Airship DVR / NVR Video & Video Management Blog

Still Hard To Believe

A new customer called today with a simple question:

"Can your system record 4CIF and 30 frames per second on EVERY camera?"

"Yes. Yes we can!"

And I went into the explanation that any Airship system can record all of its cameras at CIF or 2CIF or DCIF at 3o fps, but if you cut the channel count in half, you can get 4CIF at 30 fps on every channel.

... and then we talked about a custom integration and some other things. I look forward to working with them.

It's hard to believe that it's hard to find systems that do what ours do so easily. I guess I'm happy to have a lack of true competition, though!

Gryphon MacThoy

People really want to recycle their old computers

There's a BIG interest out there in recycling old computers and electronics. Sometimes the demand is greater than the supply (Great investigative journalism piece in Capitol Hill News about a computer recycling event gone bad ) and can lead to some tricky logistics — how do you dispose of 14 tons of old computers when you were expecting a couple of truckloads, and when your contractors have issues and are backing out?

And soul-searching — how do you make sure you're not shipping things for recycling to places with lower environmental standards where they might be poisoning people and things?

To ponder. Meanwhile, Airship is doing its part , having launched its Green Appeal free VCR recycling program last year, and bringing all our own computer waste to RePC unless of course it can all be repurposed to make robotic corporate baristas or whatever.

Abigail

Changes coming

This (useit.com) encompasses why we are currently deep into giving our Airship Web site a major "spring cleaning."

On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.

We originally wrote the Airship Web site thinking that we would address the fact that in our industry, many companies strategically omit information about the limitations of their systems, in hopes that customers and end-users will assume their systems do every last thing including toast bread and spread butter and jam on it.

We addressed this unfortunate trend by filling our site with a glut of information about exactly what our systems are and do...down to, practically, a description of every last screw.

Well, no more. Expect a leaner site to appear Friday or  Monday. We want to make it easier for people to get an overview of our product, and not overhwelm them with TMI. Of course, the site will still aim to be supremely useful and information-based. And if you miss the exhaustive data and you want us to go on and on about every last detail and performance stat, just clear your calendar, get yourself a nice big cup of coffee or tea and call us. 1-877-462-4250.

We love talking about all aspects of digital video!

Abigail

Southern Gaming Summit

That's what 83º in Biloxi, MS looks like, after you spent the day setting up a booth and dealing with a RAID controller that got damaged in transit. Not bad at all!

We got the phone photo from Gryph, who reports that there's still a lot of Katrina damage in Biloxi, one of the signs of which is no apparent Internet connection. The sway in the booth pipe along the top is a little unfortunate, but I'd guess it's the same all around so we look great "on a curve."

If you're in Biloxi, make sure to come see us at Southern Gaming!

Abigail

We all know this, but have we thought about it in depth lately?

A nice overview of the deep pain VCR recording creates published by Indian Gaming a couple of years ago is a thorough reminder of why, for their own good, organizations need to be talked out of "saving money" by staying with VCR recording:

Although most surveillance managers/directors are already familiar with the shortcomings of VHS video tape recorders, it is important to review the magnitude of the disadvantages to appreciate the vast difference offered by digital video recorders:

• Video tape recorders can easily get clogged record heads. There is no way to tell this has happened until the tape is played back. Often, there was nothing recorded on the tape. Many important events have been lost in casinos because of this problem.

• Each tape must be removed and replaced by a blank tape.

• Each tape must be rewound after 8 hours of recording time.

• Each tape must be retained for 1-4 weeks depending upon local gaming control rules. This requires a large storage room and an inventory control system.

• Each VCR must be manually restarted in record mode.

• VCRs have an inherent amount of downtime that can amount to a very large amount of lost recording time whereby casinos are not protected. This unprotected time for a casino with hundreds of cameras can amount to thousands of hours per month. This is a tremendous liability to the overall security of the casino.

• VCR manufacturers are stopping production of recorders and tapes, so they will be more difficult to get, and prices will rise. Already, two of the three major VCR manufacturers have discontinued production.

• With VCRs, surveillance personnel are spending untold hours changing tapes, not doing their main job of surveillance.

Writer Chuck Colby's point about VCR costs rising is now a little off; with so many finally converting to DVR recording (and so many yet to convert) used VCRs are currently fairly cheap. But they have such a short lifespan that they eat up cash over time and incur so many other costs, it's a nonissue.

And can I add that VCR recording has zero green appeal?!

Abigail

Another eye opener

An example of the many end users who are finding that their surveillance investments have not been as future proof as perhaps they were sold:

SANTA YNEZ, Calif.—Officials at Chumash Casino Resort were perplexed, to say the least, when they were informed the surveillance solution they purchased four years ago for $3.5 million was being discontinued.

Mark Meske, director of surveillance and compliance at the resort, said the fact the Bosch DVRs were not only obsolete, but the company was no longer making parts for the product line anymore “irritated the business committee of our tribe.” Faced with upgrading its solution, officials looked at technologies showcased at November’s and saw Arecont Vision’s megapixel cameras. Global Gaming Expo and saw Arecont Vision’s megapixel cameras.

