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.

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