ITguy 0 Posted December 6, 2010 Hello Everyone I've never worked with audio in a surveillance system before. I have a friend that wants to have 2 way audio. I'm looking at putting in a DVR and 8 CCTV cameras for him. Questions I have... Do any cameras come with built in speakers or is an external speaker always required? Are all audio connections standard or will only DVR cards work with certain cameras that support 2 way audio? Thanks in advance! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 6, 2010 Hello EveryoneI've never worked with audio in a surveillance system before. I have a friend that wants to have 2 way audio. I'm looking at putting in a DVR and 8 CCTV cameras for him. Questions I have... Do any cameras come with built in speakers or is an external speaker always required? Are all audio connections standard or will only DVR cards work with certain cameras that support 2 way audio? Thanks in advance! If it is for a non-residential system in the UK you cannot legally record audio as part of the surveillance system (DPA 1998). Same applies in many states in the US. Regards Ilker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
katie 0 Posted December 10, 2010 hello, Actually most DVRs has audio input and output, what you need is a camera with audio built-in. You need to buy cameras come with audio function, then you can record the audio, and also you can hear the audio while live view. You can also connect a microphone to the audio input on the DVR, if the camera does not have audio function, but it is may not that good. Audio usually come with RCA connection, but it depends on different DVRs, some come with BNC connections. Good luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewireguys 3 Posted December 10, 2010 Mobotix have built in VOIP and SIP right into the speakers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted December 10, 2010 Yeah, this is a pretty broad topic... If you're monitoring or recording audio, there may be legal considerations, depending on where you live. Best to look into that first. If you're looking to only SEND audio to the camera, that shouldn't be an issue. Some cameras do have built-in speakers, but they'll tend to be very small speakers, so they won't be very loud. In analog cameras, they also tend to be the purview of the really cheap all-in-one systems. Either way, you'd need an extra pair of wire to feed audio to them. As thewireguys suggests, there are probably more IP cameras that have built-in audio, since once you're digitizing video for transmission, it's easy to add audio to the signal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geraldheaps 0 Posted December 13, 2010 Hello EveryoneI've never worked with audio in a surveillance system before. I have a friend that wants to have 2 way audio. I'm looking at putting in a DVR and 8 CCTV cameras for him. Questions I have... Do any cameras come with built in speakers or is an external speaker always required? Are all audio connections standard or will only DVR cards work with certain cameras that support 2 way audio? Thanks in advance! A camera or CCTV camera with a speaker is suitable or recommended for home use only. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bpzle 0 Posted December 13, 2010 You need to buy cameras come with audio function, then you can record the audio, and also you can hear the audio while live view. Except for a select few of IP cameras, don't buy cameras with built in mics. They are almost always cheap junk. Don't limit your camera selection to that... buy the mic seperately. Also, usually where you need to hear is not up in the corner where the camera is mounted. Mount the mic as close to the action as possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer 0 Posted December 21, 2010 Sound recording is a touchy situation. Dunkin Donuts at one time allowed stores to have audio when they video recorded. Well they got their thing in a ringer because of it. They got a judgement against them after two men filed charges against Dunkin. The conversation recorded, botched a sale of some land for a shopping center. I believe the court order given in the judgement was around 55million. You will never find sound recording in any Dunkin. If they find someone doing it. They can expect to be forced to sell the place. For our company, we want to stay clear of any recording. Even though you post the required signs about recording audio, somewhere down the line, you are going to be dragged into court by some hot shot attorney and that is only asking for trouble and expense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewireguys 3 Posted December 21, 2010 Sound recording is a touchy situation. Dunkin Donuts at one time allowed stores to have audio when they video recorded. Well they got their thing in a ringer because of it. They got a judgement against them after two men filed charges against Dunkin. The conversation recorded, botched a sale of some land for a shopping center. I believe the court order given in the judgement was around 55million. You will never find sound recording in any Dunkin. If they find someone doing it. They can expect to be forced to sell the place. For our company, we want to stay clear of any recording. Even though you post the required signs about recording audio, somewhere down the line, you are going to be dragged into court by some hot shot attorney and that is only asking for trouble and expense. Thanks for the info... Do you have any links to this information? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer 0 Posted December 21, 2010 What info are you looking for? The Dunkin thing was over 20 years ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thewireguys 3 Posted December 21, 2010 Any links for information on this so I can show my customers that request audio. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer 0 Posted December 22, 2010 Let me dig thru my clippings and see if I can find it. My wife says I save everything, so it must be there. I'll check in the next few days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardwired 0 Posted December 22, 2010 Dunkin Donuts and Supercircuits are both owned by the Carlyle group, and according to a rep from Supercircuits, Carlyle bought them mostly to equip the doughnut stores with video, so they might have some info on that.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer 0 Posted December 23, 2010 Carlyle is just one of the investors in Dunkin. The majority holder is Baine Group out of Washington DC. Super Circuits isn't the type of equipment that Dunkin would use. They are leaning towards the March system. There is a lot of politicing going on about this change over to March. March systems are going to hit each store for about 10 grand. They teamed up with Radient Cash Registers to do POS. We mastered the way to do that and Dunkin told us we are OK. Every time they get a new operations chief at Dunkin, they get new Cash Registers and a bundle of ideas. That works until a new guy moves in. Then it's the same old story again. I've been with them for over 30 years. I was the first to give them remote video, I think it was 1994 or maybe 93. DSL wasn't used then. We used 56k. Remember those days. We developed another system before the computer that used the plain phone line. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bryceb 0 Posted December 28, 2010 many dvr's include audio connections, but like everyone is stating above, there are some legal issues regarding audio recordings. Don't buy a camera with built-in mic or speakers, as the quality will be crap. Instead, buy the mic kit separately (for around $30) and get some louder, independent speakers. Most the time you can look up state laws on audio recording and show that to your clients. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
