News

North West based CCTV installer, RIS Limited, launch their SmartServ CCTV maintenance plan – Powered by CheckMyCCTV.

SmartServ is an innovative approach to providing a pro-active maintenance service to end-users.

The problem with traditional CCTV maintenance contracts is that in most cases the installer provides one or two site visits a year to check that the CCTV system is working and in between those visits, the customer is expected to find faults themselves.

End-users often do not have the time or appropriate training to check that a CCTV system is operational, especially if there are many remote systems to check.

SmartServ is different, along with providing yearly maintenance visits, customers with a SmartServ maintenance plan also get around the clock remote CCTV maintenance checks which alert RIS Limited of issues with the security of a site so they can be dealt with before they become critical.

The SmartServ system also sends Daily Status Reports to each of RIS Limited’s customers, so they are also aware of when issues occur, and just as importantly, when they are fixed.

Said Darren Rewston, Managing Director of CheckMySystems Ltd: “We are delighted to see our Installation Partners using CheckMyCCTV in innovative ways to provide remote maintenance monitoring as part of their maintenance provision, RIS Limited’s customers are receiving tailored support which is more effective both in cost and in service.”

“SmartServ is a great example of building on the CheckMyCCTV platform to provide a unique service experience for RIS Limited’s customers”.

For more information on the RIS Limited. SmartServ maintenance plan, please visit www.rislimited.co.uk or call 0845 557 7210.

To learn more about how you can implement CheckMyCCTV into your maintenance contracts, contact us on +44 (0) 161 8706137 or email info@nullcheckmysystems.com

CheckMySystems Ltd – the CCTV health and operation monitoring software specialist – has added compatibility for Panasonic video surveillance products into its advanced CheckMyCCTV automatic maintenance monitoring solution.

CheckMyCCTV is designed to remotely identify and automatically report specific CCTV faults and issues across multiple locations as soon as they are detected, whether it be a camera, hard disk, recording, or network connection failure. This means that issues can be flagged up and resolved as part of a proactive and cost effective maintenance programme.

With the implementation of Panasonic NVR video surveillance systems, CheckMyCCTV now supports over 30 brands, and there are plans in place for integration with other manufacturers in the coming months as our customers request them.

Said Darren Rewston, Managing Director of CheckMySystems Ltd “We are delighted to offer the ability for our customers to use Panasonic’s NVR surveillance systems as part of their CheckMyCCTV remote maintenance monitoring solution.

“We are seeing more and more CCTV installers using CheckMyCCTV to provide their customers with pro-active maintenance monitoring to supplement bi-annual maintenance visits. We have made great efforts to add as many popular brands as possible to offer our customers a choice of supplier, and still provide the same great service that they can with other compatible devices.”

Chubb Fire & Security UK, a leading provider of electronic security and fire safety solutions for business and industry, has chosen CheckMyCCTV to power a new automated service to continuously monitor the health of its customers’ closed circuit television (CCTV) equipment to ensure operational effectiveness of their site security.

The new service is built around innovative software that enables cameras, detectors and recorders to be checked every hour to ensure performance has not been compromised.

Colin Leatherbarrow, Product Solutions Director, Chubb, says that the potential weak link in any CCTV installation, monitored or otherwise, is being able to see if the product’s environment has changed, which could adversely impact the effectiveness of the product installation:

“Some believe that once a system has been installed, they can forget about it because it will always be working. Sadly this is not the case,” he says. “Now we are able to regularly check each element of a CCTV system to monitor the network connection and ensure that the hard disks have not failed or that the system has not stopped recording. And all of this can be done remotely, taking the benefits of Chubb’s remote monitoring capability to those that might not normally use our services.”

Colin says in a traditional maintenance contract, equipment may only be checked one or twice a year, but with Chubb’s CheckMyCCTV the CCTV installation is being constantly monitored and the security manager alerted if an issue occurs:

“Security managers using this service will be informed exactly what the issue is when it happens, so it reduces the need for lengthy on-site diagnostics, and increases the chance of a fix from an installer or on-site engineer in the first instance. The potential cost reduction for service calls can be huge.”

Darren Rewston,  Managing Director of CheckMySystems Ltd. commented “We are delighted to be able to work with Chubb to ensure their customer service remains 1st class in today’s ever changing world.”

“Customers of Chubb will benefit hugely by having their systems monitored for faults 24/7, and faults detected will be responded to in a much more timely manner – often before the end-user is even aware of an issue. Chubb will benefit by providing a proactive service way beyond the scope of many of their competitors”.

For more information on the CheckMyCCTV service available through Chubb, click HERE or call 0800 32 1666

Chubb is part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp.

UPDATE: CheckMyCCTV now operates with the latest UTC Fire & Security TVR11 and TVR41 Digital Video Recorders.

