Tag: CCTV Camera

integrated security systems

Integrated security solutions.

Integrated security systems are becoming an ever more popular security solution for larger organizations today. Many facility managers are fed up with dealing with lots of different companies for lots of different sites and all the associated paperwork and costs involved. It is now a lot easier with the advent of IP security solutions to integrate fire, intruder, access control and CCTV into one simple package covering a multitude of sites.

Integration is the way forward.

Honeywell, Cortec and Risco are just a few of the big manufacturers out there who have recognised that integrated security systems over IP offer the end user huge advantages and exceptional cost savings, once that is the initial outlay is taken into consideration.

So easy.

The beauty of  total integration of security systems is detailed mapping and fault analysis from one location. It is difficult if not impossible within larger organizations to control costs on fragmented security arrangements with lots of different security companies, sorting all the different administration and keeping track of engineer visits. Quite frankly this can be daunting.

Integrated access control.

It is also true that within large organisations and multiple site locations that staff movements and employment changes make it difficult to control and administer access control rights. However one person using one lot of integrated security software in one location will have far more control. This is also true of compulsory fire tests, CCTV maintenance visits CCTV camera outages and so the list goes on. IP has now made it possible to get a realistic view of the whole company suite and keep control of what may have previously been uncontrollable.

Expensive?

So what would you expect to pay for an integrated security system? This is difficult to assess without knowing the full specification of the sites you wish to integrate and the security systems that will be integrated. Most CCTV security software packages have a basic product and then additional bolt ons that require a licence per module. It is crucial therefore that when specifying a fully integrated security system that detailed planning is put into place before any decision is made on the software package you decide to purchase.

Specify an integrated security system.

If you require further guidance or information on integrated security solutions that are out in the market place today, feel free to make contact and we will be happy to help

Bosch CCTV cameras

Bosch CCTV

Bosch security systems has now released a complete list of its full product range for 2010/2011

News on CCTV products.

They have been particularly keen to promote the new Auto-dome Easy II range, the extremely versatile IP200 series and the MIC500 classic (Metal Mickey CCTV camera).

Easy dome.

Starting with the Easydome II they have managed to produce a sophisticated range of dome cameras at a very reasonable price and very easy to install. Feature rich, this dome range is 70% smaller than a traditional PTZ camera making it compact and ideal for discreet surveillance. ONVIF compliant, with the option of on board analytics, the camera range has both internal and external options, well worth a look.

IP camera 200 series.

We have spoken a lot on this site about the IP 200 series cameras. Bosch have found a market place for this IP solution making single camera installations complete with recording a very affordable solution for small to medium size business. A popular application for this IP camera is reception areas or locations of high stock value where a full blown CCTV system would normally be cost prohibitive. Again ONVIF compliant with an on board SD card for recording purposes together with a free  CCTV software solution that is able to accommodate up to 16 cameras, The IP 200 range is defiantly one for the future.

Metal Mickey CCTV camera.

The MIC, Metal mickey has always been a high profile robust external camera. Used for solutions such as shopping centres, football stadiums, dockyards and airports, it is very versatile. Buoyed by the success of the Metal Mickey CCTVcamera in the Big Brother series, Bosch have continued to improve the design and performance, culminating in the MIC series 500 classic. Easy set up and reliability certainly make this camera one of the leading contenders in the rugged dome market place.

Summary.

In summary Bosch have always produced quality. There cameras produce excellent images and innovation means they will always be at the top of CCTV industry, night time images especially are an area of expertise and now clever analytics within their codecs mean the options for installers are ever evolving.

Honeywell CCTV ACUIX

Honeywell Dome camera.

The Honeywell ACUIX ES ptz dome range is a combination of camera solutions that features integrated cctv high res cameras and has been designed to fit into just about every application. With 540 TVL resolution and auto iris lenses, the internal colour cameras are available with either fixed or a zoom lens. Both these cameras are highly cost competitive and are designed to make installation simple.

External CCTV camera.

Externally, Honeywell offer two solutions , either the wide dynamic (WDR) or the true day night (TDN) models, each fitted with a zoom lens that is selectable from 18x 26x or 36x zoom. This means very large areas indeed can be covered by each CCTV camera.

CCTV benefits.

