Only
a few years ago, specialist consultants in CCTV were a rare breed and
often associated with installation companies. Hardly the place to go
for independent and unbiased advice. Now there are quite a number of
consultants offering independent advice on many aspects of CCTV. As
with all professions, the service provided and their ability varies
from the mediocre to the very professional, knowledgeable consultant.
For the purposes of this article, it is assumed that the need for CCTV
has been established from a thorough analysis of all the options
available to solve the particular problem or requirement.
The first question to ask is "do I need a consultant and why"? There could be many reasons such as the following.
This is quite a common problem, with most installation companies
employing very professional sales people, but with varying degrees of
technical knowledge. The customer is frequently unable to differentiate
the jargon and hype from real facts. A day or two of a consultant's
time may represent a tiny percentage of the potential cost but save
much heartache later.
This is a classic case for obtaining the best advice at the earliest
stages of the project. The consultant should be prepared to analyse
your problem and even propose that CCTV may not be the answer to the
problems. If it is, then you should obtain a cost proposal for the
various stages of consultancy described later.
This happens more frequently than people realise, one problem is
that many customers just accept the fact and do nothing. Others are
convinced by the installer that everything is up to current technology.
I've even been told on more that one occasion that it was the
customers' fault because he did not describe his requirements properly!
Here is just a selection of problems from my experience and it is surely just be the tip of the iceberg.
The complaint was that the pictures were poor and frequently
deteriorated to just a mass of snow. The system consisted of seven
fully functional cameras. The first problem was that the only possible
transmission from remote cameras was by microwave. The areas viewed by
the cameras were reasonable well lit, but the 1KM microwave beam passed
over docks. During the winter the docks were prone to drifting fog and
mist, the area was also subject to high winds and driving rain. Hence
the varying picture quality. When this was explained to the customer,
he accepted the limitations whereas the installer had stated that
microwaves were immune to interference. Another problem was that the
microwaves were mounted on very flimsy mountings with no vertical
adjustment, so the other problems were aggravated by a significant
amount of movement. One remote pole had two pan, tilt units, one
microwave receiver and two microwave transmitters fitted. When the
loading was calculated, it was over 50% above the safe load rating for
the pole, even without wind loading. In fact, none of the poles
supplied were suitable for mounting microwave transmitters or
receivers. Then it became interesting!
There were seven cameras installed with Make 'A' 8-way
telemetry transmitter. However, camera 7 was connected by a long-range
microwave link that, at the time, could not transmit reverse telemetry.
Therefore, a radio transmitter was installed for this telemetry link.
It was found during installation the Make 'A' telemetry could not be
transmitted along a radio link. The installers solution to this was to
fit a Make 'B' one-way telemetry controller which was compatible. So
now there are six cameras controlled by one controller and one by
another! To view camera 7 it was necessary to connect the video output
from 'B' as an input to the 'A' controller. To view and control camera
7 means selecting it on control 'A' and controlling it from 'B'!
I won't expand upon the problems with a SIT camera viewing street lights at night with an f-360 lens fitted!!
At times it was like scenes from The Sorcerers Apprentice, these are some notes during observing the system over two days:
Camera7, not working.
Camera 7, now working.
Camera 3, moved several times of its own accord.
Camera 7, not working.
Camera 2, washer operated of its own accord.
No telemetry control of camera 3.
Camera 7, now working.
No signal or sync pulse from camera 3.
No control over camera 7.
I felt that this customer had considerable cause for complaint, and
they don’t come much larger than the company that installed the system
at the time! The report was passed on to the installing company, and
eventually most things were corrected including replacing all the poles
for more substantial columns. The cost of remedial work was probably
nearly as much as the original contract.
This must one of the most common complaints and is always down to
faulty design and selection of equipment. Sometimes it is down to bad
selection and setting up of video motion detection systems. The other
times it is down to utter stupidity in system design, this is where an
incorrect passive infrared detector is used to trigger an alarm. I have
visited three sites in the last two years where (for example) a PIR
with a 50 Metre range and a beam angle of 70° is used in conjunction
with a camera viewing 15 Metres with a 30° lens angle. No matter where
an intruder arrives from, the PIR will trigger and transmit a frozen
frame of nothing, every time. As in many other instances, the
installing company had spent several months blaming equipment such as
the telephone transmission. One argument put forward was that the
transmission took too long to dial up and therefore lost the captured
picture!
