News

Maintenance monitoring is a new concept in the CCTV industry, although it is used regularly in other sectors such as IT, refrigeration, and Oil & Gas production to increase system uptime and reduce maintenance costs. 

So we’ve compiled a list of the 10 frequently asked questions about CheckMyCCTV:

1. What is CheckMyCCTV?

CheckMyCCTV is a software solution to check and verify that a CCTV installation is working correctly at all times. CheckMyCCTV monitors your installations and alerts you when there is an issue so it can be pro-actively remedied.

2. Why use CheckMyCCTV?

Your customers require their CCTV systems to be operational 24/7 to ensure their staff, premises, and assets are protected at all time. Traditional annual maintenance cannot provide this assurance. By monitoring your installations with CheckMyCCTV, you can give your customers the assurance that their CCTV systems are operational at all times.

CheckMyCCTV can be used as part of a proactive maintenance service, allowing you to resolve issues before they become critical.

3. How does it work?

CheckMyCCTV works by connecting to the DVR or NVR and performing checks using a network connection, either locally, via broadband, 3G, or VPN. Systems can be configured to be checked at preset intervals and if any of the checks fall outside of the user threshold, or if a failure is detected, an alert is displayed on the CheckMyCCTV Software, and an email is sent.

4. Does anything need to be installed or configured on the CCTV system?

The only thing that needs to be configured on the DVR or NVR is a user account for use with CheckMyCCTV. No other hardware or software is required.

5. What checks can it do?

There are a number of checks that CheckMyCCTV can perform on a remote CCTV system, the ‘core’ checks that work on all of our systems are:

• Network/Connection Check – Ensures the software can connect to the CCTV and Router.
• Camera Failure Check – Reports when cameras have failed on the system.
• Recording Check – Ensures the system is recording as expected.
• Record Duration Check – Ensures the system is recording for the correct duration.
• Time Accuracy Check – Ensures the time is set correctly on the system.

There are other checks which are available on other devices including Camera Tamper Detection, and Restart Checks. A list of available checks can be downloaded HERE.

6. Does CheckMyCCTV work with any CCTV system?

CheckMyCCTV is currently compatible with over 40 brands of DVR/NVR manufacturers including Samsung, Panasonic, HikVision, Dedicated Micros, Lilin,  Xtralis, Vista, and Videcon. A full list of compatible brands can be seen HERE. We are adding more brands on a ‘per project’ basis, so if you use a particular brand for a project that is not supported, please contact us.

7. What if the CCTV systems are on a Corporate network or behind a Firewall?

Many CCTV systems are installed on company networks which have no external access to them. Ordinarily, this would mean that checks could not be performed, but using our CheckMyCCTV Connector software, it is possible to run the checks on your customers’ network and receive the results in your CheckMyCCTV Service.

For more details about CheckMyCCTV Connector, click HERE.

8. What do you need to run CheckMyCCTV?

Not much, the software is installed on a Windows PC or Server with at least 2GB of an RAM and as long as it has access to the Internet or a connection to the systems to be checked, then that is all you need. Some of our customers have a second monitor to show the status of their installations using the Map facility, but that’s optional.

We also have CheckMyCCTV Monitoring Partners who can run the service for you. For more details about our monitoring partners, click HERE.

9. What is a typical application for using CheckMyCCTV?

There probably isn’t a typical application as such, any CCTV system could be monitored regardless of the application. However, by far the most popular application where CheckMyCCTV is used is to monitor the status of multi-site retail installations. This is often because it is difficult to know the status of multiple CCTV systems  more dotted around the country than a few systems. CheckMyCCTV can display the status of thousands of CCTV systems on one screen.

10. How much does CheckMyCCTV cost?

CheckMyCCTV is licensed annually per connected DVR or NVR System (up to 64 cameras). The cost per license depends on how many systems the software is monitoring. We have a CheckMyCCTV Starter Pack which contains the CheckMyCCTV software, 25 Licenses, Customer branding, and remote setup and training for just £995+vat.

If you have a specific application, or would like to try CheckMyCCTV, please contact us to discuss your individual requirements on +44 (0)161 970 6137 or email us at info@nullcheckmysystems.com

CheckMySystems Ltd. announce support for Vicon’s HDExpress line of NVRs.

CheckMyCCTV is used to monitor the status of thousands of CCTV systems distributed over wide geographical areas, such as in retail, restaurants, banks, infrastructure, and transportation. Many of these installations typically have a small number of analogue cameras recording onto DVR systems.

CheckMyCCTV supports over 40 brands of DVR CCTV systems, but with the demand for IP based CCTV systems growing, and customers switching to NVR replacement systems, CheckMyCCTV has evolved to provide support for for NVR systems from manufacturers such as Samsung, HikVision, Panasonic, Dahua, Qnap, NUUO, Xtralis, and more.

Darren Rewston, Managing Director of CheckMySystems Ltd. comments, “By expanding the list of supported products to include the Vicon HDExpress NVR, we are offering our customers an increased portfolio of easy to use DVR replacement products which can be seamlessly integrated into their existing CheckMyCCTV service.”