Other benefits include excellent reliability, coaxial telemetry for retrofit scenarios, remote firmware upgrades and privacy zones to name a few. The CCTV dome camera has been designed for European wide sales and offers menus in 8 different languages, the inclusion of Spanish opening up potential in other areas of the world.

CCTV dome cameras.

The marketplace these CCTV dome cameras are aimed at, includes retail, banking, schools and colleges but to be fair the ACUIX ES will fit into just about any kind of application. Cable management brackets mean every job looks neat and tidy and with Honeywell you have a reputable company with good servicing and customer support to fall back on.

Seagate or Western digital

Seagate  or Western digital.

Hard drives! Anyone in the IPCCTV world will tell you these are the only two hard drives that are really used in most digital recorders today. They will also tell you that both are the same , there is no difference, it does not matter which one you use. This is especially true of installers who buy their DVR’s from the manufacturers and install their own hard drives .This can save a lot of money. Most manufacturers will advise against this but all in the know realize that on paper it makes little difference.

But……….

However we have come across a case where it seems some DVR’s really do need the hard drive installed that the product has been tested on. Below we carried out a series of test on a DVR that seemed to fail for no apparent reason the results were surprising and indeed could shed some light onto why DVR’s seem to fail for no apparent reason.

The test.

Below is the findings as described by the technician who carried out the testing…………………….

“I have been undertaking an extensive test on the DVR to emulate some of the issues we are seeing reported in the field”………..

The issues we were hearing were:-

  • Alarms locking up the units
  • Rebooting
  • HDD / recordings missing

I have set up a unit and  over the last 2 weeks, here are the results of my tests:-

Seagate 1Tb ST31000525SV – 2 of them to make 2Tb –  DVR 400ips unit

  • 5 cameras connected (1 camera looped to 4 other inputs)
  • CCTV Camera 1 is set up for motion and also I have turned on Sensor 1 and set to N/O – basically causing the alarm to be permanently on
  • Cameras 2-5 are set for motion
  • Recording schedule set for motion and continuous 24/7
  • Notify set to send alarm data to an internal IP address………….my laptop,……….so not always there (testing to see if a non-connection will cause lockup)

After 1-2 days of me not being present, the unit shows the ‘no HDD’ symbol with a red cross through the symbol………..looking at the System info, no HDD’s are present………reboot and they still do not appear……..when I do a full power recycle, both HDD’s appear again, the system continues recording and all video recording is still present (up to the point where the HDDs disappeared obviously)

last week, I observed the unit reboot after 3 hours, and when I checked the System info, one of the HDDs had disappeared……..a couple of hours later, both HDDs had gone after another reboot

So, I had taken delivery of 2 x Western Digital 1Tb HDDs Caviar AV 10EVDS and proceeded to put those into the  DVR in question

It is now Wednesday (5days later) and the exact same test has been performed with no reboot, lockup or HDD / Video recording loss……………….this leads me to suspect the following:-

  • The Seagate drives we were using were a faulty batch (possible but unlikely)
  • The Seagate drives we were using are actually not fully compatible with the DVR firmware, even though the manufacturer gave us the part number (possible)
  • The Seagate drives were not correctly inserted  by the client and my changing the drives to another unit is purely coincidental and corrected the fault – again  unlikely

Conclusion , it would seem that there is some subtle difference between the hard drives that has caused the DVR to crash although in practice this is not really possible the testing proves that somewhere within the firmware of the DVR a problem has occurred with the original hard drives.

When we at integrated CCTV asked the engineer if he thought there was a difference between the hard drives he replied.

“No same spec should make no difference, hard to understand, the Seagate is a good make so its not the Hard drive just the way it works with the DVR”

Feedback.

Has anyone else experienced hard drive failures on your own DVRs that may in fact be caused by a similar problem? If so we welcome your thoughts and feedback.

International Security Exhibitions

We may be based in the UK, but we always like to follow some of the up and coming International Exhibitions!

Volcano ash permitting, we are looking to bring good information on emerging technologies from the following exhibitions in 2010

ESSEN – Essen, Germany 5th to 8th October

ASIS – Texas, USA 12th to 15th October

ISC EAST – New York, USA 3rd and 4th November

more to follow!