It was a dark and threatening day. Thunder could be heard in the distance. Fog blanketed the building, weakening the remaining daylight. Strange sounds were heard in the basement, and the security center was called to investigate.
The guard walks anxiously along a dark and long hallway. As he turns the corner, he is suddenly confronted by…
This is certainly not your father’s door control systems.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to push a button to initiate campus-wide lockdown? What about integrating IP door access with your IP surveillance system, or controlling what floor a person can go to in the elevator? Or, maybe you would like to use the access system as a visitor management system? Well, the latest network-attached access control systems provide these advanced features as well as many others that can make it easier to control security.
Have you ever tried to take a snapshot of something that’s far away? When you are using a long distance lens (higher focal point), you probably found it hard to keep the camera steady.
The higher the focal length of the lens, the more difficult it is to stabilize the image. This problem is especially significant with very long-range IP camera. When a surveillance camera is mounted on a swaying pole, or on a ship at sea, movement can affect the quality of the video. Image stabilization is used in IP cameras to reduce the effects of this motion.
This article describes the various mechanisms used to stabilize an IP surveillance camera.
Continue reading “IP Camera Motion Stabilization”
Did you ever want to yell at someone you see on your video surveillance display? Maybe you want to tell them to get away from your parking lot or to yell at an intruder that the police are coming. Perhaps you would like to talk to someone at your door? Then you could let the delivery man enter the back door at your office.
IP audio interface systems provide connections to speakers for paging or intercom devices. This article describes how audio can be added to your network or IP camera system.
What You Can Do to Improve Security
With all the gun-related tragedies at schools and other facilities, what can we do to increase our security? Securing your facility, school, sporting events, or concerts have become more complicated.
IP camera systems used to be enough to monitor the facility, but today we want to do a lot more. We want to prevent unauthorized access to our buildings, prevent people from bringing in weapons, and we want to provide campus-wide paging systems that keep everyone informed of any emergency.
Access control systems include more than just a door reader. They can include intercoms, cameras and even walk-through metal detectors. Each of these security systems adds another level of safety. The different components play unique roles in your overall security. This article reviews the various parts and when to use them. It provides guidance about what technology to use and an overview of how they work.
Continue reading “Security Provided by Access Control Systems”
Anyone who has traveled by airplane has probably gone through a walk-through metal detector. These security devices have also been used in schools, sporting events, government offices, and concerts. They are part of a total security system that includes cameras, door access control, and emergency paging systems.
Metal detectors are effective and safe. Just like IP cameras and door access control, they add to your safety and security. Here’s how they work.
The metal detector utilizes the laws described by a Scottish physicist named James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879). He discovered that magnetism and electricity are related. An example of the relationship is a coil of copper wire wrapped around a metal nail. When current is applied to the coil, the metal nail becomes magnetized.
When an electric pulse is sent through a coil of wire, it creates a magnetic field. When the field hits a metal object, it reflects back and can be detected using another coil of wire. The size and timing of the detected pulse is used to define the size and position of the object.
Continue reading “How Walk-Through Metal Detectors Work”
In 2017 there were a number of technology advancements. Faster processors provided higher performance IP cameras that enhanced the security provided by IP camera systems.
Other technology introduced included, long-range PTZ cameras, new biometric door access control readers, and more advanced network attached paging and intercom systems.
Over last year, technology for IP security systems continued to add new features that made it easier to use and improve our safety. This article reviews some of the key technology introductions.
IP camera systems are supposed to protect us. That is their purpose. However, do we need to protect the camera system? It turns out that in this brave new world of cyber threats, even our cameras are vulnerable.
There are some things you can do to protect your IP camera system from cyber-attack. Some of them seem obvious, yet many of us have not implemented them. Your IT staff can implement many of these things, but we do have a simple solution that can be installed by almost anyone. Here is a list of things you should do to protect your IP camera system.
IP camera systems are supposed to protect us. That is their purpose. However, do we need to protect the camera system? It turns out that in this brave new world of cyber threats, even our cameras are vulnerable.
There are some things you can do to protect your IP camera system from cyber-attack. Some of them seem obvious, yet many of us have not implemented them. Your IT staff can implement many of these things, but we do have a simple solution that can be installed by almost anyone. Here is a list of things you should do to protect your IP camera system.
Continue reading “How to Protect IP Camera System from Cyber Attack”
There are many misconceptions about science and technology. One of the misconceptions is that biometric IP door readers store a picture of your fingerprint or face. Another one is that the Earth is a flat disc that rests on top of four elephants, on top of a turtle*.
For clarity, biometric door readers do not store a picture of your fingerprint or face, and the Earth is not flat. This article describes the technology behind biometric door readers.
If you want to detect an object many miles away, you will need a special long-range PTZ camera. While custom-made cameras are best for very long-range applications, the latest off-the-shelf cameras provide some of the same capability for less money. These long-range PTZ cameras are very cost-effective, and allow you to detect a person almost 4-miles away. They have built-in IR-illumination or an additional thermal imaging camera that allows you to see an object over ½ mile away. Prices range from less than $3,000 to about $25,000.
If you want to detect an object many miles away, you will need a special long-range PTZ camera. While custom-made cameras are best for very long-range applications, the latest off-the-shelf cameras provide some of the same capability for less money. These long-range PTZ cameras are very cost-effective, and allow you to detect a person almost 4-miles away. They have built-in IR-illumination or an additional thermal imaging camera that allows you to see an object over ½ mile away. Prices range from less than $3,000 to about $25,000.
The basic difference between the off-the-shelf cameras and the custom made cameras is their performance. The custom long-range cameras take much longer to build because they use special components. The custom long-range cameras generally will provide much better operational distance, especially at night. Custom-made systems can view objects at night that are over 8 miles away. They include very long distance lenses, specialized laser illuminators, special thermal cameras, and very high-performance pan tilt mechanisms. Off-the-shelf long-range cameras cost less than $25,000, while custom cameras range in price from $50,000 to well over $150,000. Here is a summary of the systems available:
Continue reading “Long Range Camera Systems – Custom Vs. Off-the-Shelf”