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VoIP Supply and MOBOTIX

The VoIP Supply President, Paula Griffo, and I just got back from the MOBOTIX East Coast Partner Conference on Friday and are we excited where this security company is going!

VOIP Supply and MOBOTIX have had a beautiful relationship for years. When the MOBOTIX Partner Program went into effect last year, VoIP Supply was immediately an Advanced Partner. We’ve been trained on the products and we can get directly on the phone with MOBOTIX, which is a huge benefit to you, our customers.

If you’re not familiar with MOBOTIX, they are a full solution surveillance company. Dr. Ralf Hinkle founded the company back in 1999 in Germany by building a DVR directly into an IP camera. This decentralized system was revolutionary, and since then MOBOTIX …

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Storage of IP surveillance video is driven by cost and, based on your application, how long you need to store the video.

High quality, high resolution IP surveillance video can take up a lot of space and can be a sizable cost of your IP surveillance system. But with today’s technology, driven by Moore’s Law (“The number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double every 24 months.”), any size of storage system that you need can be arranged.

That is to say video frame rate, number of cameras, and video retention time can be handled. IP video surveillance storage systems have varying degrees of performance, cost, and scalability.…

In the beginning stages of wireless IP camera setup there are some simple considerations to be aware of. As you get deeper into a wireless IP camera system solution other factors such as frequencies, signal strength and security concerns need to addressed.

Wireless networks can be a bit trickier than their wired counterparts so in the final step of this series I’ll talk about the following concerns:

Bandwidth
Distance and number of cameras
Wireless vs. wired networks

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In the first part of the wireless IP camera setup conversation it was noted that because of their easy, quick, and cost-friendly set-up, wireless ip cameras allow fast deployment for immediate or emergency needs.

Wireless IP cameras enable mobility. Using them in a parking lot, for example, is cheaper than running cables through the ground.

And while popular in the home and small offices, wireless IP cameras have a slower adoption rate in the corporate setting because of network security concerns and reliable wirless signals – topics that I’ll be touching on in this post.…

Due to their flexibility and cost savings, wireless IP cameras are an interesting alternative to wired networks. For example, a wireless IP camera, like the Axis M3113-R, in a bus can be accessed live from remote locations.

Or, historical buildings protected by the Heritage Act may not allow standard network cables to be installed thus only allowing a wireless setup. Wireless IP cameras signals can go through most media such as wood and concrete.…

Data transfer rate standards have increased dramatically enabling today’s Ethernet networks to provide the performance necessary for demanding IP video applications.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) provides the option of powering devices (IP cameras) connected to an IP network using the same cable that’s used for data communication.

While network bandwidth may have been a scarce resource in the past, today bandwitdth is plentiful but there are still a few things to consider when setting up a network for IP video surveillance.…

I’ve talked about how video servers are a great way to start converging your analog CCTV surveillance cameras to a network based system and how video servers provide poweful intelligent video features.

Just like installing a video graphics card or more memory in your computer, you will get instant and noticeable benefits from adding a video server to your analog surveillance system.

With the addition of a video server your system can be configured to:

Respond to triggered events and sent alerts.
Connect to and enable external devices

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As mentioned in the previous post, video servers are a great way to converge analog cameras to IP camera technology. You can gain the benefits of a network based surveillance system while continuing to realize a return on your coaxial cable wiring and analog camera investment.

Another big benefit of video servers, something that analog video systems cannot provide, is the ability to use event management and intelligent video functions.

Video servers enable a surveillance system to be constantly on gaurd with powerful built-in intelligent video features such as:

Video Motion Detection
Audio Detection
Tampering Alarms
Input ports for external sensors

Once an event (any occurence out of the ordinary that you can specify) is detected the system can automatically send email alerts, …

Video servers, sometimes known as video encoders, bridge the gap between analog CCTV surveillance systems and digital IP based systems. Video servers are a great budget conscious, transitional product for those who are looking to gain some of the features and benefits of network based solutions but, aren’t ready to make the full jump.

If you’ve installed analog cameras in the past few years they’re going to be functional for quite some time. There’s no need to shortchange that investment. Video servers will allow you to maintain those analog CCTV cameras while enhancing your video surveillance system to provide the benefits of IP video.…

If you’ve never considered having an audio component with your surveillance system that may be because analog CCTV systms require separate audio and video cables to be installed from end to end which becomes difficult and costly over long distances. IP cameras make the implementation of audio a lot simpler because the audio and video information are sent over the same network cable eliminating the need for extra cabling.

More and more IP camera audio is becoming a common feature not only because it’s easier to process over a network cable but also because the importance of this additional surveillance medium is now being recognized.…

In a vacuum IP cameras are more powerful than their analog/CCTV cousins. However the strength and reliability of a network can bring an IP camera to its knees if the proper amount of bandwidth is not available to handle the information being processed.

A reason why IP cameras are gaining in popularity is because network infrastructures are constantly growing in size and capabilities as are internet speeds. Just like uploading or downloading images or video to/from the internet, speed plays a crucial role in the quality of that experience. The same goes for accessing stored or live images from your computer’s network or, accessing them remotely via the internet.…