The National Insurance Crime Bureau and Associated General Contractors of America both reported that between $1 billion and $2 billion is lost annually to theft of construction equipment, tools, and material. With the rising cost of scrap metal this figure is expected to rise. What this figure does not take into account is the cost resulting from loss of productivity, project delays and the damage caused during these crimes. Theft of heavy equipment alone costs the industry between $300 million and $1 billion a year, with only 10-15% of the equipment being recovered. Then there is vandalism that occurs at jobsites, such as, broken windshields, smashed equipment, destruction and defacement of construction in progress, etc. While insurance will cover theft claims, most contractors do not recover the full value to replace stolen materials, tools and equipment, not to mention productivity and delay losses. In some cases deductibles are to high to warranty making a claim, causing you to re-purchase new tools and material out of pocket. The most common construction site theft deterrents consist of fencing and lighting of the site at night. Most thieves do not see this as an obstacle, as fences can be climbed or cut. Other more expensive measures include hiring security guards and mounting anti-theft devices on individual pieces of equipment. This is where an IP Surveillance system comes in. The ideal of being caught on video is a great deterrent to theft. IP Surveillance systems are very cost effective and can be easily transferred from one jobsite to the next. These systems are easy to install and can be monitored from any device with a web browser, among many other benefits.

IP Surveillance is a system that gives the user the ability to monitor and record video over an IP (Internet Protocol) network. Unlike analog or “Closed Circuit” systems, network video uses a computer network, rather than point-to-point cabling, as the backbone for transporting information. In a network video application, digitized video streams are transferred to any location in the world via a wired or wireless IP network. This enables video to be monitored and recorded from anywhere on the network using a standard PC. What makes these systems special is their intelligence. A network camera can communicate with several applications simultaneously to perform various tasks, such as motion detection, two-way audio, and have digital inputs and outputs which can be used, for example, to trigger alarms, turn on lights, send alerts via email, cell phone or PDA.

Security and Safety: Monitoring worksites not only provides protection against theft and vandalism, but can also be used to spot unsafe working conditions and/or procedures.

Remote accessibility: Securely access live video at anytime, from anywhere you have internet access, making monitoring and management easier and more efficient. Owners can be given access to monitor construction progress. The video can also be linked to a website to give the public access to view the progress of a project.

Easy, future-proof integration: Install new cameras, anytime, anywhere. Cameras can be added to any location, whether they are on the same site or in a different, city, state, or country, and be monitored from one location. When a project is completed the cameras can easily be moved and set-up at a new location.

Distributed intelligence: Advanced network cameras have built-in motion detection and alarm management that lets the camera decide when and how to send video, saving on recording storage. Alarm notification can be sent to anyone you choose, via email, cell phone or PDA alerting them of a break-in. This notification can be sent as text messaging or video.

Cost-effectiveness: See article on page 3.

Personnel costs: Being able to monitor all of your jobsites from one location gives you the option of hiring less security personnel, saving you money. Depending on the site, and the ability of these cameras to notify you of a break-in, security personnel may not even be needed for some locations.

Insurance premiums: Most insurance providers will offer substantial discounts on premiums for facilities with surveillance systems. Check with your insurance provider.

A network camera can be described as a camera and a computer combined in one unit. It captures and transmits live images directly over an IP network, enabling authorized users locally or remotely to view, store, and manage video over a standard IP-based network. A network camera has its own IP address and does not need to be connected to a PC to operate. It operates independently utilizing a built-in web server, FTP server, FTP client, e-mail client, alarm management and can be placed where ever there is an IP network.

Advanced cameras have the ability to detect motion, produce two-way audio, and have digital inputs and outputs. Digital outputs enable you to remotely, or automatically, trigger alarms, turn lights off/on, or produce an audio warning to alert intruders that they are being filmed and should leave the premises. Digital inputs that are connected to alarm devices or sensors can, for instance, be used to trigger transmission of images to a select destination for recording, or request that email alerts or SMS notification be sent, for example, to a mobile phone or PDA.

Tamper-proof housings are available for indoor or outdoor applications. These housings protect the cameras from weather and dust, and are heated to enable the cameras to operate in temperatures from –15° F to 110° F. IR Illuminators are also available for use with cameras in low light or complete darkness to ensure good quality images around the clock.

Progressive Scan

Interlaced Scan

Network cameras are digital and produce high quality motion J-PEG and MPEG-4 images which can be optimized for quality and bandwidth. What this means is that images can be programmed for a lower frame rate during periods when image quality is not as important to save on recording space. This frame rate can be increased at any time, automatically, for periods when better quality images are required or when events, such as motion detection, are triggered.

Network cameras use a progressive scan to capture images instead of the interlaced method found in analog CCTV cameras. With progressive scan all images are captured at the same time, enabling moving images to be presented without distortion. Interlaced scanning divides images into odd and even lines and captures them separately. This slight delay between odd and even lines creates some distortion. Furthermore, analog systems lose image quality with long runs of cable. Network systems are digital and do not lose quality in transmission or storage. Once created, the image is free from degradation.

