SecuritySpy
reviewed by Robert Pritchett
Developer: Ben Bird http://www.bensoftware.com/contact.html Product site: Overview: http://www.bensoftware.com/ss/overview/index.html Released: August 25, 2005. Download: 30-day try-before-you-buy. 1.5 MB. http://www.bensoftware.com/ss/download/index.html $50 USD single camera; $125 USD up to 4 cameras; $250 USD up to 8 cameras, $500 USD unlimited. http://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=UXT&& Requirements: Mac OS X 10.2 or later; G4 or later; 256MB RAM; QuickTime 5 or later; 512 MB RAM for 4 or more cameras. And video input devices or cameras. Strengths: Designed for Mac OS X in mind. Simple setup and installation intended for multiple monitoring devices that use Pan/Tilt/Zoom. Weaknesses: No audio capture yet. Updated with version 1.1, so this is no longer true. Audio Capture is now available! Input Devices: http://www.bensoftware.com/help/devices.html |
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In December 2005, we did a review of a wireless security system as organized and paid for from Brickhouse Security that uses the EvoCam software.
Ben
Bird has provided a camera monitoring system that he updated back in August
2005 called Security Spy and this is rev 1.2. The diagram shown here provides a
way to do multiple camera monitoring. Its other strength is the ability to
remotely control pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) if the cameras you have installed
have those abilities. And each camera can be in either active or passive mode.
SecuritySpy also allows for remoting in using Safari and Bonjour. It can also
be set to handle motion-detection and compresses input for storage and does the
FTP upload thing too, as well as Email notification.
If for whatever reason, the system fails, SecuritySpy will auto-restart.
This version also works with the QuickTime Streaming Server (QTSS) for doing both multicas or unicast.
There are a number of cameras that are compatible with SecuritySpy, but it is optimized for working with the iSight unit, now part of the newer iMacs.
For
multiple camera viewing this sample is what you may be able to see depending on
how many units you use as input devices:
And
this is the sample “Camera Status” window:
Ben Bird has provided an excellent online detailed User Manual http://www.bensoftware.com/ss/manual/ that steps through each function and shows that Security Spy distinguishes between video devices, network devices and cameras.
There is an option for scheduling monitoring activities and Ben has even been kind enough to include a Mac OS X Dashboard widget http://www.bensoftware.com/ss/manual/index.html#widget and Java applet. Is that all? No, the software is also designed to act as a video web server. When I was working as part of a VoIP lab back in Connecticut, I was privileged to look at such systems for the non-Mac environments. We now have these available for the latest Macintosh environments.
The current version does not support audio input like the EvoCam does, but if that doesn’t bother you, get it. I understand Ben is working on the audio for the next rev and upgrades so far have been free.
From Ben:
"SecuritySpy has been able to capture audio since version 1.1. You can select a local audio input for any of your cameras in the "Sound" tab of Camera Setup."
