Compucon has accumulated 4 years of mid-size IPVS system (up to 32 cameras per system) installation and operation experience by July 2012, and has designed a blueprint for enabling small and medium businesses to enjoy high performance video surveillance without paying a commensurate premium.   It is too good to be true.  This article provides the insights.
 
Compucon has taken a different path to virtually all security system installers for IPVS or CCTV system design due to its leading hardware position.  It has established the following expertises outside its core competence of making computer systems and the expertises are unique collectively. 

Wireless is on the top of the list.  It is not that Compucon invented any wireless technologies.  It is the outcome of efforts to package open standard technologies into simple and low cost building blocks for a variety of end user wireless connection requirements.  Compucon has an alliance with a wireless design expert based in Los Angeles and this connection has allowed Compucon to deploy “bricks” in IPVS or CCTV projects.  The most notable installation is in Kaikohe which involves 6 out posts beaming signals back to the video footage recorder. 

The large variation of environment conditions for video capturing managed by Compucon has allowed the specification of camera types to be the second expertise above the mass.  Places covered include corridors, staircases, lobbies, inside lifts, public squares, retail shop fronts, street corners, indoor car parks, barrier arms, vending stations, and obviously offices.   Extreme conditions include fast change of light intensity, total darkness, face recognition 60 metres away, and tracking of motion location (indoor only as of July 2012).  Cameras used involve a lot of digital technologies to improve clarity of images and reduce signal transmission burden.

System health monitoring is the third unique expertise.  This refers to ensuring that the CCTV system is functioning properly and footage recording takes place properly.  This aspect is often overlooked for users without paying a remote control centre a high premium.  Compucon provides this service to a major CCTV system in Newmarket and has alerted the end user of faults related and not related to cameras such as staircase lights getting dim or an indoor camera getting water ingression. 

For sure, customers pay a premium for premium service and get unqualified service for average street prices.  Can we have a small system with high performance and a low price?  This is a big challenge.

The Compucon blueprint being mentioned here attempts to address this challenge.  The foundation stones are wireless and recorder as they are neglected by the industry per se but not Compucon due to the mastery of 2 disciplines- IT and Video Surveillance.  We will disclose more of this blueprint in a CPD seminar for our channel partners and close customers.  Feel free to send your questions to Compucon via this: http://www.compucon.co.nz/index.php?option=com_forme&fid=13

1. Download the [utility] and DOS [system files] here: USBFW.zip
2. Extract the ZIP file (utility and system files) to a folder of your choice (e.g. L:\UFD Formatter in the example screenshot below)
3. Check to ensure the DOS system files are in a sub-folder of wherever the EXE utility resides (e.g. L:\UFD Formatter\BOOTFILES\)
4. Run the USBFW.exe utility and;
   1. Select the Device to format (this is your USB flash drive, all files will be lost)
   2. Select the 'Quick Format' option
   3. Select the 'Create a DOS startup disk' option
   4. Click on the '...' button to browse to the folder containing the system files (as previously extracted in Step 3 above)
   5. Click on 'Start' to format and prepare your bootable DOS USB flash drive