Hitting the Brakes

The Toshiba Surveillix digital video recorder helped crash the criminal aspirations of a car vandal responsible for $75,000 worth of damage at Richard Chevrolet, a Cheshire, Conn., auto dealership.

Last year when the intoxicated vandal set about keying and slashing the tires of 46 Chevrolet Yukons and Suburbans, four dome video surveillance cameras linked to a Surveillix DVR captured images of the crime.

Although late at night, the images were of such high quality that the dealership sales people easily identified the vandal as a local contractor. The video was handed over to police. After additional evidence was uncovered, the vandal was arrested and charged with a felony.

As a result, Richard Jaffe, president and owner of Richard Chevrolet, received the full $75,000 restitution that the court ordered the vandal to pay.

“The Surveillix performed flawlessly,” says John Cronkite, a systems specialist for Tri-Ed Distribution in Milford, Conn., who engineered and designed the system.

For more information, contact Toshiba at (877)696-3822 or visit www.cctv.toshiba.com

Price-Perfect

Organizations appreciate the benefits of having a DVR-based video security system. Often law enforcement agencies prefer to work with video evidence that has been stored in digital form. Unfortunately, DVR-based video security systems cost more than many small companies can afford. But Jonah Inc., a Rochester, N.Y.-based security company, has found a series of DVR-based systems that don’t break the budget for what Paul Ascenzo, Jonah’s buyer, calls “mom-and-pop” companies.

“We have companies that were turned down because of their budget and when we came in with our price points, they were able to afford it,” Ascenzo says.

Ascenzo also likes the technical support that he gets from Speco. “Ninety-five percent of the time you can get hold of a technician right away or they call you back 15 minutes later.”

For customers who want to be able to view their video surveillance systems over the Internet, Jonah uses Speco’s 16IP model. It’s popular with school districts where a single security manager may need to watch multiple locations, and with small business owners who want to check in on their businesses from home.

For more information, contact Speco Technologies at (800)645-5516 or visit www.specotech.com

Daily Special

digital video recording for busy restaurant.

After seeing the Pelco equipment capabilities during a product demonstration, the choice for Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen Café in Detroit, was simple. “It’s an unbelievable system,” says Nico Gatzaros, director of operations for Fishbone’s.

One of the aspects of the Fishbone’s installation that makes it so effective is Pelco’s new DX8000 digital video recorder. “It has a lot of features that are usually found at twice the cost,” says Steve Milsk, Pelco manufacturer’s sales representative.

Connected cameras can adjust to record at different resolutions. Fishbone’s has six DX8000 DVRs, each capable of recording 16 cameras.

“The system is covering the entire restaurant to cut down on theft, protect against false liability claims, and to increase employee and customer safety,” says Mark Monarch, president of Abel Electronics.

For more information, contact Pelco at (800) 289-9100 or visit www.pelco.com or contact Rob Morello, Pelco product sales manager at rmorello@pelco.com

The Sound of a DVR

Louroe Electronics, Van Nuys, Calif., is a U.S. manufacturer in audio monitoring and audio surveillance technology. The company has made great inroads in expanding audio monitoring systems into other markets.

All Louroe Audio Monitoring/Audio Surveillance systems are designed to interface with digital video recorders and other receiving devices that accept line-level audio.

Most early generation DVRs provided only one channel of audio, or worse, no audio at all, but today many video manufacturers now feature DVRs with multiple audio channels. To meet the fast-growing demand for audio, Louroe introduced two new audio interface adapters for connecting up to four or eight microphones with DVRs providing multiple audio inputs.

In addition, Louroe Electronics manufactures sound-activated duress systems and pushbutton activation systems.

The company’s latest security product is the remote audio tele-monitoring system, which allows business owners to remotely monitor audio at their business from anywhere, using a regular telephone or cell phone.

For more information, contact Louroe at (818)994-6498 or visit www.louroe.com

In the Field

surveillance recordings in the field at criminalized businesses.

Delaware State Police are employing the latest in security technology to solve crimes and share information faster and easier. Using a Bosch Divar-2 unit, a specialized CCTV DVR with six camera inputs, donated by Tanger Factory Outlets of Rehoboth, Del., officers in the field instantly acquire critical images from surveillance equipment of a business that has had a crime committed against it.

