Industry News

VoIP Supply at the MOBOTIX 2014 East Coast National Partner Conference
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VoIP Supply and MOBOTIX

The VoIP Supply President, Paula Griffo, and I just got back from the MOBOTIX East Coast Partner Conference on Friday and are we excited where this security company is going!

VOIP Supply and MOBOTIX have had a beautiful relationship for years. When the MOBOTIX Partner Program went into effect last year, VoIP Supply was immediately an Advanced Partner. We’ve been trained on the products and we can get directly on the phone with MOBOTIX, which is a huge benefit to you, our customers.

If you’re not familiar with MOBOTIX, they are a full solution surveillance company. Dr. Ralf Hinkle founded the company back in 1999 in Germany by building a DVR directly into an IP camera. This decentralized system was revolutionary, and since then MOBOTIX …

The Difference Between H.264 and MxPEG
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MxPEG

If you’ve been looking at a MOBOTIX solution, chances are you’ve noticed MOBOTIX cameras record in all the expected compression’s, and then in an extra compression: MxPEG. You may be asking yourself ‘What is this MxPEG? How does it compare to H.264?’ Let me help you out with that.

Video recorded in HDTV (1920 x 1080) is compressed in H.264. It was created for broadcasting high definition video, which is why nowadays it’s the most common video compression out there. While it’s ideal for bandwidth conservation, when paused on a frame, there is a fuzziness to the image. A minor inconvenience really. It’s usually acceptable, which is why most surveillance companies allow H.264 as one of their compression options, but MOBOTIX wasn’t satisfied.

As a …

First Look: Grandstream GXV3674_HD_VF
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Grandstream announced today the release of their new outdoor, day/night IP camera: the Grandstream GXV3674_HD_VF.

What is it?

A few years ago Grandstream began their surveillance line card with a few indoor cameras with no optical zoom and daytime use only. Now Grandstream has expanded their selection of IP Surveillance products to choose from, which is excellent, especially if you already have a Grandstream VoIP system. The latest of their IP surveillance products is the new Grandstream GXV3674_HD_VF outdoor day/night camera.

The GXV3674_HD_VF has 2-way audio and is SIP compatible, meaning if you have a GXV3175 or a GXV3140, you can tune in to your surveillance footage directly from your deskphone (you can also view from your mobile device; Grandstream is flexible like that). …

Axis Naming Convention
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Axis is probably one of the most well known names in IP surveillance. They were the first on the scene completely dedicated to video over Internet Protocol back in the late 90’s and are still industry leaders today. Like all manufacturers, they have a naming matrix that might not make sense at first, but it’s pretty easy to decipher.

Axis created their own naming convention chart (image below) to educate their buyers of the cameras for at-a-glance understanding.

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In this example, the P3367-VE breaks down into meaning it’s meant for a versatile and secure advanced video solution, it’s a fixed dome camera, P33 series, supports 5 or more Megapixels, housed in a vandal resistant outdoor enclosure.

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Using another example such as the P7224, it …

The TMC Labs 2013 Award Winner is….
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The upcoming July issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine will be featuring several cool topics, but possibly the coolest is the winner of the TMC Labs Innovation Award Winner for 2013.  This award is granted to “products that have demonstrated innovation, unique features, and noteworthy developments toward improving communications technologies.” It is not based on best sellers or name brands, but on actual, innovative improvement.  And we know who won it.

This year the Grandstream GXV3672 Series of infrared IP cameras has taken the prize.

TMC’s CEO Rich Tehrani announced, “We’re pleased to bestow Grandstream with a Unified Communications TMC Labs Innovation Award.  The GXV3672 IP Video Camera has show true innovation and is deserving of recognition.”

“Businesses are investing in IP video surveillance as a …

Bigger (Resolution) Means Better (Quality)
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Higher Megapixels are all the rage in IP cameras. Who can blame it? In a world of HDTV, higher resolution is a seductive quality. Details that have been missed for decades are now clearly defined, for better or for worse. When converting this over to surveillance, that paradigm is exactly what someone is looking for in their security system.

Several manufacturers have been quick to respond with higher resolution cameras, but strangely, the larger name brands such as Axis, SONY, Panasonic, and MOBOTIX were slow to respond. When speaking with the engineers at these companies, one comes to discover that higher resolution is not a simple cut-and-dry process.

The technology behind pixels is actually quite interesting. In simplest terms, think of pixels as units …

ACTi Has Analog Users in Mind With New Network Series Cameras
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ACTi at VoIP Supply

This year ACTi has done something very bold and very brave. Beginning in Q1 of 2013, this top network camera company started rolling out several new cameras. It’s not just a few new models; it’s entire new lines.

Currently in the process of fading out their popular TCM series, ACM series and KCM series cameras, ACTi has released 2 new lines so far with 2 more to come later in the year.

ACTi did an excellent job by identifying exactly what a problem was with crossing over to IP cameras. The plain truth is, IP cameras are expensive. They’re really expensive when compared to some analog cameras. Understanding this, ACTi released the D series IP cameras.

The D series is directly aimed towards analog users. …

Coming Soon: AXIS M1004-W
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AXIS M1004-WAXIS recently announced that they are currently in the works for releasing a new affordable wireless camera, and it’s looking better than anything before!

As a leader in the IP surveillance industry, AXIS is known for their top line cameras, which unfortunately also tend to correlate with high prices. In efforts to reach out and provide for small retail, offices, and home users, AXIS is set to release the AXIS M1004-W, a small and cost effective IP camera, complete with 720p HD resolution!

This new addition to the AXIS M10 Series is going to be an excellent step up allowing budget conscious buyers to reap the benefits of:

  • 1280×800 pixel resolution/progressive scan/HDTV color fidelity
  • 16:9 widescreen and AXIS Corridor Format
  • Input/output ports
  • Support for Wi-Fi
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Just Released! The MOBOTIX App: The Premium Solution
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Good things come to those who wait, and our patience has finally paid off! MOBOTIX just announced their new app for iPhones, iPods, iPads and iPad Minis and it looks, for lack of a better term, totally awesome.

The MOBOTIX app, simply titled “MOBOTIX”, is compatible with the T24 IP Video Door Station and most MOBOTIX IP cameras. The beauty of this German company is they make an outstanding product: MOBOTIX cameras have no moving parts so there is no mechanical wear and tear, they’re at least IP65 rated for outdoor or indoor use, and can operate in extreme conditions from literally Zugspitze peak to the controlled atmosphere of the Vatican vaults. And this app was specifically created to use the Megapixel lenses, …

MOBOTIX National Partner Conference East 2013
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This week, VoIP Supply, an Advanced Mobotix Partner–the highest level partnership available–attended the MOBOTIX NPC in Fort Lauderdale, FL for 2 days of sun (we’re in Buffalo, so Florida was very much appreciated), food, and a whole lot of MOBOTIX goodness!

About 150 business professionals from around the States, Canada and Mexico gathered to meet and greet the MOBOTIX leadership team including the General Manager of the Americas – Steve Gorski, Director of Training -Jens Wirok, and the Chief Executive Officer USA -Dr. Mangus Ekerot.

The hot topic at hand was the newly released MOBOTIX S14 Flexmount, a sleek and stylish IP camera unlike anything else available to the public.  The S14 can connect 1 or 2 MOBOTIX hemispheric lens units with an …