New Inner Range IR Video – SEN’s First Look At New IR Video Solution.
New Inner Range IR Video First Look – Inner Range pre-released its new IR Video solution at Security & Integrate – SEN got a general look at elements of solution with Inner Range’s Steve Mitchell and Quenten Knoll.
When I arrive on the stand the tidy cameras with their Inner Range logos look familiar – if we’re right about the manufacturer, this is quality gear from a highly evolved, NDAA-compliant manufacturer that the Australian market has met before.
The cameras are in dome, turret and bullet form factors and are manufactured in poly and alloy construction with external ratings of IP66 against dust and water and IK10 ratings against impact.
They feature dual IR/white light technology to maximise performance in low light and there’s a strong suite of AI functionalities. These include human and vehicle detection, people counting, wrong way alerts, loitering and intrusion, and single and double line crossing.
Along with the cameras, there’s also an NVR – what IR engineers call a ‘video gateway’ – on the stand. Promotional highlights attest that the equipment is Inner Range ready, can operate standalone, offers seamless connectivity for installers who can handle basic networking, and supports unlimited Inception controllers and unlimited video gateways.
Essentially what Inner Range has done is added a line of ODM cameras and video gateways to its lineup that are competitively priced and engineered to function with Inner Range’s SkyCommand app, allowing easy installation and integration with access and alarm events, and global management and reporting via SkyCommand.
That original design manufacturer designation is an important point – these aren’t just rebadged cameras, they are being built to incorporate design elements specified by the Inner Range engineering team to work effectively as part of an Inner Range ecosystem.
This ODM relationship with the manufacturer is certain to continue, leading to enhanced capabilities over time, according to Inner Range product director and principal software engineer, Steve Mitchell.
“Our new range pairs video surveillance with our intruder and access control products,” explains Mitchell. “From our point of view, it’s a new vertical based on a range of video gateways and cameras from an industry-leading manufacturer.
“This video surveillance range is designed to pair with Inception in the SMB market, and with Integriti for those multi-site enterprise opportunities. Working with Inception, it’s what people would expect at SMB level – an NVR range that scales from 4-64 channels and a range of 8MP cameras with analytics built-in. It’s a high-tier product paired with an established security platform.
“With Integriti the video plugin has already been created and can roll up as many video gateways into the Integriti management software as required.”
According to Mitchell, while IR Video is designed to keep things simple for installers and users, the engineering team is adding a lot of Inner Range special sauce.
“This is an ODM partnership, not just a name on a product,” Mitchell says. “That means we’re adding extra things to make the video surveillance products easy to install and seamlessly link to our products for the best user experience possible.
“To suit the SMB space, IR Video will have a tight integration to Inception, so you’ll be able to get the analytics from the cameras into Inception software. In the future you’ll be able to trigger alarms and undertake automated actions using camera AI.”
I can’t help wondering out loud how close IR Video is to plug and play within an Inner Range ecosystem?
“It’s very close – IP address, username, and password – the system will suck in the gateway and camera details – obviously the gateway experience delivers auto-detect on the network via PoE ports in the usual way, so that is easy, too.”
Mitchell says that key to the development, will be bringing video into Inner Range’s SkyCommand app. SkyCommand already delivers alarm and event notifications, and gives users the ability to securely control security areas, lights, heating/cooling and door access. IR Video is adds cameras to the mix.
“Adding video to SkyCommand means users of Inception (or Integriti) will be able to do door control, alarm notifications and view live video and historical video within an app that is supported by Inner Range’s Australian-hosted cloud and is engineered to offer seamless peer-to-connectivity, and a simple user experience.”
According to Mitchell, when added to Inception or Integriti, IR Video will deliver the same experience that users get with a typical CCTV integration.
“They’ll get live video, historical video around an event, trigger alerts, pop-up video from multiple cameras in response to a door or fire alarm – everything that gives the whole contextual awareness,” Mitchell says.
“Installers will be able to do all the integration logic around PTZs with IR Video – a door forced alert can trigger a PTZ to spin around and focus onto it, it there’s a duress alarm it might spin to that side of the room.
“IR Video is going through a pilot program for the next 12 weeks – we want to really polish the experience to make sure the integration we are adding is as solid as it can be. We are aiming for live sites and launch through Wesco Anixter by year’s end.”
“What has the interest been like at the show,” I ask?
“It’s been really good,” Mitchell says. “We have the right camera types, the ability to link into SkyCommand is highly desirable for SMB applications, this is a very competitive product compared to other solutions of a similar type but has the benefit of our Inner Range additions.”
Quenten Knoll says the Inner Range team has enjoyed the process of bringing video surveillance into the mix and is looking forward to the product’s release.
“From our point of view, it’s about positioning that video surveillance product so that it’s not a third-party integration but is part of the Inner Range ecosystem making it easier for installers and more seamless for users,” Knoll says.
“The focus of development has been about getting the user experience bang-on in terms of how easy it is to integrate with users knowing that Inner Range is supporting it from end-to-end – we’ve never been able to offer that before with video surveillance. IR Video is a big change for us – we’re really excited about it.”
You can learn more about Inner Range here or read more SEN news here.
“New Inner Range IR Video – SEN’s First Look At New IR Video Solution.”