CheckMySystems Ltd (the CCTV health and operation monitoring software specialist) has signed-up electronic security product provider IPX360 Solutions Inc to act as its reseller for ‘CheckMyCCTV’ in the North American market 

This is a major step forward in CheckMySystems’ desire to bring the software to an international audience following its successful UK launch.

The CheckMyCCTV application, offered by IPX360 Solutions Inc across the US 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-up 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 impact, negatively, on system performance.

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

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 US 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.

 Glorieux continues: “Often the first time the customer realised 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, 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”

Darren Rewston, Managing Director of CheckMySystems Ltd, commented: “We are very excited to be working with IPX360 Solutions Inc in our efforts to bring CheckMyCCTV to new customers in North America. The experience we have had to date in the UK, 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. We expect that customers in the US and Canada will soon appreciate these practical benefits for themselves.

At CheckMySystems we realise that there can be no room for complacency where the well being of video surveillance systems are concerned. The need to implement effective checks was underlined in a snapshot survey we conducted of 300 sites across the UK. Before CheckMyCCTV was implemented a worrying 75% 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”

CheckMyCCTV is currently compatible with over 25 video surveillance system brands and OEMs, including: Samsung, Costar, HikVision, American Dynamics, Dedicated Micros, Xtralis, and Dahua, with more being added to this list all the time.

For additional information on IPX360 Solutions visit www.ipx360solutions.com

Many CCTV systems have scheduled maintenance contracts in place,  offering the extra peace-of-mind that your customers’ premises, assets, and staff are protected. But are scheduled CCTV maintenance visits leaving end-users at risk?

Last year, we conducted a survey of 300 CCTV installations, most of which had scheduled maintenance in place, and found that 75% of these installations had one or more issue which affected operational performance, this was something as simple as the time not being set correctly, to camera and hard disk faults, and even systems not recording at all.

The reality is that a maintenance contracts with two site visits a year only guarantees that a system is working correctly 2 days out of 365 – only on the days the site visits occur.

Scheduled maintenance does not pick up any issues between visits, so your customers could have gaps in their security provision for up to 6 months if a fault or issue occurs between maintenance visits.

End-users often don’t have the time, motivation, or training to ensure their CCTV systems are operating correctly. I recently spoke to a Security Manager for a large food retail chain who is responsible for the security of around 200 high street stores, and last year they had 30 instances of critical footage being unavailable due to discovering an on-site issue when they attempted to review it.

It could be argued that your customers can get added protection by opting for your 4, 8, or 24-hour service response time to reduce the downtime of faulty CCTV systems, but the response time is often measured only from the time your customer detects and reports the fault to you, if it’s detected at all.  In many cases, end-users simply do not notice faults until they try and play back some recorded footage, by that time it is too late, and the finger of blame is pointed at the maintenance provider.

Many of our customers are using CheckMyCCTV to provide a proactive maintenance monitoring service to their customers, which means that on top of a single maintenance visit, additional visits  are only conducted when a fault is discovered by the software, ensuring that issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

A CCTV installer using CheckMyCCTV to provide proactive maintenance monitoring for 600 retail locations  is saving over 30% of their maintenance budget by reducing the man-hours and travel costs associated with maintaining a large quantity of sites, and still deliver a higher quality service.

CCTV systems need to be maintained to help continue operation over time, and we recommend that a maintenance visit is undertaken at least once a year, but by supplementing visits with 24/7 Status and Operation monitoring using CheckMyCCTV, you can ensure your customers are not left with worrying gaps in their security provision between visits, keeping your your CCTV installations and your reputation remains in good health.

To find out more about how you can improve your maintenance contracts using CheckMyCCTV, contact us on +44 (0) 161 870 6137 or email us at info@nullcheckmysystems.com

CheckMySystems introduce new ‘Pay as you Go’ licenses to significantly reduce the cost of monitoring the status of your CCTV systems.

Acting on feedback from our customers, we’ve introduced a new ‘Pay as you Go’ license model means that you only need to purchase licenses for each connected device you wish to monitor as and when you need them, reducing the up-front cost of providing health and operation monitoring for your customers’ remotely connected CCTV systems.

As part of the Pay as you Go package, you will get our full CheckMyCCTV Software for FREE when you purchase 10 or more device licenses, which we can install and configure for you remotely. You can then purchase additional licenses as you need them, or purchase multiple licenses at a discounted cost and use when they are needed.

Each Pay as you Go license provides one year of status and operation monitoring once it is activated, and can be automatically renewed or deactivated at the end of the 12 month period, giving you flexibility when maintaining your CCTV installations.

As Darren Rewston, Managing Director of CheckMySystems Ltd. explains “Recently, we have had many enquiries from CCTV Installers and businesses wanting to use our CheckMyCCTV status and operation monitoring solution, but perhaps only had a few sites to monitor so were put off by the upfront costs”

“Our new Pay as you Go licenses allows these customers to reduce the up-front costs by getting CheckMyCCTV software free of charge and paying only for the licenses they need.”

