While only 2 per cent of those questioned wanted improved reliability, the majority of homeowners preferred the option of having their system linked to CCTV. A total of 29 per cent of owners were interested in integrating their alarm with CCTV as against 7 per cent wanting it linked to any other internal system.
This surely confirms that the alarm/CCTV combination presents a healthy market for installers and the generation of extra business with established customers.
The majority of work in the domestic sector will be price driven, but new generation, less expensive camera-based kits with simplified installation, developed for the domestic and light commercial market, enable us to take advantage of the alarm/CCTV combination at a more basic level.
There are two ways installers can take advantage of the natural partnership of intruder alarms and CCTV:
a) Intruder wiring can be linked to an existing observation network;
b) Camera kits can be linked to existing alarms.
Linking intruder to existing CCTV
If a CCTV system with a number of cameras is already being employed with a video sequential switcher as an interface, the intruder panel can easily be linked to the network and used to halt the scanning and display a specific alarmed video signal.
As an alternative, a given alarm sensor or a personal attack push PA can be used to provide the same input at any time. Indeed, any normally open or normally closed voltage free contacts can provide this function. By this means cameras are easily prioritised and can display a special area on the monitor or can record an event when an intruder panel is alarmed.
The time of the switcher activity is therefore the same as that of the bell output time programmed at the alarm control panel (unless the switcher requires a manual reset to confirm the activation on the observation network).
Since domestic systems are smaller and more cost conscious than commercial biased networks they tend to use switches or quad compressors/splitters that do not need all the functions and recording options offered by multiplexers. The quad puts up to four cameras on a single screen into four quadrants. This is achieved by digitising the video signals and then compressing them into corresponding quadrants. The quad, like the switcher, also has an alarm input terminal and can receive an alarm signal in the same way. On receiving an alarm input, the corresponding camera is switched from quad mode to full screen that is usually a live mode. This full screen alarm activation is especially important when recording, providing better detail.
As with alarm sequential switchers, we need to determine what happens after an alarm activation, how long we wish the screen to stay full image and whether there is a need for manual acknowledgement for reset.
We can choose a certain camera to give a full screen image or to record like this when an alarm is generated at the intruder panel. This is governed by how we wish areas to prioritise cameras for viewing and recording when an alarm is generated.
Fig 2 shows a system in recording mode with a camera being prioritised by the intruder alarm activating. Other cameras can perform in the same way by optional switching. Other techniques are used to start up VCRs on demand.
Despite their excellent deterrent value, alarm systems are rarely called upon to create an alarm condition and their technical and operational value is often never proved. This has lead to them becoming a grudge purchase. However, when integrated with other security systems such as CCTV they take on a wider perspective and the partnership becomes an ideal choice.
Linking CCTV to existing alarms
Now we have established how intruder wiring can be linked to an existing observation network, we will consider how best to exploit new opportunities to introduce camera kits to clients and connect these to existing alarms.
The very definition of a kit is that it is an all-in-one system although we accept that it may have facilities to be linked in a basic way to another service. The range of available CCTV kits has expanded enormously because of the domestic need for affordable and easy to install products providing either live images or video pictures to be used at a later stage for verification.
These have been engineered for use in the home rather than in the mainstream commercial or industrial market so installers unfamiliar with CCTV can use these kits confidently as a first stage of entering this sector.
They need not perform calculations for camera views or specify expensive equipment so the inexperienced installer does not risk customer disappointment. There are a vast number of kits becoming available, but cabling and installation is never complicated. If the client selects an observation system that comes complete with a monitor, switcher and cameras, we can be sure of the cabling technique because the wiring instructions are specific to every component. It will also have details of how an output can be connected to a slave monitor for additional viewing and how a VCR can be added.
These systems all tend to have inputs and outputs to connect auxiliary equipment such as buzzers or lights or they may be activated by an alarm system or by a microphone detecting a sound. Accessories such as alarm boxes, may need to be provided by the manufacturer but these remain rather standard practices.
If the intention is to use the existing domestic TV and if the homeowner wants only to purchase a single camera to be played through it when the camera is activated by an external PIR, it is normal to terminate this through the TV's SCART connection (a 21 pin connector that allows all connections between the monitor and other devices to be made by one plug and socket). If a SCART is not at the rear of the TV, a modulator can be added. Single camera devices are increasingly popular and are even beginning to appear as small, discrete units in external luminaires and PIR switched security lanterns. Audio buzzers can be added close to the monitor to notify of people approaching the hidden camera and the TV's AV channel can be selected to display the image.
Good business prospects ahead
As is also apparent from the BSIA survey, the prospects for hardwired or wireless CCTV kits are good and these can undoubtedly generate extra business revenue for the installer. Amalgamating these with existing intruder alarms need not be difficult, but a few issues are worthy of mention.
Firstly, it is important to remember that when event recording (when the VCR is intended to start up only on demand and record for short time when movement is detected by a sensor), the video recorder should have 'instant start'. This should be through the designated alarm connections because of the pick up time required by the tape head. Non-industry standard domestic videos have a slow pick-up so could miss a short event. It is equally important to ensure that any outside CCTV detector is unable to generate an external intruder alarm audible output. This should only work in reverse allowing the intruder output to start the VCR recording.
Innovative systems are now engineered with integration in mind making it easier to link alarms and CCTV. This progression in security will outdate stand-alone systems. This integrated equipment will become simple to use, install, expand and service and installers can benefit as the demands of the industry change and the needs of customers become more widely known through surveys such as the BSIA's.
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Homeowners' interest in added features
Other, Size 0 kbA camera prioritised in recording mode
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Source
Security Installer
Postscript
Gerard Honey is an installer and writer of industry textbooks including: Electronic Protection and Security Systems; Electronic Access Control and Electronic Security Systems Pocket Book (Newnes).
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