With our background in IP communications including SIP trunking and VoIP, a solid understanding of all things network is tantamount to our success in those platforms.
Sometimes we would be installing a phone system and/or the network for a company, and be forced to work with the company installing the camera system.
A high percentage of the time we would see lower quality products being installed, installers that had no idea what they were doing, and no customer support once the physical job was completed.
We spent a lot of time on the areas important for success.
Quality of product.
Quality of support.
Features and depth of product.
Local supply and support.
Yes, we also look into price, but that really is not a main factor in our decisions.
alpha also has an extensive background in our understanding of cameras, and all things related to video due to our relationship with alpha drones.
On Friday, we did our first rural install. We worked with the ISP on behalf of the customer, as well as handling the full physical installation. We worked with the client on how cables were to be run, and made suggestions that kept wiring clean and out of the way.
We installed two Pan/Tilt/Zoom cameras. These cameras are professional level products that are built to work in Canadian winters, which can be harsh in the middle of the prairies.
We installed a heated cabinet to enclose the NVR (Network Video Recorder) as well as the router, and UPS. This way we can add a level of protection to power surges and spikes. This also allows us to lock the equipment up to prevent against theft.
There was issues, as there can be, where we had to talk to the ISP to make some changes to allow the video to stream. We find it easier to find a solution when we can intervene in the technical discussions.
Once these changes were made, the client was live.
The intent of this system was to provide coverage both inside a large barn, as well as full 360 coverage in the yard, including some challenging lighting conditions inside the 3 sided shelter that was dark in the day, but lit at night.
Making sure we had WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) on the cameras took care of these lighting conditions, and the ability to adjust the iris (helps control the amount of light that reaches the sensor) ensured that quality wouldn’t be affected.
Since this is calving season, the ability for a farmer to watch over his livestock has huge importance both financially, and for security. This allows the farmer to check in to see if any of his livestock are in distress, or if there are situations that require their attendance.
I was able to work with the staff on this installation and witness firsthand the quality of the cameras, and the control offered by the software.
The pictures I have included were taken by me in the Android version of the software on my smartphone, but access from iPhone, as well as web access, mean you will be able to check in whenever you want.
The quality of the optical zoom can be seen in the day time picture, and the night shots show off the sensitivity of the sensor.
We will be working on solutions that provide face tracking, zone monitoring, and multi site interfaces that will allow the client to ensure that they have whatever level of monitoring that they want.
It is applications like the one we just installed, that give you a “feel good” about the services and solutions we provide.