Cloud Security Camera Video Management System Review: Eagle Eye Networks VMS
– David Manento, President, Royal Security Services
Our company, Royal Security Service has been deploying security systems for 20 years, ranging from video surveillance to alarms and access control. We manage our customers’ surveillance system specifications, installation, and support. We also monitor the installations to make sure the systems are working reliably.
We have now deployed the Eagle Eye Security Camera Video Management System (VMS) at five customers’ sites – some of which have multiple locations. Below I will review in detail the Eagle Eye Networks’ surveillance system features we found most useful, and discuss each of our five installations.
Before we used Eagle Eye Networks’ system, we did try another cloud video surveillance system. However, our prior vendor’s cloud-based technology simply wasn’t reliable enough for us. The top problems we had were: installation difficulties, bandwidth issues, and limited camera support – including requirements for proprietary cameras. To maintain our quality commitment to our customers, we had to stop the cloud deployments, and even remove some at our own expense. Since then, we’ve carefully watched the new entrants in the cloud-video security market.
The Eagle Eye Security Camera VMS is the first cloud-managed video surveillance system that finally meets all our needs. Below are the critical features that they help us provide to our customers.
1. Broad camera support – analog and ONVIF compliant cameras. This is really important. First, because this means our customers can use Eagle Eye’s VMS either with their existing cameras or have a broad choice of new cameras. In particular, it’s clear to us that ONVIF is becoming the industry standard for camera compatibility.
Additionally, we learned an expensive lesson after picking a prior system that required proprietary cameras. When that system didn’t work out – the vendor was acquired and the new company stopped supporting the system – our company had to pay $35K to $40K out of our own pocket to replace the proprietary cameras.
2. Incredibly easy deployment. Eagle Eye has a bridge appliance that goes on-site, which connects the cameras to the cloud data center. The bridge is literally plug-and-play. We plug it in and it is immediately visible on our Eagle Eye system dashboard (more on the dashboard below). We hit “add”, and device is live. Next we plug each camera into our Power over Ethernet (POE) switch. Eagle Eye automatically finds the cameras and the ‘add camera’ message pops up on the dashboard. Even our installers trained on analog cameras found it to be straightforward.
Prior to Eagle Eye, when we would install a DVR, we would have to plug it into a router, then log into the router and open/forward ports for remote viewing. To add cameras we needed to program IP address and ports into multi-site software. If I was not in office, I had to do it next day.
3. Mobile video access with great image quality. The images are great – much better than we expected. This matters to all my customers. It’s also very easy to use the Eagle Eye VMS motion and time markers to search for the content we need. We manage video monitoring for our customers, and this level of reliability and video access is critical.
Our customers and our support team at Royal Security Service can access the video from our phones, tablets, and from all the major browsers. We’ve tested it out tried on Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Firefox and on iPad and Android tablets, and Apple and Android phones.
4. No bandwidth problems – Eagle Eye VMS works reliability. We log into Eagle Eye and the playback is always there when we need it. It just works. Our prior cloud-based system did not reliably give us the system functions and image quality that we needed.
5. Low upfront costs and storage predictability. A good quality NVR costs several thousand dollars, while Eagle Eye’s Bridges start at only $299 for our customers. Eagle Eye then charges a monthly fee for its cloud-managed system, storage, and notifications. Our customers have recognized the value provided for this fee and it fits their financial requirements.
Also, when I install a DVR-based surveillance system, I can do calculations to estimate the storage, but the actual storage requirements fluctuate depending on a lot of factors. With Eagle Eye I don’t need to worry about the storage. Plus later, my customer can easily add additional storage/retention through Eagle Eye’s cloud service.
6. Reseller dashboard. Eagle Eye has a central dashboard where we set up and manage the security camera systems for all of our customers. We use the dashboard to customize each customer’s video panel, as part of our service for them. We pick which camera views to display for their live view play back, and add and delete users. As administrator, I can look at all of my customers using Eagle Eye’s reseller dashboard at a glance. I can see how many cameras are up or down across all my customers, then drill down to that particular customer to better understand any issues.
7. Immediate system alerts. We had a great test of this Eagle Eye VMS feature at our HOA site. One weekend, I got notification from Eagle Eye that the connection was interrupted. So we sent someone over to the site and our customer’s internet service was down.
First, even though the internet had been down, the video content was STILL being recorded and buffered on Eagle Eye’s Bridge appliance.
Second, this meant we were we able to repair it right away. I can get emails with some DVR-based systems, but if the customer’s internet connection goes down, it can’t send emails, so my customers and I don’t even know if they lose connectivity. This means that since there was no one at the customer site that weekend, no one would have even known the system was down until the following Monday if we had been using a DVR.
Additionally, the Eagle Eye support team is very helpful. They even return calls from home, outside of business hours.
8. User Permissions. Eagle Eye offers highly granular user permissions. For example for viewing live or recorded video, for viewing only or viewing and downloading, or permissions associated with specific cameras or camera groups. Most other systems I have used do not have close to the same level of granularity of permissions – frequently they just have administrator, operator and user.
With Eagle Eye, I can have any number of users with and customize each person’s access. Some more advance systems can do, but more costly and more complex in programming.
Additionally, Eagle Eye’s user permissions are incredibly easy to set up. Just a few quick clicks. It’s like an access control system with authority controls to certain building sections. With other surveillance systems, this process has been really cumbersome – I would have to create each user name and password, and then it would take me countless pages to configure each individual user’s permissions.
