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CCTV Remote Monitoring
In his second article for The Locksmith journal,
Umar Haq of Manchester-based Learn CCT,
updates us on the development of CCTV
and asks – should it now become SCTV?
»»Many people assume
that CCTV is just about
installing a few cameras to a
DVR and viewing the images
on a monitor and that’s all
there is to it. That used to be
the case nearly 25 years ago
- hence the name derived,
CCTV – Closed Circuit
Television.
But consider: it is no longer
on a closed circuit; people
can view away from the main
controller over a Local Area
Network. They can also view
from their mobile phones or
tablet devices from anywhere
in the world. So should the
name be changed from Closed
Circuit to something like
Secure Circuit TV? I doubt
that will happen, will but
with the phenomenal growth
of CCTV in the UK there is
more than a system can do
nowadays than provide a
simple picture.
Let’s just look at that growth
for a minute. In 2011, The
Guardian newspaper reported
that for every one person there
were 32 cameras in the UK. In
2014, the same paper reported
that there were now 11
cameras for every one person
- and this is in the UK alone.
In the space of just three years,
growth has tripled.
WHERE TECHNOLOGY
IS NOW
But back to the main
topic of remote monitoring:
I always like to go back to
where it began and let people
understand where technology
is now, and where it has
advanced. Previously, with a
VCR CCTV system, there was
no way for you to monitor
the cameras remotely. It was
only local recording. A device
was invented which would
connect to the cameras and
allow you to dial in via a
standard PTSN line and watch
the cameras. Now at 56.6k
modem speed, it wasn’t the
fastest around, but you could
still see images remotely. Just
at the point when Broadband
was available, CCTV Systems
were changing from VCRs
to DVRs. As they were PC
based there was, of course, a
network port available. This
changed the future of CCTV.
With the DVR connected to
the Network, the possibility of
viewing the system remotely
was there.
All you had to do was
download some software to
your laptop or PC, type in the
IP address of the CCTV site
and away you go. You could
view/playback all cameras.
What we have available
nowadays is just amazing.
From your smartphone, you
can connect to a DVR to view
live images. You can view
playback recording. You can
take a snapshot of the screen
and email the picture out
within a matter of seconds.
You can listen and speak back
to the site – two- way Audio.
You can control PTZ cameras.
You can activate relays to open
gates, turn lights on etc. You
can also stream recordings
so that in the case a local
system was to be damaged
or stolen you would still have
recordings off site.
COST SAVINGS
This then brings us to the
next topic of transmission.
Everyone reading this will
be familiar with the Redcare
system for Alarms. If an alarm
is activated, the signal is sent
via Redcare to a monitoring
station which, on confirmation
of a genuine alarm, will
contact the police. Few people
realise, however,that a similar
system is available with CCTV.
It is basically called Off Site
Remote Monitoring or CCTV
Transmission. It works in
entirely the same way but with
video pictures.
A transmission device would
be installed at the site which
would also have some Alarm
detectors connected to it. If
a break in were to occur, the
detectors would pick this up,
and the transmission device
would within a m