To find out more about how to offer your CCTV customers a remote status monitoring solution as part of their maintenance provision, please contact us on +44 (0)161 820 6137 or drop us an email to info@nullcheckmysystems.com

We are delighted to announce that CheckMySystems, developers of the unique CheckMyCCTV maintenance monitoring solution, are now an Axis Application Development Partner.

CheckMyCCTV is used by CCTV installers to monitor the maintenance status of thousands of remote CCTV systems in retail, schools, councils, utilities and other multi-site installations. As as our customers move away from traditional analogue systems to IP based systems, it is important that we offer the same seamless integration within CheckMyCCTV.

CheckMyCCTV is already compatible with a wide range of industry leading DVR and NVR products from partners such as Samsung, Panasonic, Dedicated Micros, and Hikvision, and by adding support for Axis IP cameras we can add maintenance monitoring right up to the source devices in the CCTV system.

Darren Rewston, Managing Director of CheckMySystems comments “Customers using CheckMyCCTV often monitor many CCTV systems spread out over a large geographic area, such as retailers, banks, and utility companies. These have traditionally used DVRs with a small number of analogue cameras attached. We are now seeing these customers move towards more IP based solutions”,

Adding “Although we added support for ONVIF compatible IP cameras, developing for individual brands such as Axis, allows us to utilise some of the advanced features checks that are not supported by other cameras.”

We look forward to providing native support for Axis products in the future. Please get in touch if you have any projects new or existing projects using Axis IP cameras or encoders, on 0161 970 6137 or email info@nullcheckmysystems.com

 

 

Cougar Monitoring launch ‘Cougar 24-7’ CCTV maintenance monitoring service – powered by CheckMyCCTV

We are delighted to announce that Cougar Monitoring have selected CheckMyCCTV to power their new Cougar 24-7 CCTV maintenance monitoring service, adding to the services they already offer, such as Alarm and CCTV monitoring, Asset tracking, and Lone worker monitoring.

CCTV systems are an important part of your customers’ security provision, protecting a company’s assets, buildings, customers and staff, but what if it’s not working? A CCTV system with a fault or an issue which prevents it from operating correctly can leave your customers at risk of alarms not being reported, or systems not displaying or recording evidence correctly.

Customers expect their CCTV to be working at all times but it is often maintained just once a year if at all – Annual maintenance is simply not up to the task of ensuring your installations operating correctly.

Now with Cougar 24-7, powered by CheckMyCCTV, the status of your remote CCTV systems are monitored every hour of every day to ensure they are fault free and operational. Issues detected by Cougar 24-7 are sent directly to the Installer and/or End user by email so you are made aware of any issues as they happen. This proactive approach to maintenance allows issues to be rectified in a much more timely manner rather than waiting until a fault is discovered by the End-user or a critical incident occurs.

Many Monitoring Stations claim they can do ‘health checks’ but they are little more than a connection check to see if a device is online. Cougar 24-7 performs more than just connection checks – automatically checking Cameras connections, Hard disks, Recording, Record Duration, and Time Accuracy, and more depending on the platform.

Cougar 24-7 is not limited to just alarm monitored CCTV systems, typical examples where CheckMyCCTV can be used to monitor the maintenance status of CCTV systems include:

• Retail and Commercial
• Banks and Financial Institutions
• Telecommunications
• Warehousing and Logistics
• Critical Infrastructure
• Government Facilities
• Healthcare Facilities
• Industrial Facilities
• Prisons
• Transportation
• Universities

To find out more about Cougar 24-7, please contact Cougar Monitoring on 0844 85 666 85, email cougar247@nullcougarmonitoring.com or visit www.cougarmonitoring.com

A CCTV installer reports a dramatic reduction in their fuel use and CO² emissions by utilising remote maintenance monitoring, Powered by CheckMyCCTV.

 

The installers’ blue-chip client – with over 500 sites across the UK, wanted to ensure that their CCTV systems were operational 24/7  and specified CheckMyCCTV to reduce the Security and Health and Safety risks associated with faulty CCTV systems.

Understanding that their current maintenance offering could not ensure the effectiveness of their clients’ CCTV at all times, the installer incorporated remote maintenance monitoring using CheckMyCCTV into their maintenance provision.

The installer reduced the number of scheduled service visits from two a year to one – but supplemented them with 24/7 monitoring of each CCTV system using CheckMyCCTV, issues are now detected and reported automatically as soon as they occur.

This proactive maintenance plan allowed the installer to provide a better service to their client,  by responding to faults in a more timely and effective manner – significantly reducing system downtime.

By nearly halving the number of service visits they need to make, they have slashed their CO² emissions by 40%, as well as their fuel usage, manpower, and other costs resulting from sending engineers to remote sites.

Contact us to discuss how adding CheckMyCCTV to your maintenance contracts can significantly reduce your CO² emissions and costs, and improve your service response.

info@nullcheckmysystems.com or +44 (0) 161 870 6137

 

Want to offer your customers something unique?

As trading conditions become ever more competitive, CCTV installers and Integrators are looking to provide unique and innovative products and solutions for their clients.

