Solution for multi-site remote monitoring?

[toughman 0]

I have a project and need your help...

 

My customer has five different locations at different cities and already have non-ip cameras installed. The number of cameras is about 40 and no DVR for each site. He wants to have DVR or NVR to do recording for each site. In addition, he wants to view all cameras at his main office.

 

What will be your solution for this project?

 

Do you think a "central video management software" can handle all cameras through internet at the same time?

 

Thanks!

 

Roger

[thewireguys 3]

How many cameras per location? What type of internet is at the locations. I have a perfect solution for your job..... Problem is it's in the demo stage.

[Soundy 1]

We actually have a few customers doing exactly this, using Vigil systems by Camacc/3xlogic.

 

One of the main ones is a series of pubs and liquor stores - three of them, each with a Vigil DVR and a mix of analog and IP cameras, and the owner sits with the Vigil Client on his laptop and checks in on his stores

 

The other big one is a major restaurant chain that used to do this with GeoVision DVRs; we recently took over the account and sold them on the Vigil systems when we did their new flagship store, we've since replaced a few of the GeoVisions with Vigils, and will be putting a few more in some new installations. They, too, are running a mix of IP and analog cameras.

 

The Vigil Client allows you to configure multiple sites and create "groups" of cameras to view selected cameras from different sites on one screen. It also allows full search/playback, and supports remote PTZ control.

 

This is the Client on my machine here, with multiple different clients' servers configured:

 

 

This is a "Group" I set up for the pub/liquor store client; for those familiar with the geography in the Vancouver, BC area, the first site is in Surrey, the second is in Maple Ridge, and the third is in Downtown Vancouver:

 

 

Internet on these sites is mostly via cable-modem, although a few run DSL. Haven't noticed a significant difference between the two, except that the local telco's DSL service has a tendency to change IPs regularly unless you pay extra for a static IP. Speed is good enough that PTZ cameras can be controlled near-realtime with relatively little lag.

[thewireguys 3]

Soundys solution requires DVRs/NVRs at each location. Our solution does not so you could save your customer a lot of money. Only the IP cameras or video encoders with broadband are required at each site. With are system you your client can access the video anywhere in the world using a internet browser. No client software to manage or install.

[Soundy 1]

Soundys solution requires DVRs/NVRs at each location. Our solution does not so you could save your customer a lot of money. Only the IP cameras or video encoders with broadband are required at each site.

 

This is true, BUT...

 

He wants to have DVR or NVR to do recording for each site.

 

I don't think you want to try recording 40 cameras to a single location over broadband, unless you're recording CIF at ultra-high compression and about a frame per minute.

 

Plus, Vigil is a solid system that's currently at version 5... your solution is still in beta *nudge nudge*

 

BTW, you can also do something like this with the VideoInsight systems, which I've also dealt with... but personally, I think the Vigil system is a lot cleaner.

 

That's my three cents (fuel surcharge included).

[thewireguys 3]

Soundys solution requires DVRs/NVRs at each location. Our solution does not so you could save your customer a lot of money. Only the IP cameras or video encoders with broadband are required at each site.

 

This is true, BUT...

 

He wants to have DVR or NVR to do recording for each site.

 

I don't think you want to try recording 40 cameras to a single location over broadband, unless you're recording CIF at ultra-high compression and about a frame per minute.

 

Plus, Vigil is a solid system that's currently at version 5... your solution is still in beta *nudge nudge*

 

BTW, you can also do something like this with the VideoInsight systems, which I've also dealt with... but personally, I think the Vigil system is a lot cleaner.

 

That's my three cents (fuel surcharge included).

 

We can record 10,000+ cameras on our servers And we can do it at what ever your customers bandwidth allows us to. I have done MJPEG @ 3fps at D1 without any problems. Our tests with H.264 we can do 10fps @ D1.

 

We can do the same system for about half the price

 

I know exactly how Videoinsight does this. Servers at each sight and a client software that logs into every server which makes the multi-site location look like one big system. Very expensive

 

Also are setup is a lot cleaner and easier to use the Videoinsight, Vigil, or any other product on the market

[Soundy 1]

Ah, but there's the catch: no matter how grand your software, it can't get around the bandwidth bottleneck... which is perhaps why having a DVR on each site is still desirable.

 

Depending on the use, it's also often desirable for the people AT each site to actually have the video for that site available - for most of our clients, when the police need video of an incident, or if a manager needs to review an incident, they're usually AT the site... having no video stored locally and needing to send them off to some distant head office for it is not really feasible. I would hazard a guess that this is why toughman's customer wants a DVR for each site, in addition to the central monitoring.

 

And again, as you said, your software isn't ready for prime time, so... yeah.

 

I'll be happy to beta test it for you though

[thewireguys 3]

Ah, but there's the catch: no matter how grand your software, it can't get around the bandwidth bottleneck... which is perhaps why having a DVR on each site is still desirable.

 

Depending on the use, it's also often desirable for the people AT each site to actually have the video for that site available - for most of our clients, when the police need video of an incident, or if a manager needs to review an incident, they're usually AT the site... having no video stored locally and needing to send them off to some distant head office for it is not really feasible. I would hazard a guess that this is why toughman's customer wants a DVR for each site, in addition to the central monitoring.

 

And again, as you said, your software isn't ready for prime time, so... yeah.

 

I'll be happy to beta test it for you though

 

Doesn't matter where you are you can view and export recorded footage from any computer in the world using IE, Firefox or Safari. Your client can be at the site or on the other side on the planet doesn't matter

 

Hell you could give the police an account so they don't even have to come on site.

 

Also don't forget our system will be half the cost and easier to install.

[markcWAV 0]

I would use something like the NVS480 or NVS480R from Inscape Data to give the analog cameras the ability to do IP. From there, the customer can use the IP Video Viewer and Recorder Software to stream the video to a server. Then it would be just a matter of making the server(s) available to the main office. The NVS480 & NVS480R each support up to 4 cameras. It would be best to have the servers available at the locations for bandwidth purposes for recording the videos if that is something the customer wants.

[Soundy 1]

Ah, but there's the catch: no matter how grand your software, it can't get around the bandwidth bottleneck... which is perhaps why having a DVR on each site is still desirable.

 

Depending on the use, it's also often desirable for the people AT each site to actually have the video for that site available - for most of our clients, when the police need video of an incident, or if a manager needs to review an incident, they're usually AT the site... having no video stored locally and needing to send them off to some distant head office for it is not really feasible. I would hazard a guess that this is why toughman's customer wants a DVR for each site, in addition to the central monitoring.

 

And again, as you said, your software isn't ready for prime time, so... yeah.

 

I'll be happy to beta test it for you though

 

Doesn't matter where you are you can view and export recorded footage from any computer in the world using IE, Firefox or Safari. Your client can be at the site or on the other side on the planet doesn't matter

 

That's fine if they only want a short bit of video... what happens when the cops come in and want 12 hours of footage from each of a half-dozen cameras? And before you go there, yes, I have had this happen - the police were into one of our fuel sites asking for a full 12 hours of all the cameras in their store, trying to track the movements of a missing person. Since we service two of the four largest oil companies in BC, we get requests like this, oh, probably every 2-3 months. It takes literally hours just to export to a USB drive, I don't want to think about how many days it would take to suck it back over a broadband connection.

 

Also don't forget our system will be half the cost and easier to install.

 

Well, let us know when it actually IS Until then, the argument is moot.