cctv Tag - QED

When you think of TP-Link, you probably think networking; routers, switches, access points. And for good reason! TP-Link has spent decades building a global reputation for connectivity, a great one at that, making them a trusted name in both consumer and enterprise networking. Unlike traditional security brands that started with cameras and later bolted on networking as an afterthought, TP-Link flipped the script.

Their VIGI Insight range is proof of this networking-first approach, bringing the reliability, scalability, and efficiency of enterprise-grade networking to CCTV. So why does this matter for installers and businesses?

Why Networking First Makes a Difference in CCTV

Most CCTV brands build cameras first, networks second. But security systems don’t exist in isolation. They rely on strong, stable, and secure networks to function effectively. That’s where TP-Link has the edge.

This networking-first strategy sets TP-Link’s VIGI range apart. Instead of treating security cameras as standalone devices, TP-Link integrates them into a strong, scalable, and secure network. This approach enhances reliability, simplifies management, and ensures CCTV systems work more efficiently. Let’s actually break this down.

Common problems with traditional CCTV set ups

For many businesses, setting up a CCTV system can be frustrating. Poor video quality, lagging footage, and unreliable remote access are all common complaints. Often, the issue isn’t the cameras themselves. It’s the network behind them.

A stable foundation is necessary to build a house, right? Likewise, A CCTV system is only as strong as the network supporting it.

When your CCTV system is designed to work with your network from day one, you get:

Consistent, high-quality video feeds without buffering.
A network that prioritises security footage without affecting other business operations.
Simpler installations and lower long-term costs.

Another pain point with CCTV set ups is the Video Management System (VMS). Many are built for IT experts, not end users. Some even require certification courses just to complete basic tasks.

Video Management System (VMS) in CCTV

A Video Management System in CCTV is management suite tool that allows users to collect and store video data from various sources and cameras for a consolidated interface. However, not all are made equal!

The VIGI VMS is different.

Our technical manager, John, has tested the system first-hand and was impressed with how intuitive it is compared to other VMS platforms. No steep learning curves, no unnecessary complexity.

Intuitive and user-friendly – Designed for installers and end users.
Fast to set up – No unnecessary menus, no wasted time.
Packed with practical features – all in a clean, easy-to-use dashboard.

Let’s break down some of the VMS features our technical manager liked:

Easy site Central Management.
Live View and full playback features.
Remote Management and configuration of NVRs and Camera Heads , allowing for remote maintenance of cameras and NVRs.
AI Monitors and advanced search features.
Virtual site maps.
Free Project Design Tool for customer quotes and site planning, bandwidth and storage calculations.

Like I said, packed! You can read more about VIGI VMS directly from TP-Link here: VIGI Cloud VMS | VIGI Cloud Video Management System | TP-Link United Kingdom

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❗There has been an important product update for SpiderEx. Read more here.

Spider season is in full swing here in the UK. From September until October, spiders are more active around homes and commercial buildings… you may have already spotted a few ‘hanging’ around!

Spiders are more visible at this time of the year because of the change in weather conditions, as well as it being mating season. As the end of summer approaches, spiders look for warmer, drier conditions, which is why you may spot them in houses, sheds, garages, and CCTV systems.

Reduce False Alarm Call Outs

Did you know… Spiders and their cobwebs are one of the most common causes of CCTV false alarms!

According to research by Which News, a whopping 30% of false alarms are triggered by insects.

As spiders look for a warm habitat, they’re attracted to the warm light emitted from CCTV cameras. As they settle in their new found home, they can trigger a false alarm.

If you’re the owner of a CCTV system, or a call-out engineer, you will understand much of a nightmare spiders nesting over cameras can be. False alarm call-outs are expensive and time-consuming, but, with our SpiderEx spray, we have the solution to prevent false alarms, saving you time and money.

What is SpiderEx?

SpiderEx is a spider repellent spray designed to remove spiders and reduce spider infestations, particularly in CCTV Cameras, Camera Housings and Alarm Sensors, as well as Garden Furniture, Houses, Boats and Caravans.

You won’t need a spider catcher as SpiderEx has been specially formulated to help remove spiders and reduce nesting in almost any area it’s sprayed.

