FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
VIDEOCONTROLROOM
FAQGeneral Questions
Wireless Camera Trap
Enterprise Package
GENERAL QUESTIONS
Q: What is the actual video monitoring solution VideoControlRoom is deploying for its customers? Where and by whom was it developed?
After using a number of off the shelf solutions it became clear that what was needed to break open the door for video monitoring in Australia simply didn’t exist. In the end we developed our own DVR with an OEM partner in Asia, and then developed our own control room monitoring software suite in house in Melbourne. We anticipate spending many millions more on software R&D.
Q: What is the intrusion detection technology employed – is it the VMD of the camera that’s being used, or is it another detection system altogether?
We use both VMD (smart video) and conventional motion detection depending upon the install environment and budget. Currently we are running a global detector challenge to find the worlds best outdoor detector. Video is very transparent so clients are demanding the best and we intend to deploy it.
Q: Are your cameras integrated with alarm sensors?
We integrate conventional alarm detectors as our alarm’s trigger.
Q: Does your system meet AS 2201.5 alarm transmission standards or is it a separate system designed for third party verification only?
Our systems meet AS 2201.5
Q: Whose cameras do you use? Can legacy cameras and/or standard analog or IP cameras be employed in this role or are VideoControlRoom’s cameras dedicated hardware?
We can use any camera, but prefer to fit new units for the job of video alarm verification.
Q: What sort of functionality does the system give control room operators – PTZ (Pan, tilt, zoom) control, fixed camera alarm verification than video guard tours? Or is it both depending on customer needs?
We monitor both fixed and PTZ cameras. PTZ’s are great because they have that extra flexibility of searching about after an event, and conducting video patrols. We have managed to make PTZ very affordable by importing directly.
Q: Exactly what happens in the event of an alarm at a VideoControlRoom client? i.e. alarm event occurs, verified by staff at monitoring station using CCTV, patrol attends, etc…
We get the alarm, then, depending upon the threat, dispatch guards, communicate with the intruders through public address, and/or call the business owner and the authorities.
Q: What will the cost of VideoControlRoom’s services be?
Our solutions range from a few dollars a week to several hundred. We haven’t looked to limit our market within a particular price bracket. Instead we have a suit of service plans that suit every budget.
Q: Is VideoControlRoom’s monitoring station graded? Does it offer other alarm monitoring services?
We offer both a graded and non graded service, with a price point to match. Many of our clients have been with grade 1A control rooms, and after a number of robberies figured out it wasn’t the be all solution they were looking for. We try and keep away from legacy text based monitoring because it's not something we consider viable moving forward, though it's hard to avoid when the director of the national group you just took on wants his house looked after too.
Q: Is the comms path between client and monitoring station a secure Internet or a private WAN?
We use multiple communications technologies. This is important as Australia is not covered by one national coms solution that fits all sites and budgets. We have developed our own telecommunications business called SoIP Networks to sell broadband solutions for IP as most off the shelf products from telcos don’t suit the security over IP space.
Q: On each individual site what is carrying video alarm signals around – is it legacy coax or must it be a LAN?
Both – again it depends on the install environment, We don’t want to restrict someone to LAN cabling because they might have spent a fortune already installing perfectly good RG6.
Q: In terms of competing with Securitel replacement technologies – does VideoControlRoom’s model have what it takes in terms of the communications paths used to shift video around to be considered by insurance companies as a Securitel replacement – is this a plan for the future?
We have never won or lost a job based on insurance. Many of our customers had a grade A1/Securitel service, and insurance that followed multiple breaks ins just kept pace with their real risk. These customers all realised our market's inconvenient truth. The security industry has spent years perfecting and enshrining something that doesn’t really work.
You can have triple path military spec millisecond polled coms, and if all it does is send some text, then you have to wait half an hour for someone to buzz past in his car with a flash light then what was it all for? It's like building a Ferrari then forgetting to put the wheels on.
Q: You could argue a strong case that video verification actually offers higher security than a standard alarm system working on its own – do you think the Standard needs to recognise VideoControlRoom’s service as an enhancement to typical NO/NC alarm detectors signaling over whatever happens to be the available comms networks?
There is an Australian standard for video monitoring, and it's founded on the british standard BS8418 – It refers to conventional alarm monitoring standards. We set out to conform to this about 5 years ago, as it represented worlds best practice. This geared us perfectly for the Australian Standard.
Q: How has the market responded to the release of the VideoControlRoom’s services?
Amazingly well. We have an impressive national customer base, and have well and truly broken even. Our archive of foiled break ins speaks for itself.
Q: Many years ago the Zone system tried to bring video into the monitoring industry, and while it had some success, this was not widespread. The market has also seen the rise and fall of E-pic in more recent times and was not particularly responsive to Memocam. What makes VideoControlRoom’s solution different and in what ways do you think it is superior to these early solutions?
I suppose the difference is that we asked the market what they wanted out of a security service rather than presupposing.
Q: In Britain, where police respond to alarm systems and refuse to attend alarms without video verification, this sort of technology is widely accepted. Is it possible video monitoring will be accepted in Australia where there’s a lower tech model of alarm monitoring?
Based on our growing success it is more than possible. We hope to see video monitoring take a large chunk of the market from conventional text based monitoring.
Q: Do you think the telco rebate has a negative impact on the development of new monitoring technologies like VideoControlRoom or do the same rebates apply to video alarm calls?
The telco rebate certainly has been the welded cage for the monitoring industry. With that much income from PSTN lines it is understandable many don’t want to rush headlong into IP, and if you're not getting into IP in a big way then video is going to prove one mighty challenge . Luckily we started from scratch so we're not invested in this income stream.
