Technocom Blog

Do you only need a temporary surveillance solution?

Recently, a local bank called Technocom requesting help.   Apparently, the bank was forced to foreclose on a group of homes in a new housing development due to a builder defaulting on a loan.    The problem was that once these homes were left vacant and unattended, they became targets for vandalism and theft.

The bank needed help to protect its assets while they worked to sell these homes.   However, they didn’t want to sign any long-term security contracts, or have to hire expensive security personnel.   So, they came to Technocom for a solution.  Could we help them?  YES!

Technocom suggested its new UGuardU camera monitoring system on a monthly rental basis.    Renting these easy-to-install systems avoided a long-term commitment, and also allowed the bank the flexibility of upgrading or changing the system, including the number of cameras, at any time!  It was the perfect solution.

Within 36 hours of installing the UGuardU system, the vandalism and theft stopped!  According to the bank, the UGuardU solution saved them thousands of dollars in repairs. As a bonus, since the homes were still in good repair, they started selling just a few weeks later.

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It’s more than just security

I received a call from a Director of Security from a University Campus.  A business loves those unsolicited calls from potential customers asking for more information and wanting to know more about your business solutions.  It makes you feel proud.  
 
Speaking in terms of solutions, we have added a few cool items to our UGuardU server software.  Those items include IP video tracking, motion detection email and sms alerts as well as camera off-line alerts. 
 
However, the tone of our follow up call changed, we were informed that there has been an assault on campus this past week and now the excitement about helping and providing someone with information, turns into great sadness.  As I try to understand why another human would do that to anyone, I realized that this potential customer has a much greater need than just information.
 
We have a formal meeting scheduled this coming week in order to know exactly how our IP cameras might work for them.  We’ll find out if they could be used at certain remote campus areas using available internet access and wireless internet access points together with power.   
 
Technocom was also asked by the University to provide a recommendation and bring with us a “security assessment consultant”.   When you service this industry, you need to be aligned with consultants you respect and can trust.  I’m proud of the fact that we have access to one of the best consultants in the area and he will be joining us at the meeting.

We’re ready to discuss and provide information for a potential solution and work on a strategy which hopefully will deter these sorts of events from ever occurring again on campus.  We know that there will always be “evil” people out there but hopefully UguardU can help with deterring them in the future. Security is no longer the issue it’s really peace of mind.   
 
You never know what direction a customer’s call will take you.

Written by: Patrick McCloskey

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Daycare Provides Live Monitoring

It is 8am in the morning and Andy’s wife calls him to tell him that she is dropping their son off at day care.    Andy clicks on the UGuardU website, types in the password for the day care and watches as he wife brings their son into the building and drops him to the care giver.    Andy watches as his son hangs up his coat and immediately starts engaging with his friends.    He clicks off the site with a smile and starts working on his many tasks for the day.   He continues to smile for the next several minutes knowing that his son is doing fine and he now has the ability to check in live at anytime to see him.
 
Technocom (through its UGuardU service offering) and Imagination Day Care worked together on a four camera system so that each room within the day care facility could be viewed.   The owner wasn’t interested in recording these live video feeds even though she could, as she completely trusted her staff and didn’t want them to think the system had anything to do with surveillance.    Instead she saw this as a marketing opportunity, as this system would allow her clients the ability to check in and see their son or daughter live anytime during the day.   Such a service was very intriguing.    She knew that if she wanted too, she could use the service as an additional revenue source, but instead saw the service as a huge marketing advantage over other facilities.    She knew that her potential customer’s number one priority when making a decision on where to leave their child was where they felt the most trust.    In her mind, what could be more trustworthy then a day care facility which was willing to provide live viewing access to the parents at anytime during the day?
 

Isn’t it neat that a day care facility owner is thinking so much about her customers!

Written by: Rick McCloskey

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UGuardU is watching LOIS

The City of Lake Oswego, OR began construction of the Lake Oswego Interceptor Sewer (LOIS) project in June 2009.  “The LOIS system will replace the interceptor sewer line, the backbone of the City’s wastewater system, located in Oswego Lake. Replacement of the interceptor is critical to ensuring the environmental protection of Oswego Lake and maintaining sewer service for residents. The existing interceptor is undersized, resulting in overflows during heavy rains, and is vulnerable during an earthquake.” (LOIS, 2009)

When engineering realized the investment of time required to monitor the construction of more than 18,000 feet of new wastewater pipe across the lake, they sought a better solution.  Driving a boat across the lake every day was not an efficient use of their time and there must be a better way to keep an eye on construction!
The City asked UGuardU to engineer a multi-camera solution that can watch the progress of LOIS’ construction, be viewed remotely, and store the recorded pictures.  The difficulty in developing this solution is needing to stage cameras at multiple locations and stream them back to the custom UGuardU server at the City’s headquarters.  For an additional challenge, the cameras need to record in 1080i high definition which takes a large amount of bandwidth at multiple locations and storage space.

In order to give them the detail they needed, we installed Axis Q1755 HD cameras which will provide the viewer with a zoom capability to reach great distances for fine details at the opposite end of the lake from the camera.  It needed to go a step further however.

When UGuardU was asked to add a pan and tilt capability, we added a motor to mount to the camera that allows the engineers to remotely move the camera left / right / up / down in addition to the zoom feature, without having to be at the cameras location making manual adjustments.  The engineers are thrilled at the new feature.
The recordings are equally essential to the project.  They are utilized by the engineers on the project to verify progress and create a “time-lapse” video of the construction after completion.

Now the City can access the cameras from any location with internet access, log in to their private account, and be in touch with the project from start to finish using only a finger… and UGuardU!

For additional information on the LOIS project, please visit www.lakeinterceptor.com

For additional information on UGuardU, please visit www.uguardu.com

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UGuardU - KATU Weather Camera

Have you been watching the news lately on ABC channel 2 in Portland, OR? If so, you must have seen the latest edition of UGuardU HDTV cameras looking at Pioneer Courthouse Square!

KATU channel 2 has partnered with UGuardU to provide a live HD feed of the weather conditions in the heart of Downtown Portland, OR using an Axis Q1755 HDTV camera during their broadcast.

In regard to the importance of Pioneer Square, it is known as “Portland’s Living Room,” and has more than 26,000 people passing by it every day. Time magazine recognized it is “one of the ‘Ten most notable design achievements’ in the country.” UGuardU is now proud to give a bird’s eye view into this landmark of our hometown.

To get a bird’s eye view of your own living room and landmarks, email sales@uguardu.com or call 503.454.7315.

See more at www.uguardu.com

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A “Live View” of Portland Going Green

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRNaVFSKS_Q

Friday morning at 7am, you can tune in to see the final installation and start of the first group of “small-scale urban wind turbines in the US” on Twelve | West tower in Downtown Portland, OR.

There are a total of four wind turbines, each costing about $10,000.  They are being installed to offset the electricity needs of the buildings office space and 273 apartments.

We will be streaming and recording the live feed from a UGuardU HDTV camera (using the UGuardU service), which was recently installed to view Pioneer Square.  For this event we will be redirecting it to face the Twelve | West tower to witness the final installation of the turbines, and see them turned on.

The full story will be featured as the centerpiece in the Sustainability section of Friday’s Oregonian.  This is a landmark achievement for Portland, and we hope to see National Press for the installation in addition to substantial local coverage.

You can access the demo cameras supporting the Live View at www.uguardu.com.  Login with user name: demo@uguardu.com password: seeprotect

For more information on UGuardU, please visit www.uguardu.com, email sales@uguardu.com, or call 503.682.4195.

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