A combination of factors has the CCTV industry feeling the effect of the lack of available parts. The global chip shortage, shipping delays and an influx of orders coming out of the pandemic has greatly affected customers and vendors. Axis communications, one of the industry leaders, has had almost zero stock of their camera sensors for months. An order that would normally take a week to fulfill, can now take several months. The lack of Axis parts has had a ripple effect with other manufacturers picking up the slack. Avigilon, Hanwha among others have seen their sales increase during this time, although we are now seeing these manufactures with their own lack of availability.
Verkada, Cloud-based CCTV Provider hacked
According to a Bloomberg article released yesterday, Verkada has been hacked.
Verkada is a VSaaS (Video Surveillance as a Service) camera provider based in Silicon Valley. They provide cameras, often directly to consumers, that when connected to the internet, let the client view the live video and footage through Verkada’s cloud based service. On top of purchasing their cameras, Verkada charges a monthly/annual fee to use their cameras. If a client were to stop paying them, they would no longer be able to use the camera.
According to the article, Hackers breached thousands of security cameras, exposing Tesla, jails, hospitals, schools and other vulnerable facilities. Here is a video with more information. This hack exposed the dangers of putting a camera system at these types of facilities on an internet facing network.
When you need to install fiber-optic cable within your organization
When people think of fiber-optic cable, they normally think of their internet provider bringing in bandwidth from the street to their building. Sometimes you actually need fiber cable within your company to properly transmit your network throughout your organization.
The most common reason you will need fiber cable is length limitations. Cat6 cable is limited to 100 meters (328 feet), when you transmit data on cat6 over that limit, you will start experiencing issues on your network. If you are, for example, expanding your office to a new suite 500 feet away from your main server room, you should install fiber-optic cable to link the two server rooms.
Another reason you would need to use fiber-optic cable is when you have a large amount of users at another area of your office, that have their network cables going to another server closet than your main closet. Even when the two closets are under the length limitations, you can experience bottlenecks if moving large amounts of data from one network switch to another over cat6. Using fiber-optic allows for much more data to move efficiently than over cat6.
Also, if you are deploying high bandwidth devices such as high-resolution cameras, or video editing bays from one closet to another, you should use fiber-optic cable to reduce issues moving your data.
Avante Technologies proudly uses the leading manufacturer in the fiber-optic cable industry, Corning, link here.
Adding IP Cameras to an NVR or DVR
Although there is more to learn than just a simple web page this page gives do-it-yourselfers a great brush up on the basics of setting up IP cameras. There are many more skills to learn that are network and video system equipment specific. The basic are the same for all IP camera setups.
IP camera power setup. This is usually a POE switch, individual camera power or in some case the DVR or NVR has a POE switch built in.
Network configuration. Basic networking skills are a necessity
DVR or NVR network configuration
IP Camera network configuration
IP camera registration.
Users and Groups for security cameras
It is possible to set up users and groups for most security camera systems. Setting up users and groups allows the administrator the ability to manage functions and viewing. For example, a manager may want some users to only be able to view live footage or only be able to see some of the cameras. It is important to make sure that very few people have access to administrator privileges. Creating differing authority levels will allow administrators to grant access without compromising security of your video surveillance system.
Best Locations for Security Cameras
There are many places where you can install security but for the best results contact us. You can also check out this article.
Click on this link: Where to place security cameras for the best results
Fiber Optics Color Code
There is an industry color code standards for fibers optics as laid out by the Fiber Optics Association, Inc. This helps low voltage contractors and network engineers figure out which type of fibers, cables and connectors they are using. There are many types of fiber optic cables including varities of: multimode 50/125, multimode 62.5/125 and singlemode fibers. The color code helps project managers ensure that the projects are done correctly. It also helps with additions and changes in the future. As mentioned before communication fiber optics have 3 main components: the fiber, the cable and the connector. Below is a brief overview of the color codes.
Black Cable – outdoor fiber optics fiber
Yellow Cable – indoor single mode fiber
Orange, Aqua Slate and Green Cable – indoor Multimode fiber
Beige, Black and Aqua connector – multimode connector
Blue and Green Connector – singlemode connector
Covert Cameras and their Advantages
Covert surveillance equipment serves an important role in security. Although a traditional security camera system is the basis of achieving the peace of mind security provides, these systems aren’t always enough or appropriate. There are many scenarios where a conspicuous security camera placement will only deter people from doing inappropriate things in the areas they know they are being monitored.
Covert surveillance equipment, on the other hand, gives businesses the added ability to maintain surveillance inconspicuously. Covert security cameras are hidden from plain view and are often used to supplement traditional security camera systems. Here are a few scenarios where hidden cameras are commonly used.
Discreetly monitoring a nanny or babysitter
Capturing evidence of theft by friends, family, or roommates
Confirming and preventing employee theft
Identifying theft by workers or contractors
Confirming suspected drug use
Capturing destructive animal behavior
Recording acts of vandalism
Enhancing current security camera systems
Video Surveillance for HOA Gated Community Security
HOA and Gated Communities
Security cameras provided a piece of mind for gated communities. Video Surveillance cameras allow residence to view live and recorded footage. Some residence will even use the cameras as a type of child monitor. Some communities use the cameras strictly for security.
Budget IP Cameras, Good Idea?
You get what you pay for…
There is no IP surveillance camera that is reliable, with good picture quality and processing speed that is also inexpensive. The camera that is “cheap” will be deficient in one of these four categories: reliability, picture quality, light processing and processing speed.
IP Video Camera Reliability – there are many parts to a camera and not all parts are created equal. All “budget” cameras use cheap components to lower the price. Lens, processor, NIC, IR LEDs, housing and mounts are all parts that can be “cheapened” to meet pricing constraints. With cheap parts these cameras with physically break and/or not be accessible on the network when you need them the most.
IP Video Camera Picture Quality – There is more to picture quality than just resolution. Things like light response, frames per second, shutter speed, day/night mode, IR correction, compression, WDR. Budget cameras will usually not perform well in one or more of these categories. A budget camera may have a great picture when things are not moving but will often be unusable when the subject is moving. Nighttime video quality also lacks with budget cameras.
IP Video Camera Light Processing – High end cameras will be able to represent colors regardless of light source (day). Budget cameras are deficient in this ability and images may appear white out. During the night budget cameras with either under or over represent IR light causing a white out image or no image at all.
IP Video Camera Processing Speed – All video cameras need a processor to convert an image from electrical to digital and vise versa. Cheap processors will result in a “hung” camera meaning that it will not response to access requests and will require a hard reset. Often a camera will market all the bells and whistles be forget to mention the camera is not equipped with a processor that can continuously handles the needs of the cameras processes.
The Bottom Line – “budget” cameras work well as a deterrent to crime but will often produce a recorded image that that is lacking. I find budget cameras over promise and under deliver every time.
Call Avante Techonlogies for your projects
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