Tag Archives: CCTV System

Buying a cheap DVR?….then prepare to buy twice

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What DVR to buy?

What do customers want and expect from a CCTV solution when they are originally sold the the concept?

Clear crisp images.

Well most customers will expect crisp, clear live images to watch during the day and to be fair pretty much all camera systems are capable of producing this. A pre-installation demonstration can illustrate this well and most customers are happy to buy on what they have seen.

The pitfalls.

However what most end users fail to realize is that the live images are just a small part of the overall solution. So many times after an incident has occurred that they find out too late that they have purchased a system that is quite frankly totally unacceptable.

Why?

How can this be? Well often they discover to their cost that the DVR has let them down , no matter how good the pictures look “live” it is the play back and the information that can be gained at this crucial point that makes the difference between a good CCTV system and what can only be described as quite simply a white elephant..

What goes wrong?

Several things can go wrong when the customer comes to review an incident. One of the most common we have come across is that the hard-drive has failed. Cheap DVRs have no internal monitoring of the hard-drive health and no visible or audible indication that it is failing or worse, has failed. The consequences are obvious ..no pictures to review.

Other problems.

Other problems are that the DVR images are are a pale replica of what the customer has been used to watching live. This is because the picture quality that has been laid down onto the disc has been reduced to save hard-drive space. Either the pictures are jerky or pixelated and any attempt to zoom in on the incident is met with a mass of pixelated squares. Worse still the installer may have made the picture quality too good, so we have great images but find that we have recorded over the incident we are looking for. It may turn out you will have only one or two days recording.

Unhappy customers.

All this leads to customer dissatisfaction and in many cases the customer will find he spent a lot of money and achieved nothing. Correct advice is essential to ensure that the correct DVR is purchased in the first place . This may of course cost quite a bit more money at the time of the original purchase , however it seems  pointless to buy a DVR that is effectively useless!

Buy cheap, buy twice!

So think hard when deciding what you want to achieve from your CCTV system , Some applications may only need the very limited recordings that cheaper DVR’s will give you , but if you need a CCTV solution that you can rely on to give you the highest quality and lengthy service, its worth shopping around for the DVR that will actually give you EVERYTHING that you want.

How to provide a good service to your customers

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What level of service do customers expect?

In today’s market place customers really do expect the very highest level of service. Companies need to provide continuity in terms of engineering staff and service levels. Redundancy in terms of spare parts is always an issue. Most of the top companies carry spare parts in local storage so that the company can offer a hot swap solution if a customers CCTV system fails. This can be costly and most customers do not appreciate just how expensive it is to provide this service.

Resilience.

The kit must be able to stand up to harsh environments when put out into the field. What most customers again don’t realise is that the saying buy cheap buy twice is often very true. It is almost always the case that the cheapest quote very rarely offers the best value in the long run

Response times.

A 4 hour response is generally accepted as a sensible and reasonable expectation but same day response rarely attracts a complaint. Follow up calls are often needed especially where parts are required. No engineer can be expected to carry every part on board that will be required for each job.

Training your customers.

A well trained customer who fully understands their CCTV system is a benefit. It means there is a better understanding of faults when the system fails and more likelihood it will be picked up by the customer before an incident occurs. Spending time talking to your customers will always pay dividends.

Conclusion.

Good practice, motivated staff, quality equipment and good training will always add up to a happy customer. Actually selling this at point of sale with the extra costs that are generally involved can be a more difficult matter. If you are an installer or service provider who has any points to add to the above observations please feel free to comment. On the other hand if you are a business who have experienced problems with your service provider please leave a comment with some of the bad things your have experienced at the hands of a CCTV installer.

Home office appoints interim CCTV regulator

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New CCTV regulator appointed.

Andy Rennison has been appointed by the home office as the interim CCTV regulator. His role has been defined as one that will set standards and regulation for contemporary CCTV systems.

What is involved?

The job will include setting up a quality standards framework that will ensure that images are delivered that improve security, reduce crime, and create safe environments for the public and the business community.

Why now?

Essentially to enable CCTV to be used in the public domain it must be treated in the same way forensic evidence is processed by the police and the courts and to this end the aim is to ensure quality images are recovered and these are processed correctly during the  enhancement and analysis stage.

A modern standards framework.

The new regulator will also work towards a modern standards framework to guide us in the responsible use of CCTV and set regulation that will suit the public interest. With IP CCTV bringing new installers into the market place standards are crucial to ensure experience and high standards of installation are rewarded

Complaints process.

A complaints process will also be put in place to ensure the public feel that CCTV is being used correctly and this will also enable them to appreciate the benefits that the use of CCTV systems brings to us all. The interim process will take up to 12 months and its hoped will have the wide support of the public , police, courts and of course the government.

Much awaited detail and clarity.