To most, setting up a construction site surveillance system may seem impractical, but today’s technology makes it quite realistic. The fact is most construction managers employ some sort of on-site office, be it in a trailer or nearby building. These offices generally have at least one computer, and on a majority of larger projects these offices also have some sort of internet connection to link them to their home offices. Using these existing systems a surveillance system can be powered, monitored, and recorded using a standard PC.

How it works:

The cameras are placed in all locations to be monitored. From these locations a network (computer ) cable is run from each camera to the office and connected to the computer system allowing monitoring and recording from anywhere via the internet. If the office is not tied into the internet, the cables are simply tied into a computer within the office for monitoring and recording. Power to the cameras is sent through the same cable used for transferring the video using power-over-Ethernet technology. (For cameras requiring a heated enclosure, a local power feed of 100-240V AC is required) There are also wireless applications for areas were running the cable is impractical. These type of connections would require local power to each camera.

Once the cameras are connected they can be set-up to detect motion during set time periods. When motion is detected the camera can be told to turn on a light, sound an alarm or with an outdoor speaker attached, give an audio warning, for example, “Stop! This is a restricted area. You have been video taped and will be prosecuted. Leave the premises now!” If the system is connected via the internet, alerts and video can be sent out via email, mobile phone or PDA. What is also good about this feature is if the video is recorded locally and a thief breaks in and steals the computer used for recording, an email with the video has already been sent out with the images.

If we analyze the cost of the hardware (cameras, cables, and recording) an IP Surveillance system will compare quite favorably to an analog system. If we then add in the installation cost component, the advantages become obvious.

IP systems use considerably less expensive cabling (30-40% less) than analog systems. In addition, IP systems can use power over Ethernet technology, which provides power to the cameras using the same cable as the signal connection. This saves on the cost of running additional power lines to each of the cameras. In applications were pan, tilt and zoom cameras or audio is required, additional lines must also be run with analog systems. This is not necessary with IP systems. Furthermore, using standard PC server hardware for recording and storage rather than proprietary equipment such as DVRs radically reduces management and equipment costs.

Cameras can easily be added as the project grows larger or taken off the system and sent to other projects as needed. Once a project is completed the system can be dismantle and sent to the next project from implementation with no further equipment to buy.

AXIS Camera Station is an IP-Surveillance software that work with Axis network cameras and video servers to provide video monitoring, recording and event management functions. Camera Station is installed on a Windows based PC. With this software you can monitor your cameras and at the same time, record high quality digital video, either continuously, on schedule, or on alarm and/or motion detection. Each software package can control up to 25 video source at once. While monitoring, you can view from 1 to 16 cameras at once, or sequence cameras to automatically switch at a rate you specify. There are multiple search functions to easily find recorded events. In addition, this software has multi-view playback to enable a user to view different cameras simultaneously. Remote viewing and playback are also possible with the use of a web browser. Other features include: Control of PTZ or dome cameras, full duplex real-time audio support, alarm alert functions (beep & e-mail), and multilingual support for English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German.

Network cameras are digital and produce high quality motion J-PEG and MPEG-4 images which can be optimized for quality and bandwidth. What this means is that images can be programmed for a lower frame rate during periods when image quality is not as important to save on recording space. This frame rate can be increased at any time, automatically, for periods when better quality images are required or when events, such as motion detection, are triggered. Network cameras use a progressive scan to capture images instead of the interlaced method found in analog CCTV cameras. With progressive scan all images are captured at the same time, enabling moving images to be presented without distortion. Interlaced scanning divides images into odd and even lines and captures them separately. This slight delay between odd and even lines creates some distortion. Furthermore, analog systems lose image quality with long runs of cable. Network systems are digital and do not lose quality in transmission or storage. Once created, the image is free from degradation.

Many construction sites are dimly lit at night making it hard to get quality images from surveillance cameras. This is where IR Illuminators come in. IR Illuminators ensure that you will have good quality images in low-light or even complete darkness when used in conjunction with our IR sensitive cameras. Infra-red light is not visible to the human eye . With our cameras the IR light is received and filtered away to produce a “human image” in high quality b/w video when light conditions are to dark to render color.

Our high quality IR Illuminators can be used in indoor or outdoor environments for both covert and semi-covert applications. The adjustable power settings offer the possibility to match the scene's requirements with an average range of 98 feet up to 171 feet with some camera models. The low power consumption of the illuminator's solid-state LEDs (light-emitting diodes) results in ultra-long lifetime (5+ years) and very low running cost. Another feature is automatic dawn/dusk power on/power off which helps save on running cost and lifetime of the unit.

We purchase our network video equipment and software from Axis Communications, the global market leader in network video products. Axis has been developing solutions that add value to networks since 1984. With about 400,00 professional network video products and over 3 million networking products sold. In fact, Axis invented and launched the first network camera back in 1996 and today has more than 400,000 professional network video installations worldwide.

Axis was founded in 1984 and operates globally with offices in 16 countries, and has distributors, system integrators and OEM partners in 70 countries.