False alarm! A CCTV monitoring company’s biggest nightmare

False alarm! Another one….. its not just fire alarms, smoke detectors and intruder systems that cause problems. CCTV systems have problems to and its something that CCTV monitoring companies are desperately trying to reduce. It is quite frankly the weakest point of any remote monitoring system and as more and more CCTV systems are remotely monitored then the False alarm situation becomes a bigger and bigger headache. Just like a smoke detector false alarm, very very irritating.

false alarm

External CCTV

So what is the main cause of false alarms. Well mainly the fact that CCTV monitoring is primarily used in external scenarios. External sensor technology has as yet failed to come up with a solution to all the disruptive factors that can be thrown at it such as wind, rain, sunshine overgrowth, wildlife and more often than not ill disciplined staff who quite frankly forget to switch off the alarm as they enter the premises.

Making the decision

All this causes huge difficulties for the central station. Firstly the operator is often put in an untenable position of deciding whether a person seen on site is genuine i.e. a false alarm or whether the are about to commit a crime. Many a court case has hinged on the operators decision and one can only feel sympathy for them. Then there is the continuous false alarm. This is where a tree or bush or flag has been placed in front of a sensor and is causing the sensor to send spurious signals through to the central station. Most central stations will simply disable the camera in this case leaving the end user very seriously exposed to crime. Hardly an ideal situation.

BS8148

So is there a solution? Well BS8418 was specifically introduced to encourage professional companies to install good quality kit, Adpro springs to mind. Also everyone wants to ensure all the downfalls we have highlighted above were avoided. Effectively a false alarm charter using a control panel to filter alarms before they are dispatched means only genuine sensor triggers should get through and a log will help installers track down the cause of a false alarm far more quickly and efficiently. However there is a problem.

Cheap DVR

Cheap remote monitoring solutions have suddenly flooded the market place. Even the most basic DVRs can now trip alarms via broad band through to the monitoring centre. The problem monitoring stations face is, do they turn down business in order to ensure quality and false alarm reduction or do they just accept that false alarms are a prerequisite of external CCTV systems and just get on with it, accepting liability for break ins knowing that the increase in connections should cover any loss. To help avoid this the important thing for the monitoring station is to deploy good front end software that will mean alarm handling is easy whatever alarms may hit the operators screen.

A fine balance

So there is a very fine balance, but if someone, anyone, could bring out an external PIR that was intelligent enough to reduce or even stop the false alarm issue, together with well designed front end alarm handling software then utopia could be achieved and we would find that some very stressed central station managers could get on with their jobs without false alarm issues hanging over their heads and provide the CCTV industry with effective and efficient monitored CCTV systems

Xtralis, Adpro V3100H CCTV monitoring solution

Xtralis V3100H.

Formerly Adpro, Xtralis have produced a new hybrid DVR that also excels when it comes to remote monitoring,
The V3100 is a hybrid unit that can handle both analogue and IP cameras. The Ip camera range they will integrate with is limited but Panasonic are keen to join forces with Xtralis and this will open up the market place considerably for them.

Save money.


With companies looking to save cost wherever possible the remote monitoring solution is meaning that expensive security guards can be replaced and alarms monitored and actioned by a central station. The V3100 comes in modular form so you are able to buy the solution that suits the site and this is easily expandable should requirements change.

Remote monitoring.


Remote monitoring is the way forward and with the V3100H providing excellent picture quality,  it is the central stations who have provided very positive feedback on the product.
If you are considering a remote monitoring solution that also requires a DVR that can supply excellent picture quality and search facilities then contact us for more information regarding this product.

Emizon IP CCTV communicator solution


Over the last 15 years one of the biggest growth areas in CCTV and security has been remote CCTV monitoring. A fantastic concept, it has been an easy sale once a customer is convinced a third party will be looking after his site for him for a fraction of the cost of a security guard. Over many years, the ISDN telephone line was the only way to carry enough data over the network to give a presentable picture to the operator viewing images at the central station. The one weak point never addressed however by either installers or the end users was, what If the line was cut? This effectively rendered the system useless.


