Member Discussion
Wildfire Connections
Actually, an end user asked about them a few weeks ago.
He was interested in this claim:
"WildFire is offering its’ new WPI Program (WildFire-Provided Infrastructure) to all city and county government agencies nationwide. Under WPI, WildFire provides the basic infrastructure required to launch a city-wide or county-wide wireless camera network (the central NVR & the Central Relay Point of the network) at no charge whatsoever. The only commitment WildFire requires is for a minimum of five (5) low-cost WildFire wireless cameras (from $1,695 to $1,995 each) to be purchased to launch the network. If the private-sector buys all the cameras, the WildFirenetwork would be launched at no cost to the local city or county government."
My response was that, 'I suspect they give this away to seed the market. They also emphasize that "Local merchants and other businesses purchase their own WildFire wireless PTZ cameras.' It's probably a loss led to lock in their equipment. They then make their money by selling cameras to the community at a premium."
Also, I wonder what cameras they are offering for that low a price.
Overall, from reviewing their website and their marketing videos, they appear to be a regional integrator packaging COTS surveillance products (e.g., I clearly see examples of VideoIQ and Exacq in their videos).
Interesting. Will have to look into this as a potential Firetide wiremesh alternative as we have just started to look into a 450k municipal camera expansion program due to an earmark of a recent tax measure. John, do you have any additional information regarding this company other than what they list on their website?
We have not talked directly to them nor to any of their customers.
As for them being an alternative to Firetide, I'd be cautious. They are not claiming any technical breakthrough so I bet there's some significant fine print in their offer.
Very true. I will spend some time tomorrow reading all the fine print I can find. Always want to do the best on many levels when it comes to tax dollars and as in most cases, nothing's free without a cost buried somewhere. I am always suspect of a bid that need several rounds of follow up regarding specifications than a business charging a market rate with all the details laid out.
This website has been very helpful in assisting our ability to obtain unbiased reviews or insight and has already paid for the cost of membership tenfold with just one 40k improvement project.
Hey Mark, did you find out anything more on wild fire?
We actually interviewed them and did a post on Wildfire not too long ago.
Hi there Syed
No, I did not find out any additional information as they did not respond to my e-mail request. I did look about their website and read the follow on article as indicated by John. My take was that it was a marketing tool more than anything else. On top of that it was a pretty proprietary system and not something we would want to be locked into or end up a a dead end for support and replacement if they were not around in a few years. I recently spent about a week looking to replace a damaged dome cover for a camera who's company went out of business a few years ago and finally found a used camera on EBay from a private party. Not really they way I want to keep a system up and running.
Thanks, Mark! Let us know if we can provide any other feedback or advice.
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