Recent CCTV Installation in and around Bristol
This week we have had a call from a lovely couple near Bristol that wanted to get their CCTV system sorted. They had their Hikvision cctv system previous installed by another installer.
We attended the site and ascertained their problems quickly. Unfortunately on this occasion the previous installer had not updated their cctv system for a few years and access to the NVR (Network Video Recorder) was limited. We managed to unlock the NVR and allow access back to the clients. We have an array of tools to get access back to NVR's and DVR's (Digital video recorders). We managed to get access back for our new client and upgrade their software to the latest version. All in the space of a few minutes.
During our site visit we discussed the possibility of installing a new camera facing down the driveway to capture any unwanted visitors. A few options were discussed and the client decided to go with a PTZ (Pan tilt and zoom) camera. In this instance the ptz camera also gave the option for colour throughout the night and had a zoom of 32x. This camera consisted of two cameras built into one and its official name is a Tandemvu PTZ . A great feature of this camera is that it also has acusense technology which allowed us to distinguish between humans, vehicles and animals.
Whilst on our visit we discussed replacing the NVR with another that was more up to date and had a few more features on and also the possibility of installing a new user friendly alarm system. No decision was yet made in this respect.
Before leaving our client asked to get the PTZ ordered and fit them in at an appropriate date to install.
A day or so later a quote was given and accepted by our client and a deposit was put in.
We arranged a suitable date to install the following week. The PTZ arrived and it took us by surprise a little, although we have installed PTZ's before, this was a slightly different beast. At almost twice the size of a standard PTZ and twice as heavy, the box it arrived in was massive!
The next week had arrived and we set off to our client to get the PTZ installed. On this occasion myself and Ashton were installing together. Ashton is our nephew and had come along for the experience.
We quickly setup up our tools and were offered tea and coffee, of course I always oblige a cup of coffee.
Installation was straight forward enough, with myself up the ladder and Ashton footing it. Four chunky fixings later, and a careful maneuver of the camera onto the wall mount ptz bracket, nice, tight and secure. We connected the PTZ camera up to a POE injector as it required slightly more power than the NVR supplies. This was done in the comms cab.
It was time to configure the ptz camera and give it the appropriate settings. Our client wanted notifications on their phone which they hadn't had before. So we proceeded to setup line crossing. This is a feature we would recommend to anyone with the ability. In it's basic form, we draw an imaginary line across the boundary of your property, in this instance the gate of the driveway. When this is crossed, a notification is sent to your phone with a small recording of that particular event. Going back to what was said above, that this camera features human and vehicle detection. The customer only receives notifications of this. Rather than anything else that crosses that line.
So this was all setup and working by late lunch. We showed our client the different features and it all working giving them notifications of the line crossing. At this point the customer asked us to remove the old installer from being able to access the system, we did so but this gave us another issue. Unfortunately as the system had not been updated in so long and the way the client was given access in the first place we couldn't unbind them from the original installer. A quick call to customer support and it was due to the original firmware version of the NVR. Although we had updated to the latest version, there was still no way of unbinding from the original installer. So we contacted them, no harm in asking if they could unbind their end. Unfortunately this request was not answered.
After further discussion with our client we decided it was best to install a new more up to date NVR. Along with this they wanted the alarm updated as well.
We have the kit on order and will report back.
The PTZ is a fantastic cctv camera that provides colour at night and zoom of over 300m. We thoroughly enjoyed installing this addition to our clients setup and they are safe in the knowledge that they get notifications of anyone entering the boundary of their property.
Need a quote or some advice on cctv? Give us a call on 0117 9784999