To help enhance your CCTV maintenance offering, CheckMyCCTV maintenance monitoring software now has the option to add your own branding, both to the software itself, and the report emails that it sends.

Many of our Installer and Integrator customers are wrapping their maintenance services around the unique proactive maintenance monitoring approach that CheckMyCCTV offers, allowing them to win maintenance contracts on service and if necessary, on price, and increase the recurring revenue streams.

One of our customers has packaged CheckMyCCTV into their own branded SmartServ maintenance service, providing their customers with One fixed annual maintenance visit, which is supplemented with 24/7 maintenance monitoring using our software.

Their SmartServ solution allows them to offer their clients remote fixes as soon as an issue is detected, and if it can’t be resolved remotely, a visit is arranged – reducing system downtime and providing a much more proactive and cost effective service.

Add your own branding to your CheckMyCCTV maintenance monitoring service, and offer your customers a service which is unique to you.

For more information about how you can offer CheckMyCCTV maintenance monitoring to your customers, and how to brand your service, please contact us on +44 161 870 6137 or email info@nullcheckmysystems.com

Manchester based Empress Connect, a CheckMyCCTV Monitoring Partner, are offering a great deal for UK customers wanting to switch their current CCTV monitoring, or connect new sites. As well as getting a FREE HikVision DVR or NVR for the site, it will also be monitored for faults and operational issues 24/7 using CheckMyCCTV at no extra charge.

Darren Rewston, Managing Director of CheckMySystems commented “By offering CheckMyCCTV system monitoring for remote monitored CCTV systems for no extra charge, Empress Connects’ customers have the ultimate peace of mind that their CCTV systems are operating correctly at all times.”

“We are delighted to see our partners providing their customers with innovative services as a key driver to stay ahead in a competitive market, and we believe that CheckMyCCTV can help differentiate our customers from their competitors”

Colin Wolf, General Manager of Empress Connect adds “We provide a professional remote CCTV monitoring service and CheckMyCCTV gives excellent added value. It’s also  a superb tool for our CCTV installer partners, helping them to manage their maintenance work schedules more proactively”.

For more information about this great offer click HERE, or contact Empress Connect on 0800 0236290 or info@nullempressconnect.com

 

 

Electronic security product provider, IPX360 Solutions Inc., based in Montreal, signed an agreement with CheckMySystems Ltd., video surveillance health and operation monitoring software specialist, to act as its agent for CheckMyCCTV in North America.

 

The CheckMyCCTV application, to be offered by IPX360 Solutions Inc. in the United States and Canada, is designed to automatically identify and report specific video surveillance system faults as soon as they are detected. Typical issues that can be flagged by CheckMyCCTV include: camera failures, hard-disk failures, recording issues, time-accuracy problems, and network connection failures. Early detection helps to ensure that problems are resolved before they can affect negatively on system performance, the company stated.

IPX360 Solutions sees tremendous potential in targeting CheckMyCCTV at security distributors and owners of large-scale and multiple sites. Central stations are another focus, where interest already has been expressed in CheckMyCCTV by providers, given its capacity to enhance the efficiency of their operations and, crucially, the system status information that can be provided to customers, according to IPX360 Solutions.

Regis Glorieux, president of IPX360 Solutions Inc., explains what attracted him to the CheckMyCCTV solution: “In my view there is a real need for a new approach to checking on video surveillance systems in the United States and Canada. When working with and for distributors, I regularly came across recorders that were simply not working and may have been out of action for weeks or even longer. I am certainly not alone in this. Often the first time the customer realized anything was amiss was when there was an incident and they couldn’t retrieve the video.

“With CheckMyCCTV in place these problems are picked up automatically, and highlighted by an on-screen warning at a monitoring station or even via a smart phone app, so no one needs to be left in the dark. Another factor, which is very appealing and differentiates CheckMyCCTV from less-capable solutions, is the ability of the software to work with multiple video surveillance system brands. Traditionally, such solutions have tended to be very much manufacturer-specific. This isn’t very practical for customers who want to avoid the headache of trying to run four or five pieces of software simultaneously. Now, with CheckMyCCTV they can access a single, convenient interface for all important status checking,” Glorieux said.

Commented Darren Rewston, founder and managing director of CheckMySystems Ltd., “The experience we have had to date in the U.K., working with monitoring stations, large retailers and other users, shows that CheckMyCCTV can make a positive difference to fault finding and how the maintenance of video surveillance systems is managed.

“The need to implement effective checks was underlined in a snapshot survey we conducted of 300 sites across the U.K. Before CheckMyCCTV was implemented, a worrying 75 percent of sites had one or more issues affecting the operational performance of the CCTV system, ranging from daylight saving time not being updated, to camera failures, recording problems, and hard disk issues,” he described.

CheckMyCCTV is compatible with more than 25 video surveillance system brands and OEMs, including: Samsung, Costar Video, Hikvision, American Dynamics, Digimerge, Dedicated Micros, Panasonic, Xtralis, and Dahua — with more being added to this list all the time.

For information, call 866-790-4777 or visit: www.ipx360solutions.com.