News

Reducing Bandwidth Consumption of a Cloud Camera to 20kbps

Verkada have taken a different approach to unlock the benefits of the cloud without hindering bandwidth.

Unlike most cloud video security solutions, Verkada’s cameras were designed to store footage on an internal solid-state drive engineered to withstand a 10-year lifespan – storing 15-365 days of continuous video. Thus videos stream only when an authorized user requests live or recorded video.

In order to provide organizations with the best user experience, but still keep bandwidth limitations in mind, the Verkada team built an interface that operates on a camera’s “steady state”.

In this steady state, Verkada cameras send a constant metadata stream consisting of encrypted thumbnail images, related metadata (including analytics) to the cloud approximately once every 20 seconds using a bandwidth uplink of no more than 20 kbps per camera.

With a bandwidth footprint of 20 kbps per camera, an organization can have over 100 cameras on the same connection (~ only 2mbps) in contrast with one traditional cloud camera which tend to stream at 1-2 mbps.

The thumbnail images uploaded from each camera in the steady state create a historical timeline view, which allows for time/date-based search, motion-based indexing, additional features, without the need to retrieve hours of history video.

While users can choose to stream a live feed or view recorded footage from any particular camera, this interface greatly reduces the amount of continuous video most users will need to stream for incident resolution.

More information here: Reducing Bandwidth Consumption of a Cloud Camera to 20kbps

Verkada vs Halo for Vaping Detection - which is better?

We are often asked how Verkada differs from the Halo sensor that is used for detecting vaping in schools - here is a quick overview.

1) Verkada Warranty = 10 years, Halo = 1 Year.  Ask yourself whether it is reasonable to expect to have to replace a failed device out of warranty at some point within 10 years? With Verkada, you never have to worry about replacing it at your cost. 

2) Verkada allows for remote access and data is encrypted by default, meaning its secure from the outside world. Halo is unencrypted by default (it uses port 80 on your LAN), requires a local server to configure it, and a VPN for remote access.

3) Verkada is provisioned and firmware is automatically updated via the Cloud instantly whilst Halo requires configuration and updating on a per device bases (which means a lot more administration).

4) Verkada provides 24/7 support @ no cost, with a team based in the USA - call, email and live chat through their dashboard. With Halo, you would need to call a partner for support that will charge you for their time.  Verkada is simple to set up and deploy yourself if you are IT savvy.

5) Verkada is ready to go out of the box and takes minutes to set up whereas Halo setup requires that you: Download and update to the newest firmware, Set up notifications (SMTP Settings), Sync your HALO to a NTP server, wait 24 hours for the sensors to self-calibrate. Halo must be configured via a Windows PC (no MAC Support).

6) Verkada allows you to see past readings on 1 page, via a slick easy to navigate interface. With Halo, viewing historical readings is impossible. You are limited to viewing past events / alerts only. The live view graph page looks like an Excel document that you have to scrub through.

7) Verkada alerts & notifications are very easy to set up - it takes just a few moments - and you can tie the sensor directly to one of their cameras to obtain an instant link to video evidence when the sensor activates. In order to receive email alerts from Halo, you need to manually connect Halo Sensor to your on-premise server or a hosted solution like Google, and then configure it to use a third party camera system. Uggh!

8) Yes, with Verkada, you do pay for a license to use the device - but this incorporates instantaneous 24/7 support direct from Verkada, a 10 year hardware warranty, hosting of the Cloud dashboard, Cloud storage for archiving video and data, and perpetual automatic feature upgrades and firmware updates.

Above all the Verkada solution is quick and easy to configure (add users, set alerts and share data). This will save you hours of time in administration and frustration and allow you to use the solution to do what it's designed to do - to detect vaping activity quickly and respond to it in a timely manner.

The choice is clear - contact us for a trial of Verkada today!

Verkada CCTV's Compelling Feature Set

1. No NVR necessary - cameras store up to 120 days footage with no compromise on quality, and can also archive to the Cloud.
2. Simple installation via the Cloud Command Platform where cameras are added instantly, and online immediately.
3. The Administrator can access, archive and share historical or live footage in just seconds via a URL, wherever they are, on any device.
4. There is no single point of failure (eg. NVR), each camera stores its own footage and footage is sent to the cloud if tampering is detected.
5. The solution is secure out of the box, and there is no need to open ports in the firewall to access an NVR remotely as with other systems.
6. Each camera operates at 20KBs, meaning thousands can be deployed without impacting the speed of your network. 
7. Quickly find footage with advanced search filters on people, face recognition, number plate recognition, vehicles, colours and selected areas.
8. Integrate with the Verkada sensor to detect air quality, noise, temperature, humidty and vaping, and capture the scene.
9. Cameras act as sensors, leveraging the latest in AI to uncover actionable insights in real time.
10. Indoor and Outdoor models and a dedicated viewing station for up to a 36 cameras are available - all with a 10 year warranty.
11. PCI compliance dictates 90 days storage and Verkada can deliver that on the device and on the Cloud.
12. Motion notifications based on whether or not it was caused by a person, dramatically simplifying incident investigations.
13. Management software is built for security professionals and not mixed in with your other network devices. 
14. Verkada has a focus on image quality, with many high resolution cameras available, and there is a built in heater for outdoor cameras installed in cold weather environments.

Why Verkada Cameras you ask? Read on.....

Most businesses are invariably required to maintain a CCTV camera system but when it's needed to be called on find that getting video footage into the right hands can take hours, or might be impossible to do remotely.

It isn’t until they need to pull footage of a specific incident, that they discover a camera is down and their existing solutions are made up of a hodgepodge of different legacy systems, and the process of managing those systems is extremely inefficient and time-consuming.

Verkada's approach is simple. Footage is stored in both the camera and the cloud for redundancy. Everything is managed on a centralised platform, so visibility is streamlined and incident resolution takes just moments – with a few clicks, users can quickly find, share and archive clips.

Installation is simple as all the camera needs is a POE cable from the LAN - no supporting infrastructure or equipment (NVR) is required.  The cameras average 15mins per installation and once plugged in, they are accessible online immediately.

The administrator can access, archive and share historical or live footage in just seconds, wherever they are, on any device and if cameras experience downtime or tampering, you get notifications that alert you of the incident.

Verkada's “hybrid-cloud” approach ensures that there’s no single point of failure. In the event of network outages, cameras still record locally. When internet is reinstated, that stored footage is pushed to the cloud. As an end-user, you experience no gaps in coverage.

The solution is secure out of the box – there is no need to open ports or perform special configurations on the firewall. Updates deploy automatically, so your system is always compliant with the latest security requirements.

All backed by a 10 Year warranty on the hardware.

Welcome to CloudManagedCCTV!

Cloudifi has brought it considerable experience in Cloud Managed Networking to the fore with the launch of its Cloud Managed CCTV branded Verkada Web Store today at http://www.cloudmanagedcctv.com

We aim to bring our experience with the product, relationships with the local Verkada team and support from Verkada Inc. in the USA together to form the newest and most relevant Verkada Partner in America.

The Verkada web store has been carefully designed to make procurement of Verkada Physical Security Products and Licences easy, and allows fast processing by the Cloudifi team.

Cloudmanagedcctv, a division of Cloudifi, Inc. will serve customers throughout the USA and offer fast online ordering for the entire Verkada Physical Security product range.