Author: Bob Mesnik

Reliable IP Paging Systems

PA over IP Illustration

What is the Most Reliable Paging System?

By Bob Mesnik

How important is your paging system?  Is it critical that it continues to work reliably?  Well, if your answer is yes, then paging over IP is a good choice for you.

What does IP Paging do that the older analog paging systems can’t do? It provides increased reliability and redundancy.

What happens if your analog amplifier stops working? Well, your paging system is down and out.  There’s no easy recovery except to replace the amplifier.  With a network attached IP paging system, all the amplifiers are decentralized, and the paging console station can be redundant, providing a much more reliable system. Here’s why IP paging systems are more reliable.

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Why Can’t I Recognize a Person With My IP Camera?

What Type of Camera Do I Need?

By Bob Mesnik

IP Camera Resolution Required

There was a break-in at your warehouse, but, you were prepared. Last month you installed a complete IP camera system.  Now you have evidence you can share with the police.

Uh oh! You can’t identify their faces. There are two people in the warehouse, but you can’t tell who they are. Ugh!  What did you do wrong?  You have just discovered that having a surveillance camera, is not enough.  You have to have the right resolution camera and the right lens.

This article reviews what you need to assure you meet your security objective.

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Technical Jokes and Cartoons – 22

Observations from Children

On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother.  The note read, ‘The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents’.

A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the bottle.  During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone.  ‘Mommy can’t come to the phone to talk to you right now.  She’s hitting the bottle.’

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women’s locker room.  When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover.  The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, ‘What’s the matter, haven’t you ever seen a little boy before?’

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How to Integrate Door Control With Other IP Systems

computer network vms with camera

Door Control is much more than just a door reader

By Bob Mesnik

Door access control systems have become much more sophisticated, and easier to integrate with other security systems. These new IP door readers integrate with IP video systems, and IP intercoms, providing a much more secure environment.

The door access systems changed over 10 years ago with the introduction of IP door readers from Isonas.  These new readers dramatically lowered installation costs and made it much easier to self-install these systems.  This was a dramatic improvement over the older systems that used complex wiring harnesses to a central control panel.

There are new IP door readers that use cloud-based access control software.  Now you can manage your door access from your mobile device. The latest door readers not only read the RFID card credentials, but they also recognize your fingerprint or face.  They include multiple types of biometric keys that make them more reliable and secure. All these door access control systems can easily be integrated with IP camera systems and IP intercoms.  

Here is a summary of the latest developments in door access control and how it integrates with other systems.

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4K IP Camera Review and Comparison

Resolution, Low Light, and Wide Dynamic Range Test and Shoot-out of 4K IP Cameras

By Francisco Gutierrez-Guerra

IP Camera 4K test

We tested and compared 4K IP cameras from Axis, Hikvision, Samsung, and Sony.

We tested the Axis P1428-E, the Hikvision DS-2CD4A85F-IZH, the Samsung PNO-9080R, and the Sony SNC-VM772R.  We tested the resolution, low light capability, signal-to-noise, and wide dynamic range.

We also looked at the latest Sony SNC-VB770, which if you can afford it, is the best 4K IP camera we have seen.  Here are the results of our testing.

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Technical Jokes and Cartoons – 21

A guy goes ice fishing for the very first time. All of a sudden, he hears a voice. “There are no fish under the ice!”

He ignores it and moves to another area, cuts a hole, and tosses his line in. Again, he hears the booming voice: “There are no fish under the ice!”

He nervously looks up and asks, “Lord? Is that you?”

“No, this is the manager of the skating rink!”

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IP Video and Door Access or POS Integration

Review of the methods for integrating IP Camera systems with IP door access or digital point of sale systems

By Bob Mesnik

C2P Convergence Concept
C2P Convergence Concept

What’s next for Video Recording Systems?  IP Camera manufacturers and third party companies such as OnSSI, Milestone, Axis, Exacq, and others have been providing software and NVR recording systems for many years.  All these systems provide basic video recording functionality.  How can the functionality and value of these recording systems be increased?  

We reviewed a number of different systems and found that the next generation of video management systems (VMS) is already here.  

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Technical Jokes and Cartoons – 20

“If God had written the Bible, the first line should have been ‘It’s round.'” – Eddie Izzard

“A hotel minibar allows you to see into the future and find out what a can of Pepsi will cost in 2020.” – Rich Hall

“My great uncle Arthur died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. But he wasn’t involved in the fighting. He was camping in a nearby field and popped over to complain about the noise.” – Rob Brydon

“You know you’re getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It’s like, ‘See if you can blow this out.'” – Jerry Seinfeld

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Fingerprint and Facial Recognition Access Control

Selecting the right biometric reader

By Dennis Gallen

Biometrics is a much safer way to control door access than carrying a card or remembering a pin number.  It’s more secure because you are identifying a person rather than something the person is carrying.  The door credential can be stolen, but your face can’t.  

biometric image banner
Biometric Door Access Concept

What can biometric readers do?  How do you select the right fingerprint reader, facial recognition system, or multimodal biometric system?  By the way, the latest Biometric IP reader-controllers combine a number of physiological characteristics and are more flexible and reliable than the older units.   There are a lot of different choices, but what is best, what provides the best reliability and repeatability? This article examines the technology and provides guidelines for selecting the right biometric system.

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Technical Jokes and Cartoons 19

Some comments from Stephen Wright:

If a person with multiple personalities threatens suicide, is that considered a hostage situation?

If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?

I went to a restaurant that serves “breakfast at any time”. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.

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