Things, we should consider, when dealing with IP surveillance

1) The total cost of investment for these systems are further lifted by the inevitable IT / network equipment, which often need to be quite expensive (and often are aware of this late stage in the project) - manageable switches with larger buffers, server arrays for recording and reading. In conventional systems these are often absent and not perceived as a serious item in the budget of the IP system, but in fact they are.

2) Special network design is required for larger IP video surveillance systems, precise calculation of segments of the network (to avoid “narrow” places), separation of VLAN-s, and so on. In other words, it takes greater IT knowledge and expenses because of the network infrastructure. In professional software packages, the release of each camera is associated with making the address table, enter the IP address / MAC address / serial number of each device for registration, settings of each camera for bandwidth, frames per second, resolution ( one is to set a DVR for 16 cameras, and totally different thing are 16 camera + server). Not that its a nuclear physics, but takes time and efforts, it is not quick and easy.

3) Interoperability and standardization of IP cameras and surveillance software is still a serious problem in this industry. Very often the software manufacturer of the camera / encoder is not applicable to the needs and therefore other software must be purchased. Many hardware manufacturers provide software because the market requires, but most of it does not provide the required features for professional video surveillance. And that is normal – after all the companies are mostly hardware oriented, they does not have the resources for building professional software packages. Then logically often choose camera X and software Y and there is no 100% compatibility.

Example: Milestone is the universal platform now support over 500 devices from over 50 marks (and therefore most expensive). Connect PTZ IP camera, which is officially supported ... and surprise. It turns out that the software does not support some more detailed settings (presets, patrols ...), but that is what exactly we need.

Is undoubtedly that the future belongs to IP video, but the situation is like with electro cars - yes, they are cars of the future, but you still drive on petrol for a number of reasons.