For CCTV systems the advent of networked video is perhaps the first big revolution the industry has to experience. For installation companies keen to avoid the guillotine, gearing up for this digital revolution is a major change in concepts and engineering. Just how do you meet up to the challenge?
Recommended three point plan of action
1)Don’t jump at employing a network specialist, you really need someone with CCTV experience who understands networks
2)Get your best engineers on a computer course that teaches simple networking
3)Invest in the tools you need to ensure your key engineers can perform the work you expect them to handle.
The laptop PC – yes it is expensive, yes your engineers will use it to play games / surf the net / e-mail the world, but these guys will most likely use the company car at the weekend as well. Just like buying the right company car, it is important to ensure you purchase a laptop that is up to doing the job.
You don’t have to break the bank with a state-of-the art GB pound 2000 laptop. Take a look at the specification table, the minimum requirement will get you up and running for around GB pound 400 while the ideal will let you fly for under GB pound 1000. Second hand prices can net you the minimum spec for about GB pound 150. Personally I use the minimum spec laptop and although video network images update slowly (around three per second as opposed to 20 plus for a fast machine) it does everything you need to do in an engineering situation.
Although processor speed is at the top of the specification table, it isn’t the key factor to use when making a purchase. As we are dealing with CCTV images over a network it makes sense to ensure the screen display is adequate.
Display resolution is more critical than screen size. You will pay more for a bigger screen but the resolution is the critical factor. The minimum display resolution, which is measured in pixels, should be 1024 x 768. Anything more is a big benefit.
Absolutely critical to viewing CCTV images is the capability of the display to handle a wide range of shades and colours. Many of the older laptops can only reproduce 256 colours with the result that the images received will not be of sufficient quality to render CCTV images on the screen. High colour 16 bit is adequate but 24 bit will give excellent images.
Next is the working memory, or RAM. 32 Megabytes is the minimum to run Windows efficiently, 64 or 128 Megabytes will speed things up.
Hard disk storage on the machine might be critical if you want to store video images. Two gigabytes will suffice for most needs; a six or 12-gigabyte hard drive will give you large archive capability. (Your engineers will need the space for all those games!) Most video servers presently run on Ethernet 10baseT networks. Some newer laptops have this facility built in but more likely you will need to buy a PCMCIA network card. This fits into a slot on the side of the laptop. Don’t buy a laptop that has not got at least one PCMCIA slot. (Most have two.) 10baseT PCMCIA cards are readily available but for very little extra outlay you can buy a card that works with 10baseT and 100baseT. It means you can link into the faster 100baseT networks that are often the backbone of 10baseT networks. It is a bit of future proofing well worth the few extra pounds.
An integral CD drive is mandatory as most of the software you need will be on issued CD ROM. Integral modems are fitted to most laptops, nowadays 56K (speed in bits per second) is fairly standard but a 28.8K will do if you can suffer longer update times for images across PSTN lines.
Most of us are familiar with the Windows operating system; the laptop should have Windows 95 as minimum, Windows 98 preferable. The next generation is Windows 2000, set to be the future business standard. All of these are good operating systems. Earlier or domestic type systems are not suitable. Finally, an available RS232 port, COM1 on most laptops, finishes off the specification.
At this point can I mention that grateful engineers with new laptops can send me a bottle of scotch this Christmas!
That was the expensive part, now for the basics.
