Aaron Zebrook wrote questioning the wisdom behind the proprietary nature of certain systems, and the willingness of consultants to cut and paste from manufacturers’ specifications (my words, not his). I liked his comment that this approach is “akin to shooting a fly with a shotgun.” Often the products have limited distribution as well, effectively boxing certain integrators out of the bid opportunity.

I have two thoughts in response to this. First, I am not a big fan of proprietary systems. We’ve had too many clients get boxed into systems where manufacturers were acquired, support suffered, or they just didn’t keep their promises. It’s expensive ripping out and replacing systems, both in terms of pain and cost. Fortunately, this is becoming less and less of a factor with IP video systems as the hardware, edge devices and infrastructure are becoming more interchangeable. Unfortunately, the practice is alive and well in the access control arena of which Mr. Zebrook speaks. I profess to having no expertise in fire systems and cannot speak to his assertion that it’s a problem there as well.

Our firm has found a solution to this problem for our access control systems that works well for our clients; we specify products that work with panels made by the OEM manufacturer Mercury Security Corp. At last account, Mercury made the panels used by more than 15 access control systems manufacturers including Honeywell and Lenel. This means that with a firmware upgrade and software change out, the system becomes a different brand without the forklift upgrade. To my knowledge, this is currently the only way to have an “open” system in access control, and it’s not really open — it just has a lager proprietary pool to draw from. But to Mr. Zeebrook’s point, it is easy to provide an “or equal” in this manner and our clients benefit from a more competitive bid process.

My second thought speaks to feature bloat, and again Mr. Zebrook raises an excellent point. The fact is that most manufacturers repeatedly add features and complexity, whether they are needed or not. I understand that it is easier to add features to a common software platform than to customize systems, but we truly see some arcane features that have limited value to the majority of the customer base. We try to specify only the features that are needed on all products to make it easier to provide equivalent substitutions, and we avoid the temptation to cut and paste the entire A&E specification provided by a manufacturer. If we don’t want an “or equal” we would rather just say that, so prospective integrators don’t waste their time. But I fear there are a limited number of firms that do this, and perhaps more shotguns than fly swatters out there.

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Loren Dupree wrote: “…I have had many bid situations where I have responded thoroughly and timely and lost the bid. When I have asked for feedback, I was not given any information at all. I feel that if a consultant is willing to accept your bid response, he/she should realize they have a responsibility to provide feedback to the losing bidders when requested.”

When we write RFP’s, we tell prospective bidders what our evaluation criteria are up front. We also tell them that we will not be able to provide information to them as to why their bid was rejected, except in those rare cases where we are permitted to discuss this with them. But in most cases, our client prohibits that type of review — and rightfully so.

There are many reasons for this, but I believe the most prevalent is time. Our clients are busy and they don’t have time to defend their decisions to all of the bidders who were unsuccessful. It takes more time than you’d think because many people don’t take criticism and feedback well. When working with the U.S. Postal Service, we conducted a number of debriefings with unsuccessful bidders. Even with ground rules spelled out clearly up front, many bidders felt this was an appeal, an opportunity to plead their case, or a chance to take a shot at the successful bidder (“You’ll be sorry…”). After a lengthy bid process, the end user wants to move on with the project, not continuously defend their decision to people who have a vested interest in disagreeing with it.

So this brings it back to the consultant, as Mr. Dupree suggests. If our client tells us we can’t discuss it, that’s often the end of the story. We’re paid for our time, and we need to maintain the trust of our client. Both of those reasons will ordinarily prohibit us from providing a candid response to a third party. But there’s a way around this, and it may be easier than you think.

Try giving the consultant a call. Tell him/her you were an unsuccessful bidder on the XYZ project and you would like to speak off the record and not specifically about that particular project. Tell the consultant that you value his/her opinion, explaining that you would like to bid on future projects and hopefully win them. You will agree not to contest the bid or object in any way, and you certainly won’t make an effort to go around the consultant by speaking to the client. You just want to know, in general or specific terms, what you can do to improve your bid. In turn, you are willing to provide constructive criticism on his/her RFP — well, maybe leave that last part out.