Its clear, odourless coating stops spiders and other creepy crawly insects. The spray also works wonders on ants, cockroaches, beetles, centipedes, dog ticks, fleas, flies, silverfish and wasps.

With an overall score of 9.2 on Repellent Guide, it’s the solution for you.

How Does SpiderEx Work?

The heat from the IR on CCTV cameras attracts spiders to nest in and around the CCTV lens. Simply spray SpiderEx 30cm away from the area you wish to apply it to. If using on security equipment, cover the optical surface with a clean cloth whilst applying SpiderEx all around the camera housing.

SpiderEx will deter spiders from all security equipment. Make sure you use gloves and wash your hands after using SpiderEx.

SpiderEx is so easy to use and can last for up to 8 months! Simply spray, leave, and it’s done.

SpiderEx has a full professional and domestic license granted by the HSE (number 8682).

Fun fact – the security industry even uses SpiderEx in the Euro Tunnel.

Take a Look at How SpiderEx in Action Below…

See What Our Customers Say About SpiderEx

Where to Buy SpiderEx

Buy from Amazon

Buy from Lakeland

Buy from SpiderEx

Buy directly from QED

If you want to find out more about SpiderEx, get in touch with our team today.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up to date with the latest CCTV security news and products.

Dark nights are coming, so now it is more important than ever to check maintenance contracts and look to upgrade or install new CCTV systems.

Did you know studies have found there’s around a 15% increase in burglaries in October, so now is the perfect time to reach out to your customers and help them protect their home and family, employees, stock and properties.

This coincides with National Crime Prevention Council who in 1984 designated October as Crime Prevention month, with the aim of advocating reducing crime and personal safety.

A different theme will set the tone for each week of the month:

Week 1: Mapping Out Crime

Week 2: Home and Neighbourhood Safety

Week 3: Fighting Fentanyl

Week 4: Curbing Counterfeits

Home Security Month also falls in October, launched in 2013, National Home Security Month highlights how technology and gadgets that can help keep you, your family, and belongings safe and secure. With smart devices, you can keep an eye on your home from anywhere and be alerted through your smartphone in case anything out of the ordinary is happening.

QED Provide the Right Security Solutions for You

We supply a vast range of quality CCTV systems to help keep you, your business and your home safe. Our Ava Security cloud-native video systems provide simple, smart security, so you can analyse all your camera feeds and access footage from anywhere.

We also supply professional and commercial Solis monitors as cost effective 24/7 commercial display solutions, so you can increase the safety of your business.

We even supply a range of Poles and Brackets to ensure your monitors and cameras are secure, and installed exactly where you want them. We’ve created a step-by-step guide to help you with your installation.

Get in touch with our team today to find out more about how we can supply you with great security solutions for your customers.

Autumn is prime spider season; this means you will see more spiders now than any other time of the year. Whether you’re working from home, in the office, or even on site, you will see these creepy crawlies nesting everywhere.

This is also their mating season, which is why you will find spiders throughout your home for the next 2-3 months. These arachnids can cause some problems during spider season, but there are ways you can prevent them.

Increase in False Alarm Call Outs

As the colder months approach, spiders look for habitats where they can keep warm. Your home is a prime area for them, but so are CCTV cameras. The warm light attracts them to nest in the CCTV system, which can trigger false alarms.

Spiders and their cobwebs are one of the most common causes of CCTV false alarms, so if you’re an owner of a CCTV system, or a call-out engineer, you know how much of a nightmare spiders nesting over cameras can be.

We have the solution for you.

Prevent False Alarms and Spider Infestations with SpiderEx

SpiderEx is an effective spider repellent spray that can also be used on flying and crawling insects. It is specially formulated with an odourless coating that helps to remove spiders and reduce nesting and spider infestations in almost any area it’s sprayed, especially in CCTV cameras and systems.

This fantastic deterrent can be used in various other areas too, including your home, garage, garden shed, caravan, boat, business, and many more.

Our customers love SpiderEx as it is so easy to use and can last for up to 8 months! Simply spray, leave, and it’s done.

