Looking at getting into selling and support IP Cameras

[Wyotel 0]

I have a small Telephone and Wiring business in Wyoming where I sell, install and support Telephone Systems. I also do alot of Wiring for my clients. I am getting hammered by my customers about getting into the Camera Business now. I have 3 clients that want bids this week on Camera Networks. I really don't like the mess that comes with Analog Camera wiring so I am really wanting to stay with selling IP camera networks.

 

I really would like to stick with one brand so that I don't have to carry a bunch of different brands of equipment. My clients are very small so the networks will be about 4-16 cameras and need to be reasonably priced so that I can sell them. Will need to be able to do indoor and outdoor cameras. I am sure some will want a few that they can scan with and zoom in and out.

 

As far as DVR's go I really want to have a stand alone unit rather then doing software on a PC. Also they are saying they want to be able to connect to the DVR and Cammeras from their smart phones or home computers.

 

Anyways I would really appriciate some help on picking a product line. Like I said it needs to be affordable so I guess I need to pick the best bang for my buck cameras. From the research I did Pelco is very expensive and way out of my budget and I think Trendnet seems to be a very cheap so I am not sure if it will hold up or not. Plus they don't really have a good DVR set up.

 

One last thing. I want to set most of my cameras on POE over Cat-5e cable rather then Wireless, but I might have to have a few wireless options on special occations.

 

Thanks.............Dan

[akelley 0]

Are your clients mainly small businesses, or do you do residential as well? In my experience, these are two completely different markets, with different requirements/specs. That being said, if we look at just businesses, what types? Retail, office, banking, etc? Again, very different requirements. For example, a small coffee shop or sandwich store may want POS integration. Bank surveillance is a whole different ball game. Warehouse monitoring can have unique requirements as well.

 

But really, unless you only deal with a single type of client base, it's going to be hard to pick a single product line that can accommodate more than two or three different business types, and meet them well.

 

To get better responses you may want to provide some more details on what your client base is, and why they've been asking you to "get in the business" - what are they looking to accomplish with a surveillance system (loss prevention, evidence storage, analytics, etc.)?

[Wyotel 0]

My clients are mostly small business like Dr Offices and small stores that want to keep an eye on their parking lots and watch what their emoployees are doing in the office or out in the shop. Maybe a camera watching their doors and waiting rooms.

 

I don't think I am ready to tackle any banks right now as I know they are a whole different animal.

 

Thanks..........Dan

[voip-ninja 0]

My clients are mostly small business like Dr Offices and small stores that want to keep an eye on their parking lots and watch what their emoployees are doing in the office or out in the shop. Maybe a camera watching their doors and waiting rooms.

 

I don't think I am ready to tackle any banks right now as I know they are a whole different animal.

 

Thanks..........Dan

 

My opinion is not a popular one, but I'll shoot it your way anyhow. You might want to look at simply getting a low power consumption "appliance" that does this. The NAS vendors are now getting into the surveillance business and sell boxes that are $250-$1000 plus the cost of hard drives and camera licenses. This might be a fairly painless way for you to get into the business. They also typically offer iPhone/Android apps and access over web browsers and support quite a lot of model cameras. Setup would typically be just turning the camera on, using a DHCP reservation on the client network for it, then do minimal setup on it before adding it to the DVR software on the NAS.

 

Another option is that you can bypass the DVR altogether and simply buy cams that have built in DVRs, Axis cameras can do this, and they appear to be very high quality gear, but they are also expensive.

[NotoriousBRK 0]

I have a small Telephone and Wiring business in Wyoming where I sell, install and support Telephone Systems.

 

Out of curiosity, do you provide all your customers the same brand of phone system, or do you deal with multiple lines?

[Numb-nuts 1]

Why not tie up with a distributor who will support you through training and technical support while you are getting started?

Analogue or IP CCTV are about as easy as each other (perhaps IP is a little more demanding) but if you have good support you can do it easily and make a good job of it building another side to your business.

 

I wish you good luck in your venture, I am sure you will will find a supplier who will train and support you.

[Wyotel 0]

I have a small Telephone and Wiring business in Wyoming where I sell, install and support Telephone Systems.

 

Out of curiosity, do you provide all your customers the same brand of phone system, or do you deal with multiple lines?

 

Yes I only use one Phone System. It sure makes it easy to carry spares and such. They do have different phones available, but all tie back to my system.

 

Thanks.........Dan

[glenood 0]

I think that would hit to the market!

[jxk716 0]

I really don't like the mess that comes with Analog Camera wiring so I am really wanting to stay with selling IP camera networks.Thanks.............Dan

 

Not interested in baluns on Cat5 for analog systems - just in case?