IP-Alarms

Has anyone used the Grandstream or Mobotix cameras that now support SIP (VoIP) ? I see some good advantages in being able to have voice accompanying video when verifying events.

I don't use it myself, but most things I've heard about it are positive. One negative thing is that it reportedly does not work very well with alarm system monitoring in many areas

I find that DIYSecurityForum is the best all round alarm forum, but this one is also popular... www.diyalarmforum.com There was one in the UK called SecurityInstaller, but I'm not sure if is still around.

I posted in the nuuo sub forum only to have it deleted without explanation. It does not surprise me after my dealings with that company. Anyway, I'm guessing they moderate that sub forum and only positive threads will be allowed. Is this the same throughout the forum - or are real world discussions allowed ?

Have you considered renting your own Virtual Private Server (VPS) ? I don't know how much you were paying per month to Mike, but there are some decent VPS's available from around $18 per month.

Matt, I take back what I said about the cameras having to be sub $200, so thanks for the command.

Guys, I am in charge of integrating IP cameras into our Virtual Monitoring platform and the way we do this is via the use of snapshot commands. For example, when recording from Axis cameras we use something like: http://123.456.78.90/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi?camera=1 or... http://123.456.78.90:8080/jpg/image.jpg For Pansonics we use something like: http://123.456.78.90:8080/nphMotionJpeg?Resolution=320x240Quality=Standard We know the commands for Sony, Y-Cam, Vivotek, D-Link, Toshiba, Pixord and Stardot but would like to add to our list. I'm not really interested in cameras that cost over US$200, but if you can share any snapshot commands for your favorite lower end IP Camera then I would really appreciate it

It's soooooooo difficult to get a simple snapshot command from a lot of IP Camera manufacturers, it makes you wonder why? Anyway, I'm interested to find out how you get on and I'd be interested to know what the snapshot commands are for their cameras

That's to the point Is that based on what you've heard, or based on experience of working with the equipment ?

I have no experience recording to SD, but I do have problems with Live View where the browser locks. I have been unable to get any joy from the manufacturer, so does anyone on here have the API/SDK for the Y-Cam ?

I am currently reviewing an NVR. I will report back with my findings and hopefully provide you guys with a login to view images.

Thanks Craig, I will look into your suggestions. We are familier with CSS, so it shouldn't be a problem.

We provide an alarm and camera monitoring platform to security installers worldwide and every so often I have to investigate what cell phones people are using and how recorded JPeg images display on those phones from our intentionally simple cell phone interface. It is simply not possible to build an interface for each device, so we have to try and strike a balance between older, small screen phones logging in via a 38K GPRS connection and our geeky customers logging in with their iPhones and Blackberries. Conscious of limited bandwidth requirements, we currently display the list of images for the last alarm event as thumbnails with the idea that the user clicks to enlarge the thumbnail. It sounds lazy, but that is often 1 extra click that some people do not want to make. If any of you geeky kids out there have time to log into our platform and have a look, I'd appreciate your feedback on how it looks and what you would suggest for improvement for your particular brand of phone. The URL is http://www.ipalarms.net/cell.aspx and you can use ID: 1 and Password: dem0 (that's a zero not the letter 0) to log in. Questions I need to answer are: 1. Is the list of events and list of thumbnails too simple ? 2. What percentage of your screen do the thumbnalis cover and what percentage does the full size image cover. 3. Do the larger 640x480 images display OK ? 4. Could you get Live View to work ? Oh, the main login for computer browsers is http://www.ipalarms.net/login.aspx - you can use the same login credentilas and it would be interesting to hear if the full interface is workable on a mobile device. Thanks in Advance for any help you can offer.

Thanks for your reply - much appreciated. Could you wait another day or so whilst I make some changes based on your feedback and then try again before posting your screenshots ? I will update this thread once I've made the changes

Craig, Have a quick look at my Kiwi web site http://www.alarm.net.nz and provided you don't view me as a competitor, I'd be very interested in talking to you about your plans for iPhone apps. Please use the email address from any of my web sites if you decide to get in touch Steve.

My company is focused on the integration of CCTV and IP Cameras with alarm systems. Look forward to picking up some valuable tips

You would need some logic on the server to handle this, but I see no reason why it would not be possible. You would transmit both triggers to the server, check the time between them and send a command back to the device to trigger the outputs accordingly. Contact me via email (address on my web site) if you have any further questions as I might not get chance to visit the forum regularly.

Yes they are. Bear in mind that they are manufactured in the UK, so there will be shipping charges to your country and maybe import duty too. Let me know how you intend to use it and I'll email you the appropriate manual.

Most consumers have a good Internet connection already so they want to make the most of it. VoIP is usually very high quality in the US, so I'm surprised you have experienced difficulties.

Well, both homeowners and businesses are keener than ever to make savings. One of the first things that customers ask themselves is - do I really need my landline any more ? They look into what they can save by migrating to VoIP and it is an attractive option. Then they discover that their alarm will not work reliably over VoIP and start researching their options. Unfortunately, most Alarm Dealers are not IP savvy, so they tend to tell their customers they must keep their landline. That's when the customers start Googling Internet technology and alternative monitoring services and come across one of our sites. So, in answer to your question, it's working out really well for us

Our main web site is http://www.ipalarms.net and pretty much explains what we do. http://www.verified-response.com may be more interesting to people from this forum as it is focused on using cameras for video verification purposes.

I don't know if anyone made any changes, but I was able to get my post through as two seperate posts. As far as I'm aware they do not infringe on the forum rules, so let's hope they stay there.

I think so. I am experiencing difficulties and keep getting errors on posting. I tried posting the errors, but got the same error ! Will PM someone. Update. Two more "test" posts I made in the same thread at the nuuo subforum disappeared. Will that have been because they contained no meaningful content ? I was trying to figure out what text content was preventing me from posting. Rory had made a suggestion but removing that text did not fix the problem. I have PM'd someone else who offered to help.

We do, but I'm new here and unable to post links at the moment. Will update you after I've reached 5 posts We have an IP device called the Diginet which has 16 digital inputs and outputs plus a serial port which can be used for access control systems. We have a new version coming out in the new year which has a plug on cellular module.