3 Ways to Affordably Upgrade a Legacy Analog Surveillance System

So many business owner/operators inherit legacy analog camera surveillance systems when they launch and/or expand their business. Growing a business is exciting, but dealing with legacy systems can be frustratingly cumbersome and complex. 

There are actually several ways to successfully upgrade your legacy video surveillance system, depending on the type and operability of your cameras and your willingness to use your existing coaxial infrastructure. Eagle Eye Networks recently published “Best Practices Guide – Analog Video to Cloud,” detailing the advantages of managing your analog camera video in the cloud, outlining video-to-cloud upgrade options, and providing readers with actionable information to successfully transition analog camera video to the cloud. Here’s a sneak peek: 

Analog Video Cloud Options

There are three analog video-to-cloud upgrade options. 

1. Reuse existing cameras and cable – send video to the cloud. Place one or more cloud-managed bridge appliances at the on-site recording locations. The bridge appliances buffer video until the optimal time to send to the cloud VMS data center. Video is always viewable through the cloud VMS application whether it resides in the cloud VMS data center or is still buffered in the bridge appliance. 
2. Add intelligence and network capabilities to each analog camera using video encoders. A network video encoder contains the electronics of a modern-day network camera and can process analog video streams with the same firmware and software found in current-day networked cameras, including basic video analytics. Send video and video meta-data streams to the cloud VMS data center using a bridge appliance designed for modern network video cameras. Existing analog camera coax cable can be retained or be replaced by local area networking.
3. Reuse recently acquired analog cameras and replace aging cameras with affordable high-definition TVI analog cameras and reuse the existing coax cable. Place inexpensive, supported TVI recorders (available from several high-end manufacturers) at the on-site viewing or recording locations and connect them to the compatible bridge appliance.  

Download the guide today.

Matt Webster

With over 15 years of experience in the low-voltage security industry and a focus on camera hardware, Matt has held senior roles in sales, sales engineering, and product management. His work has been featured in numerous trade magazines, and he has been recognized with several industry awards.