By Sasha Wang
Remote video surveillance trailers give police departments the flexibility to quickly add visibility where they need it most, whether it’s a crime hot spot, a downtown festival or a major sporting event. That mission-critical, force-multiplier role makes reliability a top criterion when police departments are buying or leasing surveillance trailers.
Meeting that requirement is a tall order for manufacturers. Each trailer typically is equipped with a computer, cellular modem and other sensitive electronic devices that are subject to extreme vibration and shock as the unit is towed to and from each location. Some trips can be particularly punishing, such as when the trailer is deployed to trail heads and other off-road locations.
Over time, those harsh conditions take their toll on those components, and if they fail in the field, the results can be disastrous. For example, if the computer fails, police lose not only the real-time video feeds, but also the recordings.
“If there’s an incident, and they go to pull that video and it’s not there and they need it for evidentiary purposes, that would be terribly embarrassing for the police department and for us,” says Jennifer Williams, director of sales for the trailer division at Industrial Video & Control (IVC).
Balancing durability with affordability
The remote video surveillance systems industry is small but ultra-competitive. Manufacturers know that reliability is a powerful way to make their video surveillance trailers stand out from the pack. Hence the importance of scrutinizing every component.
“When we get failures of any component in the field, we get the parts back and we do an internal diagnosis with our engineering staff, and we determine the root cause of failure,” says Norman Fast, IVC CEO and co-founder. “We found that the laptops were a point of weakness.”
To minimize that weakness, manufacturers can use ruggedized laptops instead of office-grade models. The catch is that the ruggedized models must be available at a price that doesn’t drive up the trailer system’s cost beyond the point that most police departments, campus security agencies, and other public safety organizations can afford.
“We had the laptops for our standard trailer builds, and then our law enforcement trailers that were more rugged in general, including the laptop, but the supplier was having just extremely long lead times,” Williams says. “Plus, that model we were using, the only one that was in our price range, was about to go end-of-life.”
“When we get failures of any component in the field, we get the parts back and we do an internal diagnosis with our engineering staff, and we determine the root cause of failure,” says Norman Fast, IVC CEO and co-founder. “We found that the laptops were a point of weakness.” To minimize that weakness, manufacturers can use ruggedized laptops instead of office-grade models.
Durabook
Finding a laptop that meets mission-critical criteria
IVC had a long list of requirements for the ideal replacement, including a ruggedized design, power flexibility, cost, warranty and a manufacturer that would be responsiveness to the unique needs of IVC and its public safety customers. For example, the laptop had to be capable of supporting a wide variety of video recording and video management software.
“We want to have a trailer that can basically handle anybody’s software because, a lot of times, customers already have an existing installation that we need to tie into,” says Robert Chapman, IVC IT manager. “So, the software that we install on the laptop is going to be dependent on either the camera manufacturer or if a customer has a software solution in place. I just wanted to have a standard hardened laptop with the same specs that can support any video management platform.”
Some remote video surveillance manufacturers equip their trailers with mini PCs, which are less expensive than laptops. “But we don’t want to do that, because in our experience, especially with customer support, having a display is necessary when you’re out troubleshooting in the field,” Williams says. “That’s why we like to stick with a laptop-style device for the network video recorder.”
Usability also is key. For example, IVC wanted a laptop with a full HD (1080p) display, brightness up to 1,000 nits and light-filtering technology that provides a high contrast ratio to eliminate reflection and ensure clear imagery.
Some remote video surveillance manufacturers equip their trailers with mini PCs, which are less expensive than laptops. “But we don’t want to do that, because in our experience, especially with customer support, having a display is necessary when you’re out troubleshooting in the field,” Williams says. “That’s why we like to stick with a laptop-style device for the network video recorder.”
Durabook
“Customers are often outside working on the trailer in the rain or when it’s really sunny, so the sunlight-readable display and the MIL-SPEC standards with the IP ratings were all pretty important things,” Williams says.
To maximize durability and reliability, IVC focused on laptops that had been independently certified to meet standards such MIL-STD-810H and capable of withstanding up to a 4-foot drop. An IP53 rating also was a top requirement because it means the laptop is protected from limited dust ingress and from water spray less than 60 degrees from vertical.
Power flexibility also was important. IVC’s trailers operate on DC power, which the incumbent laptop model couldn’t handle without an inverter. The new model needed to support DC power to eliminate the expense and additional point of failure that come with a dedicated DC-to-AC inverter. This requirement is one reason why IVC chose a laptop provider with law enforcement experience: Its PCs were already designed to use DC power in police cruisers and other law enforcement vehicles, making them a natural fit for the trailers. The new laptop simply uses the trailer’s existing DC power supply.
Law enforcement experience is highly valuable from a support perspective. Understanding the importance of being immediately responsive to customer inquiries is paramount. For example, if a police department has questions about the laptop’s ability to support additional software, troubleshooting in the field, it needs the right answers right away. Thus the ideal partner for IVC would be a laptop provider whose large share of the law enforcement market shows that it recognizes the value of 24/7/365 support and is capable of providing it.
Finally, warranty support was another reason why IVC preferred a laptop provider with a large law enforcement customer base.
“We get questions about warranties very often,” Williams says. “Our trailers are not inexpensive, so people are always concerned about warranties and ongoing support. So, for us and our customers, a three-year standard warranty on a laptop is a major plus.”
About the author
Sasha Wang is president of Durabook Americas, the business division that specifically and exclusively serves the commercial sector of North America. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the rugged-computer industry and previously served as Durabook’s director of global sales and marketing.