Q: From an installer’s point of view, is there some way they can get onboard with VideoControlRoom – installing the gear and recouping benefits from monitored lines as they would in a typical monitoring station? Or is VideoControlRoom an independent organization with its own installers?
VideoControlRoom is part of a group of companies that are tightly integrated and exist for the express purpose of delivering video monitoring solutions to market. At the moment all the systems we monitor are installed by Australian Security Rentals [owned and operated by the same people who run VideoControlRoom]. Taking on dealers is something we have been thinking about, although at this point in time to get a video monitored site installed and commissioned properly you need a high degree of quality control. This can become difficult with 3rd party’s, selling and installing your systems. Improvements in product and commission systems may see this come about over the next couple of years, so we're not ruling it out.
Q: From an end user’s point of view, what needs to be installed at their site in order to facilitate the VideoControlRoom service? Does the end user have any control over the video system or is it dedicated to the alarm verification task only?
We install an alarm and camera system that integrate for management and remote video monitoring. We try and leverage as much value out of the technology as possible to make it affordable.
Q: Video verification certainly has the potential to enhance response times and reduce false alarm call-outs – are there any incidents you can recount that highlight the way in which the system has saved a client’s premises?
We are stopping breaks ins at the rate of about once a week. We can’t disclose specific incidents, but we can assure you that what we do works.
Also, if I may add:Whilst we have pioneered some great technology it's really people that make our business tick. We're all excited about innovating and delivering great value for our customer's money. It's not so much a job as it is a passion.
Wireless Camera Trap
Q: What kind of security does the wireless camera trap package provide my business with?
The wireless camera trap package simply offers video alarm protection. That’s it. If you were to purchase a wireless camera trap package with one of our other packages, more options would become available.
Q: Are the wireless camera traps monitored 24/7 by the VideoControlRoom?
Wireless camera traps aren’t monitored by our VideoControlRoom during the day because it’s only single technology. They’re also very vulnerable to false alarms, so during the day it would be less cost-effective to have them monitored. Eventually they will become better during the day, but right now they’re really best used as indoor detectors.
Q: Can I self-manage my business and/or watch live or recorded video with the wireless camera trap?
Wireless camera traps use alarm verification only. There is 30 day recordings, no live video, just ten seconds of recorded video that is sent to the VideoControlRoom after the camera trap has been set off. All our other camera traps receive a much quicker pre-recording of an event and are your best bet for user management.
Q: Is the wireless camera trap package expandable?
Each wireless panel is expandable to 24 panels.
Q: Is the remote arming and disarming function available with the wireless camera trap?
There is no remote arming or disarming with the wireless camera trap package UNLESS you purchase another package aside from the wireless
Q: How much space do the wireless camera trap cover?
300M line of site.
Q: Can I use a key pad or scheduled arming/disarming with the wireless camera trap, and would remote arming and disarming with another camera trap package affect the wireless camera traps?
All wireless camera trap packages allow for key pad arming and disarming, as well as arming and disarming on a schedule (If a camera trap from another package is disarmed, so are the wireless camera traps). However, we can’t proactively access your wireless boxes, so they’re difficult to manage with other camera traps on the same system.
Q: How are wireless camera traps powered, and do they ever run out of power?
All our wireless products (wireless camera traps, sirens, and control panels) are battery powered with lithium batteries that have an average life of 4 years. Days before any battery runs out of power the Control Room is alerted and takes the appropriate actions to replace it.
Q: Is the public address system available with the wireless package?
No. Public address systems are available with all camera trap packages except the wireless package; however, if you were to purchase a wireless package and an enterprise package with P.A. included, you could warn off an intruder who sets off your wireless camera trap with a P.A. system from an enterprise camera trap as long as the two cameras are reasonably close. Our P.A. systems carry over hundreds of meters.
Q: How far is the wireless camera trap’s vision in the dark?
Each wireless camera trap only has enough battery power (light) to see 6 or 7 meters during the night
Enterprise Package
Q: Is the Enterprise Camera Trap package expandable?
All Enterprise packages are infinitely expandable
Q: Is it difficult to add new users to the Enterprise server?
Not at all. All of our systems run on the same server, allowing us to add a new user to every panel on your site or through multiple sites in seconds.
Q: Can you remotely arm or disarm our alarms, and do other systems allow for remote arming or disarming?
Yes! Not only that, but if you use our air keys we will be able to tell who the last worker to enter your site was. So if an alarm sounds in the middle of the night and there is no visual evidence of a threat, we can ring the last person who left the site instead of waking up the business owner after every false alarm. Older systems don’t allow for remote arming or disarming.
Q: Will I be charged every time my alarm calls the VideoControlRoom?
No. There are no alarm dial up phone call costs.
Q: Does the Enterprise package allow for user management?
Yes. With an Enterprise package you can manage your business locally, nationally, or globally.
Q: If my building loses power, do my camera traps lose power as well, and will I be able to still manage my business if the power runs out?
Not exactly. All camera traps that come with the Enterprise package are quipped with a 3g wireless backup for redundancy and remote monitoring only. There is no wireless user management through the backup, only text monitoring.
All battery back ups for alarm panels and camera traps meet AU A1 security standards.
Q: Do I have to pay every time I want to view my business with your cameras?
We provide our users with free streaming video. However, to view video remotely you need to either pay through your internet provider or through ours using SoIP (security and services over IP) Networks.
Q: Can you take over existing alarm zones from other companies?
If you want to keep your existing cameras and text based alarms, we’d prefer that you monitor those systems through another provider. In the past we’ve tried to monitor older technology and have found that they compromise our promise of providing companies with user friendly systems that nearly eliminate false alarms. You would be much better off trashing your text based alarm system and using only camera traps that we can monitor efficiently through our more advanced servers.