In this manner you are appealing to the consultant’s ego – everyone likes to be asked his/her opinion. You are agreeing not to be a pest, and your willingness to improve will ultimately benefit the consultant. If they have no criticism, you lost the bid because of price and/or a preferred vendor was on the inside track. If they are willing to talk, it’s OK to ask for clarification, but don’t argue. Remember, you asked for an opinion. You don’t want to talk someone out of his/her own opinion. And if you think the consultant is an idiot, don’t bother. His/her opinion won’t help you anyway.

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At the center of this upgrade lies another debate. While it is clear that VHS tape is going away and DVRs are its replacement, many manufacturers (often without analog product lines) see the industry as a digital-only solution. “Virtual matrix switch” is a frequently used phrase, and their prospective customers are urged to go 100-percent digital.

Casino surveillance directors, however, are pushing back. They like the idea of digital and are buying into all of the advantages. They are frequently heavily invested in, or are in the process of, converting their recording side to digital, but most are not sold on replacing their analog cameras. This article will explore whether the replacement of analog makes sense, where analog can clearly outshine digital with today’s available technology and how “hybrid” systems are frequently the appropriate choice for gaming venues.

Necessary Building Blocks for Any Video System
In order to better compare the various options, it’s important to understand the building blocks of a digital video system — whether it be analog, digital or somewhere in between. This is easier than ever, since the various types of systems have more in common than they have differences. In fact, the basic system architecture is identical regardless of the type of system you select — once you’ve made the decision to eliminate VHS and incorporate digital recording as part of your system. (If you’re still considering VHS as an alternative, see the sidebar “5 Myths of VHS Debunked” below.)

There are five functional areas to any video system. For the purpose of illustration, we’ll compare these five areas to Lego® building blocks. You first must acquire a video image, usually with a camera. The image must then be encoded into a digital format and stored on a hard drive. There must be a means to retrieve the video image for playback or live viewing, and finally a means to display, or view, the image on a monitor. These functions are universal regardless of the type of system used; the only difference, believe it or not, is in the packaging.

Systems that incorporate IP-based cameras package the first two Legos in the camera, using it to acquire and encode the image. A server connected to the camera via an Ethernet network provides the storage, while a client computer allows retrieval and viewing of a video image. These systems often incorporate an additional “black box” that can be sent a video stream through a controller and display it on a monitor, completing the picture.

When all of the pieces are assembled, this type of system is a complete recording solution that is also called a “virtual matrix.” It is called this because it incorporates the functionality of an analog matrix switch but does not require the cabling or hardware that is usually associated with such systems.

While this type of system generates the most “buzz” on the market, most gaming professionals who have carefully examined such systems agree they are totally inappropriate for gaming. The video switching from camera to camera is slow, often as long as a second or two, while analog systems switch between cameras in a few thousandths of a second. Likewise, the control of cameras is difficult because there is a lag, called latency, between when the operator moves the joystick and when the camera moves. All systems have some latency — it takes time for a signal to get from your joystick to a camera that can be thousands of feet away — but, again, it is much greater with IP-based systems.

It is unlikely to find an analog system with more than 40 milliseconds (thousandths of a second) of latency, while the best IP-based system is around 150 milliseconds. This translates to overshooting your target when panning a camera around the casino or across a gaming table, and a surveillance operator is unlikely to be comfortable with that amount of lag time.

This is, for the most part, a casino industry-specific problem. Clients in other industries are perfectly happy with IP-based systems and virtual matrixes. The delay is a function of the processing required to convert digital data into “packets,” transport it across an Ethernet network and reassemble it at the other end.

Other side effects can include dropped frames, stuttering image and an inexplicable loss of quality because of network traffic. Virtual matrixes may have the functionality of real analog matrix switches, but they do not currently enjoy the level of performance inherent in their real-world counterparts.

The Hybrid Solution: Splitting Video Between 2 Systems
Many gaming clients are finding the answer to the performance issues inherent with pure IP-based systems by utilizing a mix of analog and digital technologies, in essence creating a hybrid system. While this essentially involves splitting the video signal between two systems, there are inherent advantages to doing this and few (if any) disadvantages.

