drewston

Visit all your sites, without leaving your seat

With today’s high fuel costs, making unnecessary maintenance visits to customers’ sites can add a pretty high hidden cost to your bottom line. For example, a typical 100 mile round trip will cost in excess of £15. In isolation that may not seem a great amount, but how many miles do your service engineers cover in a month?

CheckMyCCTV can reduce the number of service visits you make by connecting to all your sites and automatically diagnosing issues before an engineer goes anywhere near the site. If a site visit is required, it can be made with all the correct replacement parts and tools without having to make a return trip, saving fuel, time, and manpower, and in an ever increasing green economy, reduce your carbon footprint.

CheckMyCCTV can not only help reduce the number of service visits, but also ensure service visits are more targeted, and improve efficiency within a service team. This was demonstrated to us this week when a hard disk failure was reported by a CheckMyCCTV monitored system – the end user was blissfully unaware of any issues because the system looked like it was operating correctly, it just wasn’t recording!

The installer was immediately alerted to the hard disk failure by CheckMyCCTV, which also indicated the required replacement hard disk size. The installer then contacted the customer to let them know they would visit to repair the faulty unit, before they were even aware there was a fault.

One check, One call, One visit, One happy customer!

Try CheckMyCCTV now and see how it can improve your service efficiency.

Are your retail CCTV systems being checked?

CCTV is an integral part of retail loss prevention, security, and health and safety, and modern CCTV systems are powerful devices which store many days, weeks, or months of unattended footage.

Fit and forget?

Digital CCTV systems are often seen as a ‘fit and forget’ solution, and in an ideal world they would be, but the fact that they operate with very little human intervention can also mean that it could be many days, weeks, or months before any problems are noticed, and often only after an incident has occurred.

There are plenty of things that can reduce the operational performance of a CCTV system at any time – such as cameras becoming faulty or being tampered with, the hard disk storage failing, alarm connections coming loose, and even the clock loosing accuracy.

Supplement your maintenance contract

Even in this digital era, when many CCTV systems are connected to networks, maintenance contracts are still based on one or two site visits a year from the installer to ensure that the systems are working effectively, but this can leave a large part of the year when your stores are vulnerable if there is a failure.

Manual checking can be a time consuming and mundane task, especially across multiple sites. This is where CheckMyCCTV can help by running multiple operation checks on all your CCTV systems every hour of every day, alerting you when any of issues are detected so they can be resolved quickly with reduced downtime and maintenance costs.

CheckMyCCTV is used to monitor thousands of retail stores to reduce the risk of faulty CCTV systems, contact us at sales@nullcheckmysystems.com for a FREE 14-day trial or to discuss how CheckMyCCTV can help you.

 

Dahua Technology Integration released to Beta

As part of CheckMyCCTV’s continual development, we are adding support for additional brands and products. The first of which is Dahua Technology, a leading manufacturer of security and surveillance equipment, which has now been released for Beta testing.

Dahua Technology provide OEM DVR/NVR solutions for Apollo, C2Max, DVR365, IntelliPix, Q-See, Watchman and others. If you use any of these brands and wish to participate in our Beta test programme, please contact us at support@nullcheckmysystems.com

New Release: CheckMyCCTV version 1.1.4

CheckMyCCTV version 1.1.4 is now available to download. This version fixes a few minor issues we had found or reported by customers using feedback@nullcheckmysystems.com. Current users can update their software by clicking Help > Check for updates and follow on-screen instructions.

1.1.4 Changelog:

CHANGED – Map web pages available locally for sites without access to CheckMySystems website.

FIXED – Screen at 1024 x 768 resolution do not display test configuration page correctly.

FIXED – When you initially create a Customer, a Site icon is displayed where the Set/Unset Icon should be.

Check your multi-site CCTV installations today

CheckMyCCTV is ideal for monitoring the operation and status of your multi-site installations, especially when sites are located over large geographic areas, are unmanned, or you just need the reassurance that your CCTV systems are working.

It is often difficult to know at any point in time whether your sites are operational, checking manually can be time consuming, repetitive and often inaccurate, especially if there are 10’s or 100’s of sites to check.

CheckMyCCTV not only checks the health of your entire CCTV estate, but also that your sites are configured and operating correctly. Typical operational checks include:

  • Checking that the alarms are operational.
  • Ensuring the site operator is arming/disarming the site.
  • Ensuring that alarms are being monitored by the RVRC,
  • Checking that the system is recording for the required duration, and
  • Checking that the Time and Date of the recordings are accurate.

CheckMyCCTV’s easy to use interface will always keep you up to date with the status of all your sites, no matter where they are.

CheckMyCCTV offers an incredible value proposition for peace of mind – typically less than 1% of the cost of your CCTV installation to monitor your site for a year.

Contact us for a quote or to sign up for a free 14-day trial.


New Release: CheckMyCCTV version 1.1.3

CheckMyCCTV version 1.1.3 is now available to download. This version fixes a few minor issues we had found or reported by customers using feedback@nullcheckmysystems.com. Current users can update their software by clicking Help > Check for updates and follow on-screen instructions.

Note: The Updates pop-up box is sometimes hidden behind the CheckMyCCTV screen, you can see it by minimising CheckMyCCTV. This issue is also fixed in version 1.1.3.

