Surveillance Question

[Pc Converge]

A buddy of mine is a surveillance tech, and he subcontracted some IT work for me. My dilemma is I don't have any experience in surveillance software or anything of the sort.
What we need to do, in a nutshell, is to remotely view the existing DVR's, which exist in a couple of different locations, from a home/work computer.
Is there an easy way to, or some software that we can setup on a host computer to have all the different options to view the recordings? Then from there, we can remotely connect to the host computer. Or are we going to have to just connect to the DVR's individually?
Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[PCSupportGlasgow]

Depends on the cameras.

if
ip cameras =it only a matter of setting them up so can view from a browser.

non-ip camera with dvr attached to a pc with controller software installed = just the normal methods of remote access to the pc and work software from there.

non ip camera with standalone dvr your doing alot of driving to the location.

 

[Pc Converge]

The DVR has an ip address.

 

[cmonova]

Do you have software that came with the DVR? Do you know the manufacturer? Best bet is to look it up online and see what kind of docs/forums they have on it.
Could be as simple as an ip such at 192.168.1.12:8080 or some crazy port and then on the outside router add it there to do a redirect.

Alot depends on the system itself. Or better yet what has your "surveillance tech" friend done in the past for this?

 

[DarDar]

Does it have a webserver of some sort built into the dvr or does it need the pc at each site to view the recordings?

Either way you could just build a webpage (local or hosted) that has buttons for each of the ips of the dvr's. If the dvr has a webserver, put in the portnumber into the link and setup portforwarding at the differnt offsites to forward traffic on that port to the dvr's. if it doesn't have a webserver, you could make the buttons run scripts for remote desktop, vnc etc.

Even better would be to sign up with dyndns or similar to get easier links back to the dvr's. Saves you having to change the links each time a router gets a new ip form the isp.

 

[crabig]

As others have said, it depends on the DVR maker. I have some experience with a product called Remote Eyes, and it has a built in service for remote access to the DVR from an application that you load on to the remote computer.

 

[Alan22]

I have a bit of experience with DVR systems. Over the 4-5 years I've helped install about 50 systems from 5 different manufacturers. I'd like to focus on one client who had 17 DVR systems installed a couple of years ago. In describing what was done maybe it can help with your questions.

The DVR's are standalone units with anywhere from 6-9 camera connections. They are set with an IP address (192.168.1.100 for instance) and port forwarding was configured on the router (each location has static IP addressing from the ISP).

The DVR's can be accessed from any Internet connected computer 2 different ways - either via a web browser or the manufacturer's software. I prefer connecting with the software. Bandwidth & computer resource permitting, I can connect to each location at the same time from one computer - meaning that I can run the software, open a connection to each DVR & view cameras from each location all at once.

In reality what I did was install 2 computers in an office with four 32" flat panels connected to each computer. The 8 screens are wall mounted. The client can connect to all locations at once, sit back and see what's happening in real time.....or view recordings as the case may be.

The DVR viewing software was also installed on many other computers. For instance, I have it installed on two of my computers, the owner has it installed on 2 of his, the area manager has it installed on 2, etc. As long as any of us has an Internet connection & the proper logon credentials, we can connect to any DVR in any location at any time - no need to establish a remote connection to the main control room.

 

[Pc Converge]

@ Alan22, what's the software that you use?
Great information, that will help me immensely!

Nevermind, I see you put manufacturer's software.