Looking for a Video Management System (VMS)?

Folks at Pelco have put together this Infographic to clarify what you need to focus on in your quest for the right VMS. For your next Video Security Project, this can be your starting point.

1.   Scalability

How many devices can the VMS handle and can it grow with the growth of your facility? What is the incremental cost of adding more devices or functionality? What you need to know here is what the software & hardware licensing structure and the cost of incremental additions.

2.   Performance

From an operations perspective this is absolutely key. How many cameras, operators, log reports, alarms and events can the VMS manage without slowing down or crashing.

How quickly can the VMS call up a camera, sequence or search for events, run analytical searches and access multiple servers from the system.

3.   Flexibility

Can you integrate your existing security infrastructure such as existing server and camera investments?

4.   User Experience

This is often overlooked, all your design and budgeting efforts comes down to how quickly your operators can spot events as they occur, respond to situations and have 24/7 situational awareness. A responsive, modern easy to use GUI is key. Test drive a VMS before investing in your upgrade or new VMS project.

5.   Open Platform

Ability to integrate in the same User Experience other subsystems such as LPR, Access Control and Alarm Management. Can you build applications around it that are specific to your security needs such as adding RFID readers or POS readers to the security mix.

In my next article, I will include another infographic to simplify the selection process for any VMS requirement.