The IP surveillance industry has long suffered from its inability to establish clear interoperability standards.
In the past few years, significant advances have been made with organizations such as ONVIF and PSIA, but one of the great failings of these standards remains the fact that most surveillance technology has its in-built functionality limited by these standards.
A surveillance camera might have a theoretical maximum frame rate, but this is limited by the overall network capacity. Quite often, some of the more exciting capabilities of a device, many of which helped sell the system to the feature-hungry end user, become useless on a multi-vendor system. Invariably, a complete end-to-end system is required to ensure that a system’s full capabilities can be used.
There’s a recurring argument in the forums of IFSEC Global on what makes a system IP. Where does IP begin? is a system truly IP if it’s not end-to-end?
Well, one way to get around both of these issues is to build a complete end-to-end IP system from one vendor.
IDIS’s DirectIP system doesn’t just feature HD IP cameras and network video recorders, but the company has also produced DirectIP switching hubs, accessories, and its own VMS. Alongside the various IP components you’ll also find DirectIP video encoders that allow you to continue using existing analogue cameras, or a DirectIP Ethernet over coax transceiver enabling the transmission of images from a Full HD network camera over an existing infrastructure of coaxial cables.
The DirectIP solution is truly plug-and-play, meaning that it is simple to install and operate. The ability to easily integrate legacy products into the DirectIP network enables a flexible solution for a range of different organizations.
Whether you are an installer or an end-user, the DirectIP solution will benefit you with its simplicity and performance. End users in commercial buildings, transport facilities, banks, hospitals, factories, shops, and schools can all see exactly how the solution can help them, but here we illustrate a quick example of a complete DirectIP install:
IDIS: Office Building Surveillance Solution
In this image we can see a complete IP installation in a commercial office building.
A total of 27 IDIS DirectIP network cameras are connected to three DirectIP PoE switching hubs throughout the business via Cat5 cables (which can stream up to 100 Mbit/s and are shown in red). These three switching hubs are then connected to a DirectIP NVR in the security control room using Cat6 cables (shown in blue) which are capable of streaming up to 1 Gbit/s.
The cameras throughout the business take on varying roles for the end user. Cameras such as the one marked with “A” provide valuable asset protection that reduces crime and is integrated with alarm devices. “B” indicates general corridor observation, while “C” shows cameras supervising restricted access and monitoring the behaviour of authorized staff within those areas.
Other tasks that the IP network is capable of include monitoring access controlled areas (D), outdoor entrance observation (E), elevator monitoring (F), external security (G) and vehicle identification in the car parks (H). All of this can be achieved in a simple plug-and-play fashion throughout a facility.
And by integrating with alarm systems such as intruder or fire, DirectIP solutions can ensure that your assets are safe in any event, irrespective of the complexity of the building.
If you were to take just five key points of the core benefits of a plug-and-play end-to-end IP surveillance network then they could be summarised as this:
- Ease of installation and use;
- High performance;
- Compatibility and integration;
- Network operability;
- Cost-effectiveness.
To find out more about DirectIP and IDIS visit www.idisglobal.com.