IP Camera Systems and Surveillance Blog

Comparison of Apartment Intercom Systems

Posted on January 17, 2020February 5, 2021 by Bob Mesnik

What is the Best Intercom?

Intercom History

The first intercoms were developed in the late 1800s. They used speaking tubes to talk to other people in the building.

Business organizations were the first to use these intercoms. The office manager could reach his secretary or other people in various departments in the building.

The invention of the telephone in the early 1900s made it easier to connect everyone. By the 1950s, the telephone connected people all over the world. The intercoms used the same technology as the phone system. In the 1970s, the analog intercoms made it easy for the manager to talk to the accounting department or the manufacturing floor.

Today’s Apartment Intercoms provide so much more capability.

Digital IP intercoms that attach to the network were made available in the 1990s. It made it much easier to install intercoms around schools, offices, and hospitals. The latest intercom systems use smartphone apps and cloud servers to enable direct communication all over the world. This article provides the pros and cons of different intercom systems.

Technology Review 2019

Posted on December 30, 2019May 3, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

The New Technology of 2019

2019 was a year of evolution rather than revolution. Security technology evolved and became more powerful and easier to use.

IP camera manufacturers focused on enhancing their products. Access control systems became more user-friendly, added mobile capability, and made it easier to integrate with IP camera systems. Paging systems added intercoms with better full-duplex sound. Portable emergency buttons became more popular and effective.

Here are the highlights of the new products available in 2019

Technical Jokes and Cartoons – 59

Posted on December 13, 2019May 4, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

A man went to visit a friend and was amazed to find him playing chess with his dog. The man watched the game in astonishment for a while.

“I can hardly believe my eyes!” he said. “That’s the smartest dog I’ve ever seen.”

“He’s not so smart,” the friend replied. “I’ve beaten him three games out of five.”

I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

My wild oats have turned into prunes and All Bran.

I finally got my head together; now my body is falling apart.

Funny, I don’t remember being absent minded…

All reports are in; life is now officially unfair.

How to Upgrade Your Access Control System

Posted on December 12, 2019May 4, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

Upgrade Your Door Access Control System

The classic door access control systems have been around for many years. These access control systems include one or more central control panels that connect to all the door readers.

Usually, the door readers use a Wiegand connection for communication. The reader-to-controller cable includes the serial Wiegand wires, power, and electric lock control. It also can contain several door control signals such as Request to Exit and door contact sensors. These older systems don’t have the latest features provided by the new access control systems.

Your old controller can be replaced so you can get the latest features and functions available from the new access control system. The new systems connect to the network allowing them to be integrated with other security systems. They provide many new capabilities that will improve your safety and security.

Panic Buttons and Other Security Systems for Schools

Posted on December 5, 2019April 18, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

Active Shooter Emergencies

Active shooter situations have become a significant security issue. Many articles have been written about this. Solutions range from increased technology, active shooter drills in schools, and of course, gun control. Ann Hampton Callaway even wrote a song, Thoughts and Prayers.

A recent article, Active Shooter Drills May Not Stop A School Shooting — But This Method Could, was published November 27, 2019, in NPR news. It discussed the issues with active shooter drills. The article suggested that it was much better to provide threat assessment as a proactive approach to safety in schools. The objective would be to “identify students who are doing concerning behavior or may be in distress and getting them the help they need before they even resort to violence as an option.”

As a technology company, all we can do is suggest technology that can be used to prevent, control, and manage active shooter situations.

Security devices such as IP cameras, paging systems, metal detectors, door access control, and panic buttons can be used to help control emergency situations. This article provides a summary of the safety and security systems.

Technical Jokes and Cartoons – 58

Posted on November 15, 2019March 18, 2021 by Bob Mesnik

A guy is sitting at home when he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and sees a snail on the porch. He picks up the snail and throws it as far as he can.

A year later, there’s another knock at the door. He opens it and sees the same snail. The snail says, “What was that all about?”

Benefits of being older:

You consider coffee one of the most important things in life.
You constantly talk about the price of gasoline.
You enjoy hearing about other people’s operations.
You get into a heated argument about pension plans.
You got cable for the weather channel.
You have a party and the neighbors don’t even realize it.
You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks in the room.
You send money to PBS.
You sing along with the elevator music.

Technical Jokes and Cartoons – 57

Posted on November 15, 2019May 5, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

A butterfly gets pulled over by the cops for speeding. He hands the cop his driver’s license with a photo of a caterpillar on it. “Sorry, it’s an old picture.”

It is not clear where the concept of Murphy’s Law originated. Some say that the original Murphy’s Law was “If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it.”

The story goes that in 1947, Murphy was involved in a rocket-sled experiment in which all 16 accelerator instruments were installed in the wrong way, resulting in Murphy’s observation. Murphy’s Law is sometimes expressed as “Anything that can go wrong, will — at the worst possible moment.”

PoE for Network-Attached Devices

Posted on November 13, 2019October 20, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

Door Access Control, IP Camera Systems, IP PA Systems use PoE

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is the easiest way to provide power to many network-attached devices such as IP cameras, door access control systems, and IP paging and Intercom systems.

The network cable transfers both data and power to the device, making installation very simple. The network cable includes up to eight wires. The data uses one set of wires, while the power uses another set of wires in the network cable.

This article describes how access control systems, IP Camera Systems, and IP paging systems utilize power over Ethernet (PoE)

Network-Attached Devices Ilustration — Network-Attached Devices Illustration

What is the Best Access Control System?

Posted on November 12, 2019May 4, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

The best access control is defined by your objectives

What is the best access control? It depends on your requirements. To determine your requirements, you should answer the following questions:

Are your doors inside or outside?
Do you want to control the floor an elevator goes to?
Do you want to integrate access control with an IP camera system?
What type of electric locks do you need?
What type of access control credentials do you want?

The following article describes the way each access control system handles the answers to these questions.

The Best Camera Video Recording System

Posted on October 11, 2019October 16, 2021 by Bob Mesnik

Comparison of Video Recording Systems — Video Recording System Comparison

The IP recording and management system is a crucial part of your IP camera system. If you select the wrong solution, you could find yourself without the critical video evidence you need when an incident occurs, or worse still, your security could be breached, and safety threatened because your surveillance system didn’t provide an alarm.

We compared several video recording solutions. The best video recording and management system depends on your objectives. There are two types of recording systems for IP camera systems to consider. Each one provides some unique capability.