IP Camera Systems and Surveillance Blog

Access Control and Electric Locks for Secure Cabinets

Posted on October 14, 2014April 10, 2020 by Virginia Fair

When most people think of access control systems, they picture authorized personnel using a credential and keypad to gain entry to a secured office building or complex. But did you know door access control can be applied to storage cabinets and drawers as well?

Small electric cabinet locks are ideal for situations where security dictates that certain items not only be kept under lock and key, but also that access be limited to authorized persons. These cabinet locks are just as secure as door control locks yet small enough to mount on cabinets and drawers. Since authorized users must use their access credentials to unlock them, a record is kept of who opened them and when.

IP Access Control + Bluetooth = Germ Protection

Posted on October 7, 2014June 1, 2020 by Virginia Fair

In these days when Ebola is ravaging West Africa and Enterovirus D68 is sending children home from school, it is especially troubling to learn that Chinese health researchers testing thirty-eight ATMs in downtown Taipei, found an astonishing average of 1,200 germs – per key! Included in the count were E.coli, as well as cold and flu viruses.

The most deadly key? Enter – which if you think about it makes perfect sense – every transaction ends with a hit to the enter key.

Scary, huh? Now think about the access control keypad you use every morning to gain access to your office building or facility.

Can Drones Help Firefighters Contain Wildfires?

Posted on October 6, 2014June 1, 2020 by Virginia Fair

2014 is proving to be a historic year for wildfire activity in California and the Pacific Northwest. The National Fire Inter-Agency Center, in a report they update daily, put the combined number of fire-ravaged acres in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, to date, at over half-million. Due to the prolonged drought in California, the number of wildfires in that state alone is 123% of the state’s average – and we’re only halfway into August.

With local firefighters working round the clock and, out-of-state teams journeying cross country to join them, one has to wonder if drones and IP camera systems might be able to play an assisting role.

Adding Drones to the Mix

Last year, during the Rim Fire in California that destroyed 257,314 acres in Yosemite National Park and the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains, the National Guard launched a Predator Drone to aid firefighters by using infrared sensors to detect hot spots along the fire’s perimeters or in isolated spots.

A New Role for IP Camera Systems – Operations Manager

Posted on October 6, 2014June 1, 2020 by Virginia Fair

Multiscreen for IP camera surveillance systems

In this business era, when companies are focusing on getting the best return on their investment, a sizable number are looking towards extending their use of IP camera surveillance systems beyond security and into overseeing business operations.

According to a recent issue of Security Watch Info, a survey in which IT and video surveillance professionals were asked what their business plans were for video surveillance revealed that 68% of respondents plan to use their IP camera systems for improving operations while 32% planned to restrict their usage to security.

Many retail businesses with more than one outlet, perhaps because they are already familiar with how IP cameras systems and video management software deliver remote real-time multi-screen viewing of several locations, have already made the move.

Managers feel that using the cameras will improve their ability to:

manage multiple locations
monitor everyday business activities
track employees over the course of a day
keep a watchful eye on inventory and sensitive customer and business data

They are particularly fond of VMS’s ability to record and store video and easily access it for future viewing and plant to use it for:

IP Camera Tech Support in Action

Posted on October 1, 2014June 1, 2020 by Virginia Fair

Bug, now that’s a word that covers a lot of ground.

Eeck, there’s a bug on the table.
I’m sick. I have some kind of bug.
Don’t bug me!
Bug off!
I love my Volkswagen bug.

And then there’s dreaded. There’s a bug in the system. Our customers rarely find a bug in the IP cameras Kintronics sells, but in the rare instances one finds its way in, they can rest assure we won’t rest until we’ve debugged the system.

The Ubiquitous Intercom

Posted on September 22, 2014June 1, 2020 by Virginia Fair

The intercom has been with us for a long time, although we rarely acknowledge its presence. That’s because an intercom on its best behavior prefers to avoid the limelight and let the voice take all the attention.

Like any staple of technology, the Intercommunication Device has seen its share of change over the years.

Comparison of Door Access Control Systems

Posted on September 17, 2014June 1, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

Remember when door readers were connected to the central control panel and how difficult it was to run all the connections?

Oh wait, people are still doing that. The new IP connected readers have been available for a number of years and it’s surprising that they haven’t made more of an impact in the market. I talked to a number of people about this and the conclusion is that security dealers like to do what they know and find it difficult to work with computers and networks.

Are the IP door readers actually better, or as some people say, too expensive?

In this article, we reviewed the cost of the two technologies for an 8 door system.

Biometric Authentication – the New Kid on the Access Control Block

Posted on September 15, 2014June 1, 2020 by Virginia Fair

Once residing only in the realm of science fiction, biometric authentication has moved into our everyday worlds. And if it’s not part of yours, hold on, it soon will be.

Once upon a time a driver’s license or photo ID was all it took to gain access to a secure building. Life was simpler then. But then, terrorism reared its loathsome head and made it apparent that these simple tokens of identification are woefully inadequate. Today’s security climate demands that secure access control be based on identity authentication. It is not enough that a person may already have security clearance.

Biometric authentication has stepped up to fill that need since the cardinal rule of authentication is that proof of identity be based on a trait or characteristic that is unique to the person, not just a piece of plastic or badge that has the potential of being misappropriated.

Now for the Jokes and Cartoons 3

Posted on September 12, 2014March 18, 2021 by Bob Mesnik

What happens to a frog’s car when it breaks down?
It gets toad away.

IP Camera Low Light Test and Evaluation – Sony vs Samsung vs Axis

Posted on September 10, 2014June 2, 2020 by Bob Mesnik

We tested a number of IP cameras so we could recommend the right camera for low light level applications.

Other key features include resolution, wide dynamic range, and frame rate, which we evaluated in our other posts.

In our latest product test, we compared the low light performance of the new Sony SNC-VM630, Samsung SNV-6084R, and Axis P3384 IP cameras.

The Samsung dome IP camera includes a built-in IR illuminator which we turned off for the test.