Improvements include:

  • Pop-up windows are no longer obscured when the map is displayed.
  • Improved the methods of detecting false readings from the DVR.
  • The Ping bar can now be hidden if the Ping function is not used.
  • The Unit Summary information can be re-read manually by clicking the ‘Refresh Unit Summary’ button rather than an automatic daily update. Useful if a unit has been replaced or modified.
  • The ‘Reset’ button in the Map now sets the marker back to the default location when no location has been set previously.
  • Added 72h threshold limit to the Text Recording test.
  • Fixed an intermittent issue when a site is renamed and a new tab is immediately selected causing an ‘Object Not Found’ Error
  • Fixed issue which occurs when a site is renamed, the view now displays the renamed site rather than the global view.
  • Fixed intermittent display issue when changing sites in the tree, sometimes the tabs on the Site Information page show the previous sites results.
  • Fixed an issue where the Software Update pop-up box is hidden behind the software.

We recommend that this update is applied to all existing installations.

Can you check your CCTV in under 20 seconds?

You can with CheckMyCCTV! The latest updates to the test engine now make it possible to comprehensively check your Dedicated Micros CCTV system and cameras in under 20 seconds*.

As an installer or RVRC, your customers may expect (or demand) that you regularly check their CCTV system. CheckMyCCTV is a simple and most cost effective way to ensure that your customers sites and your reputation remain in good health.

CheckMyCCTV automatically and autonomously checks many aspects of the CCTV system and gives you a status report in less than 20 seconds. If you had the time, patience, and persistence, you could (probably) manually perform all the tests that CheckMyCCTV does.

If you want to give it a try, here’s the tests you’d have to perform……on your marks….get set……GO!

  • Check that you can connect to the DVR.
  • Check that the time and date is correct.
  • Check that all the cameras are working.
  • Check that the unit is recording. (Are you sure it’s recording?)
  • Check that the hard disks are working.
  • Test the network bandwidth of the DVR. (Are you losing the will to live now?)
  • Take a daily configuration backup from the DVR.
  • Check that the DVR is actioning alarms. (Are we nearly there yet?)
  • Check that the DVR is connecting to a central station on alarm, etc etc.

I think you get the picture. In all there are up to 22 individual checks that CheckMyCCTV performs on every unit, every hour of every day.

So, do you really have time to check your CCTV systems manually? Find out how much time and resource CheckMyCCTV can save you, contact us today for a FREE 14-day trial.

 

* Tests conducted on a standard BT Broadband connection at 6Mb/s download and 330Kb/s upload using a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 PC.

New Feature: Interactive Map support

We’ve had a busy start to the year, so we’re happy to announce the launch of Interactive Maps for CheckMyCCTV, now it’s even easier to keep a track of the status of all your sites.

By utilising the interactive map function, users can display site locations and corresponding status on a map using colour coded markers. It is easy to locate sites geographically, rather than just from the site tree – useful if you have many sites around the country (or world for that matter), or the operators are unfamiliar with the site locations.

The maps are fully interactive, so by clicking on a marker on the map, CheckMyCCTV software will display the status of that unit. It is also possible to display units grouped by site, customer, or alert type. The map will automatically update and resize so you will always see your sites in the optimum display format.

In line with our policy of offering the latest core features to existing users. Click on Help > Check for updates within CheckMyCCTV and and following the instructions to download Interactive Maps for FREE.

If you would like to see how CheckMyCCTV can help you manage multiple CCTV sites and locations, contact us and we’ll arrange a 14-day FREE trial.

New Feature: Secondary Network Check

CheckMyCCTV checks that there is a network connection to the CCTV system and will report an alert if the connection fails.

Acting on customer feedback, CheckMySystems has introduced a secondary network check, which checks a secondary IP/Hostname address if the Primary IP address fails or does not respond.

The improved network check gives users a better indication as to whether it is the CCTV system which has an issue, or if there is an issue with the network or broadband connection that the CCTV system is connected to.

A typical Secondary IP address could be another device on the same network as the CCTV system, such as another DVR/NVR or the broadband router.

How does the enhanced network check work?

CheckMyCCTV repeatedly checks network connectivity to the CCTV system, and reports any issues, here are the available combinations with the enhanced network check:

  1. The Primary address passes – No alert indication.
  2. The Primary address fails, and the Secondary address passes – Possible issue with the CCTV System.
  3. The Primary address fails, and the Secondary address fails – Possible issue with the network connection to the site.

Typical issues if both the Primary and Secondary addresses fail could be:

  • Loss of broadband/network connection.
  • A change to the router/firewall configuration.
  • Loss of power on the site.
  • A problem with the network connection on the site.

The Enhanced Network Check function is available to all CheckMyCCTV users, click on Help > Check for updates to upgrade.

New Release: CheckMyCCTV version 1.1.0

CheckMySystems is happy to announce the release of version 1.1 of CheckMyCCTV software. This version fixes a few bugs and adds some new features based on customer feedback. Current users can update their software by clicking Help > Check for updates and follow on-screen instructions.

New Features include:

  • Event Log – shows issue alerts for each Unit, Site, Customer.
  • Alarm Set/Unset indication – allows quick verification that a unit is armed or disarmed.
  • Ignore function – allows users to manually ignore issues for a preset time or until the issue clears.
  • User editable notes – allows free text notes to be added to each Unit, Site, or Customer.
  • Alarm Activations – warns if alarms have not activated over a preset time period.
  • Remote Alarm Connection:
    • Checks that the remote alarm reporting is enabled.
    • Checks that the IP address/Hostname of the RVRC is correct.
    • Checks that the unit has reported alarms to the RVRC over a preset time period.
  • Added Maintenance Tools tab (Not in the Trial version) – allows remote reboots, Network Time Protocols, and network settings to be configured.

CheckMySystems are always grateful to receive feedback, whether it is positive and negative. If you have any issues with CheckMyCCTV or have any feature requests or suggestions please send them to feedback@nullcheckmysystems.com and we will respond to every email.