Office Security Systems / Camera's.

[MrGuvernment]

So, some may know, the company i worked for moved into a new office, we used a company suggested by our parent company to install a security camera system, cause they were a good company, blah blah blah, so i sucked it up as i had too much work on my plate already.

Now all was good, it works, but i realized day 1, it seems all they did was take some, off the shelf system, and sell it to us.


So they are using GeoVision software, rather crappy res camera's, they installed a Windows XP box in my rack (not even on SP2), which i seperated from our network cause they wanted about 10 ports opened, and their 'server" they installed was nothing more then a Q8200, 2G of ram on an intel board and the card to connect their camera's too with windows xp.

What i found was amusing is they wanted all these ports opened, while their 'server' had NO AV, NO firewall, nothing on it and they expected me to just open the ports they wanted, so i said no, i am putting on your own network seperate, to keep our network secure, as personally, this company has no clue about security... ironic i know.

So, that brings us to today, they said we could give user accounts to people to monitor the camera's themselves (CEO, managers so on), so they say they can do it, today they come to install the software, and say no, sorry, cant do it.

Reasons:

1. your 'pixels' arent good enough - they say this to our room manager who has a macbook that does 120...x... res, macbook 13' laptop... (lower 720p res)

they then say the same about the CEO laptop, a lenevo, connected to a 22' LCD, sorry, the res isnt good enough... mean while i am behind the guy as he logged into an account and their were resolution options from 800 x to 1600 x.

So meanwhile, i have physical access to the 'server' in our rack, which has a 19' LCD @ 1280 x 1024... the company seems to be complete idiots.

I told the ceo after some poking around they are using nothing more then off the shelf programs, camera's and so on, so instead of us paying them monthly, i could do one myself for the office, better quality camera,access and backups.

Now, get this, when i ask the company what IP they will be connecting in from, they say many, cause they monitor the system from various places around costa rica and if they go to the beach or at their homes they need access so their is no one place, so basically anyone with an account could log into the software and see our office from any location world wide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my First thought is WTF!!! from you home, sorry, you should be monitoring our systems from an office = static ip!!!!!





So cliff notes

Security Camera Company says anyone can view the feeds from our company
Security Camera Company says 'no sorry, computer doesnt have enough pixel's'
CEO askes me to price out a replacement system



So give me some details i figure in the $2k or less range

current system is

Q8200, 2G of ram, Windows XP SP1
10 camera's linked to i beleive a GeoVision PCI card.

 

[sirmonkey1985]

well the most expensive part of the whole thing will probably be the software..

and in no way should you allow them to be able to access the security system from a personal computer.. this is a serious no no.. you should set it up so that the only way they can access it is to remotely connect to an office computer from which they can access the security system so that its a redundent security meaning they will need at least 2 passwords to gain access to the security camera's..

as for the camera's hell ill bet anything the pos camera's Fry's electronics sells are better then the ones your company bought..

the biggest thing is weather you need infrared or night vision when all the lights are off in the office at night.. thats where they start costing a lot..

also another suggestion is.. though sounds dumb but i know it works since its how i found out about the camera's im using on my house outside(but these ones wouldnt work for what you want).. is to try calling around companies like Safeway, or any retail store.. find out what company they use for their security system installs and see if you can squeeze out some information on the camera's they use in the stores..

also what type of camera's are you looking for? the standard wall mounted camera's that are visible or the pot light type camera's that hang from the ceiling that have a 360 view?

 

[Rhughes103]

What you described is pretty much par for course in my experience. And I build and sell the very type of systems you're talking about. My company does not install them however, they are sold to intermediary companies who sell and install the systems. And in almost every case I've found thier "techs" to be less than knowledgeable. To put it politely. Really makes me wonder about the image it projects...

Capture cards are a dime a dozen. What it will really come down to is the software, and some can be real duds. And you won't find too many that are sold without a card to go along with.

Also don't underestimate the cost of cameras, they're often the most expensive part of any install. But don't be too cheap either, those $40 plastic domes may seem like a steal, until they fail in just over a year conveniently out of warranty. Name brands will cost you money, but will get you a good 2-5 year warranty.

You might also consider an IP based solution, even if coax has already been run it can be used with the right equipment. http://www.veracityusa.com/

And also keep in mind if you're doing this all yourself, you are also you're own tech support when it fails. And they do fail.

 

[dkev]

We use EDVR Client. We had ADT install the camera system and get it out on the net. I have no idea what they charge though. It's a pretty simple program. once the IP's are entered, they are remembered. Just log in.

 

[MrGuvernment]

i beleive the current system was installed using coaxial, i am finding out if we paid for the system and own it and they are just providing support, or we are pay a montly fee for usage.

they are using the cheap plastic dome cameras that have crap quality on them, the software i GeoVision, we have 10 camera's right now, i beleiv they are using one of these cards, but will need to confirm tomorrow

http://www.directron.com/gv6004ch.html

http://www.directron.com/gv6504ch.html

the camera look similar to these but with a beige base instead of black
http://www.directron.com/bl132.html

and they just have a normal desktop rig, with a 1T harddrive to save the files on, not even sure how they are backing everything up, likely sucking it through out Inet connectiont to their offices or something.

I just think that if this can be done inhouse, we should, for me, soley for the security that only our company will have access to the systems.


I was able to learn and set up a 27 IP phone PBX phone system, so i am thinking i should be able to set up a security system, i hope