First, let’s look at the signal flow. We’ll still use the same Lego blocks, only now the camera will be a standalone unit that outputs analog video. That signal can be run back to a central point or sent to several “nodes” around a facility, but it will remain analog until it reaches its destination. Before we move to the next link in the signal chain, let’s look at the advantages to doing this.

An IP camera with a built-in encoder outputs an Ethernet signal that can only be run 100 meters, or about 340 feet. Distances greater than this require a network switch or other means of regenerating the signal, or a fiber-optic connection. Coupled with the higher cost of IP cameras (they cost more because of the built-in encoder), you are starting out with a tremendous cost disadvantage. There must be closets or junction points throughout a facility, and there is a lot more equipment to break, degrade the signal, or add noise or latency between the camera and the control room.

An analog camera is less expensive, smaller and available in a wider variety of configurations. You can mix and match brands without worrying about software problems, and you can still use inexpensive and ubiquitous Cat-5e cable to connect the camera to the control room. With analog cameras and unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) adaptors, you can run the signal as far as 6,000 feet, or roughly 20 times the distance of an IP camera, without passing it through any additional boxes.

Once the camera reaches its destination, it is fed to both an encoder and an analog matrix switch. While the signal may go to one system and loop out to the second system, an appealing design option, for reasons described a little later, is to split it using a video distribution amplifier. This distribution amplifier can be either a standalone unit or a part of the UTP hub that converts the signal back from twisted pair to coaxial cable.

Each camera now feeds two systems, one for high performance viewing and the other that provides recording and lower performance viewing, due to the latency described earlier. Since the high performance viewing is only required on a small number of monitors, it is relatively inexpensive. Those familiar with analog matrix switches know that inputs are relatively inexpensive, while outputs are costly in terms of price and physical rack space.

A large casino with a half-dozen operators can often get by with a 16-output matrix switch, while the largest casinos may only require 32 outputs — more if some of the fail-safe redundancies that are described in the next section are required. Either way, this less expensive matrix is not significant in overall system cost, and the savings promised by a virtual matrix simply aren’t there unless you are talking about eliminating a giant matrix switch used to control banks of monitors in a video wall.

What about those banks of monitors? We’ve all seen casino control rooms and we know that keeping an eye on a number of areas is critical. Here’s where the system truly becomes a hybrid.

That digital virtual matrix system we just finished tearing apart is perfect for video walls, offices and other areas that do not perform critical, time-intensive camera control or switching. Workstations or decoders can be used to drive projection screens, LCD displays or other video walls, and can do so far more cost effectively than a matrix switch. This design is appropriate for projects other than casinos. Hybrid Systems Provide Inherent Fail-Safe Redundancies
The two separate systems also provide several fail-safe redundancies that can make the difference between closing a casino during an equipment failure and keeping the money flowing. First and foremost, they can back each other up. If the analog matrix fails, the virtual matrix will be good enough to get by until things can be repaired.

Likewise, a failure of the digital system, resulting in even downtime for maintenance, will not affect live viewing of images. In fact, one system design incorporates additional matrix outputs that can shunt video signals to a backup encoder/server/storage combination automatically in the event of a server failure. Monitor outputs can also be recorded, ensuring that anything important enough to be viewed live is recorded in two separate places.

While these are two separate and distinct systems, they don’t have to act that way. Manufacturers such as Honeywell and Pelco offer systems that incorporate keyboards capable of seamlessly controlling both systems, making the analog/digital divide seamless. Other manufacturers offer this functionality as well, and the combination of both technologies is truly greater than the sum of their parts.

A Balanced System Is the Best Alternative
When looking at all of the advantages of hybrid systems for gaming specific applications, it is difficult to envision why a casino would opt to select a pure IP-based solution. While that technology is perfect for some applications, gaming surveillance has unique performance requirements.

Manufacturers or integrators that push or recommend inappropriate technologies for the gaming market do so at their own peril. And casinos that fall victim to these sales pitches can easily pay a lot more for lower performance. This is a case where the right system design costs less and works better than the alternative — a “win-win” situation on or off the gaming floor.

