantly updating and learning as the system goes along,” he says. “So, all the alerts they set and the facial recognition gets better and better the longer the system is in place.” 

Another important factor in the interior camera installations was the cameras’ viewpoints. Technicians had to think each through in order to get the views they wanted without infringing on members’ privacy. They solved this problem by putting cameras outside of locker rooms and bathrooms.

“As you can imagine, a lot of theft happens in the locker rooms,” he says. “This creates a visual log showing who enters and exits, and when.”

Full Rip and Replace

The installation was a full rip and replace, meaning all existing equipment was removed and replaced. This simplified installation and ensured it progressed quickly, Palmquist adds.

The project began with a site walk with YMCA staff, which included the executive director, IT director and COO, and the Safe and Sound Security team. A demonstration camera was also installed at that time to provide the YMCA with a 30-day trial.

Safe and Sound Security’s site estimator provided layouts for the facility after the site walks. These are rough markups of where the customer thinks they want cameras, Palmquist explains.

“The estimator sends the markup my way, and I plug it into our System Surveyor software to draft a proposed camera layout,” he explains. “After that, we had another meeting to nail down the layouts, field of views, angles, and how far the cameras can see, among other details. Once everything was approved, we moved on to the quoting phase, got the contracts signed, and kicked off the installation.”

The install went smoothly, he adds. The facilities already had the infrastructure in place to run cables above the drop tile in the common areas. In all, techs were on site for four days in San Jose and two days in Redwood City.

Training and Maintenance Provided

Safe and Sound Security provided multiple training courses for staff members and will monitor the operational system going forward, promptly addressing any issues or alerts to ensure optimal performance. Palmquist explains a comprehensive service level agreement (SLA) ensures maintenance and training is covered.

The cloud-based Verkada system grants backend access to all devices for remote repairs. In the absence of a remote solution, Safe and Sound Security dispatches technicians to resolve the issue and provide replacement parts if necessary. Technicians also come out annually to clean and test systems.

A Focus on the Future

These installs are part of a larger security initiative, where Safe and Sound Security will install similar systems at five to 10 other YMCA locations in 2025. Everyone involved really enjoyed working on this project, says Palmquist.

“YMCA has been a community fixture for many years,” he says. “It brings a lot of joy to the entire staff to be involved in a project like this.”

Safe and Sound Security
75 E Santa Clara St 6th floor, San Jose, CA 95113, United States
+1 408-560-4799
https://getsafeandsound.com/locations/san-jose/
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