Welcome to Volume 2 of the LAN-TEL Loop

In this issue we will be responding to the requests from our customers for guidance about how to best design, install, and maintain their physical security systems. Since this is a hot topic right now for many of our customers in both the private and public sectors, we are devoting the next few volumes of The Loop to addressing the issues and concerns that are being encountered by our security customers.  We thought the best way to approach this was to start with the basics, so we are taking you back to school to learn your ABC’s…


As LAN-TEL’s security division continues to expand, it has become evident to John Bartolomucci, Director of Security Services, that it is important to educate our customers about the types of factors they should consider when designing, installing and maintaining their security systems. During the course of his career John has come across many customers who ended up with card access systems and surveillance systems that did not adequately address their security needs. In response to this problem, John has developed the ABCs of Surveillance Cameras for LAN-TEL’s customers. In this edition, we will teach you about letters A-I. Ready to Learn? Here goes:

“A” is for Angle of View
Are your stationary cameras placed to provide the view you need from both a vertical and horizontal perspective? Seems like a pretty silly question, but you would be surprised at how many customers realize they do not have the proper angle of view until it is too late. For instance, they want to monitor a door, but realize after the camera is installed they can’t see the very bottom because the vertical angle is incorrect, or they can’t see the left-hand corner because the horizontal angle is incorrect. Possible solutions to this could be to change the lens and/or to reposition the camera. John’s advice – work with a professional before the installation begins to ensure that your cameras are capturing the entire area you need to observe.

“B” is for Brightness
Does the light in the area your cameras will be surveilling change during the day? Again, this sounds like a no-brainer type of question, but we have come across many customers who have had to make post-installation changes to cameras because the changing brightness in the area was not taken into consideration. For instance, John had a customer who installed a camera in a reception area. The camera functioned perfectly in the morning when the sun was off the building; however, when the sun came beaming through the front door in the afternoon, the camera was rendered virtually useless. As a result of this problem, it was necessary for the customer to purchase a different type of camera that was better equipped to accommodate fluctuations in brightness.

“C” is for Connection
When designing your security system it is important to keep in mind how it will all be connected and to make sure that it is physically possible do so. For instance, John once had a customer who had a state-of-the-art design on paper, but when it came time to connect the cameras and access control systems back to the power source and the control panel, it was discovered that it was physically impossible to run the wires from point A to point B. As a result, this customer had to rip out the portion of the installation that had already been completed and come up with a new design.

“D” is for Depth of Field
Do the cameras you have in place have the proper lenses and are they angled correctly to capture the depth of view you will ultimately require? Recently, John ran into a situation where a company had installed cameras to monitor a parking lot. Unfortunately, it was discovered too late (after a crime had been committed) that the quality of the video provided by the cameras for the outer perimeter of the parking lot was insufficient. As a result, the video was of little or no help in solving the crime. In order to avoid a repeat occurrence, John worked with the customer to install cameras that had the proper lenses and that were angled in such a way that provided the customer with high-quality video of all areas of the parking lot.

“E” is for Electronic Iris
Did you know that 98% of cameras have an electronic iris that functions in the same way as the human iris? Nice to know, but why is this relevant? The electronic iris is an important feature because, like the human iris, it automatically adjusts to accommodate fluctuations in light – letting more light in when required and screening out light that will distort the video recording. In extreme cases where there are extenuating circumstances such as snow, glare off bodies of water, etc., it may be necessary to add an auto-iris lens to cameras of certain manufacturers.

“F” is for Fixed-Lens
Do you have a small, confined space that you need to monitor such as a single door, computer, register, etc.? If so, a fixed-lens camera may work for you. Many customers choose fixed-lens cameras because they are less expensive and require less adjusting on an ongoing basis. The key to deciding whether to go with this less expensive option is to determine if the space in question is a small, well defined, confined space.

“G” is for Gauge
Is the gauge of the wire being used appropriate for the distance of the runs from the camera to the power source? If the gauge is insufficient, the signal will lose strength and the quality of the video will be diminished and compromised. It is critical that in the early stages of design and engineering that accurate run lengths are identified so that the appropriate gauge wire can be included in the specifications.

“H” is for Height
Are your cameras positioned at a height that ensures unobstructed views of the entire area you are monitoring? Again, this seems like a fairly obvious consideration, yet John has worked with customers who discovered post-installation that the view provided by their camera(s) was not in fact unobstructed which resulted in costly changes to their surveillance system.

“I” is for Interference
Are there conditions that could cause interference in the transmission of high-quality video from the camera to the monitoring device? Things such as certain types of machinery, antennas, and devices that throw off radio frequencies could impair the quality of your video transmission. Similarly, care needs to be taken to determine if things such as building transformers and electrical cabling have the potential to interrupt signal transference.

Hopefully, you have found lesson one our security ABC’s useful and informative. Look for more alphabet lessons in our next newsletter. In the interim, if you find yourself in the same predicament as some of the customers mentioned above, or if you would like to avoid similar pitfalls, contact our expert in security ABC's, John Bartlomucci, at jbarts@lan-tel.com or (781) 551-8599.

LAN-TEL Chosen as an ITC32 Vendor for the State of Massachusetts

LAN-TEL is pleased to announce that is has been chosen by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as one of the vendors approved to provide structured cabling installation and maintenance services under the new ITC32 blanket contract.  LAN-TEL has a long history of providing structured cabling services to the Commonwealth, most recently under the ITC09 contract.  We look forward to the opportunity to continue providing structured cabling solutions that will support both present and future telecommunications and data requirements of state and local government agencies.

LAN-TEL Communications, Inc.
1400 Providence Highway
Building #2, Suite 2000
Norwood, MA. 02062
Tel: (781) 551-8599

Visit us at www.lan-tel.com.