VMS Suggestions For Remote Outdoor Park

the vms comparison article from 2010 is awesome, but it's 8 years old now, and i'm not confident that i'd make a good decision based on that data.

i'm wondering if anyone can offer some guidance on a vms for a system like this:

- 8-16 IP/PoE cameras (mostly axis cameras, but maybe some other cameras too)

- mostly outdoor cameras watching trails and roads for trespassers (but we don't care about animals trespassing!)

- we won't be monitoring live 24/7 - mostly recording and searching on alerts or if we find vandalism.

- ease of use / simple interface

- thick client running on a PC w/ a connected NAS storage system

- remote access is important because we won't be on site most of the time

- we have a healthy budget, so cost is less of a factor than ease of use

- we have fiber to the office at the park, so remote bandwidth should be strong

the scenario i think would be most common is that we set the system up, and then every few days maybe an alert would show up on our phone saying that someone was detected at 2am on a trail and then we could remotely monitor the situation and call the police if we needed to.

or another scenario would be that we find that property was vandalized and we want to go search the vms to figure out when/how/who did it, and be able to check the cars that drove by around the same time and make note of license plates.

any guidance would be very much appreciated.

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Undisclosed Integrator #2

Most enterprise level VMS's support the features you require (notifications, thick client, NAS storage, remote functionality, support for Axis cameras, mobile app, and ease of use to varying degrees).

The rest of your request seems to relate more to camera model selection and locations (be vary wary about expecting to get license plates reliably unless you have a specific LPR camera just for that specific function by the way).

It sounds like you just need some hardware and a couple of trial versions to try out.

The classics are still reliable and okay to interact with, I'd recommend the following but as I mentioned most VMS's these days have the functionality built in that you are looking for.

· ExacqVision
· Avigilon ACC
· Video Insight

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Undisclosed End User #1

thanks. this is a great start.

i checked out ExacqVision, and it seems like the UX was probably cutting edge 10 years ago. Avigilon looks pretty nice and well supported and Video Insight doesn't have video tutorials online so it was harder to tell what it's all about (except that the mobile apps aren't rated very highly.)

i think i'll do a deep dive into Avigilon first and see if i can get it to do what i need.

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Michael Miller

In reply to Michael Miller

We have several parks running Avigilon. I would be happy to answer any questions.

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Undisclosed End User #1

•Jun 28, 2018

do you have any issues with trees blowing in the wind triggering motion events?

i'm assuming wildlife triggers the cameras as well?

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Undisclosed Integrator #2

•Jun 28, 2018

Some initial motion detection adjustment (sensitivity & detection zone being the two big ones) are required during the initial installation, but once you get it tuned in you shouldn't have any issues.

Proper installation location can also help guarantee that you will get the shot you want.

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Michael Miller

•Jun 28, 2018

Avigilon handles trees and bushes very well once the camera has learned the scene. Remember with Avigilon's analytics there is no setup as they automatically learn the scene as long as you install them within the recommended parameters. The trick is the cameras need to see people and vehicles in the FOV for the learning process. If you put up a camera that only sees people every 30 days you will have issues. What you want to do is have your techs walk in front the camera for a couple of minutes after the install.

If you still have issues then you can use teach by example to tell the camera what is a true person and what isn't a person.

Animals are tricky. Say deer walk across the FOV it looks like a deer and will not be picked up. But if the deer walk directly at the camera it looks like a person so it can be a false positive. Again you can use to teach by example to correct the issue.

Overall the analytics work very well and are extremely easy to setup.

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Christopher Uiterwyk

http://www.ipconfigure.com/products/orchid

IPConfigure

Orchid is a elegant, light weight, web-based VMS, check it out...

-Chris

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Undisclosed #5

In reply to Christopher Uiterwyk

Elegant? will your software engineer back that up in a VMS shoot out?

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Christopher Uiterwyk

In reply to Undisclosed #5

IPConfigure

UD#5, check it out via the free trail and we are available anytime to host a call about Orchid's elegant design.

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Undisclosed End User #1

In reply to Christopher Uiterwyk

looks interesting. very different approach. i wish they had video tutorials.

the big plus is that i don't have to run a crappy windows machine (which i'm dreading.)

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Michael Miller

Then use Avigilon's ES boxes which are not Windows based.

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Undisclosed End User #1

In reply to Michael Miller

i'm not excited about buying an appliance. even though it's more of a pain to install software, i like having more control over the server, even if it's a windows box.

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Christopher Uiterwyk

IPConfigure

Hi EU#1, Please find a link to the IPConfigure Orchid VMS video training here and for the admin sections the free code is "orchidcert18".

Regards,
Chris

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Undisclosed End User #1

In reply to Christopher Uiterwyk

thanks. very helpful! i walked through the user and the admin course. it seems like it has a very clean interface.

i couldnt find any info on mobile support except to assume that it's all in-browser as opposed to a native client. is that correct?

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Christopher Uiterwyk

IPConfigure

Good to hear. Orchid was built to run on both desktop and mobile browsers without compromising features between the two thus removing the need for fat clients. Have a good weekend. -C

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Vincent Tong

Both Orchid and NX Witness can run off of Linux Distos and even on lightweight devices like Raspberry Pi. We have tested both and they are both very clean and lightweight. Both software has many video tutorials that you can find on their websites.

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Jay Hobdy

IPVMU Certified

if you are using Axis cameras primarily, why not look at Milestone? They should play very nicely together since they are sister companies.

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Undisclosed Manufacturer #3

avigilon.com/blue - not sure why you need a thick client, but this solution offers browser-based management, embedded analytics for your Axis cameras that detect people and cars, mobile and browser apps for self-monitoring of analytics-based alarms with video verification clips, and an 8TB POE appliance - only the clips go to the cloud with continuous or motion video staying onsite. In addition to the analytics-based push notifications, the system also pushes system health notifications such as cameras not working. The SaaS model may or can actually costs less than a client-server solution when you think about all of the costs such as upgrades, OS, PC hardware, increased configuration and installation costs, training, etc.

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Undisclosed #4

In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #3

"only the clips go to the cloud with continuous or motion video staying onsite"

If continuous and motion staying onsite which clips go to the cloud?

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Undisclosed Manufacturer #3

In reply to Undisclosed #4

Video verification clips that result from an analytic rule being triggered, such as a person on a trail or a car in an area. You set up regions of interest for the camera fields of view and assign an analytic rule such as loitering or line crossing or person/vehicle in the area for x seconds, etc. When an incident happens, you receive a push notification on your mobile, and you can then view the short clip that shows what happened to trigger the notification and a live view of the scene to see what's happening now.

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John Honovich

IPVM

#1, thanks for posting this. Our VMS comparison is definitely way out of date. Sean, who joined IPVM earlier this year, is doing ongoing testing of VMSes. For example, he just released OpenEye VMS Test and will be doing more throughout the year, leading up to a new comparison.

Other general VMS information that might be useful to you is the Favorite NVR / VMS Manufacturers 2018 report and the Worst NVR / VMS Manufacturers 2018 report.

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Undisclosed #5