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VoIP Supply at the MOBOTIX 2014 East Coast National Partner Conference
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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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Intelligent Video Advanced Applications
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I’ve been posting about intelligent video lately and in lieu of yet another educational lecture (don’t be sad for too long, I’ll be returning to that soon) on the topic I thought a few article links about industry news and real world application examples would be helpful.

Smart Phones and Facial Recognition

Security Products Magazine takes a look at the emerging role that smart phones will play with intelligent video with the article, “Animetrics App Uses Facial Recognition to Secure Smartphones“:

FaceR CredentialME AppLock enables the Android smart phone user to use facial recognition as the biometric authentication to unlock any application installed on the user’s Android device. CME AppLock provides the options of using a password or letting the device camera automatically …

How Is Intelligent Video Used?
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Earlier I talked about what intelligent video is and why it is used.  This post tackles how intelligent video applications are used.

Keep in mind that intelligent video is an emerging market comprised of relatively new technology so, it’s not perfect and it may not quite be able to work the way you want it to yet.  In short, it’s best to have realistic expectations.

However there are some well-developed and well-used intelligent video features that won’t require a whole lot of finagling or adjustments on your part and, they will significantly boost IP camera performance.  Features such as:

Speed is important in IP video surveillance. Early and accurate detection are key …

Snow Shovel Thief vs. Video Surveillance Installer
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It’s been a rough winter for a lot of people around the country.  Snow, ice, and challenging commutes can put everyone on edge.  

If you want to relieve some of this weather induced stress by sharing in someone elses misery then consider,  what happens when you steal a snow shovel from a video surveillance installer’s porch?

From the Wall Street Journal article As Weather Worsens, So Do Manners:

Last week, during a storm that dumped nearly two feet of the white stuff on Chicago, someone took David Welles’s snow shovel from his front porch. The security cameras Mr. Welles keeps trained on his house showed a woman grabbing the shovel and using it to dig out her sedan.

The woman, whom he didn’t know, …

New Panasonic IP Cameras Added to IP Camera Supply
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We’re happy to announce the addition of new Panasonic IP cameras to our product catalog from Panasonic’s i-Pro, BB, and BL model series. 

Panasonic i-Pro Series

A certified reseller of Panasonic’s professional IP camera line, the i-Pro series, IP Camera Supply has added competitively priced entry-level models to the full featured, robust workhorse featuring all the latest breakthroughs such as: 

Panasonic Business and Residential IP Cameras

Also added from the Panasonic IP Camera stable are: 

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Why Is Intelligent Video Used?
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In my previous post I mentioned that I wanted to dedicate some space to the what, why, and how of intelligent video functions and I attempted to answer the question, what is intelligent video? 

Continuing in that vein, today I’ll be talking about why intelligent video is used to give you some background of how it has shaped IP surveillance systems and will continue to do so in the future.…

What Is Intelligent Video?
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Brief explanations of intelligent video functions and IP camera software have been touched upon in other posts like this one, however the information is scattered so I’d like to devote some space to the what, why, and how of intelligent video:

  • What it is and what it can do.
  • Why you want to use it and how it will save you time.
  • How intelligent video applications are used.
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Guide To Selecting Network Video Recorders
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QNAP VS-2004 Pro NVRA Network video recorder (NVR) is a piece of hardware that allows you to properly manage, record, store, and view IP surveillance video. 

They differ from PC server based systems in that they are standalone, plug-and-play systems designed only for IP video tasks.  For more on NVR vs. PC Servers check out this post here.

This post however is a general guide to selecting an NVR and the questions you should ask yourself before making a decision.  …

How To Select an IP Camera Lens
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There are several elements that affect an IP camera’s image quality and field of view but the one component that is affected first, the piece that is in the first line of approach for a source of illuminance is:  The IP camera’s lens.

IP camera lenses dutifully perform several key funtions:

  • Defining the field of view:  Defining how much detail and how broad the scope of a scene will be captured and ultimately, displayed.
  • Controlling the amount of light:  Controls how much light gets passed to the image sensor so that an image has the proper exposure.
  • Focusing:  Maintain proper focus by adjusting elements within the lens assembly or, by adjusting the distance between the lens assembly and the image sensor.

When selecting an IP …

Best Practices for IP Video Management
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My recent posts on IP Video Management turned out be 7-part series.  Who knew it was such a fascinating topic to warrant such length, right?  If you gained anything at all from this long run it should at least be that there is a lot to consider with these systems.

And that’s because IP video management is a highly important component of your IP surveillance system.  It is your window to the world in front of your cameras.  Controls, configuration, video search, and live monitoring and recording are all done from this single interface.

To sum everything up, below is a condensed list of best practices to follow to make the right selection for your application.…

How to Integrate IP Video Management Into Your Business
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An advantage of network based IP cameras is the ability to monitor a range of business activities from:

  • Transactions
  • Employee and customer behavior
  • Monitor restricted access entry/exits
  • Manage your building’s utilities and fire alarm system

This can be done by customizing an IP video management system using an application programming interface (API) to integrate IP video into your other systems.  This is a way to further trigger alarms, recordings, and alerts by using information from other systems a business may be using such as:

  • Point of Sale (PoS)
  • Access Control
  • Building Management
  • Industrial Control Systems
  • Radio Frequency Identification
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