As time has moved forward, we have had the broadband revolution. Manufacturers have continued to  strive to improve picture quality to central stations, now using clever compression techniques and the ever expanding bandwidth available, means operators sitting in the central station are now given some brilliant images to work with. It seems the criminals now have no chance? However we need to go back to an earlier point. What happens if the line is cut or simply goes faulty?  The intruder quite simply has all the the time in the world to effectively empty the customers premises, at his leisure …well not quite. There is now a simple cheap and effective solution.
Emizon IP have bought out their IP broadband communicator that can notify the central station of a broadband line failure. By using a secondary GPRS path a signal can be sent to the central station informing them that immediate action is required to restore the broadband link. When the Emizon is also connected to the premises intruder alarm all the signals will be received giving the central station enough information to call the police should this course of action be required.


The Emizon comes in the form of a TDC and also has relay outputs to re-initialize remote DVRs if required. It is always on and is also 8148 compliant, this means that thousands of legacy monitored systems would dramatically benefit by upgrading their signalling. Clearly using  Emizon has many advantages.


More on this product soon. And why we see Emizon being the leading dual path broadband monitoring solution for the future.

Dual path IP monitoring

Dual path IP monitoring.

It is clear to see the benefits that a dual path monitoring system can
bring to any security system. Peace of mind for the customer and
almost always a prerequisite of the insurance company, it is obvious
two paths are better one.

Line cuts.

In the not too dim and distant past single path monitored phone
connections were all too common. On many occasions an engineer would
turn up after a break-in only to find that all the incoming lines had
been cut often at the top of the telegraph pole. The perpetrators
would then have simply disabled the bell box and helped themselves.
The central station, Police and the customer, none the wiser!

Insurance.

Insurance companies soon wised up to this and driven by the need for a
solution, products were developed using mobile phone technology to
send a secondary signal out via the mobile network to the waiting
central station. The dual path monitoring solution was born and has
been an unqualified success ever since its inception.

IP broadband monitoring.

Legacy signalling providers obviously designed their services around the old PSTN infrastructure. One company however thought beyond this legacy infrastructure and planned their product around what was
inevitably to become the future. The future is Broadband and the
future is fibre.

Emizon lead way!

Emizon have designed their service to support installers take advantage of the IP environment including fibre and next generation networks. As a result they are leading the way in cost effective, secure dual path signalling and Emizon IP is now being specified as
standard by many installers. The benefits include on line access to enable a remote maintenance and remote programming which is enabled via a serial port integrated into the TDC. Installers can use this service to make changes to channel inputs and check the signal strength remotely.  In addition, using an on-board set of relays, DVRs can be given a
reboot often all they need, saving engineer time on a site visit.  And as an IP service integration with other building services is also that much easier to achieve.

Secure IP monitoring over broadband.

However most importantly Emizon has been specifically designed for the
broadband era and is secure and easy to use as a result. No unexpected phone
bills either to explain away. But how does it compare price wise to
other products? Well very favourably. Central stations have seen the
future and keen pricing will encourage installations. The unit is not
site specific so engineers can carry the TDC in their car and fit a
unit on the day whatever the signalling grade required, panel or GPRS network is available and with either dynamic or static IP addressing. With pstn connectivity being added later this summer and meaning that the same Emizon TCD can be deployed whatever the engineer is faced with on site. Simple.

No other way forward.

When we look to the future it is hard to see that fibre and broadband
are going to be superceded by a new technology soon. So with Emizon
exploiting broadband so cleverly, it hard to see a dual path
signalling product that is really capable of matching the benefits
Emizon can provide.

CCTV.What do end users want?

What do end users want/ expect from CCTV ?

Good live images.

Reliable DVRs.

Excellent service.

Robust products.

Future proofed solutions.

A quality installation.

Internet access to recordings.

Integration to access control /intruder alarms.

Megapixel and HD cameras.

Good compression over the network.

Recorded images that retain maximum quality.

Recorded images that can be zoomed into.

CCTV software thats easy to use.

Remote IT support.

Fast response to faults.

CCTV analytics

Remote CCTV monitoring.

Here at integrated CCTV we know this and we are able to give advice and help on how this can be achieved. With up to date news and reviews on all the latest IP PIXCs, HD solutions , Analytics and how to get the best out of your existing CCTV systems. If you have any questions on CCTV, Access control or security integration it is well worth viewing the site or asking us questions online. We will always be able to find you the answer you need.