Category Archives: CCTV

How secure is remote CCTV monitoring over IP

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In the old days when everyone used Adpro and everyone use ISDN remote CCTV monitoring was very secure. Sadly it was also very slow and had no flexibility whatsoever.However you could not take it away from Adpro, their product was rock solid. The marketplace though has changed some would argue very much for the better , we now have some excellent broadband services in this country and we have DVRs that have been adapted to both record and transmit video over broadband.

Remote CCTV monitoring

The question though is how secure is this remote CCTV monitoring? In there past there was little to go wrong, the phone line was a number that never changed and the receiving centres used Adpro gold, many still do. Now though we have so many different products, formats and protocols that receiving centres have been forced to use front end software that can handle many different products and feed this into the operators in a format that they can monitor.

We also now have a 4th party involved. The IT manager or contractor who looks after the on site router and assigns IP addresses. This is where we believe that anyone without experience could easily compromise the link between the installer, the phone line provider and the central station. We have seen many comms cabinets that are insecure, have been poorly wired and open to mistakes when any changes take place. Whats to stop anyone either accidentally or deliberately breaking the link from the DVR to the central station.

The problem for CCTV installers is that they will get the blame, they are forced to prove further to any loss where there has been a failure to get the images to the central station, that they are not liable, but often they are unable to prove where the fault is or they may find it is “fixed” before they can prove their innocence.

We believe that installers will be caught out unless they employ the services of good IT technicians, this also could well be the case with IP cameras as well. A difficult one but if you have ever been caught out or totally disagree with this view and believe that IP is more secure, please let us know.

Bosch MIC 550 and 550IR

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Bosch security systems have announced the release of their new 550 series ruggedized cameras. The MIC 550 and MIC 55oIR have been designed to capture high quality images in difficult and harsh environments. The MIC550IR comes with integrated infrared lighting and the MIC 550 is a true day night version of the camera that is particularly suited to protect critical infrastructure.

MIC 550

Regardless of conditions the MIC550 series is IP68 rated and impervious to dust or water. Features include 550tvl resolution,28X or 36X zoom,wide dynamic feature built in and privacy zones.

The MIC 550 range is totally compatible with both the 500 and 400 series powers supplies and as a result makes upgrades and replacements simple. Pelco p protocol means that the MIC550 series can integrate into any existing installations replacing older PTZ cameras.

For more detail and PDF spec sheets visit the Bosch website to see more about the new rugged PTZ solution on offer

CCTV Industry experts !

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Heard a great comment today from a guy that is been in the industry for literally decades!

He was asking a very straight question and he was genuinely being serious – but the way it was phrased was complete garbage! A complete mixture of technologies was wrapped into one technical sentence……. it was like Back to the Future and Back again ! IP, HD and analogue references were all included!

This got me thinking, our industry is full of so called ‘experts’ who have built a living from selling CCTV related products.

But how much do they REALLY know about the products and services that they sell?

Don’t get me wrong, I have seen and been with Company Representatives who really know their product inside out – often bordering on being Technical – yet they move from company to company, with their excellent and polished sales skills, simply picking up the new products and revising specifications verbatim from the professional data sheets their new company provides.

And some of these guys are going out to installers, and installers sales staff (who tend to have less specific product knowledge) and attend site to meet with end users (who have even less specific product knowledge) and advise on the best CCTV solution for that end users needs – which, by coincidence is based on the end to end set of products that sales ‘expert’ has in his company briefcase!

And Distributors? Well, in my experience, they tend to look at the best square to fit in this week’s circle, often based on commission rich product bonus offered by economic-strapped manufacturers to ensure their product is pushed to the front of the pile!

Some Manufacturers do just that – manufacture – often bringing in 3rd party OEM products to supplement and complement their manufactured range whilst delivering the full end to end solution the installer and subsequent end user craves. This can bring it’s own problems, the manufacturer often providing excellent service for their own in house kit, but falling short when it comes to controlling the 3rd party OEM kit and it’s support.

Training is essential – companies like Tavcom Training provide superb courses in a variety of topics and to be fair, any decent installer worth his/her salt should invest in their staff to ensure at least a modicum of basic knowledge before thrusting them toward the end user!

As we move towards a more IP-centric world, less A to B cabling and more network connections, is going to expose the bright boys from the pretenders……. so now is the time to get the training in and the sales bluff out!

SPC iPhone app for Siemens intruder alarm

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SPCanywhere Mobile App

Siemens have announced the release of SPCanywhere – the mobile application solution for SPC.

SPC iPhone app
SPCanywhere will work with with iPad 2©, iPad©, iPhone 4©, iPhone 3GS©, iPhone 3G©. The new SPC iPhone app gives the iPhone user a powerful interface to control his SPC intruder alarm system from anywhere. Using advanced graphics and mapping the SPC iPhone app can let you easily see the status and condition of your alarm giving reassurance of the state of the premises. Setting or unsetting your SPC intrusion system is simple,also check the status of all of the zones on your system and also to get live CCTV images from the IP cameras connected to SPC.

Link to SPC iPhone app

 

Bold Communications integrates Panasonic and Samsung into Gemini

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Axis, Panasonic and Samsung are the latest big name manufacturers to be integrated into the Gemini front end CCTV from Bold communications.
Bold communications has already integrated many CCTV, intruder, fire and lone worker monitoring
products into their alarm monitoring control room solution. Gemini allows a large variety of different security systems to be monitored by one common interface allowing the central station operator to easily handle many different alarms with ease.

By displaying pre alarm information, the operator is more easily able to tell the difference between real and false alarms.With the Gemini event centre all alarms are processed by a common interface, this reduces operator training time and means a more professional response to alrm situations.

Sophisticated system features, for example, associating any standard
intruder or fire panel with a remote CCTV system, creates a truly
integrated solution with a high level of intelligent and targeted site
monitoring for your control room.  Gemini is now being specified for a wide variety of security solutions and projects worldwide, a totally integrated CCTV solution offers a high level of targeted response from within the control room.

For over 30 years Bold has been working with central stations developing management systems for
the alarm and CCTV monitoring. Bold now has a reputation within the security industry as a reliable robust solution for central stations with Gemini management software.