Asking many installation companies to respond to this type of
enquiry is like giving them a licence to print money. For instance, you
could find all the old wiring condemned then cameras, lenses, monitors,
etc. It can be like that terrifying suck of the teeth when the engineer
comes to look at your washing machine! A consultant can provide
impartial advice on which parts of the system may need upgrading and
most importantly, which parts can go on for years. Integrity test of
the cabling is fairly straightforward to carry out. Isn't it strange
that when you purchased the camera, CCD devices were indestructible,
yet now of course, sensors do have only a limited life.
I have been involved in this type of problem on many occasions and
always start from the basic premise that I will produce a completely
objective report without bias on either side. In every instance, the
installer has been at fault, but often with a contribution from the
customer asking for variations or additions to the original contract.
In the latter cases, the installer accepted these without realising the
implications. In two cases, the problem was the speed versus quality of
phoneline transmission systems. In both cases, the customer had seen
demonstrations of transmission systems down ISDN lines, but there were
only PSTN lines to the premises. The differences had not been made
clear to the customer during the demonstrations and the installer did
not know that the customer had seen them. The problem originated in the
quotations in which, the alternatives for transmission were not
mentioned. Once the conflicting views were brought into the open, it
was left to the customers and the installers to arrive at a compromise.
On another occasion, ten microwave receivers were mounted on a
scaffold pole, resulting in an intermittent loss of video and
telemetry. The solution here was obvious, but why had the installing
company not spotted this? Probably because the system had been OK
during the first six months of summer, but then the winter winds blew.
Objectivity
One of the most important reasons for using the services of a
consultant is to receive completely unbiased and objective advice. Most
installing companies have preferred products for very sensible
commercial reasons. It is natural therefore that they should present
these in the best possible light. It can be very difficult for a
customer to differentiate between the claims of competing salespeople.
Serving your interest
A professional consultant is employed by you and has no incentive to
promote any particular product or system. Most consultants keep up to
date on the performance of various products through experience with
installations and trouble shooting. Not all products that appear equal
to the layperson are necessarily so, the consultant can steer you away
from products with a poor track record for performance or reliability.
The pressure on the customer to differentiate between competing
proposals is eliminated.
Saving your time
Most business people these days have little enough time to spare and
will be directing their efforts into running and sometimes, the
survival of their company. The old saying that time is money to the
businessperson has never been truer; the cost of a consultant can
frequently be repaid by the extra time released.
Saving you money
Most people have had experience of the wide variations in price
between competing quotations for apparently the same specification.
Unlike the purchase of machines or standard products, CCTV or access
control systems are likely to be a new venture by many companies and
local authorities. They simply cannot be expected to have the
experience and detailed knowledge on which to judge differing
proposals.
Peace of mind
Technology moves rapidly ahead these days, with many ways of
increasing the effectiveness of both new and existing systems.
Multiplex recording, video transmission, colour cameras, detection of
movement, etc. are all very much more advanced than only one year ago.
Even so, products with apparently similar specifications to the
layperson can differ dramatically in actual performance under
particular circumstances. This is especially true today in the case of
digital recording and so called digital cameras. Here again, objective
advice can be invaluable in the selection of the right equipment for
the job.
The best starting point would be by referral from an associate or
contact who has used the consultant for a similar project.
Alternatively you could approach a trade association. Whatever route
you take to find a consultant or list of consultants, you should then
establish the following main criteria.
- Ask for descriptions of projects undertaken for a similar project to yours.
- Obtain a statement that they are completely independent of
any manufacturer, supplier, or installer of CCTV or associated
equipment. In addition, that they receive no payments or commissions of
any kind from any such company.
- Ask for references from three companies for whom they have carried out similar consultancy, always take up the references.
- Ask for examples of scale layout drawings for other projects.
- If the project encompasses a start to finish consultancy, ask for examples of project planning charts and documentation.
- Ask for an example of a system schematic diagram.
- Ask for an example of a spreadsheet analysis of tenders or quotations for a similar project.
Having these documents, you will have a feel for the level of
professionalism they apply to a project. These days there is no excuse
for a consultancy not to have as a minimum, a CAD system, a project
planning system and the usual word processing and spreadsheet programs.
They should also be able to produce budget costings for a proposed
system in their preliminary report.
Finally, you must agree the fee structure and basis for
payment. It is important to enumerate the tasks that the consultant
should undertake and the associated costs. The following table lists
some suggested headings and structure of a fee proposal. This, of
course, can be varied to suit a particular project and scope of work.
It does though provide a formal basis for agreement, and if necessary,
variations to the contract due to unknown circumstances that may arise
during the project. This would be especially important if you intend to
obtain competitive tenders for consultancy. It means that all tenderers
compete on a level playing field.
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