5 Myths of VHS Debunked

Here are the top five reasons an end user may want to keep VHS, and the responses you will need to explode these myths.

1) There are too many incompatible digital standards. VHS is universal. DVD is the universal digital standard. Get an inexpensive DVD burner or authoring software and burn your video clips to the consumer DVD playback format. They’ll look great and will play back on a DVD player that can now be purchased at your local supermarket for under $30.

2) Digital costs too much. True, the digital return on investment (ROI) is tough to justify. Timesavings can be a factor and searches that take days on VHS can take seconds on digital. Tape changes are a thing of the past. There are no recurring tape costs — you did replenish your VHS tape stock periodically, didn’t you? In addition, there are features available on digital systems (random access, integration with other systems and ease of copying) that simply are not available on VHS. If you’re looking strictly at acquisition cost, tape may be cheaper, but sooner or later you’ll be forced to go digital. VHS is going away.

3) Tape is more reliable. This may have been true at one time, but digital systems have come a long way. RAID-5s (random array of independent drives) are commonplace, preventing data loss and providing a means for swapping out hard drives while the system continues to run. A jammed or overused VHS tape is often unrecoverable, while digital data can often be revived in even the worst scenarios.

4) Tape looks better. Again, this may have been true at one time, but not today. While it is true that you can degrade the performance of a digital system to make it look worse than tape — high compression, low resolution, low frame rate — it can also look crystal-clear and is no longer the weakest link in the signal chain. If you have not seen terrific digital image quality, you have not looked at enough systems.

5) Courts don’t accept digital recordings as evidence. Again, not true. While we’re not lawyers, talk to one before reciting this opinion. They’ll likely tell you that it is chain of custody that matters when considering evidence, not the type of media. Defense lawyers can argue otherwise, but that is what they are hired to do.

How Evolution of Video Has Affected the Gaming Industry

The gaming industry has really gone full circle when it comes to adding cameras. When many of you first started working with CCTV, cameras were very pricey. Some of you go back as far as $1,000 fixed cameras, but many more probably remember $3,000 pan/tilt/zoom (p/t/z) cameras and expensive lenses, mounting hardware and the cost of maintaining the equipment. Coverage was costly, and a good VCR was an investment to be weighed carefully. Each camera required its own VCR — a quad could be used to allow four cameras to be connected to a VCR, but that was a poor second choice for gaming applications that were reserved for back-of-house or other nongaming areas.

With the passage of time, costs have come down dramatically. A good midrange p/t/z can be purchased for less than $1,000 — sometimes much less — and while there are different varieties of fixed cameras, there are a lot to choose from starting below $100. During the VHS heyday, recording was relatively inexpensive as well. Add a multiplexer to allow up to 16 nongaming cameras to a VCR, or go with a VCR per camera if you’d like.

Consumer units worked well for many casinos and the cost per VCR dropped below $300, making the hardware cost for a gaming p/t/z camera less than $2,000 in many cases, often including installation (half of what many were paying several years earlier).

Unfortunately, digital has changed that for the worse. While camera costs remain low, the cost for recording each camera has skyrocketed. In gaming applications, the cost to record a camera has grown from less than $300 in the VCR days to more than $3,000 per camera in many cases. While cheaper alternatives exist, casinos that are using encoders, servers, RAIDs (random array of independent disks) and the associated cooling and UPS (uninterrupted power supply) subsystems are paying dearly for the coverage.

Moreover, while hard drive prices continue to decline, customers are not really pocketing the savings. Instead, they are opting for higher resolution — 4CIF in gaming applications — longer storage time and improving system performance.

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Our markets are getting more competitive, systems are becoming more feature-packed and complex, and we find our competitors are installing functionally identical systems and responding to the same specifications we are. In this environment, it’s not surprising that maintaining a distinctive identity or edge for your own company becomes more and more difficult.

Certainly marketing, documentation and efficient project management will all differentiate you from your competition and help your bottom line. However, the part of your company that concerns your customers the most is your employees and representatives. The job they do and the impression they leave involve far more than shaking hands, explaining drawings and cut sheets, taking equipment out of boxes and hooking up all of those little wires. Motivating employees properly (your own and the subcontractors) is perhaps the biggest step you can take toward leaving the lasting impression that your organization is the one whose people do it right.

