Two types of service engineer

It has long been debated!!! Who is the most hard working ? The early starter ? or the late finisher? …Well lets break it down and find the answer. The early starter is obviously keen. They have to be! No one in their right mind gets out of a warm bed and makes their way to work early …do they?……….. Well yes! They are the people who hate being late. The very thought of missing the 8:00 am deadline to be into the car park and through the corporate door fills them with horror !!!..

The service engineer who is a late starter however is really quite different. A late starter is the one who has the brains and always has a reason as to why they are not at their workplace on time. To be fair the excuses are always brilliant.”I had to take my daughter to school” or “my car needed to go in for a service” are frequently heard excuses of the the late starter.

Tragically, the early starter is incapable of of making this kind of excuse!!! That is because he /she has booked their vehicle into the garage in their own time or of course made arrangements for their friends or family to look after the kids so they wont be late.

So you would have thought the late starter would be lambasted and derided by their employer…………………….well no!!………you see the late starter is often the last out the office,,,unorganised and slow at processing their work, they have to stay late to get to get even the their minimum amount of work commitments completed……… but their is a bonus….they seem to get noticed….always  last out the carpark…… or hard at work on their PC…………what rubbish!! They are just slow and incapable of sorting their work out within their allotted time!  So why are employers so blind to all this? Perhaps they have forgotten how to use their CCTV systems?and in reality it suits them. Who has ever seen their boss in the workplace before 9?  It always seems that he who works late is infinitely better than the engineer who is willing to haul himself/herself out of bed at a ridiculous hour to ensure he/she is where he/she says he/she will be at exactly the right time………. Now i’am still confused by all this!! It seems the early starter must be held in higher esteem and be  more well respected by his/her employer….surely………

Sadly the answer is NO……those service engineers who start late always get to work just before their boss and coincidentally always leave JUST after their boss , giving the impression they are hard working committed employees and with that comes promotion and cudos…………so is lying in bed good for your career prospects?…………it would seem so ……….yes!

Dual path IP signalling for CCTV

Emizon.

Dual path IP signalling is a prerequisite now in all intruder alarm scenarios, for many years now insurers have insisted on it and it is one of the most important security measures employed within the industry. Also one that gives early warning of a potential break in and is crucial in limiting losses.

Emizon TCD

It is strange therefore, that CCTV systems do not seem to have the same level of security applied to their signalling path to a central station. Most CCTV systems rely on an unmonitored ASDL line, this seems totally inadequate when you consider what CCTV systems are expected to protect in the way of value, especially when being used to confirm external intrusions into compounds and other external areas where goods of high value are stored.

With the IP CCTV revolution currently underway, Emizon 21 have an ideal answer to any line cuts that may occur. They do this by providing dual path signalling using the broadband telephone line and a secondary GPRS route. Using the first secure  IP monitoring solution on the market, Emizon have shown innovation and an insight into the future of IP communication.

So with most telephone lines now going over to broadband , Emizon can provide excellent value for any dual path signalling solution, whether they be for existing, new intruder alarms or CCTV

IP CCTV regulation and certification

IP CCTV regulation.

IP video system, IP surveillance system, Networked camera system, Networked surveillance system. No one has yet to actually decide what the CCTV system that we know today is going to be called . CCTV is not really an option because it is no longer a closed CCT system.
Networked security cameras are here and over the next 5 years will start to dominate the security industry’s thoughts. However there are other industry sectors beginning to realize that there are big opportunities out there. Those  from the IT and networking industries are good examples. Excitement is rising amongst these groups as they find it more and more easy to steal business from under the noses of the security world.One important fact however that everyone seems to be overlooking at present is standards. As we know the NSI currently keep a tight rein on us, the installers and ensure sites are audited and certificated to a very high standard. But who is going to enforce this upon Telecoms companies who suddenly decide that IP video is now part of their portfolio. Insurance companies have never successfully driven business to get a certified cctv system installed unlike they have in the intruder market and so in the past it was the fear of cowboys that drove many big companies to push their business the way of CCTV companies who had transparently high standards and thus a good reputation.However, economics are now the driving force behind any companies decision as what kind of surveillance system they will buy. This is now heavily biased in the favour network installers who will issue no certification and although they would be bound by their own high standards to do a good job may not be as aware or even worried about basic security factors that always need to be applied when installing a CCTV system.This leaves CCTV installers in a highly vulnerable position, one that if they fail to address now, will leave many seriously struggling to stay in business. Manufactures will need to seek out new contacts as well or they could find that their rather large investment into IP products could be very abruptly trumped by the likes of Cisco and others like them. These large IT houses must be happily sat back waiting for the world of IP video systems to very simply, deliver itself at their feet.

CCTV to go iPhone crazy!

The world is buzzing about anything that is related to Apple!

Queues form at the slightest hint of new iPhone stock landing in the stores

Around 2million iPads are sole EVERY SINGLE MONTH!!!

We love our Apple devices here at Integrated CCTV…..don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a sales pitch for Apple, they really don’t need it!!

But…..our industry is really slow in catching on to the Apple train….

Ask any decent DVR or IP provider and they will tell you ‘yes, our iPhone app is coming’….. Well so is Christmas!!!!

Now I am sure Apple don’t help with their Draconian app store red tape……but really, the SDK has been around for a while, surely the DVR bods can see the benefit in releasing software for the global leader in smart phones??

And let’s not forget Android……predicted to have a 17% share of the mobile OS by 2011…..up from under 5% last year!!!

We did stumble across a fantastic alternative though…… Live Cams HD in the app store for both the iphone and the ipad…… Barry Egerter has done a great job in creating a multi platform app that will talk to a variety of IP cameras and NVR devices……. and with an app that is so low cost and a device list that is constantly updated via an Internet connection to the Live Cams server, this offers a really great way to access your CCTV system…… Barry promises to add new devices, free of charge, in return for customers downloading his app……. a great way to ensure commercial success…… we’ll keep our eye on this one we think !!

what mobile platform would you prefer to view your CCTV? ! let us know

IP cameras v Analogue cameras

So there must be some reasons why IP cameras are going to provide the next generation of CCTV systems. Below we list some of the benefits to help you decide if you are about to buy CCTV if IP is the way for you to go.

Analogue vs IP cameras.

IP cameras are inherently networkable so no need to rely on the DVR to enable remote connection

IP cameras are run over CAT 5 cable and this has reliability benefits over coaxial cable

Cat 5 cable is cheaper

The resolution achievable from HD and megapixel cameras is far superior to analogue

IP streaming means that viewing and reviewing is much more flexible.

IP cameras can be be powered over the Ethernet so no need for mains to be supplied adjacent to the camera position.

Much larger systems are possible and this helps keep the total cost of ownership lower than an equivalent sized analogue system.

Recording and viewing is achieved through using software so no DVR is required.

Remote storage with all the associated benefits

Multiple viewers can view different video streams at the same time

The ability for both video and audio at each camera point.

On board storage with each camera by using an SD card

Cameras have built in intelligence ie audio alarms for noise levels and video motion detection.

As we can see IP cameras have lots of benefits over analogue. If you would like you IP camera solution reviewed we will be happy to help.