From Constant Fixes to Complete Confidence:
A Hanwha Case Study

From Frustration to Full Control:
How Concordia University Wisconsin Rebuilt Campus Security with Hanwha + Capital Electric

When an aging Honeywell system started to break down daily, Sean Young, the Director of Unified Communications and Audio-Video Services at Concordia University Wisconsin, knew something had to change.

Enter Capital Electric with a smarter, scalable solution from Hanwha Vision that redefined what was possible for campus security.

Case study snapshot

The problem: A failing system with no future

Before the upgrade, things were falling apart – literally.

The university’s previous Honeywell Max Pro system had aged out and with nearly 500 cameras campus-wide, daily issues were the norm.

“I was spending two hours a day just running around rebooting cameras.”

Worse still, Honeywell had stopped innovating in this space.

No clear updates were coming, no roadmap and support that often took two weeks to respond.

For Sean and folks whose job it is to keep people safe, that kind of delay is unacceptable.

On top of that, three-quarters of the cameras were no longer NDAA compliant, putting the university in a risky position with federal standards.

The turning point: Capital Electric steps in

At just the right moment, long-time partner Capital Electric reached out with a heads-up: they had started offering Hanwha Vision solutions.

Timing couldn’t have been better.

“We were already shopping for alternatives when Mike and Greg brought it up. It was perfect timing and they took it from there.”

Capital coordinated everything: vendor intros, early meetings, specs and support.

But it wasn’t a hard sell.

“They never pushed. They just made sure we had what we needed, when we needed it. I always felt like I was driving the bus, but they made the road smooth.”

Why Hanwha was the clear choice

After comparing multiple vendors like Axis, Speco and others, the university landed on Hanwha’s Wisenet system.

Why? It checked every box and more.

 Future-ready innovation with AI components built-in
 User-friendly tools that reduced training time
 AI-powered search for vehicle and person detection
 Compliant hardware vs. outdated, non-compliant gear
 Best bang for the buck

Implementation: Seamless, strategic, supported

Implementation went exactly how you'd want a large campus system upgrade to go: smoothly, efficiently and with support that showed up before anything was purchased.

“We had multiple meetings before anything was even purchased. They made sure we were getting what we wanted – storage space, camera counts, licenses, how we’d divide the network – all of it was discussed before the PO.”

Hanwha’s engineering team handled most of the heavy lifting in the planning phase. Once the appliances arrived on campus, the team racked them and Hanwha sent an engineer on-site to walk through the setup, step by step.

“They really did most of the work for us when it came to designing what we needed. And because we were new customers, they took the time to make sure everything was done right.”

That kind of response isn’t typical in this space and it made a lasting impression.

The results: Time saved, team empowered

 2+ hours/day saved
Zero unplanned downtime
Training time dropped from hours to minutes
Campus safety officers are fully self-sufficient
 AI search cuts hours of video review to minutes

“I haven’t had to call support once…except that one time I messed something up,” Sean noted with a laugh.

The team using the system, mostly retired police officers, can now handle everything from searching license plates to exporting evidence footage without needing constant IT support.

“To export a video on our old system, it was like eight or nine steps. With Hanwha, it’s literally: highlight, right click, save. That’s it. These guys picked it up immediately because it just works like every other tool they’re used to.”

Even the camera ordering and mounting process has improved thanks to Hanwha’s web tools, letting the team easily find the exact parts they need.

A platform that grows with you

With success proven, the university is already thinking about expanding its Hanwha setup by adding dual-lens and multi-lens cameras across its parking garages and high-traffic areas.

“Once my safety team saw what these cameras could do, it was like: ‘We want more. We need more.’”

The Capital Electric Difference

While Hanwha provided the innovation, it was Capital Electric that made it all come together.

From vendor management to check-ins to expansion discussions, Capital stayed involved every step of the way.

“A lot of vendors disappear once the PO is signed. Capital never did. That’s why I keep going back.”