When I refer to employees, I mean anyone who could possibly influence your company’s reputation in the mind of anyone you deal with, not just customers. That includes the receptionist, answering service, accountant, even your answering machine or voicemail system. If they have a voice on your behalf, they represent you all of the time. And if it’s your job to help these people be their best, it’s not a responsibility to take lightly.

What do we stand for?
The first step is outlining what your company stands for and where you want to go. Our company believes strongly in a 5-and 10-year strategic plan, which works well for companies of any size or even for personal career goals. Proper planning lets people know what is expected and allows them to perform well.

Keep the plan flexible. As the world changes and new opportunities arise, don’t ignore them because they weren’t on the list. Likewise, don’t rush into anything just because it was scheduled to happen at a certain time.

I know of a small recording studio that did audio production, tape editing and post-production. The company had found a niche market and was doing well, developing a fine reputation and a good client list. According to the master plan, it was time to invest in video equipment and branch out into providing those services, and so they did. The hardware and computer editing systems rolled in, money was invested, and downtime was the word of the day.

When the sawdust and solder fumes cleared, the studio owner was hit in the head with a fact that could have saved him a lot of money and aggravation: He was already selling all of the audio time he could handle. The video gear would not bring in any new business or revenue until he expanded the overall facility and hired the personnel to accommodate the work. That phase was not planned for another two years on his master schedule, so it hadn’t occurred to him to reevaluate his goals.

A flexible and well-thought-out list of goals has no value unless everyone has a part and wants to contribute. That’s easy for a smaller company, but even for a bigger organization it can be done. Communicate these goals to everyone up and down the line and seek suggestions. If all of your employees are cogs in the wheel, let them all have a say as to how they can better make the wheel turn.

I recall a time I was frustrated by how things were running in my company. I decided to show them: I sat down and wrote up a list of problems and possible cost-effective solutions. Imagine my surprise when many of my suggestions were acted upon. Encourage the same and you might be surprised at the good ideas that come your way.

Expanding the group
People outside your immediate circle should also be aware of your goals and their contribution to them. Without letting your strategic plan out of the bag, you can let others know where you stand, what you stand for, and where you are going. And you should: There are many others who can benefit themselves and your organization by knowing this information. These people could include vendors, such professionals as accountants and lawyers, even your landlord and delivery people. They all have a financial stake, direct or indirect, in your company’s success and can be on the lookout for the appropriate opportunities (and pitfalls) when they come along.

Another side effect of spreading the word can be a potential gold mine of referrals. At the same time you’re recommending a good accountant to an associate. Jack McSnoot of the McSnoot Skunkworks could be speaking to that same accountant about his expansion plans. If one good turn deserves another, you could find yourself installing the latest CCTV system and skunk detector in that shiny new factory of his. Aaah, the sweet smell of success.

Outside employees
Except on very small installations, much of the challenge comes from working with representatives of other companies and subcontractors — in essence, your peers on a project. It’s effective to exchange phone numbers early on and let them know your commitment to the outcome of the job. We all know that you can settle little problems more quickly and easily in the field without resorting to change orders and red tape. If you need an outlet closer to a shelf and the electrical contractor needs information on what kind of VCR to get his wife for her birthday, perhaps a meeting of the minds is in order. It’s amazing how much mileage you will get out of showing up early with a couple of extra boxes of doughnuts.

When subcontracted employees are working for you, motivation can be a little trickier. You can’t reward these people financially, you don’t have the power to promote them, and you must work primarily with the training and skills they already possess. They don’t have ownership of the job or your company, and, although you might represent an important customer to the companies they work for, why should they go the extra mile?

I always start with the premise that everybody wants to do the job well. As corny as it sounds, people go home feeling better each day if they do the kind of work they can tackle with pride. Poor workmanship is often a product of poor organization and a lack of communication about objectives.

