OK guys, I have been a member of IPVM for months. I am an end user. I purchase and install everything I use in this particular situation. A rundown of our current situation: We have two hybrid DVR's from Avermedia, one primary one backup both getting the same analog feeds of 11 cameras one of them a Samsung PTZ. I also have four 4 channel units in the field not tied into these primary DVR's that I eventually want to get fiber optics to in order to view them on the primary units.
I am concerned about feature sets within the Exacq system verses all of your alternative suggestions. Our system looks at a 24/7 operation where movement is at an almost constant. We use the system for investigations into incidents. 90% of the time we know the time and date of an incident and search for it using a calendar view. Once found the clip has to be off loaded to disc or stick and either uploaded to company servers for review or sent directly to a non-technical user. I take most of my clips and convert them to .mpg files for view in windows media player. (Our default player of choice in our company) Many of these clips involve multiple cameras and a pain recently found was I can’t span into another day.
I was recently tasked with finding a camera that "will see a gnat at 1000 yards" I then started to look at the list of compatible units with our hybrid DVR's. Best I can find are 5MP solutions. The pricing is in the ballpark thousand dollar mark. Boss asks why we didn't have them sooner and I told him I will be hitting a ceiling soon with the current DVR setup and I was looking at a digital system to migrate to.
“If it’s not more than a couple thousand difference then go for it.”
Here is where I want to start looking at VMS's. I am tearing this site apart looking for all the reviews, posts to anything and so forth. Years ago when I started researching and learning about the industry I stumbled across Milestone. Now as a slightly informed IPVM user (Thanks John you made this personal 200 dollar investment worth it this last few days) I had narrowed the field to Avigilon and Milestone. I had a coworker who knows virtually nothing about the industry look at my screen of the VMS tests in 2010 combined chart showing all the VMS's and their rankings. He immediately picked Exacq and Digifort. His p rimary reason for doing so was cost. This was after I informed him of what I knew about pay per channel and base licenses. So I started really looking at Exacq and ran into the alternatives to Exacq discussion, and I agree with the possibility of Exacq having issues because of the TYCO buyout. I do have experience with TYCO brands and will agree being so large they have their support issues. Then I actually read all the comments all of you had to say and I have questions about those comments in order to find a VMS that will work for me. When I looked at equipment I was brand new. Looking back I was lucky I didn’t know anything about what I was buying. I learned from trial and error and the valuable feedback that had.
Now I am wandering into an area where I know something and I want this purchase to be better without the trial and error because costs are going to be higher transitioning to digital I think. So after all of that description I leave you with these comments and questions:
- Aaron mentions “One sure thing that makes a good amount of my customers cringe is the annual fees associated with today’s VMS platforms.” Yup that’s me I wasn’t aware of them till just now. I thought once you bought the license per channel it was yours. Reoccurring fees are a turnoff for me. My people put things in place and expect them to run for years. We don’t maintain lifecycle ideas where after x years we replace or upgrade. It stays in till death do us part. Once it’s paid for it’s ours not yours.
- To Seth I liked the Avigilon cameras but years ago learned that they were a one stop shop. Everything had to come from them for it to work simple for upgrad es and changes using one platform. They even touted that point some time ago. I went back and found a revamped site now touting that they play nice with others. I found that to be a little misleading because they have a select few cameras other than their own that work with their VMS but not the other way around. No VMS works with their cams. You want their cams you have to use their VMS. For me I like choice but I really like streamlined approaches. What will happen if they aren’t around anymore? Now I’m stuck buying an entire system not just a replacement VMS.
- Aaron you make very solid points and well-crafted opinions. What this comes down to is I need a simple to use VMS for one site up to 11 analog cameras current expanded to 27 maybe 30 IP in the future that can create and export clips in .mpg format to someone else who just has to click on an icon to get it to play. Easy review capability is a must because live feeds are rarely used. I am using my own hardware. Finally I need to migrate the analog cameras over to this new digital system and found the article about encoder costs comparison as well as Genetec and Milestone vs Avigilon and Exacq. Just so much to decipher. I have been a firm believer you get what you pay for and Milestone was at the top of my list until yesterday. It appears as if Luxriot and Exacq are now in my competition and I have to have something next week or so. My big question to Andrew and Seth would be how much do I really have to worry about TYCO?
Guys I am reaching out to you as people who sell this stuff and have knowledge way beyond what I do. I signed up with this group knowing full well that at some point this situation would occur and here I am. I don’t really want manufacturer reps giving me sales pitches. I didn't like the idea of them even being allowed to register to this site even with the disclosure. It makes reading through comments even harder so give me some thoughts from your point of view. Who can make this happen for me and do it well enough to meet or maybe exceed the above requirements? If Exacq meets these for me I’m going to try and hope for the best.