Page 34 - Security Today, September/October 2024

DEALER STRATEGIES
COVER STORY
Teaching Old Dogs,
New Tricks
21st Century Video and Video Integration
BAy Robert Hile
fter more than 30 years in the security inte- gration business, today’s video surveillance systems are certainly not the same CCTV sys- tems I sold and installed when I first started hanging cameras. Back in the day, there were
In the early days, it was wooden spools of RG59 Siamese cable, boxes of BNC connectors, square cameras with manual focus lenses mounted in EH14 housings, or a dome PTZ cam- era with a joystick controller. Everything just worked, and in- stallations were simple if you had proper power and mounting hardware. There was only one viable PTZ protocol (Pelco P) and one standard (NTSC) that most integration companies here in the United States used regardless of camera manufac- turer. If you wanted to get real crazy with programming, you could set up motion detection at the DVR. Oh, and don’t forget the box of VHS tapes.
only a handful of companies out there and one that started with a “P” stood above the rest. If you were fortunate enough to get invited to travel on their private jet out to California to tour the factory, it was a real honor. I have a picture somewhere in my garage collecting dust, of me sitting in the co-pilot seat. I know, old-man highlights, but still very cool.
DS4 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024 | DEALER STRATEGIES TODAY