Video Surveillance to Video Management Software

Something to Know About Video Management Software for Video Surveillance

Many businesses and establishments have concerns about security and safety for their business investments. The thing is not every employee can be trusted or, if a robbery took place there won’t be any proof to associate for the crime. So, business owners resolved to the solution of installing surveillance such as CCTV’s on their establishments, to help them secure the profits and to help them resolve theft and any suspicious activities. This is to monitor every activity that happens on the establishment, and to secure the productivity of workers, and this also helps to know who’s slacking off or not on the job. Whether it be, restaurants, banks, restaurants, or any business needs security, a CCTV is used to deter any unwanted circumstances for businesses.

CCTV technology is a great tool to secure business.

Snippet from Wikipedia

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point to point (P2P), point to multipoint, or mesh wireless links. Though almost all video cameras fit this definition, the term is most often applied to those used for surveillance in areas that may need monitoring such as banks, casinos, airports, military installations, and convenience stores.

Installing CCTV Surveillance to Businesses

CCTV surveillance products and services don’t come cheap, and maintaining them does count also. If you’re a small-time business owner, these services may take-up some of your resources to compensate. So, to set-up your own video surveillance all you need is a little knowledge about video cameras and software’s to use.

CCTV Cameras

To set-up this up all you need are three things:

1. Video Recorders ( Hi-def’s are not required but optional, and has night time capability ).

There are a lot of video recorders out there that come out cheap, and can easily be replaced for maintenance. Look for it on electronic shops, or Ebay and Amazon. To set this up correctly you have to be discrete on where do you want to put the video cameras. It is advisable to hid it from view that it should be hidden from the unwary bystanders — well depends on the establishment. Lay out your plan, and come up with a solution where you can secure transactions, but also not make your costumer uncomfortable having cameras recording them.

Indoor Camera: Indoor camera as the name suggests are used for indoor security mechanism. Depending upon your security needs, you can mount it at any suitable location inside the building. These are suitable for security in homes, schools, offices, hotels, etc.

Outdoor Camera: Outdoor CCTV Camera is used for outdoor places. They are mostly used for entry and exit points with limited night lighting. Outdoor cameras typically have hard shell vandal-proof casings and a variety of lens options.

IR Day/Night Camera: IR Day/ Night Camera are used for high alert security areas where surveillance needs to happen throughout day and night. In the daytime the camera functions like a normal camera with standard colors and at night it switches to low-lux black and white mode. When visibility decreases due to no-light at night, Infrared LEDs are automatically illuminated providing full security. These cameras are used by military personals, in parking lots, and high security zones.

Snippet here: Types of CCTV Cameras

 

2. Transmitter/Receiver ( for wireless, if not then a lot of cables are required in which costs a lot) Or Wire Cables.

There are two type or wireless controlled equipment that I know of:

IP Surveillance Cameras – IP surveillance cameras uses wireless communication through the internet to send feedback and also to issue orders for the camera i.e to rotate the view or to zoom, pan in and out. It has its very own IP address where you can access it anywhere, and can be controlled in a secured computer.

WiFi Controlled Surveillance – WiFi Controlled cameras are only good for establishments that have constant connection through wifi or, Wireless comm feeds. This equipment is common and can be seen in hotels and banks, it’s use is very low cost due to wireless connections.

 

3. Video Cataloger/Management software for your computer or Equipment (optional).

Video Catalogers or Video management Software’s helps you archive, organize and redistribute ( or shall we say “share” ) video data. How this manage the videos on the surveillance cameras?

Well, this has a lot to do of how the software works; you see, it depends on the software application and the platform you use. There are a lot of services and products out there that offers packages so you don’t have to deal with the technical stuff.

When surveillance cameras are recorded it is played continuously, thus preventing you from catching up from that previous playback. Or, if you want to review the scenes that the camera has recorded you have to look for it on the recorded video. Videos that had been recorded could take up for hours, minutes and even days. Previewing a late scene from last 3 months records could take you up to several hours of playback.

When you think of it, videos recorded are stored into a database of records of video containing unorganized data. Well for some surveillance cameras they have built-in programs that will organize the records and archive it, passing it through the communication feeds ( wire or wireless communication ) , while other CCTV cameras don’t. So, video management software’s are needed to organize a video database and simultaneously pass information and feedback to the transmitter.

 

Setting up these equipment doesn’t take much effort though, this can easily be installed by an individual and can be bought cheap. There are a lot of tutorials about making home-made video surveillance, look for it on YouTube or Google it.

1 comment for “Video Surveillance to Video Management Software

  1. Chase Scott
    April 17, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    My house got broken into about a month ago and decided to set up an IP camera based home security system. I needed something portable and so I found an IP camera that is app supported on my Android smartphone. It’s the Compro IP70 which has apps called Seedonk Camera viewer, MobileWatch and iSecurity+. I use all three to monitor my home while I’m at work on my computer or Android smartphone. Great camera and apps, and spent under $200.00. Highly recommended.

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