Request a hands-on evaluation of the system —Salespeople are trained in the products they market and, of course, a great salesperson can make any task look easy. However, the end user should be fully aware and comfortable with the usability of feature sets demoed in the course of a sales presentation. Chances are high that a given feature is not as easy to use when the salesperson has departed and the customer is left to their own devices. A problem seldom reveals itself until campus personnel get their own hands on the keyboard or joystick.

Thus, integrators should always provide a hands-on evaluation of a new surveillance system. Preferably the evaluation should be conducted in the campus’ own setting by using a subset of their own cameras.

For smaller projects it may be difficult to install multiple systems for evaluation. In that case, end users may have to install and evaluate the systems on their own. Some video surveillance vendors offer trial versions of their software, and that is actually the best way to evaluate a product. This way end users also have a chance to check out the entire end-to-end experience of installing, configuring and getting the system up and running. If a VMS doesn’t offer a trial version for an end user to evaluate, it could be a sign the product is not as easy to use as the salespeople contend.

Consider both intuitiveness and efficiency when evaluating a VMS — During a hands-on evaluation, be careful to consider both intuitiveness and efficiency. This is particularly important if the system won’t be used on a daily basis, or if there are some tasks such as exporting video that are performed so seldom that users can forget how to do the task between each incident.

Each time such a task is performed, for the user it’s almost like the first time all over again. If the software navigation experience is not easy and intuitive, the customer may end up calling the integrator each time they need to perform the task. Intuitiveness is also very important if there is high turnover among the operations staff and a frequent need to train new employees. But intuitiveness is just one aspect of a VMS product’s usability, albeit an important one. The system also needs to be efficient to use after learning how to use it the first time. Efficiency is particularly important for tasks performed on a daily basis. Extra clicks required with the mouse or unnecessary message box pop-ups that disturb workflow become more frustrating and time consuming as time goes by.

Where a lack of intuitiveness will reveal itself immediately during an evaluation, a lack of efficiency is harder to spot — especially just during a sales presentation. Again,
this is where the hands-on evaluation is crucial. It’s worth summarizing these salient points when working with new IP video management software: Make sure it is both intuitive and efficient, simple to use yet scalable, flexible and powerful. The only way to ensure this is to carefully consider the use of the system and do hands-on evaluation of various systems using the campus’ own servers, network and cameras.

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