What is Video Management Software?

Video management software (VMS) is a part of a video surveillance system that allows the user to access real-time videos, record, store and playback recorded videos and derive useful insights of the surveillance site.

When to upgrade a Video Surveillance System?

Current Video Management Systems are capable of offering much more than just surveillance, hence, upgrading a VMS system becomes as important as upgrading the other assets of the business. A VMS system can be upgraded when an organization is:

• Using a traditional CCTV surveillance system (Old equipment and cameras)
• Incurring increased maintenance costs of the existing surveillance system
• Expanding from Single site to multiple sites (Small to medium to large-sized enterprises)
• In the need of Intelligent Video Analytics for monitoring sites, employees or business processes
• Requiring Video Analytics to improve the site operations to benefit the customers, VMS users or employees
• In need of VMS system equipment standardization

What are the factors to consider while selecting video surveillance cameras for the VMS System?

Video surveillance cameras come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, features, and functions, which are designed to perform in diverse environmental conditions at surveillance sites. There are a few things that users must consider while selecting video surveillance cameras for their VMS system. Users must check:

• The camera resolution (image quality)
• Indoor or outdoor camera compatibility
• Wired or wireless cameras
• Light sensitivity of the camera (ability of a surveillance camera to work in low light)
• Shape of the camera (box type, bullet camera or dome camera)
• Frame rate (more frames per second –fps defines video clarity)

Why should enterprises switch from traditional CCTV systems to cloud-based Video Management Systems?

Traditional CCTV systems are just analog devices with limited functionality to monitor and track the events in the camera vicinity, whereas new age cloud-based video management systems are smart enough to record, store, playback, and analyze the captured events in real-time and later. Cloud-based Video Surveillance systems are equipped with high-quality IP cameras, which provide a high-quality image with better fps for the system network. Storage is never an issue with these systems as all the data is stored on the cloud and can be fetched whenever required. Cloud-based video management systems are easy to install as users can just plug-and-play these devices for small setups. These systems are easily customizable in terms of camera numbers, software features, types of video analytics, etc.

What are different deployment types of Video Management Software?

Video Management Software can be classified into three deployment types:

On-premise VMS. On-premise VMS solutions are best suited for managing video surveillance at a single site. All the streaming, recording and management servers, storage devices and applications are installed locally on-site. This allows user to manage their security and connected device ecosystem from the site itself.

Cloud based VMS. The cloud-based VMS, unlike the on-premise VMS, possesses higher flexibility and scalability. It allows the user to manage multiple sites, all at the same time – from any location and at any time.

Hybrid VMS. A hybrid VMS solution is a flexible surveillance solution, which generally comes with the capability of managing both analog and IP video signals simultaneously. It allows the enterprises to have a traditional VMS solution coexist with the functionalities of cloud Video Surveillance.

What are the benefits of microservice architecture in cloud video management software?

Microservice architecture based cloud video management software overcomes the limitations of a traditionally designed VMS solution (monolithic architecture) and addresses the evolving security needs of the business. Let’s see how it benefits cloud video management software:

Modularity: Micro-services allows video management software to be designed as a suite of various independent modules that remain integrated through APIs.

Scalability: Cloud-based video management software on microservices is easily scalable, i.e., any of the new services can be added or existing services can be upgraded in the software without affecting the video surveillance.

Flexibility: Through microservice based cloud video management software, users can opt for any new VMS services to be added or removed in their existing software according to their evolving business needs. This can be of great help to the users, as they can follow the pay per feature business model. It also allows developers to choose the programming languages for its development.