9. Teaching customers to use the VMS is easy. We put in the users’ email addresses, and ask each of them to create the password so they can log into the system themselves. They don’t have to load up software, they just go to their browser and click on a few buttons and view the video in live or playback mode. Seriously, our customers’ only challenge seems to be to remember their passwords, and that’s a simple thing to remedy.
One final comment –
After seeing our prior cloud vendor get acquired and the new company completely drop their support and cancel their service, I have been careful in choosing which vendors I will partner with. It made a big difference to me to know that Eagle Eye’s founder CEO Dean Drako was also the founder and CEO of Barracuda Networks. Barracuda is a big leader in IT security appliances. I knew Dean could run a successful technology company with a reliable, high quality product, so I was confident in my decision to work with Eagle Eye. And as I mentioned above – the VMS has great image quality, is easy to use and deploy. It just works.
Below are some of the details on each of our five installations using the Eagle Eye Security Camera VMS.
FIVE EAGLE EYE SECURITY CAMERA VMS INSTALLATIONS – DETAILS
Installation #1: Church and preschool
We installed Eagle Eye at a church with a preschool attached to it. They had multiple goals. They wanted protect both the people and the property, and keep folks from entering areas where they weren’t supposed to be, especially in the summer, when the preschool shuts down.
In a volunteer environment where many groups meet, things can go missing; the church had had some thefts. Additionally, there was some illegal dumping in dumpster. Having cameras helps to keep people honest. Finally, they wanted to be sure that the children were taken back and forth properly from the preschool.
The church wanted a cloud system because they didn’t want to manage it themselves. They just want to know that the system is working, and to be alerted if there are any problems.
They have 6 cameras.
One in the dining hall
One in the kitchen
Two in the hallways to the school area
Two in the parking lot
This was the very first Eagle Eye video surveillance system that we installed. We had only seen their demo before this, yet the installation was still plug-and-play. We set up all 6 of the cameras with one Eagle Eye Bridge appliance in less than a day.
Installation 2: Clubhouse on a Lake
We installed four cameras in three separate physical locations.
– one outside the clubhouse
– one at the beach playground
– two at the front entry way by the mailboxes
This property is in the wilderness, and one goal was to have the cameras as a deterrent. Also, the secretary often worked there alone, so they wanted easy web-access to give her a quick view around the building if someone pulled in. Finally, they wanted to be able to find an event in the video quickly if there was a problem.
We used outdoor 1.3 MP IP cameras suitable for day and night lighting. We set up poles to wire the electricity and internet connection. We then just ran a wire from camera to POE switch and the Eagle Eye system automatically ‘found’ the cameras for us to add.
The clubhouse had an incident after we installed the Eagle Eye system. This clubhouse area does not allow ATVs/4 wheelers. Recently there was a complaint about a four-wheeler on lake and gunshots. The administrator was able to review the video footage and spot the vehicle – she said it was easy to find the event because of Eagle Eye’s motion detection and timelines. The image quality was great; she could even read license and identify the person, who had previously been banned from the facility. She was able to download the video clip, burn it to a DVD, and turned it over to the police, who will use it when this goes to court.
Installation #3: Homeowners Association
We installed Eagle Eye’s surveillance system in a residential development of 300 homes for the property owners. This is not a gated community. They want to keep it open, as it helps solve the traffic flow issues.
They were having problems with vandalism on mailboxes, and were also having robberies in the area, such as a stolen snowmobile. Finally, they even had drug deals going on at the playground and basketball court area.
So they wanted to keep eye on visitors along the entry road. They wanted to be able easily search the video for any activity following an incident, rather than pouring through of hours of video.
We set up three poles in three different physical locations, to house the electricity, the internet connection, the cameras, and the Eagle Eye Bridge to connect the cameras to the Eagle Eye cloud data center. We were creative and used an outdoor box to house the Eagle Eye Bridge.
Pole #1. Storage shed, parking area
Pole #2. Playground area, with swing set/basketball court
Pole #3. Along the entry road (with 2 cameras)
Even though this was a multi-site project, with three separate installations, each with its own bridge, because Eagle Eye Security Camera VMS is a cloud-managed system, all three locations were automatically integrated for display as one system. Further, due to the outdoor unattended locations, cloud recording to protect any forensic evidence, and automatic notifications of system tampering was especially important to them.
Installation #4: Utility office
This is a 2 camera installation:
– One at the back door
– One at the foyer
We installed Eagle Eye Security Camera VMS at a property development and utility office. The company manages several different community properties from one office. They also own a water facility so people come into the office to pay their water bills. They wanted the system both to protect the property, and to offer security for the woman who worked alone in the office.
The company was also worried that folks would come in and steal the DVR/NVR with any video recorded evidence, so Eagle Eye’s cloud recording was important to them.
Installation #5: Police department
Royal is working with a local police department and just upgraded their current security camera system. The department has 13 security cameras.
This police department must bring in suspects in to process them, which takes place over multiple rooms. They also have a couple of jail cells (not a full prison) plus cameras looking at the back and side alleys.
The department previously had in-house problems with folks messing up their network. They don’t want anyone to turn off an on-site DVR, so Eagle Eye’s cloud recording was important to them. They want immediate notification if the system is malfunctioning or turned off for any reason.
Another Eagle Eye VMS feature that was important to this police department was the granularity of user permissions. For example, we can set up certain officers to be able to view live video, but not historical video. Others can have permission to also download the video. Some officers can view the criminal processing area, but not the Police Chief’s office, where private meetings may be held.
The police officers all have iPads, so Eagle Eye makes it very easy for them to view live video.
Finally, with Eagle Eye’s cloud-managed system, the department can expand their surveillance network in the future, if it is appropriate, while maintaining full system control.