We start each subcontracted project with a meeting in which we review our goals for that job and promise to treat the subcontracted employees as if they were our own. A representative of our company reviews the project documentation with them; we don’t leave it to be passed on down the line. We tell them that we want their suggestions, and we seek them out throughout the project. These people have experience doing things differently from your usual methods, and many have been trained by your competition. You can learn from them or ignore them — the choice, and reward, is yours.

Throughout the project, we stress that we are not watching the clock. It is my contention that it costs much less to do things right the first time than to fix them later. By letting people do their best work, you let them motivate themselves. I tell people that this should be the project they brag about and reflect upon; if it’s not, the fault is their own. No one has ever let me down.

Adding to the team
As your team expands and grows, with your employees naturally seeking their own niches, you must often add more people. This is a difficult part of managing business, and more qualified people than myself could write volumes on this process.

A universal agreement that cuts across geographic and product lines is that it’s difficult to find people that have the three primary qualities: motivation, reliability and ability to get along with others. “Find me a warm body who can come to work on time every day, wear the uniform and be willing to learn, and I’ll teach the rest,” says one employer. Another says he is constantly seeking out talent: “It is so hard to find the right people, so I’m always looking. If I come across someone, then I worry about where I can fit him in.” If you want your business to grow, after a certain point it all becomes a matter of somehow finding the right people to perform the work.

But the qualities we are looking for don’t come across on a resume. We can judge our employees’ technical abilities, for example, by their training and experience, but our impression of how they will fit our team is largely a turkey shoot — sometimes you buys a ticket and you takes a ride!

To minimize the risk, I rely on three things. The most important is a referral from someone who is already working with me. This is far different than a recommendation from an associate or friend, because no one wants to work side by side with someone who won’t fit in. If Tommy Tech praises Louie the Pipe and Louie just can’t seem to get it together, Tommy is going to feel some of the responsibility and share the extra work load. You can bet Tommy has thought of that before he mentioned Louie to you.

Second, introduce prospective applicants to as many of your present employees as possible, and not necessarily those with whom they will be working side by side. A receptionist candidate, for example, could meet members of the technical staff, and a technician should say hello to the salespeople.

What you are looking for is an impression, not an evaluation of the candidate’s merits; that part of the decision is up to you. You can accomplish two goals: You can learn of potential problems they sense on instinct (I know not listening to mine has gotten me into more trouble than I care to admit), and you can let your team feel they all have a part in choosing a new member. This feeling will speed along acceptance and cooperation with the new person.

Third, and admittedly a stereotype, is military experience. We’re looking for motivation, reliability and ability to get along, and these qualities are emphasized in the military more than anywhere else. I’m not saying it is the only criterion to use, but it could serve as a valuable tie breaker between prospective candidates.

Keeping everyone involved
A philosopher (or maybe it was a bartender) once said that ideas are like dreams: Everybody has them and no one really wants to hear about yours. So let’s skip the obvious fact that by listening to others’ ideas you might stumble across some nuggets that set you on the path to fame and fortune. Pretend for a moment that you know everything and have no intention of entertaining suggestions, no matter how much sense they make. Your motto is “Don’t confuse me with the facts; I’ve made up my mind.”

Even in that (unfortunately all too common) situation, it’s a good idea to solicit feedback and suggestions. At the least, it will improve morale and cost less than raises, T-shirts and baseball caps. Everybody wants to he heard and appreciated, and people are usually more receptive to doing things your way if you’ve at least listened to their way.

Although project meetings – before, during and after a job – are an important forum for discussion, they shouldn’t be the only time to get feedback from your employees. Many people feel uncomfortable speaking up in meetings, and others will simply forget what they wanted to discuss by the time the meeting rolls around. Go on a fact-finding mission from time to time. During an installation or while you’re watching someone perform a repair, ask if they can think of a better way to do something or if others know and use the same techniques. Very often one person will come up with a better way to complete a task and just assume everyone already knows about it. Help share the wealth.

Motivating people is an improvement that costs nothing to implement and is almost guaranteed to have fast, significant results. But the most insidious side effect that makes the payoff truly rewarding is its reverse effect. If you become the team cheerleader and concentrate on making others more productive and satisfied, you’re bound to notice an equally positive change in your own attitude and performance. For many of us, myself included, that is payment enough.

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