Category talk:Cctv Camera

Mobile Digital Video Recorders (MDVR) have been a big topic among schools, public transportation, senior care, prisoner transports, off road vehicles, humvees, emergency vehicles and ambulances. There are so many offers on the market, how do you select the correct application? Here's a few tips and questions to ask when searching for a MDVR 1. Determine the number of cameras required and remember the hard drives on a mobile are smaller and a super high resolution camera will cut down on the numbers of days of video storage. 2. Beware of units with external fans, these are typically interior use dvrs converted to a mobile. The external fan will draw in moisture and dust. Quality units will not have a external fan and will transfer the heat (heat sinc)through the unit to cool the hard drive. 3. Beware of units with large hardrives, a standard sata harddrive can not withstand the vibration of a vehicle. 4. Check on their tech support, do they answer the phone? Call then number and see how long it takes and how many days? 5. Beware of the comment " we are the manufacturer". The way to ask this correctly is "Do you own the source code to the software?" Lot's of companies claim this.....very few are. No source code.... no software fix 6. Purchase the cameras, cables, monitor and shut down timers from the same MDVR source. If the company doesn't carry these items then they sell very few mobiles. The worst install in the world is when all the different manufacturers claim its not their fault. One call, one warrantt is best. 7. Wireless downloads are not easy and cost thousand of dollars to execute. There are a lot of companies who claim the wireless download is the way to retrieve video from a vehicle. Ask them to tell you the actual download time and guarentee the process will work in writing. Don't forget to include the gas and wear and tear on 35 school buses idling in the parking lot for 30-45 minutes while the video is downloading. Look for a product with free remote software and a plug in play USB connection, it takes 5-10 minutes each. 8. Do not mount on the dash or in direct sunlight, it's like a laptop. Think about what would happen to your laptop if you left it on the dash for 365 days? 9. Remote software should always be free. 10. Passive GPS is a inexpensive way to view a driver's route. Passive GPS can tell you where the vehicle went, not where it is. GPS mapping requires a service contract for each vehicle. 11. Remember to budget for new vehicles or replacement vehicles. If you have a 1000 vehicles in your fleet and your company turns in a vehicle every 10 years, that's a hundred new installs to retro fit the MDVR and the cameras. If the install costs $350 per unit (plus new cords), expect to budget $35,000 per year or train your maintenance team to complete your retrofits.

I hope this will help your decision process.

Would you like to work with a company who can answer yes to all of the questions and tips above?

Call us at Smartview Electronics Inc 937-531-6622 or visit or site @ www.smartviewei.com