As we all know business drives the CCTV market and the market place is moving quickly to embrace new IP camera technology and integrated CCTV systems. This brings us much awaited detail and clarity but also this change brings many new challenges especially from a forensic and evidential point of view . So to allow us all to go forward we need to take stock now, set standards and regulation that can be implemented and used by all to ensure CCTV continues to drive crime and unsociable behaviour away. This will give the public, police and courts the utmost confidence in this new IP world.

New Euro 46 from Castle Care-Tec

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New intruder panel.

Castle Care-tec are upgrading the base euro 1 panel currently known as the Euro 1024 and renaming all there current panel range in the process. This change will come into place on April 1st 2010 and they will also update the in-sight remote connection software to enhance connection speed and functionality.

Flexible.

Expandability is not a feature of the new euro 46, but the extra benefits the new panel has should prevent the need for upgrading most systems. The Euro 1 Plus will now be re-badged as the Euro76. The Euro 76 is the same as the original Euro One Plus this does allow flexibility to add additional zones and can be expanded as before.

New features.

Below we list some features and understand that the dual-com will now fit inside the redesigned panel layout.

Euro 46 (Grade 2 and 3) v Euro 1024 (Grade 2)

The Euro 1024 can only be used as a Grade 2 security solution where as the new Euro 46 has the flexibility to commissioned as grade 2 or 3.

The Euro 1024 has 28 inputs the end of line resistors are restricted to 4k7 / 2k2 , DEOL or SEOL.

The Euro 46 has 46 inputs (thus the name)  True Double Pole wiring can be configured or DEOL wiring, however both can be integrated together should there be the requirement euro 46 also supports SEOL resistors. 4k7 / 2k2, 1k /1k and 6k8 / 4k7. are the selective resistor values that can be used•

The Euro 1024 only has 4 part set modes this can be limiting at times.

The Euro 46 actually has 6 separate areas that can be individually configured.•

The Euro 1024is limited to 20 codes whether they be manager or user.

The Euro 46 has the added value of 75 codes that can be programmed as manager or user.

The Euro 1024 is limited to the use of 4 keypads across the whole system.

The Euro 46 now has the ability to support up to six separate keypads on the system.

The Euro 1024 has one size box and this is a large enclosure.

The Euro 46 has two different size enclosures so you can choose depending on needs and space available to fit the panel.

An additional feature of the  Euro 46 is that it has a Switch Mode PSU this a is cool running process that ensures battery life is prolonged.

Integrated Door Entry Control and integrated Access Control are part of the standard set up and the panel supports remote maintenance better known as ARM.

Integrated with CCTV solutions the logging features complies with a policed monitored CCTV system and is easily tested and commissioned using the on board forced walk test facility.

Conclusion

Castle have thought long and hard about this panel panel and the new features allow it to fit into a market place dominated by small to medium size installations. The flexibility of this panel means that with the right marketing and trouble free from any un-found bugs we predict a that this panel will be a winner.

Integrated CCTV System

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Integrated CCTV systems.

What are the elements involved in a fully integrated CCTV system?  Starting with the a basic CCTV system we will always have the cameras , the DVR and the monitor. this is what people generally understand when they ask to have a CCTV system installed.

Lots of applications.

We can have an internal CCTV system, an external CCTV system or we can have a mixture of both. Until recently CCTV systems tended to be restricted to a fairly small number of cameras usually up to about 16. Of course there has always been a need on bigger sites for more cameras but there was always the restrictions. The number of frames per second per camera that a DVR could process for instance. The more FPS the more expensive the DVR tended to be to accommodate. Then of course we have the picture quality. Analogue CCTV cameras have always been restricted as to how many lines they can produce to make up the image we see on the screen.

Better picture quality.

Although cameras have advanced to allow more lines,  420 TVL would be typical for instance. It does not stop there, we are then restricted by the monitors and the picture quality they can produce . With the introduction of IP we now have the exciting development of HD CCTV and this means mega pixels and in turn a huge advance in picture quality that we can expect from our recorded images in the future.

Integrated CCTV solutions provide so much more.

Integrated CCTV systems though consist of more .They can be hybrid CCTV systems part analogue, part IP. They can be Integrated to access control systems and linked to central stations. They can be linked to external alarm systems. Sensors, fixed beams and so on to give us many different security solutions and the ability to generate alarms.

CCTV in the future.

Most integrated CCTV systems of the future however will be able to incorporate analytics to generate alarms. This could be used to warn of a terrorists threat such as abandoned luggage and suspicious behaviour etc. The CCTV systems can be integrated to ANPR software that will allow number plate recognition to control barriers and access control and the  police are able to track suspicious vehicles across the country by using this ANPR technology. CCTV systems can now integrate to biometric readers to allow faces to be linked to finger prints this offers companies a huge upgrade of security within their organisation.

In summary.

In summary CCTV systems on their own will be a thing of the past. Integrated security in its many forms is the way forward for the future. IP cameras and the improved picture quality they bring together with analytics and more flexibilty are just around the corner , things are moving fast!