Fun fact – the security industry even uses SpiderEx in the Euro Tunnel.

How to Use SpiderEx

If you’re using SpiderEx on security equipment, use a rag, cloth, or tissue to cover the optical surface and spray around the camera housing. If you need, you can also spray around the top, sides, and bottom of the camera housing.

This will deter spiders from all the security equipment.

Tackle spider season with this effective spray that has a 5 star google rating. Order your SpiderEx spray here: https://spiderex.co.uk/

Contact us today to find out more or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with the latest CCTV security news and products.

Needing to keep over 17,000 students safe, the University of Dundee decided to go with the IndigoVision solution supplied by Authorised Partner Scottish Communications. Wondering if your current security surveillance system is fit-for-purpose?

We are a campus that is about 72 buildings. We’ve got close to 17,000 students and about 3,000 staff members. The other part to that is that we are very centrally located downtown urban university, and of course that being said, we also don’t have a wall around the university.

IndigoVision allows us to spend our time and our resources helping people. The video intercom assistance points that we have that are integrated with IndigoVision through Control Center, they are rolled out strategically around campus, and when somebody activates that button it automatically activates a two-way video intercom. But sadly, that video intercom is about this big and it doesn’t give us a very good overall picture. So, by tying them into IndigoVision we are able to create a trigger to activate the closest PTZ camera that would turn and zoom in on the big picture view of what’s going on.

We may have 300 cameras but we only have six people on staff, but having one person who mans the Control Center means he can sit here and watch 36 cameras kind of at the same time. So instead of needing 36 people, we have 36 cameras and one person who’s monitoring them.

Campus Security, Adam speaking.

Control Center ties everything together. So, you can have an access control software, you can have a CCTV software, you can have a million-in-one different software’s, but if you have to flip between five or six of them all you’re doing is wasting time, especially in a critical incident response. You want everything as streamlined as possible, and for us, it’s that Control Center that has been that ribbon that has tied them all together. We want our officers out doing 101 other things, not sitting at a desk trying to figure out how to work a software.

The fact that the IndigoVision Control Center platform is so easy to use and it’s very easy to learn and it’s quite intuitive, means that my officers don’t have to waste time. We have all the cameras build onto a map as little icons, so as an incident moves through campus, instead of trying to scroll through a hundred cameras on a list, our officers can just click the next camera on a route and follow an incident as they move through our campus. When incidents happen, seconds count.

We’ve had an excellent partnership with the University of Dundee for over five years now. University of Dundee have vision in where they want to be in three years’ time, in five years’ time and in ten years’ time. And they share that vision with us, and they share their operational requirements from now and for the future.

IndigoVision is very responsive, they stand behind their product, but beyond that, they’re willing to work with you to make sure that your system is absolutely fit for purpose, and that’s a key thing when you’re looking for a partner.

Quality Essential Distribution are exclusive distributors of the Indigo Vision range please call us to discuss your bespoke requirements.

PSI Magazine December Article: Almost 7 out of 10 cameras need updating

Outdated camera firmware, and failing to change default passwords present some of the biggest weaknesses in cybersecurity defence says a new report. As the number of interconnected security devices keeps on growing, keeping pace with the latest updates can be tricky and very time-consuming.

According to new research conducted by Genetec as many as 68.4%, or almost 7 out of 10, cameras are currently running out of date firmware.

Installing the latest firmware is not just about accessing new features, warns Genetec, it ensures the latest cybersecurity protection measures are implemented as soon as they become available, a crucial step in ensuring an organisation’s resilience against cyber-attacks.

“Our primary research data points to the fact that more than half of the cameras with out of date firmware (53.9%) contain known cyber security vulnerabilities. By extrapolating this to an average security network, nearly four out of every ten cameras are vulnerable to a cyber-attack,” said Mathieu Chevalier, Lead Security Architect at Genetec.

The research also showed that nearly 1 in 4 organisations (23%) fail to use unique passwords, relying instead on the same password across all cameras from the same manufacturer, leaving an easy point of entry for hackers once only one camera has been compromised.