To find out more about CheckMyCCTV or the new Pay as you Go licenses or for a quote, contact CheckMySystems on +44 (0) 161 870 6137 or email us at info@nullcheckmysystems.com

CheckMySystems Ltd – the CCTV health and operation monitoring software specialist – announces a partnership with retail security provider CSG UK plc.

The move is designed to dramatically expand the take-up of the company’s industry-leading CheckMyCCTV automatic fault-finding solution to several hundred high street outlets operated by some of CSG’s major clients.

Initial trials, and orders, suggest that retailers are keen to adopt CheckMyCCTV as part of their CCTV maintenance strategy, given the pressing need to ensure that their remotely dispersed CCTV systems are operating correctly at all times, across multiple outlets, especially as Security and Profit Protection Managers look to tackle high levels of shoplifting and other criminal activity. Retailers certainly do not want to be in a position where they have to provide evidence for a prosecution only to find that it has not been recorded, a camera was out of action, or there was some other problem with the system.

From the perspective of security specialist CSG, offering CheckMyCCTV as a solution to their retail customer base will allow them to provide service levels, above and beyond, that which they could otherwise deliver through more traditional scheduled maintenance visits. Crucially, valuable time and resource will no longer be tied down attending sites where there may not actually be a surveillance issue. Now CSG’s engineers can be directed to where the CheckMyCCTV software has flagged-up a problem which needs to be rectified, whether it be a camera failure or recording issue.

Said Darren Rewston, Managing Director at CheckMySystems Ltd: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with CSG to unlock the full potential of our CheckMyCCTV health and operation monitoring software solution in the UK retail sector. We have started to collaborate on a number of major projects and believe that this relationship will prove to be mutually beneficial. CSG can now detect customer CCTV issues at a much earlier stage, enhancing service levels, whilst, thanks to their expertise, we are able to gain access to a much larger customer base than would otherwise have been possible.

“Already, we are beginning to see concrete results as CheckMyCCTV is rolled out at a national level across a number of big name retailers thanks to CSG’s efforts, from coffee shop chains to discount stores, and we expect that the total number of sites covered in this area alone will reach over 1,000 in the next few months, with many more in the pipeline.”

Commented Graham Chandler, Group Managing Director at CSG UK PLC: “Being able to offer CheckMyCCTV certainly makes sense for us and has transformed the way we look after the health of our client’s CCTV infrastructure. We can now undertake our maintenance activity in a much more directed and efficient way, and cover a greater number of sites, with the same manpower. A key point with the software is that although it applies sophisticated analytical techniques it is actually very straightforward to use. For example the on-screen traffic light warning system means that any issues on a client’s site are immediately visible around the clock. Status alerts can even be viewed on smart phones or via a web browser.

“Moving ahead, as CheckMySystems continues to expand the number of video surveillance brands their CheckMyCCTV software is compatible with, we anticipate that more and more of the retailers CSG looks after will buy into this state-of-the-art solution.”

For more information on the CheckMyCCTV health and operation monitoring software solution offered by CSG plc. contact +44(0) 844 8000 448 or visit www.csgretail.rmp-uk.com

Visit us at the EMCS Open Day & BBQ

EMCS, a CheckMyCCTV Service Provider, are holding open days and BBQ on 26th and 27th June 2012 to officially launch their CCTV division within their NSI Gold accredited ARC in Nottingham.

CheckMySystems will be exhibiting, along with other EMCS partners including Xtralis (Adpro), Dedicated Micros, CSL Dualcom, GJD, Heitel, Optex, Tavcom, Shop Guard Systems TeleEye, Raytec, Redcare, and Visonic.

We will be demonstrating our unique CheckMyCCTV Status and Operation monitoring software, and showing how EMCS’s Status Monitoring service can help you improve your service and maintenance offering to your customers and ensure their CCTV systems are operational 24/7.

There will be numerous other attractions over the two days including:

• BS8418 simplified – by David Wilkinson of the BSIA
• Live Demo workshops from GJD & Optex throughout the day
• EMCS Seminar – The benefits of CCTV monitoring, how to sell them to the end-user and explanation of the commissioning processes with EMCS
• False Alarm Reduction Seminar – Dale Jones of Optex
• Tours of the new look ARC including our newly established CCTV Department
• Trade exhibition with the following industry partners: Adpro (Xtralis), Dedicated Micros, CheckMySystems, CSL Dualcom, GJD, Heitel, Optex, Tavcom, Shop Guard Systems TeleEye, Raytec, Redcare & Visonic
• Free Prize Draws for all attendees – Giving the chance to win free monitoring and kit
• BBQ served in our Marquee from 12pm with Live Music & Bar

If you wish to attend this event, please send an email to sales@nullemcs.co.uk specifying your preferred day(s) together with the names of those attending and your expected time of arrival.

We look forward to seeing you there.