So, they are spending another 3.5M on 84 Arecont megapixel cameras and a Pivot3 storage solution. I have no doubt these new investments are good ones that have legs. It's just too bad they had to start from a place of disappointment, having already spent 3.5M four years ago and still expecting to have to replace what I'm guessing are the DVRs in "7 to 10" (read 2-5) years.

Abigail

It would have been a screaming deal

We lost a sale a few months ago to a mail-order DVR company. We know the competitor’s product well, so we were surprised when we heard the system capabilities their sales guys were claiming. Let’s just say that the number of channels, resolution and frame rate combination was WAY too good to be true. Their price point for the system would have been a screaming deal, if they could actually do what they said. We told the customer honestly about the capabilities of our systems and made a very competitive quote. Unfortunately, from a sales perspective I couldn’t prove the competition was making it up as they went along.

So here we are 10 weeks down the road. I’ve been in touch with the customer since then. They are great guys and have more technical expertise than your average small casino.

But their new system is not operational yet. The mail order company has since admitted that they can’t do everything they promised.

To try to make it do something close to what they promised, they are sending additional hardware to build more units!

So far, three chassis have arrived with a pile of encoder cards and various components. The customer is left to piece things together with help from the “technical support” folks over the phone. That doesn’t sound like a system to me.

We haven’t given up. We are on good terms with our future customer, and we will continue to provide assistance and advice as long as they want it. I’m sure that we will do business down the road when they expand operations, or possibly sooner.

In the end, companies that make outrageous performance claims (lies) and don’t follow through will get flushed out. 

Karl

Authenticity

Having grown up in Vermont, I have some serious standards for maple syrup. In fact, I mail-order it in gallons from a farm there that does its own annual sugaring. Sometimes, you can't even get it because sugaring is not done year-round —unlike Mrs. Butterfield's, when it runs out, it runs out.  The owner of the farm I order from is the Honorary Director of the the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association. I do this not just because I love authentic maple syrup made where  I grew up, but because authenticity is rare and wonderful. If we can make video systems that are as authentically made and as high quality as the maple syrup I order, we'll go far. And if we can value our customers as much as Mr. Clark of Clark Farms does (see note above, featuring classic Vermont awesomeness), we'll go even further.

In our business, authenticity is about caring about customers' problems and addressing them, not  gussying up old technology and spending  a fortune marketing it.

What about our systems is "authentic" in that sense? We write our own software in Bellevue, WA — we don't settle for or dress up the dumb software that comes with the powerful hardware we use. We take feedback directly from customers and implement it as soon as we can. And we're doing everything on an open platform so users know it's going to work with everything else and  grow into the future.

Abigail

Oh yeah — and if you want some kickass maple syrup, call  a real Vermont sugar farm at 802-325-3203.

One bad review could lose business

Recently my wife and I were researching online for a dishwasher. We decided on a GE dishwasher that had all the features we wanted. Then we started researching the user reviews online. We could find only one review for that model and it was horrible. Our initial reaction was “that’s enough, we’re not buying it."

Later, we changed our opinion thinking that it is just one bad review from one guy out of thousands owning that model. Probably the thousands of other models are running just fine. However, we researched more to find a different better GE model that had lot of good reviews with none bad and ended up buying it. This made me wonder if Airship had any bad reviews out there — online or offline — and what we would need to do about it.

Luckily, I did not find any and I want it to be like that forever! We at Airship pledge to provide the best customer experience, always — which means we invite you to tell how you feel about us and what we can do to make your experience a great one.

This post is not about politics

A fun Talent Zoo post about Obama's magnificent marketing effort hit the mark with me. In a few ways. I'll start here:

Then there’s the citizen-generated content. YouTube videos, posters, songs – much of it generated by ordinary citizens, some created by professional musicians, artists, and ad people. This is the kind of marketing that’s being preached by the “let’s have a engaging two-way conversation with our customers-as-friends” crowd. With Barack Obama, it’s become fully realized.

We've always believed in two-way marketing, and we are always seriously weirded out when companies seem to perceive their customers as adversaries trying to take advantage. We're hoping more of our customers will visit and benefit from dialogues they strike up on our Airship Community site...it could become SO cool and anti-corporate, business-as-usual I can taste it!

Perhaps it’s no surprise that the least impressive portion of the campaign appear to be the official TV ads. They’re good, but hardly different from most political commercials.

We totally feel that ads, in our industry at the very least, are all about  credibility ("being there") and awareness. They matter, but not half as much as when customers come to the Web site and engage with us as a company who doesn business in a way that supports them and their customers. And in a fun, real way. Because people who operate in a fun and real way are people who like what they do and are WAY more likely to offer responsive, personalized support.

In the face of all this hype, adulation and fast success, Obama supporters have been called a cult. That’s OK. So are Apple fans and Harley-Davidson owners. If you think this is bad for America and politics, remember: This is the world advertising created, one where a name or a product can be made to stand for more than its functionality.

I bet you alrteady know how much we would love to achieve this status through the coolness of both the products we make and the way we do business.

But product performance is still the key. Let’s say Obama gets elected President on the strength of this brand he created. He still has to give good customer service for 4 years. And people will be disappointed if the product doesn’t reflect the hype.

I think I already covered that one in this post. 'Cause really, support is not a separate topic. Support has to be part of everything we do if we're going to meet our ambitious goals.

Abigail