Multimedia Platforms: Top Picks for Converged Networking

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Multimedia Platforms: Top Picks for Converged Networking

9/23/2005

By Wendy ChretienBy , Will Craig

IP cameras/digital storage. If you were to look at your current campus security camera system, you would probably find a jumble of coaxial and fiber cables at a central point connected to a large array of VCRs. Somewhere else on your campus is a large storage room with hundreds, possibly thousands, of tapes containing security camera footage. In order to retrieve information, someone would have to consult the camera logs, go digging for the appropriate tape, and then cue up the tape to the precise moment, usually through a process of manually fast-forwarding or rewinding the tape. Thanks to IP, all this has changed.

With the introduction of IP cameras and digital storage to campus security systems, campus IT and security personnel can easily deploy cameras, manage the system, and quickly retrieve stored images. With the vast array of IP cameras available, these systems can match the performance and functionality of “old school” security camera systems. While the ease of installing a camera that connects to the network just like any other IP/Ethernet device may pique your interest, you will find that the dynamic storage and image-retrieval functionality is the true reason you deploy IP cameras and digital storage.

Based on the number of frames-persecond you record, hard-drive compression, and video decoding format (MPEG-4, for example), you will be able to store weeks’ if not months’ worth of images. What’s more, digital storage is cheap. With the appropriate backup plan and network security, the recorded information will be as secure (probably more secure) than a locked room full of tapes. With multiple stored copies of your recorded information, you will never again have to worry about losing information because a tape wore out or was eaten by a VCR.

But the coolest thing about IP cameras and digital storage is accessibility: Any authorized person can retrieve a recorded image from anywhere on the network, simply by entering the date and time into a Web browser. Live feeds from IP cameras can also be accessed in this same fashion. With most security systems moving to IP cameras and digital storage, this may be in your campus’s future. If you already have them in place, smart move.

Will’s Picks

My three converged network product picks focus on technology-enabled teaching applications: classroom control systems, AV resource management systems, and classroom video streaming. Converged-network, low-cost classroom control systems. “Keeping it simple to use” is a mantra for nearly all users of advanced classroom technology. Instructors need to be able to focus on their students, not on a daily struggle with the technology that has been placed there, ostensibly to help them. Yet, the proliferation of projectors, cameras, monitors, VCRs, DVD player/recorders, document cameras, Webstreaming platforms, and collaborative/annotation tools in the well-equipped classroom shows no signs of abating. The control interface for each of these devices poses a challenge for even the savviest classroom designer. Wireless IR remotes tend to disappear, and replacements often cost more than the original piece of equipment. Then too, remote-control-button layouts vary from one model to another, even within the same manufacturer family, making each classroom potentially different to operate, even with similar equipment.