Category Archives: CCTV

VCL dome repair solution

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VCL dome repairs.

VCL were a company who were one of the great success stories of the late nineties and early part of this century. They were a British organisation who revolutionised the CCTV market with their orbital domes.

Takeover

Their success was soon recognised and take over was inevitable. First Ademco then Honeywell also profited from the success of the dome through aggressive take-overs. Buy dome spares

Honeywell.

Honeywell however have fingers in many pies and the orb 6 and orb gold dome was eventually superseded with Honeywell’s own product lines, no surprise but a great shame. One thing however has over the last couple of years though has been neglected and that’s repairs of the domes themselves! The CCTV domes won’t last forever. They have moving parts and are of course vulnerable to wear and tear. Some large repair houses will take on refurbishments but Honeywell no longer support the product.

VCL orb gold camera

It is here that a great opportunity exists for companies willing to help out the tens of thousands of end users out there that still have VCL domes and still need them as part of their overall security package. 360 vision technology are one company that we have sourced that has cleverly taken advantage of what is going to be a very large market as the VCL domes reach the end of their life cycle.

The 360 dome inner

The 360 vision dome inner can be adapted to fit into the existing orb gold housing. This dramatically reduces the cost of an upgrade and often works out cheaper than actually trying to repair the old dome inner itself. The outer housings of the VCL dome are brilliantly robust and will go on working for years without needing any attention at all, so the smart businesses out there might find a cost effective solution with 360 vision technology.

Repair it!

Servicing a VCL dome can also be carried out by Maxey Moverley. This is a repair house that has  skilled staff to look after the inevitable rise in demand to fix what after all is a very good product, many years after its original conception.

CCTV maintenance,essential service or industry myth?

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CCTV maintenance, essential service or industry myth.

For many years it has gone without question that when you buy a CCTV system then you also buy a maintenance package to go with it. The packages you can buy are diverse, however and you can go from 1 visit per annum to clean and test the system to an agreement that will cover comprehensive labour and parts. The choice at the end of the day is of course in the hands of the customer but ultimately to the installer the maintenance is sometimes crucial to ensure that after year 1 a profit can actually be achieved on the installation itself.

Dangerous game.

This for the installer is a dangerous game to play in the current market place. Cut throat pricing means margins are small to non existent, if the client decides against a service agreement this can cripple small to medium sized installers and many businesses have failed in the last 18 months trying to get jobs on the back of a maintenance package.

CCTV servicing.

This then of course begs the question how profitable is a CCTV maintenance agreement? Well it tends to go back to the kit that is installed in the first place. Cheap kit is inherently unreliable and we would never recommend its installation. The other trick of course is to install closed protocol equipment meaning due to software restrictions only the installer will ever be look after the kit and will sting you forever and a day every time you call them out.

Cheap kit…dont take that route!

Customers tempted by cheap prices often regret their purchase simply because  a) the kit does not do what it was originally claimed to do.  b) The CCTV installer is constantly out trying to fix it. Of course any company doing multiple visits back to installation will soon see any profit wiped out, they will go under and the end user left with a useless un-serviceable CCTV system.

Do you need maintenance?

So back to the original question does a CCTV system need a maintenance agreement? Well the answer is defiantly yes. CCTV can be very reliable but it is a critical requirement. When it goes wrong it needs fixing and fast, an agreement that does not include a “hot swap” arrangement means goods can be removed from the site for repair and not returned for long periods of time. So the company you use to install and to service is crucial. The whole concept of  CCTV maintainence agreements really does come down to one of quality. Buy quality in the first place and your failure rate will be low , When the product does fail the installer should have a stock item to replace it , this is only possible if the installer can make a profit on the install and this is only possible if the customer has the vision to pay a fair price in the first place.

Tough times!

We find ourselves in a climate that is pushing prices and margins down; this can only lead to poorer service levels in the future, choose your installer wisely, pay a fair price for good products and don’t fall foul of cheap deals it may come back to bite you!!!

International Security Exhibitions

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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!

Black Hawk IR dome from 360 Vision

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Answering the age old problem of how to illuminate PTZ dome pictures at night time, 360 Vision have announced the availability of their Black Hawk IR Dome range

Drawing on over 20 years of CCTV Manufacturing,  the 360 Vision Technology Black Hawk IR Dome with twin LED IR illuminators is available in a choice of either Cool Grey, White or Black.

Options include:-

  • Dual 830nM wide angle IR Lamps providing 100m of illumination
  • Sony Ex-View WDR Camera options in 18x, 26x and 36x zoom
  • Multi Protocol Integration
  • OSD
  • Motor Motion Design
  • High Quality Components
  • Intelligent Alarms
  • Creative Privacy Zones
  • True Day/Night performance
  • Picture Freeze and Fast Shutter

we certainly think this is a great addition to their range – domes have always suffered from a lack of travelling illumination as found on the older overt PTZ units.

we think that the Black Hawk is a great ‘in between’ product, sitting perfectly between their VisionDome and Predator range !

we hope to bring a review shortly of the claimed 100m IR range……

Emerging Video Technologies – Pt6 Mesh Wireless Networks

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Today, we take a look at Mesh Wireless Networks

Potential Benefits:
Video surveillance is often wanted in areas that are remote from buildings, such as in parking lots and along fencelines. Running network cabling can be cost prohibitive and requiring expensive and/or disruptive trenching.

Ip wireless systems offer a wire free alternative to transmit video in those areas. Mesh wireless systems (a specialized form of IP wireless) allow video to be transmitted across longer distances and around areas of interference (like hills or trees etc)

Costs: Compared to long distance cable runs, mesh wireless is generally significantly less expensive. Even at about £1500 per wireless node, wireless is far less expensive than almost any form of trenching across roads or pavement.

  • End User Risks:
    Because of the bandwidth demanded, deploying wireless systems for video surveillance require specialized expertise. If end users do not choose experienced installers, significant delays may occur. Additionally, risks exist in the long term performance of the system (as environmental or local changes can degrade performance). It is imperative that customers budget for long term maintenance of the system or major issues could occur.
  • Installer Risks:
    Deploying wireless video surveillance networks may be the single most difficult technical task in all of video surveillance (even harder than video analytics). Wireless demands technical expertise in both IP networks and wireless systems. Futhermore, wireless systems can be impacted by external factors such as the weather and nearby wireless users (because most systems are licence free). Two specific risks are : (1) systems that do not deliver as much bandwidth as the installer plans and requires and (2) ongoing stability problems with the system that demand expensive service calls.

 

Taken from the ‘Emerging Video Surveillance Guide 2010’ from http://ipvideomarket.info/

Have you any opinions on this? leave a comment for us!