The Divar-2 equipped with an ATM/POS interface, enables officers to record footage directly from the video surveillance equipment of stores and businesses, burn the images on CDs or DVDs on-site, and electronically send video clips to other law enforcement units.

“The universality of the unit allows officers to copy images from both analog and digital surveillance footage, and quickly distribute them to other police barracks, lawyers, and other interested parties anywhere in the state or in the country," notes Steve Harding of ADT Systems.

“Previously, police responding to an incident captured on surveillance tape had to either dub the tape or bring it back to the police barracks to make a copy," says Tom Fontana, a Bosch representative.

For more information, contact Bosch at (800)289-0096 or visit www.boschsecurity.us

Banking on the Best Features

When Liberty Bank, a 21-location community bank in Iowa, looked into upgrading its surveillance system, it went to Per Mar Security Services and Clinton Electronics Corp. Liberty Bank, Iowa’s fastest-growing community bank, has 21 locations.

“As we continue to grow we know we need our surveillance system to grow with us,” Liberty Bank’s Donna Allen says. “We had already made the jump to digital recording, but those products did not provide the total package we were looking for. That’s when Per Mar introduced us to the Clinton product.”

“Liberty Bank wanted something that was easy to use and would tie all their locations together,” says Nathan Motley, who handles the Liberty Bank account for Per Mar. “They also wanted to provide multiple workstations within any one facility to allow for several simultaneous users. A built-in CD burner and storage considerations were also important to them,” Motley adds.

“The Clinton DVR provided all of this in an ‘all-in-one’ package without any extra, add-on devices,” Motley says. “Our client was comfortable with the software and the consistency the product provided. The price-point was also important.”

The Linux-based Clinton DVR is available in 4, 8 or 16 channel models. Each model features a built-in CD burner, looping video channels, network capabilities via an Ethernet connection, 120 fps recording, real-time live display, and a compression rate of 1.5KB.

For more information, contact Clinton Electronics at (815)633-1444or visit www.clintonelectronics.com

Low Bandwidth Pleases Everyone

As a dealer servicing national accounts, Gemco National Industrial (GNI) Security has struggled for years to find the product that will provide the versatility it needs along with the stability it can depend on.

While the solution in the past has been PC-based DVRs, the inherent instability of these products – plus the additional training for technicians who need to understand how to set up routers and firewalls to prevent virus attacks – have made these an expensive long-term solution, says GNI president Randy Jones.

Aegis Micro’s Linux-based DVRs, called VPON, allow the security company to provide remote solutions for Internet or PSTN in ways no other product can. GNI Security services clients with thousands of locations where they don't have broadband service in a large portion of their stores. But these clients still need a workable remote video program. The engineers at Aegis Micro, were able to make changes in their firmware and software to accommodate low bandwidth solutions.

GNI Security now provides streaming video over broadband and standard phone lines for clients all over the United States using VPON’s embedded systems. With their H.263 compression, the company can provide a fully functional remote video solution, no matter what the bandwidth limitation.

For more information, contact Aegis Micro at (818)407-9878 or visit www.aegismicro.com

Mike Melton, campus supervisor at Gresham High School, credits MobileSENTRY with improving security while making his job easier.

Software Makes School Security Easy as ABC

with Integral Technologies’ system.

The Gresham-Barlow School District in Gresham, Ore., has stepped up its school’s security systems through the use of a new product, MobileSENTRY. This software package from Integral Technologies enables school administrators to monitor security cameras in real time via wireless phones.

“The ability to view live security cameras anytime, anywhere, on a cell phone has made managing school security on a high school campus a little easier,” says Mike Melton, campus supervisor at Gresham High School.

MobileSENTRY provides Melton with an always-on connection to the cameras connected to the school’s Integral DVXi Digital Video Management System, letting him pull up video on his phone in mere seconds.

“Now when I get a message about events occurring in a particular area, I can look to see what is happening within seconds on my phone, where before I would need to physically investigate,” Melton explains.

MobileSENTRY software can be used on an individual or networked DVXi as well as any Integral Digital Video Management System. The software can display an unlimited number of cameras.

For more information, contact Integral Technologies at (317)845-9242 or visit www.integraltech.com