Until recently, IP cameras came with default security settings, including admin login information that is often publicly available on the manufacturers’ websites. While most camera manufacturers now request users to set up a new password and admin credentials at installation, businesses, cities and government organisations with older equipment never updated their passwords, potentially compromising the other critical data and systems that reside on their network.

“Unfortunately, our research shows that the “set it and forget it” mentality remains prevalent – putting an entire organisation’s security and people’s privacy at risk. All it takes is one camera with obsolete firmware or a default password to create a foothold for an attacker to compromise the whole network,” added Chevalier. “It is critical that organisations should be as proactive in the update of their physical security systems as they are in updating their IT networks.”

The research was conducted on a sample of 44,763 cameras connected to systems that are part of the Genetec opt-in product improvement programme.

This article was taken from PSI Magazine, written by Andy Clutton on 5 December 2019.

More Flexible. More Choice. More Secure.

IndigoVision Control Centre is powered by a unique Distributed Network Architecture (DNA) technology. DNA enables devices to communicate with each other directly and also removes the need for management servers. With DNA you get no single point of failure, the ability to add any number of devices to your installation, and reduced infrastructure costs; as well as a security system that’s incredibly network friendly.

Furthermore, Control Centre is packed with over 250 features, including Smart Tabs, Pursuit Mode, Map-based Monitoring and Real Time Alarm Tracking.

Staying safe means always staying in control.

IndigoVision Control Centre is a fully integrated user interface for managing video, access control and alarms. It puts everything at your fingertips. Being easy to install and intuitive to operate, Control Centre video management software also gives you vision, as well as sound and oversight of all cameras, from 1 to 10,000.

See everything, hear everything, track everything.

Map-based Monitoring lets you navigate across cameras, whilst Pursuit Mode allows you to instantly follow any target from one camera to the next. Additionally, you can respond to any event with fast forensic search, now including Artificial Intelligence powered by BriefCam.

Is your business expanding? IndigoVision Control Centre expands with it.

Unrestricted licensing allows unlimited installations, cameras or screens. Add cameras and consoles where you need them.

No single point of failure.

The unique Distributed Network Architecture (DNA) removes the need for a central server. Therefore, there’s no single point of failure, greater resilience, dramatically reduced latency and no network bottlenecks.

IndigoVision’s Control Centre is used in over 15,000 sites worldwide. From airports to police forces to casinos to warehouses to neighbourhoods or whole cities; we’re a Security Manager’s best back-up. We want you to feel more than just happy and confident when you choose IndigoVision.

We want you to feel safe.

Robust Testing in the Uniview Laboratory

Uniview is one of the world’s leading IP surveillance manufacturers and is one of the top 6 providers of IP security solutions globally, operating in over 145 countries. Their feature-rich and well constructed security products are available at costs to suit all budgets.

They have an impressive laboratory with over 2,000 people dedicated to research and development (R&D). Uniview continuously quality test all products in the Laboratory to create products that are tough enough to conquer every type of environment and is smart enough to adapt to complicated lighting situations.

Uniview pioneered innovative technologies through robust quality testing with 15% of their revenue constantly invested back in to R&D, it goes to show Uniview always push the edge of high quality and are at the forefront of IP innovation. Each product is meticulously designed, engineered, and crafted until it withholds Uniview’s industry-leading quality standards. For example, during the hardware development process, the products endure multiple stages of robust testing to guarantee quality in the product lifetime such as:

Test Component Quality
Board Circuit Test
System Test
Harsh Environment Test
Manufacture Ability Assessment
Automating Functioning Test (checking the component before it is assembled)
HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Test – a stress testing method for enhancing product reliability)

This high quality testing is proven with less than 1% failure rate worldwide, ensuring you get continuous security surveillance and continuous surveillance protection of your business and your people. And more importantly it saves the businesses and installers time and money through unparalleled video surveillance without any failure related call outs.

Watch the video of the Uniview Laboratory

Uniview’s Components Analysis Laboratory provides reliability tests on optical, mechanical and electrical components. It selects the highest quality components to ensure the quality of products.

To find out more about the Uniview range, contact QED:

Call: 01772 336 111
E-mail: sales@qedgroup.co.uk
Shop Uniview range

TP-Link Takes on CCTV