Video Surveillance System Consulting

Business Challenge

The customer is a US-based company with a request to consult his firm and generate a roadmap and requirements for the implementation of the video surveillance system. The customer asked to execute the analysis based on 2 potential options: usage of an open-source solution, iSpyConnect with further customization and extension, and a custom development from scratch approach.

Solution

The IT consulting team executed the research to understand the customer’s environment, goals, and constraints. The first step was to assess and identify why the CCTV system is needed, what features it should have, and what outcomes are expected. Video security consultants conducted stakeholder interviews to clarify the expectations of all sides. Also, the engineers outlined the main target use cases to adapt and apply the video surveillance solution for different industrial sectors.

Based on the customer’s request, Chudovo consultants provided 2 detailed documents for the development of a video security solution:

Solution 1. The usage of iSpyConnect, an open-source solution for video surveillance that supports different camera types, can be connected to cloud services, integrated with artificial intelligence, and enables live video & recording with motion detection, alerts, and remote access. The team has detailed the iSpy Connect customization options to tailor it to the customer’s needs.

Solution 2. The custom video surveillance system development. IT consultants, before preparing high-level requirements, provided the customer a basic features list with rough timelines and price estimations. In addition, the report included risk and cost analysis with ROI projections and challenges. 

The CCTV consultants offered the following features and components to be included in the custom video surveillance solution:

• Recording server
• Management server
• Event server
• Failover server
• Desktop client
• Desktop management client
• Web client
• Camera’s compatibility
• Remote console
• Customer dashboard and connected services
• Alarm manager
• Video out via open network bridge
• Dual authorization (smart client users)
• Secure HTTPS camera connectivity (on supported devices)
• Single device firmware upgrade
• Bulk device firmware upgrade
• Maps
• Third-party applications integrations
• Intelligent video analytics support
• Built-in video motion detection with auto-adjustable VMD sensitivity
• H.264, MJPEG, MPEG-4, MPEG-4 ASP & MxPeg
• H.265
• Adaptive streaming
• Microsoft AD support
• Kerberos authentication
• Metadata support
• Centralized management
• Flexible event rule engine
• Hardware-accelerated video decoding for video motion detection (Quick Sync)
• Hardware-accelerated video decoding for video motion detection (NVIDIA)
• Support for live video play without recording storage
• Edge storage and scalable video quality recording
• Smart map functions
• Media DB encryption and digital signing
• Recording server communication encryption
• Management server communication encryption
• Management server failover
• Hot and cold failover recording server
• Evidence lock
• Incident manager
• Federated architecture
• Interconnect

The next version of the document was to include a high-level architecture, camera coverage plan, software/hardware selection, integration with access control and IT systems, etc.

Business Impact

The software development consulting services contributed to the considered decision-making and delivered the measurable value:

• Strategic clarity. The customer received the detailed development paths for implementation of the video surveillance system, with the timelines, budgets, and risk considerations.
• Confidence for decision-making. With two implementation paths available, shareholders can compare short-term budget constraints and long-term security objectives.
• Base for future development of the solution
• Risk mitigation. Early identification of technical challenges reduces the likelihood of costly rework of the solution in the future