This shortcoming has led to CCTVs coming into electronic access control system as another added layer of monitoring system. By looking at the monitor of the CCTV system, security officers can have a view of every point of an area. The system captures and records videos into a digital format to be saved into a DVR (digital video recorder) so that in case of intrusions, security officers can spot the intruders from the video for further action. The storage also allows security officers to playback or output the video as evidence.

Currently, the Internet Protocol camera (IP camera) are starting to make CCTVs obsolete. IP cameras are not only easy to install (requires only power and TCP/IP cables) but also has good quality video (high resolution video and Infrared for low light environments). The IP camera links up to NVR (network video recorder) via TCP/IP connection, where the NVR compresses and stores all video footage captured by the IP camera into its hard disk. You can use a PC or a server, with large-storage hard disks to keep more video footage. The NVR can then be linked up with EAC software, embedded in the Ingress software for live viewing, playback or output into digital format.

The Ingress software works with Milestone, the world’s leading IP video surveillance software company. It provides IP video surveillance software to be installed into an NVR (server or PC) to work with IP cameras. Milestone can be linked up with a majority of branded IP cameras in the market. See the list of supported hardware manufacturers at Appendix.

The door/entrance is always the first target of intruders when planning a break in or bypass. Installing an IP camera at this point is the best pre-emptive to spot intruders. The Ingress software allows you to pair the IP camera to every door/entrance to monitor the IN-OUT process. Furthermore, security officers can see live view in Ingress software without even turning on the Milestone server/software.